It's Saturday, July 26. Denise, Aaron (my son) and I are heading to Disney World in Orlando, Florida for Home Video Studio's 8th Annual Convention.

It's Saturday, July 26. Denise, Aaron (my son) and I are heading to Disney World in Orlando, Florida for Home Video Studio's 8th Annual Convention. Studio Owners from across the United States, Canada and Sweden will join us for up to six days of training and fun. I can't wait to meet Mickey Mouse. Attached is a picture of me by Spaceship Earth in EPOCT.

The following is taken directly from an email which I recently received from one of our new studio owners.

Thank you, thank you, and thank you!!!  I cannot begin to tell you what a joy and blessing this business has been to our family.  I have found a renewed sense of happiness that my previous profession has slowly drained from my life.  I have found the majority of people with whom we interact to be mostly happy and friendly.  After a completed project is presented, there are usually tears of joy as the emotional impact of treasured photos coming to life on the TV allows the outpouring of satisfaction with the completed project.  I again want to repeat myself and say, “Thank You!!” for allowing me to be involved with such a dynamic, growing and exciting business.
 
Respectfully,
 
Joseph Rodriguez
 
Home Video Studio - Indio
Joseph and Wendy Rodriguez
Indio, CA  92201
760-347-6688

So we woke up on the fourth, packed up and went to the airport in Orlando. From there we flew to Kansas City, Missouri. We then rented a car and drove to Kirksville, Missouri where we celebrated the 4th of July with my Dad (he is doing a little better), Aunt Lucy, my brother Mark and my sister Marcia Jo.

On the way to Kirksville we took a short detour to Marcelene, Missouri, the boyhood home of Walt Disney. I have visited Marcelene before. Denise and I toured the Walt Disney Museum there several years ago. Many say that Marcelene is where Disney got the idea for Main Street in Disneyland and Disney World.

I wanted to visit the museum again, especially on Independence Day. The museum tour guides were delighted and amazed when they heard  that we had woke up in Disney World and now were standing in their museum. Apparently no one had ever accomplished that feat before.  I love Disney World and I do actually love Marcelene. It is a really cute small town (and I do mean small). We walked around the museum for a while. Then we visited a few of the stores on Main Street. Oh, I didn’t mention that as we arrived in Marcelene their annual 4th of July parade was just starting. It was a simple affair, especially when compared to the Magic Kingdom parades or to the fireworks that we viewed the night before. Still, their parade was charming.

Afterwards, I got to thinking about Indpendence day. Not the patriotic thing but just the idea of being independent -- owning your own business, paddling your own canoe, etc, etc. I thought of Kirk Douglas (not the actor but the HVS studio owner). Kirk, a former Studio Owner of the Year, purchased his studio after 9-11 because he wanted to be independent. As I recall, he made upwards of $100,000.00 a year in salary but he wanted to control his destiny. Call Kirk and ask him about destiny, independence and running his own video studio. I think you will find his comments interesting.

While you are at it, ask him about his sales.  In the months of May and June alone, Kirk Douglas has grossed over $46,000! Kirk is our Studio Owner of the Month for June (celebrated in July) so it is appropriate that I mention his name in conjunction with the 4th of July and independence.

Just look at Walt Disney. What a great vision! From Marcelene, Missouri to Disney World and beyond, it was Disney’s vision that gave him and us (lucky for us) the magic. Kirk followed the HVS plan and then added a little of his own magic. I started Home Video Studio with an idea and a vision. If you follow my plan you may just find the independence and magic in your life that you have been looking for. Instead of working for someone else, focus on your own magic kingdom!

It was not secret this time. Apple announced the next generation of iPhones this week. No doubt, Steve Jobs did a great job of showcasing it on his keynote address. The phone has some new cool features including GPS. And it will be faster for those of you who want to read this blog on your iPhone (alright by me!).

You can read all the reviews as they come in. Here are just some random thoughts on my iPhone experience during the last year.

I was at Mac World last year when Apple unveiled the iPhone. Jobs and Apple are masters of marketing and promotion. They had the iPhone encased in a glass cylinder. Tons of people were crowded around it. I remember waiting my turn then pushing myself up to the glass to take a peek. I already wanted one. Now, I had to have one. That was back in January of ’07. The phone started selling in June of ’07. Actually, it was June 29, 2007.

I wanted to be first in line that day to purchase an iphone, so, I took some Home Video Studio associates to the Apple Store and got in line early - very early in the morning. In fact, we were too early. Mall security made us leave with instructions that we could not come back until 8:00 a.m. Funny thing, there was a Fox News crew that got kicked out too. We all drove to the Starbucks nearby. Thirty minutes later, I found myself "live" on the local Fox 59 news. Why was my "Film Crew" and me (ask me about our Film Crew promotion sometime) up so early for a cell phone?

That is a good question. I was wondering that myself. Actually, we had tried to get in line even a day earlier, but were shoed away then too. Well, we did get some great publicity!

But to answer the question, I guess I just like being first. An as you know, I am always in a hurry. I don’t like waiting, but I was willing to wait most of the day for my iPhone. I wanted to be the first kid on my block to get an iPhone. As it turns out, I wasn’t the first. The Fox News thing delayed us and I had to settle for second place that day. I don’t do that very often.

I read blips in USA today about the wisdom of even purchasing an iPhone early on. One chap said he would wait a year until the iPhone got a faster network and had come down in price. I hope he is ready now because the new one is coming and it is cheaper and faster.

I guess I filter everything down to timing. I was in a hurry and got my phone right away. I have had it for nearly a year now and have really used the heck out of it. It is the best phone ever made.

If you want to be the first kid on your block to purchase a Home Video Studio, call me right now. I will hold a place for you in line and we can discuss your situation. Don’t wait too long though. I have had three calls in recent weeks from people who have waited too long and now territories in their area are no longer available. Being first does have it’s advantages!

Oh, one more thing. You may have heard that we give iPhones away at Show ‘N Tell Saturday. We do.

Let’s chat about it. Call my cell: 866-714-1956.

 I received an email today from one of our franchisees. It read in part:

 I received an email today from one of our franchisees. It read in part:

You’re either lucky or you’re not. I am lucky. Yesterday, Denise and I woke up in Indiana and went to sleep in San Francisco. We had lunch at McCormick & Kuleto’s Seafood Restaurant at Ghirardelli Square. It overlooks Fisherman’s Wharf and San Francisco Bay. What an awesome view! Denise had some seafood chowder thing and was totally delighted by it. I had fish tacos and washed them down with a Sauvignon Blanc. Yum!

It was 90 degrees yesterday in San Francisco. I think it was Mark Twain who said that the coldest winter he ever spent was a summer in San Francisco. Something like that anyway. It was a lucky day for warm weather in the city by the bay.

We make our own luck, don’t we? I chose to be here yesterday and today (I have a Show ‘N Tell here on Saturday). I did not choose the weather. That was pure luck. The fact is that I expected the weather to be nice and warm. And it was. I expect to be lucky.

They say that luck is when preparedness meets opportunity. Home Video Studio offers you the opportunity to stay at home and make a nice living doing video production and post-production. If you are reading this now, there is a good chance you wish to make a change in your life and that you see yourself running your own video business. You can stay where you are now or you can choose to respond to what we have to offer and change your life for the better. Your choice.

I choose to do something I love. My passion is helping people into their own video business. For right now, I choose to do it here in San Francisco. I urge you to come join me in Indianapolis, Fort Lauderdale, and Burbank, California or even in Joliet, Illinois. I will be in all of those cities soon. I can teach you how to make money with video and how to transition from your current job to a full time career in video. It’s your turn to choose.

Let’s chat about it. Call my cell: 866-714-1956.

As president and CEO of Home Video Studio, I have many tasks. I must wear many hats. I like these hats and don’t mind switching from one hat to another, or just piling them all on at once if need be. For a good deal of last week at NAB, I was wearing my "new equipment hat". If you like video gear, cameras, lighting, computers, software, etc., then you would like NAB 2008, the annual convention for anyone and everyone with an interest in video. If you were at the show last week, you saw a lot of cool stuff, acres of video equipment. What was not to like?