A Better Way to Work: Matt King of MattKingTV Media

Matt King is Founder and CEO of MattKingTV Media. MattKingTV, which was founded when Matt was just 18, is based out of Cincinnati, Ohio. MattKingTV is more than just film and video production and post-production; Matt’s company creates websites, apps, and more. Matt has created innovative and forward-thinking websites and videos for Fortune 500 companies, politicians, as well as small businesses. He has also been featured on TruTV, MTV, Comedy Central and Fox News. MattKingTV is one Edoc’s partners. Visit Matt King’s website or connect with him on Facebook. What’s your current location? Between Ohio (hometown) and Ball State University. One of the things that is most impressive about you is how much you’ve already accomplished in your career. Readers will probably be surprised to learn that you are actually still in college at Ball State, pursuing a degree in Emerging Media with a minor in Business. Can you give us some background for how you go to where you are today? I actually spent about a year and a half doing videos and website for free to get some great experience behind me. I did that in the political world, and every commercial I created—the candidate in that commercial, ended up winning! I turned 18, and I filed to become an official company. At the time, I was averaging probably a video every week. Fast-forward to today, and it’s expanded beyond video, and I’m looking to bring on actual employees. If you could pinpoint some of the reasons why you’ve had so much success, and how you’ve been able to grow so quickly, what would some of those reasons be? My age does not hold me back from getting new business—in fact, it ends up helping since brands and companies recognize how my generation is so in touch with the digital world, and we’re comfortable with emerging media, and digital technology in all its forms. I also have a strength in that I’m able to translate some of the more technical language and the vision behind a video. So while tech people are known for what they do, sometimes they might not be as strong at being able to translate what’s happening, and where things are headed, to a client. I’ve found that I can do that, and then go home at the end of the day, and go to town on the work! Speaking of getting to work, tell us about how you manage your work typically. I have a different focus, generally, each day of the week. I have my normal morning routine, and then I’ll go to the studio and work on anywhere from one to three or more clients in any given day. I’m in the computer room, and get done what I need to get done! I’m also able to bring in fellow students, and they bring their skills to the table, and they get some experience. If it’s a brand new project I am just starting, I will be researching the client, the target audience, that kind of thing. If I’m going after entirely new clients, that’s a different day. I might recreate their website for them, and then we go in and offer them a complete package. [caption id="attachment_800" align="alignright" width="407"] Matt King, founder of MattKingTV, shares how he’s mastered remote working.[/caption] That gives you a holistic view of what my week could look like, and I’m really always thinking of the next thing–I may have something I need extra help on, and I’m thinking about the details. I like to think 10 or 15 steps ahead—so, it’s “what are we doing the next month?” That’s how I thrive. Being that you have multiple projects going on at once, and clients that are across the US, what are the tools you are using to best collaborate right now? Communication-wise, I’m more of a phone call guy. I also can do project updates by email, and I’m mobile so that lets me communicate wherever I am. I’m building an in-house system where my clients can login and view the current status of projects, so they can comment and make changes on and ongoing basis, all in one place, and upload documents we need for the project. I also use text message, Google Docs, and use Google Calendar to layout the week with my team. Since we create so many videos, YouTube itself is also a major platform we use in managing workflow. When we finish a video, I upload it to a private link, and then clients are able to access it. We have done Skype meetings before, but it’s not a primary platform we are using. You use an iPhone. What’s your favorite app right now? My favorite app is actually Stock Wars. They give you fake money to start with, and it’s aligned with the current stock market numbers each day, and you can invest stocks and see how well you’ve done with your fake investment choices. It’s a learning tool for me, and I’m actually in the top 5 percent of all stock holders, which is more than 160,000 people. Which leads to our next question: what’s your favorite app that you’ve developed—at least that you can tell us about right now? Golf Apps is a big one for me right now. It’s an app designed for private golf courses. We have designed custom features for them, including the current weather on the course, how busy the course is, and it even serves as a digital scorecard. You can email it, or save a photo of your scorecard, or you can even order your food while you are out on the course. Say that you are on the 16th hole. You can order your food, and by the time you are done golfing the food is ready for you! It is not available for sale in app store yet, but will be in the near future. So now that we know your favorite apps, what’s your one piece of technology that you can’t live without? I would say just my iMac in general…in part because I use Final Cut Pro, and the Adobe Suite. I take my iMac with me almost everywhere. It really does have everything I need. I can do video editing, and also make apps from it. It’s robust, fast and simple, so it’s exactly what I need. What’s something that might surprise people to hear about MattKingTV? With this whole new digital world, there are a lot of companies out there are running contests, especially video contests. By entering these contests, I’ve actually won an iPad, a MacBook Pro, cameras, and more, just from the contests brands are putting out there! So I like to think my work really does pay for itself! That’s pretty great. You’ve said how you are comfortable with working virtually with various clients. What’s the hardest thing about working virtually that you have to manage? The biggest challenge is that some of that personal connection can go away in certain situations. The virtual world is more efficient, though. And you can reach, and work with, more people. It’s actually easier to do that, as well. You can CC them in an email, or simply add them to a GoToMeeting, and not everyone has to be in one place to meet. If someone has a question for me, I’m able to be more responsive and get them that information they are requesting quickly. A face-to-face meeting, even though it might be more personal, does not have to exist for me to create and execute on some great ideas. Speaking of being efficient, what are some of the systems you’ve created to stay so productive? Actually some of the projects I create, I don’t actually have to go out and film the entire thing. I recognized early on, I had the ability to start developing my own stock footage that I could then re-use at later points. So almost every time I am out shooting for a project, I’m able to create some new stock footage I can put into my own database I’ve been building. Then later on, it’s more efficient for me, and it helps my company because I have great footage to work with—and I already own it! Otherwise, I would potentially have to re-shoot everything. In the end, when it is a fit for a certain project, it ends up expediting the project, which is beneficial as well. What do you do to disconnect, or unplug, from work? I work all the time—I love it! When I’m not working, I’m thinking of the next great idea. Every Saturday, we go bowling, so that’s a break, and that let’s me get away from work! I like to go out to eat with friends, and I love to watch movies. I’ll also go to the gym to relieve stress. Church is another thing for me on Thursdays and Sundays. Everyone who lives in my dorm is majoring in Emerging Media. Or, at the very least, they are interested in what I am interested in, so you could say that it can be hard for me to ‘get away’ from work…I’m really living this 24-7 right now. 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