Danny Greene (Twin Cities Videographer)

Danny Greene is a videographer in the Twin Cities who helps blue-collar visionaries grow their businesses. 

A native of Hopkins, Greene grew up in a suburb that was composed of financial and ethnic diversity. 

“Hopkins High School was a microcosm of the world, in that I was constantly interacting with people of all demographics and socioeconomic classes,” Greene says. 

Outside the classroom, Greene exhibited early signs of entrepreneurism.

When he was eight years old, he sold cans of Coca-Cola at intersections. 

He later started a landscaping/mowing business so he could purchase a drum set.

After graduating from Hopkins High School, Greene crossed state borders and enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire to study business.

While in college, Greene continued to dabble in entrepreneurism.

He spent one summer sealing driveways and another painting houses. 

Four years later, Greene had life experience (his sophomore year he studied in China), and a degree. 

“Knowing what I know now though, I would have done things differently,” the Blugold alum admits.  

“I wish I would have spent more time learning how to be comfortable in my own skin, meaning school teaches you how to conform and follow the status quo, but anyone who is an entrepreneur knows that to be successful, you not only need to have a good product, but you also have to be comfortable being different.” 

Part of that development that Greene mentions includes possessing the ability to challenge yourself mentally and emotionally, and to defer the temptation to become entranced by the enticing yet limiting comforts of conventional employment.   

It’s at this point in our conversation that Greene pauses to reflect, before recalling a moment of inspiration.

“The Last Dance, the Michael Jordan documentary that came out during COVID, that hit deep for me,” he says.

“I remember thinking that I wanted to be as passionate about something as Michael Jordan was about basketball.” 

Adds Greene:

“I never wanted to be stuck at a job where I was just one part of a much bigger machine. I didn’t want to be replaceable.”

Of course, wanting to be irreplaceable to the marketplace is an easier said than done endeavor.

Greene had an LLC for a commercial cleaning company, and even though sanitizing workspaces didn’t stimulate the right hemisphere of Greene’s brain, formulating a marketing and branding plan for the business did.

“Truthfully, I had no desire to clean buildings and operate a cleaning business. I was just obsessed with devising a marketing strategy and building a brand,” the current Long Lake resident reveals. 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Greene never moved forward with his commercial cleaning business, but he did pivot into the multimedia space and began offering marketing services to local contractors in the Twin Cities. 

“At the time, I had a drone, and I just started calling contractors to see if I could do before and after photos of their jobs,” Greene cites as the genesis of his videography career. 

Ten phone calls later, Greene had secured five clients, and just like that, a passion was born. 

Over the course of the next year, Greene branched off into helping real estate professionals, but it wasn’t long before he niched down into helping contractors exclusively.

For context, many contractors, while capable craftsmen, struggle with marketing their business, which routinely leads to opportunities in that space for talented creatives like Greene to capitalize on.

More specifically, Greene helps contractors in the Twin Cities create content centered around sales, marketing, culture, and hiring.  

At present, Greene’s packages begin at $1,500, and increase in price depending on the quantity and depth that his clients are looking for.  

“The power of video is that you get to show what you do,” Greene emphasizes.  

With a background in sales and marketing, Greene is a certified professional, his attire and appearance more corner office than urban hostel, and that becomes evident when one views his work. 

“Before getting into videography, all my time was spent learning about how business works, and as a result I have a really good idea of what my clients need, in terms of profitability,” Greene explains. 

“When someone hires me, they are hiring me for my expertise, meaning I make the entire process as seamless as possible. My clients don’t have to come up with ideas or storyboard out video concepts. They just have to give me a little bit of a baseline and then I can take it from there.”

As for the future, Greene wants to continue helping Twin Cities contractors by creating videos that move the needle.

He adds, “I love stories, so being able to one day do a branded documentary for a massive brand like Redbull, that would be cool.” QS

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