Grow Your Video Business

We all want to be big business moguls like Mark Cuban or Steven Spielberg. We all want to scale our businesses to the upper echelons. But first we have take tiny steps before the big leaps, and to do that, we need to surround ourselves with people we can lean on, rely on, and laugh with. Do you have those people? Dan and Dana of Gnarly Bay are a team of young and ambitious filmmakers that make unique, honest and quirky videos that evoke human emotion and inspire. Today we discuss where they started from and how they have grown their business to the stage it is today. We speak in depth about how slow growth can be more beneficial to a company then the fast track effect and how passion projects can ultimately lead you to high paying clients. Do you want to grow your business? Do you need to make that next move but are fearful? Are you super passionate about your personal projects but don’t see how it can lead to big paying gigs? Leave a comment below the post!   In this episode: How can passion projects turn into real money? Why is slow growth much better for you and the business? Is it beneficial to go into business with your best friend? How to approach risk taking with your film business?   Quotes: “Letting go of some of the reigns that we held on so to tightly, we started to realize that ‘Oh, this is actually amazing, to have some people to lean on, to help.” “If you tell an interesting story that can connect to a brand with their viewers in some sort of abstract, unique way, then there is an opportunity to do more work of that sort that you can kinda control the creative process of.” “You have to do things that may be difficult but at least when you look back, those things just stand out amongst everything else.”   Links: Check out Gnarly Bay’s work online Follow Gnarly Bay on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook Rambo Day Paper Towel Artist Video Tape Artist Video   

If you’re like me, and most other creative business owners, you’re really good at starting projects, but not always at finishing through on them. You have a ton of amazing ideas but most of them never get acted upon, and it feels like if only you could find the time to actually implement these thoughts your business would be unstoppable. If that sounds familiar, this is completely normal. You’re most likely what Mark Winters calls a visionary. Mark is the co-author of a book called Rocket Fuel, where he and his co-author Gino Wickman detail the two essential roles that need to be filled for any business to truly thrive. As we discuss, most business owners and entrepreneurs are Visionaries, people who excel at coming up with ideas, but often lack the focus to follow through on the details and execution. That’s where the Implementer comes in. As visionaries, these are the people we need to hold us accountable, and who excel at seeing that the grand ideas get put into practice in our businesses. Mark and I talk about how to know when it’s time to seek out an implementor, how to find and make use of one in your business - even if that business only consists of you, and some common hiring mistakes small businesses make, along with a ton of other insight. Does the visionary role resonate with you? Have you ever hired someone who fit perfectly into the Integrator role? What results did that have on your business?  In this episode: The difference between visionaries and implementers and why both are essential in successful businesses and partnerships How to know when you need to start looking for an integrator, and what characteristics you should be looking for How to make the integrator/visionary model work even in a small 1 or 2 person company Why you can’t only hire people that you like and resonate with, and some of the consequences Quotes: “It’s so hard for us to realize that all the stuff that drives us nuts, there’s actually somebody out there, that’s what they love!” [14:19] “It’s the simple math problem that says, ‘If I can pay $25/hr to have somebody do that and I can get an hour, what can I do with that? What could I generate with that hour?’ It’s probably way more than $25, and worst case it’s an hour of freedom.” [17:56]   Links Find Mark online Follow Mark on Twitter @markcwinters Find Rocket Fuel on Amazon and AudibleTraction by Gino Wickman 

What’s the first thing you think of when I mention the word “lawyer”? It’s ok, you can come out from under the bed. I know most of us creatives are easily scared off by the thought of lawyers, contracts, accounting and the like. We’ve all heard about hourly rates that are waaaay out of our price range, and we work with such great people that we’ll never actually need a contract to enforce to protect ourselves. Right? Colleen Bezich is not only a practicing attorney specializing in helping creatives with legal issues pertaining to their business, but a filmmaker herself. She knows how we think as creatives and is joins us on the podcast to bust some of the myths most of us have around the legal aspects of our business. I can’t even believe how many notes I took during the recording of this episode, covering everything from what type of business structure we should be set up as, what to include in our contracts to not only protect ourselves, but actually earn more money, to how to find cheap or even free legal services. Colleen also shares some eye-opening stories about creatives she’s worked with who were bailed out by having their legal ducks in a row, and some who faced some severe consequences as a result of relying off of supposedly cheaper online or crowdsourced legal advice. This might be one of the most important episodes we’ve put out to date, so strap yourself in. What’s your experience with contracts or legal services? Do you have any crazy stories of times when you were either glad you were protected or wished you were? Let us know in the comments! *** We just want to mention again, that all of the information Colleen provides is general knowledge and is NOT specifically tailored to your personal business. Alway get a lawyer familiar with your situation to help with any specific questions you might have! *** In this episode: Sole Proprietorship vs S Corp vs LLC: Which one is best for your business? How to view freelancers/interns/employees, and where many of us get it wrong Some specific clauses you might want to consider adding into your standard contracts, some of which can even help you earn more money! What to ask a prospective lawyer when looking for legal advice How to find cheap or free legal services Soooooo much more amazing information that doesn’t get talked about enough. Just listen to the episode! Quotes: “Sole proprietorship is the route that most people go to because it involves literally no real filings with the IRS or otherwise, it’s easiest, it’s the least costly way to operate. That is until you get sued. I don’t advise anyone who’s looking to turn their side gig or hustle into a legitimate business enterprise to sit as a sole proprietorship for long at all” [14:54] “How the IRS make their classifications [on freelancers/employees/interns] is very different than what most small business owners look at when they’re classifying people.” [19:42]

Do you ever feel like if only you could convince your wedding clients to get rid of the photographer on the wedding day your job would be so much easier, and your films would come out better? As videographers, most of us have felt this way at some point. But as today’s guest, Sachin Khona points out, the problem is not that there’s a photographer there vying for the same angles and moments as we are, it’s the fact that we don’t communicate and collaborate enough to help the day flow smoothly. In fact, approaching the day collaboratively with another creative can often lead to different angles and shots than we might capture on our own. Sachin is a Vancouver based wedding, portrait and street photographer who also puts on an annual conference in his hometown called The ARC Experience geared towards wedding photographers. He’s heard all the complaints from both videographers and photographers about working with each other, and shares some of his tips for how to ensure the wedding day goes smoothly and everyone gets what they need. He also breaks down how he transitioned out of his corporate job into photography, after realizing that while he was supposedly working the perfect job at one of the best companies in the world, he still wasn’t happy. What’s the best experience you’ve had working with a wedding photographer? What made it so great? Let us know in the comments! In this episode: Some tips to ensure the wedding day goes smoothly when working with other creatives How to set the the tone for the rest of the wedding day right off the bat, and why this is essential The blueprint for how Sachin left his corporate job to pursue wedding photography Why you NEED to educate the client on your style and what it takes to achieve it Quotes: “What I’m trying to when I first meet a couple is, I don’t really want to try too hard to sell what I do. It’s really about us connecting, and seeing if our personalities and our vibe and our energies match. I’m definitely not trying to convince them at that stage to like my work as a photographer.” [18:31] “I feel like the really critical part definitely is the morning, because it sets the tone. Making an effort to connect with the photographer, videographer etc. [beforehand] is cool.” [28:11] “There’s people who do amazing work, but I can’t really refer them because I’ve working with them and I know actually how they are on a wedding day.” [32:47]

I know as well as anyone that it’s only too easy to focus on the tactical, hands on aspects of dealing with clients, chipping away at the never-ending to do list, and practicing our craft in an effort to maintain and grow our businesses. The thing is that when we do this, we often tend to get sucked in, overwhelmed, and burned out. Adrian Koehler is a performance coach who helps high-level entrepreneurs and teams improve their mental fitness and approach to business so that they can achieve the results they’re working towards. He has a history working as a crisis responder, and working with inmates in the prison system to improve their outlook on life. He’s found that with all of his clients, much of the struggle comes from the filters they view life through, and the stories they construct to explain their reality, many of which are not only not true, but are actively limiting our potential. Today we talk about how to maintain a healthy outlook that will not only help us achieve our business goals but help us lead a fulfilling life as well. We also talk about what burnout really is and how we can combat it, along with a ton of other insights from Adrian. Have you struggled with burnout, comparing yourself to your competition, or mental fitness? What did you do to work through it? Let us know in the comments! In this episode: How to identify false stories we might be telling ourselves and the filters through which we view and engage with the world The value of intergenerational friendships and relationships Why comparing yourself to your competition will only drag you down and keep you from success What is burnout really and how can we deal with it? The small practice that Adrian does every morning to set the tone for his days and keep him on track throughout the day Quotes: “If we can get our minds right we can get our actions right, and when we get our actions right we get new results in our lives” [6:57] “I always assert that whatever we have in our lives, we want it on some level. Otherwise we’d do something else.” [23:44] “I don’t think your highest potential will come out if all you’re trying to do is replicate what somebody else is.” [35:17]

If you’ve been hanging around Sherpa land for a while, you know how passionate we are about building teams around ourselves so that we can live the lives we want and not be overwhelmed by our work, no matter how much we love it. Jordan Bunch is an Austin-based wedding filmmaker, and host of the Wedding Film Academy Podcast, who realized early on that by hiring a team, he could free up the time to be a better husband, father, neighbor, and person, focussing on the things that are really important to him in life. He didn’t stop there though. After hiring his first editor and seeing the impact on his business, he ran with it, and created two separate wedding film brands, both with unique approaches to the business. He shares today which roles in his team he feels are most important, how to build a team that you can trust and rely on, and getting over the fears a lot of us have around letting go of doing everything ourselves.   In this episode: Why Jordan created a second wedding brand not associated with his name How to get over the fear of our employees leaving us to start their own businesses after we’ve trained them How Jordan gets his name out there for both of his brands How to build a healthy team culture and support them in their growth Quotes: “Doing this team model really supplies me with an opportunity to live the life I want to live.” [5:02] “Positive reinforcement is just so much more effective than negative criticism. I’ve really been working on, as much as possibly to hardly ever say anything that is negative to my team… People live into the reality of what you paint them to be.” [12:21]

Have you ever heard the phrase “content is king”? It’s a phrase that is sold to creatives the world over encouraging them to continue to put their best work. We’re told that if we do, sooner or later, we’ll catch our break and get discovered. The thing is, it’s not enough. Sure we need to be putting out quality work, but our work alone, no matter how good it is, will rarely get us where we want to go. Joe Simon has been working as a filmmaker and DP for 20 years. He transitioned from starting out as a professional BMX rider and filmmaker focusing on action sports, to a successful and in demand wedding film company, and then again transitioned into a commercial and corporate film brand. He now travels the world shooting TV shows for networks like CBS and CNN, and workign with brands such as Norwegian Cruise Line, TD Ameritrade, Oakley, and many, many others. Today, Joe shares how even after 10 years working in film, when he started his commercial brand The Delivery Guys, he still fell victim to the creative bias, and quickly found out that great work alone wasn’t enough to attract the clients he wanted to work with. He tells us how you should be getting your work out to the right people to see, how to build a killer reel by utilizing your current jobs, and a whole bunch more. If you’re looking for advice from someone who’s lived it, Joe is the guy. In this episode: • How to handle hiring freelance editors to get the best results • Joe’s approach to capturing extra content on your current shoots and repurposing it to pitch to corporate and commercial clients • The ups and downs of travel jobs and how to prepare for them • Where Joe would begin if he were starting over again today • How to effectively market your work and get the right people to see it Quotes: “The Delivery Men was created off of b-roll content from weddings.” [18:27] “I think in general you just have to really hustle a lot, and to get work, it’s hard. When I first launched this company in 2012, I built the website and built the reel, and I thought that work would just show up, and it didn’t. It was a realization that no one knows who we are in this world, and so really having to get out and hit the street and build a network.” [25:00] “You have to have a network first before you can just get people to watch something.” [28:29]

Do you ever find yourself watching TV, and when a commercial for a big national or even international brand comes on, find yourself thinking, “I could’ve shot that.” Many of us believe we have what it takes to produce that same quality of work, but we have absolutely no idea about what it takes to break into the world of commercial advertising. If that sounds like you, do we ever have a treat for you today. Raj Dhillon is a freelance commercial TV producer from Toronto who works with some small brands you might have heard of like Heineken, Toyota, and oh, yeah McDonalds. Today she joins us on the podcast to walk us through everything we need to know if we would like to get established in the world of commercial advertising. She breaks down the entire process from concept to finished product, the people involved, and where we fit into the puzzle. She also lets us in on who exactly we need to be networking with, what producers like her are looking for in the reels we submit, and she also shares her story of barging her way into the advertising world. Trust me, you’re going to want to be paying attention to what Raj is sharing with us today. What’s your experience with commercial work? Have you managed to land any clients big or small? Is this something that you aspire towards, and if so what do you see standing in your way? Let us know in the comments! In this episode: What large agencies are looking for in your demo reel Exactly who you need to be networking with in the ad space The entire process of creating a TV commercial, and where video producers like us fit in Some incredible tips on how you can develop an applicable reel even if you’ve never been hired to shoot a big commercial Quotes: “I finally just was like, ‘This guy’s never going to hire me unless he meets me.’ Because he just kept kind of dragging it out. So I booked a flight, flew out, stayed with an uncle and just showed up at their office basically, and forced myself into an interview.” [20:53] “You could edit together a beautiful 2-minute or 5-minute reel, but it doesn’t really necessarily show me that you can tell me a story in 30 seconds.” [32:54]

Quick question for you. If you wanted to take 8 weeks to volunteer in South America with limited wifi, is your business set up in a way that you could do it? If you’re anything like me, and most small film companies out there, I’m guessing the answer is no, and if that’s the case, then this is the perfect episode for you. Shannon Avery is the founder of Hoo Films, a California-based wedding film company currently shooting around 75 weddings per year all over the world. In addition to traveling for work however, Shannon routinely will take a few weeks off at a time to travel and recharge her creative batteries. Oh, and yeah, she’s planning on taking that 2 month trip to South America this winter, managing her team remotely. She didn’t always have the flexibility to do this however. Over the past 5 years she’s built her team in such a way to allow her the flexibility and freedom that she needs. She shares her secrets and processes that have allowed her to create the business that she always wanted (and the one a lot of us aspire to). We also dive deep into why it’s so important to take time to recharge and disconnect from work, whether that be for a couple hours a day, one day a week, week long vacations, or more. Recharging doesn’t always mean traveling the world like it does for Shannon, and it’s vital that you find out what that means for you. What activities allow you to come back to work fresh and ready to create? How have you set up your business to allow space for those activities? In this episode: •How Shannon was able to market herself to attract destination work •Why you need to define your systems and processes even if you don’t currently have a team, and why it’s even more important if you do •How to be intentional about building a team that will give you what you want from your business •The practical difference that being fresh and recharged has on your business •How Shannon’s business allows her to travel for 2 months at a time while the business carries on as usual Quotes: “I’m fine with being a workaholic, but I’m not fine with not having a life.” [12:57] “The minute that you decide to take a paycheck for this, is the minute that you really should start asking yourself how you are going to be the most efficient.” [26:30] Find the original post at: podcast.studiosherpas.com

Ok, so first off I want to share that Matt and I were called out by one of our followers a couple of weeks ago about the lack of women we have on the podcast. This was by no means an intentional decision but rather a result of us just being better networked with male filmmakers and educators. We’re super appreciative of the feedback and we’re going to be making a much greater effort to find talented, strong, female filmmakers who can bring a different perspective to what has traditionally been a male-dominated industry (although not for long!) Jennifer Moon is the founder of Northernlight Filmworks, as well as The Posh Retreat, an annual conference focussed on women filmmakers and photographers that is going into its seventh year this fall. After 11 years in the film industry, she noticed how at pretty much every conference, the majority of speakers were male, and if there was a woman on stage, she was likely accompanied (and perhaps talked over) by her husband. As a passionate educator, she realized that there was a gap that needed filling and the annual retreat was born. Today we talk about the importance of continuing to educate ourselves as our businesses grow, some of the struggles female filmmakers face working in this industry, the first task you should be outsourcing when you’re starting out, and a whole lot more. We’d love to hear from our female listeners. What challenges do you come up against on a daily or weekly basis in this industry? Which women in the film industry do you look up to that we should be reaching out to to have on the show? Let us know in the comments! * For all of our female listeners, you can get a $50 discount off of The Posh Retreat by using the discount code: sherpa50 *  In this episode: • Why education is one of the most important investments we can make • How to find a good bookkeeper and why this might be the most important task for you to outsource • You’ll never believe how long Jen waited to upgrade her cameras, and her mentality behind it • Some struggles women in the industry face that men might not be aware of Find the full post at podcast.studiosherpas.com