Grow Your Video Business with Ryan Koral

Do you find yourself dreading doing something that you're supposed to love, something that you originally got into because of passion that's now faded? As Zack Arnold explains on today's episode, there's more to leading a successful life, putting out great, original work, and just plain feeling good than the work itself. Today he's going to share with us how to optimize our lives and cultivate our creativity. Zack is an award-winning Hollywood film editor, working on shows such as Empire, Burn Notice and Glee, and has also created Optimize Yourself, a program to help people maximize their creativity, output and well-being. He shows us how by examining our current behaviors, and pinpointing the habits in our lives that lead to destructive thoughts which can inhibit our ability to maximize our creativity, we can start to turn the ship around. Things we as creatives often don't consider, or think of as non-important like diet, exercise and sleep can have a drastic impact on the quality of the work we're putting out, and ultimately our ability to put out any work at all. By analyzing your habits and tendencies, Zack believes that you can have a life measured by your own version of success. Zack has a ton of energy, great stories, as well as tips and tricks of ways to develop your creativity and positively impact your business and your life. Have you ever struggled with burnout, creative fatigue, unhealthy lifestyle, or any of the other symptoms Zack mentioned? If you got through them, what did it take to turn it around? If you're there now, what resonated most with you from this episode? Let us know in the comments yo! In This Episode: The importance of moving and staying in motion to increase your creativity How to ignore the toxic culture of deprivation-praising in the film industry The disease of multitasking and how it is killing your productivity and focus Learn the magic formula to help you time block Quotes: "The first warning sign is, are you still enjoying what you are doing? For me, there is nothing more magical than sitting in front of an empty timeline and having a bunch of random stuff that I have to put together with colored blocks. I essentially get to play a game of Tetris all day with people's emotions." (17:40) "The key is to define your version of success. People say, 'success for me is high profile stuff and making a lot of money' and that's great. But do you realize the process you have to go through every single day to get to that point and are you willing to adjust your lifestyle to that?" (21:01) "Success isn't a destination, success is a series of habitual actions every single day. Success is a habit." (26:12) "Think about how you can optimize your creativity. Because my creativity is the number one investment I have in myself." (35:15) Links: Optimize Yourself Follow Optimize Yourself on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn Check out the full show notes page Stay up to date with everything we're doing at Studio Sherpas Tune into our weekly Facebook Lives Find out how Video Blocks can save you thousands on your productions!

If you've ever participated in a business partnership, you know that it takes a TON of work to make sure all partners are on the same page, mitigate conflicts, divvy up tasks, and on and on and on. In this episode, Matt & I dive into our experience as partners in Studio Sherpas, and share a big announcement about the future of the community. We've always seen each other as friends first, business partners second. And after two and a half years of working, it is time to take a moment to reflect on what's helped us get this far, some of the challenges we've faced including lessons learned from mistakes along the way, and why it's so crucial to constantly be making sure your priorities are in order when it comes to your business and the rest of your life. Listen in for a brief history of Studio Sherpas, and an announcement from Matt about the future of the podcast. We will also discuss how working smarter is always better than working harder, and how influential the Studio Sherpas community is. Do you have any stories - good or bad - about business partnerships you've been involved in? Let us know in the comments! In This Episode: A big announcement about the future of Studio Sherpas (don't worry, it's not bad!) The pros and cons of business partnerships and what it takes to make them work How our relationship has helped us grow and create an engaged community Why it's up to you as the leader of your team to constantly be setting the tone Why you always need to be checking in with your priorities in life and business Quotes: "Knowing that there weren't a lot of video conferences left anymore, because we attended all of them, we decided to create an online consulting coaching business where we can help videographers and filmmakers who are trying to take a go at this business, and Studio Sherpas was born." (6:09) "The involvement I have had in Studio Sherpas has helped me grow as a person and as a business owner." (9:05) "Knowing personalities, knowing what makes people tick, knowing how to put people in the right seats, it is something we have learned and we had to learn it together as partners" (14:35) "The quote that stands out to me is, 'you don't learn until you launch'. I can't imagine not having launched Studio Sherpas, and not having this community of people that we have gotten to know and grow with. It's been beautiful, it's been amazing, it's been tough. But it's been so good and so rich and I am taking many life lessons away. I can't wait to see the podcast continue." (26:11) Links: Check out the full show notes page Stay up to date with everything we're doing at Studio Sherpas Tune into our weekly Facebook Lives Find out how Video Blocks can save you thousands on your productions!

Today we sit down with someone I've looked up to in the production world for a long time, Jem Schofield. Jem created TheC47, a full-service production company and educational resource focused on teaching the craft of video production and filmmaking. He has a 22-year long career, beginning by creating brand focused web content and eventually finding his passion in video production. Jem has a wide range of knowledge of everything production related, and shares this information with his YouTube viewers, clients, and with us here today! The long-term success of TheC47 is due to the fact that Jem has always had a clear vision for his brand and what he wants to produce, starting as an educational platform, and growing to focus on filmmaking, production, consulting and education. By combining his unique teaching style with consistency and passion, he creates memorable content and shares his expertise with other small-to-no crew production teams. He believes that you must be passionate about what you are creating for it to translate to your audience, and shares his advice on how to turn that passion into a career. Listen in as Jem discusses the pros and cons of working in-house and out of house, how to create lasting relationships with clients, and which red flags to look out for as an independent content creator. Find out why working smarter is better than working harder, and how to make informed decisions about why you are using specific equipment, on today's episode. In This Episode: Where the video industry is heading and how you fit into it Why corporate doesn't always mean boring Discover the gear "must haves" for on the go production How to weed through the companies who just aren't ready to commit and find clients who are ready to have you produce and pay up Quotes: "As time went on, I realized that there was a sort of black hole surround production based education, and C47 seemed like a natural progression." [4:14] "It is not an all hope is lost situation, there will never be less screens in the world, and someone has go to create content for those screens." [13:43] "We are not the solution to a marketing department, but we need to understand what a company's brand stands for, who their target audience is, and help them strategize to create content that is appropriate and going to elicit a response from whomever that audience is." [16:03] "We are here to create brand-specific content that fits within a marketing strategy and it is absolutely our job to create a dialogue which could bring things in a different direction" [21:25] Links: TheC47 Follow TheC47 on YouTube | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter Check out the full show notes page Stay up to date with everything we're doing at Studio Sherpas Tune into our weekly Facebook Lives Find out how Video Blocks can save you thousands on your productions!

Are you willing to be weird, risky, and brave enough to make films you produce come alive? Today's guest does all of those things plus a lot more when it comes to the documentaries she directs, produces, and, sometimes, edits herself. She shares with us what it takes to create moving feature-length films, from the artistic to the funding, and everything in between. Mo Scarpelli is a director, producer, and cinematographer for documentaries that explore human identity and the forces that inform, conflict, and construe it. Her award-winning debut feature-length documentary, Frame by Frame, has been screened all over the world and her writing, short documentaries, and photojournalism have been published with top names like The New Yorker, BBC, CNN, and The Wall Street Journal. She's a no-nonsense, raw, authentic creator who embraces her "weird" and it's no surprise that she makes some amazing work because of it. We get into the ins and outs of getting grants for your films and why America isn't the best place to get them, what the first step is when you are deciding on a film project idea, and why collaboration allows you to focus on your strongest skill set, keeps you accountable and on track, and is the best way to maintain your happiness and sanity throughout the entire filmmaking process. If you are struggling with an idea or trying to take on everything yourself then this will be an eye-opening episode for you. Do you feel like you take enough risks in your passion projects and films? What project has made you feel the most alive and fulfilled? Leave us a comment below! In this episode: Why not knowing everything before diving into a project can actually breed creativity and can create your biggest successes The importance of knowing your who your ideal clients are and how that directly relates to your happiness and business success How truly amazing films are made through teamwork and why filmmaking is inherently collaborative Why building relationships and connecting with people will get you more work than any film reel or marketing you have in place The ins and outs of getting funding for your films How to get started with a new film project idea How being a woman filmmaker has affected her career Quotes: "A lot of my creativity comes from 'I don't know anything,' and it's the discovery of 'I have a question about the world,' and my films are really the act of trying to discover the answer to that question. And I probably never get an answer because the world is complicated and beautiful in that way but striving for that answer is usually what my independent films...that's the journey of it. And, that's what makes it so emotional and cathartic, and hopefully, that shows in the films." (8:58) " Creative collaboration is very beautiful but it is also very dicey and varied because if you are truly doing something that you feel in your bones that you need to do and want to make and it's coming from your soul, then the people you are collaborating with, they need to be on your level when it comes to how you think and how you communicate." (18:20) "Choose one thing even if it's for one year, if you're like I really want to be a DP, then go be a DP for a year and see if you love it and if you don't then pick another role. Don't do the 'I have to do everything all myself' because not only are you selling yourself short in the work because you probably aren't going to be really great at anything if you do it that way. On top of that, you are missing out on this really cool part about filmmaking which is that it's inherently collaborative." (23:30) "My biggest advice on starting a project is if you have an idea for a story you need to go out and find out if that idea is worth spending a lot of years of your life on." (38:48) Links: Mo Scarpelli Follow Mo on Facebook｜Twitter｜Instagram｜Vimeo Rake Films Follow Rake Films on Facebook｜Twitter｜Instagram Frame by Frame Check out the full show notes page Stay up to date with everything we're doing at Studio Sherpas Tune into our weekly Facebook Lives

Most of us think we know what marketing is, and are all too familiar with the not-so-great feelings many of us as creatives feel in the pits of our stomach when thinking about how to "market" ourselves. But what if we have it all wrong? Today's guest flips the notions we have of what marketing means and what it entails on their face, and boils it down to two very simple but powerful words. Human Connection. Chad Brown is owner and creator of Shade Tree Films but still prefers the moniker storyteller to filmmaker even after over a decade in the business. Another title that he should have is marketing maven and boy does he deliver today. We get into it right off the bat where when he redefined marketing and what it should really be for creatives, gives us tips on what we should jump into right away when it comes to marketing, and even breaks down exactly what it takes to connect with people and how you can redefine your business and yourself through that practice. We also dive deep into core values, how you define them, why they need defining, how they can be crucial to your growth professionally and personally, and what you can expect when you go against them. This is an episode that we ALL really need to hear because it is insanely valuable and can have immediate positive results within your business and life. What are your core values as a person and as a business? How did you come up with them and how have they helped you both personally and professionally? Have you noticed what happens when you don't honor them? Leave us a comment! In this episode: How creatives should be marketing themselves One simple thing you should be doing at the end of every project to improve your business and get more of the clients you want Why marketing and branding may be more important than your work itself A few things you should jump into right away when it comes to marketing How can you truly connect with people and why that's important How defining your core values, both professionally and personally, is crucial to your growth The importance of clear, defined, and respected boundaries with your clients Quotes: "It's been a journey learning what marketing is, and it seemed like every time I thought I'd figure out what marketing was, the next couple of days, next couple of months, or the next year, I'd figure out that that's not actually what it is and there is something so much deeper with marketing." (9:04) "Connection only happens through transparency and vulnerability, if there is anything else in the mix, there are going to be stumbling blocks to that connection." (15:00) "What these core values became was actually a measuring stick. So, what happens is when the potential of a job comes in or a new client, new project, something like that, we have the opportunity to take that job, or opportunity, or that project and measure it against these five core values and as long as a project is aligned with these five core values it's a great fit." (26:59) "It's often hard to identify the places in which you can improve and the only way you can find out how you can improve for your future clients, in my opinion, is finding out from your current or past clients where you can improve." (44:37) Links: Shade Tree Films Follow Shade Tree Films on social media: Facebook ｜Vimeo ｜Youtube Follow Chad Brown on Instagram Check out the full show notes page Stay up to date with everything we're doing at Studio Sherpas Tune into our weekly Facebook Lives

If you've been listening to Studio Sherpas for long, you know we believe that the greatest investment you can make is in the people you surround yourself with. As creatives, many of us get an uneasy feeling when we hear the word "networking" but as today's guest explains, real networking can be filled with heart, personality, and true, genuine connection. Mike Kim is a marketing consultant, communications strategist, and copywriter who loves nothing more than giving back to the world through his podcast and conferences. His insights into what the number one thing you need to do to properly market yourself, his tips and tricks on connecting with influencers right from the start, and how you can stand out from the crowd to get yourself remembered, are priceless. Mike also dives into why being a "connector" can ultimately lead to your biggest successes, and how you absolutely need to learn one critical skill every year if you want to level up your business. You will love hearing Mike speak because everything he says is actionable today and can lead to results quickly. What is the critical skill you are learning in 2018? How will this skill help your business overall? Leave us a comment below! In this episode: How learning a new critical skill each year will truly level up your business The power behind forward oriented questions in conversation (and what the heck those are) How to connect and build relationships with influencers Why giving back can lead you to more success than you can imagine Mike's "Strategic Selfie" trick to standing out and getting yourself remembered at conferences and networking events The #1 thing you need to do to market yourself properly How do you begin telling your story as a brand Quotes: "Everyone who is in business for themselves in a thought leadership brand or creative brand, they have mastered at least one thing. It doesn't mean that you're the best in the works but that's the best thing that you do. And, money flows towards mastery, that's how you make your living." (6:46) "Business is really, really simple. Business is nothing more than solving a problem for profit. And, if you are going to go into business for yourself you might as well solve a problem that you want to." (14:05) "It's all about that story. It's all about letting people know how you got into the business, what is it that drives you so that they can get to know you so that they can trust that you'll be around them shooting video. They are intimidated enough by the camera or any other creative pursuit." (41:24) Links: Mike's Website Follow Mike on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram Mike's Podcast, Brand You Influence and Impact Conference How to Market Yourself Blog Post Check out the full show notes page Stay up to date with everything we're doing at Studio Sherpas Tune into our weekly Facebook Lives

It's safe to say that as creatives, most of us absolutely we love what we do. But how much time to do we set aside to work on our businesses and not just solely focus on the work inside of our business. We would all love it if our work sold itself, but the fact of the matter is that we need to put just as much work into promotion, marketing, and maybe most importantly relationship building, as we do producing amazing work. Jason Wallis is the owner of Central Standard Productions which showcases his compelling still and motion images and his commercial films. He began his career as a commercial photographer but he fell in love with filmmaking when he was forced to make a pivot in his business. These days, his diverse skill set allows him to offer both services, often to the same clients, on the same projects. Jason gets real with us about the need to be authentic in your work and relationships with people, the importance of always to bettering yourself and your portfolio with spec work, and how to attract the agencies and clients that you really want to work with. Jason has some great insights into how you can cultivate your relationships to make them referral magnets for you, and shares with us some tips on how he's built up his incredible network. While relationship building and selling yourself and your skills can seem daunting and often overwhelming, Jason breaks it down so that you know how to come at it with professionalism and authenticity. How do you go about building your relationships in the industry? What do you find works the best and what has utterly failed? Let us know in the comments below! In this episode: The importance of professionalism on and off the set and why how you present yourself matters Jason's process to attract the right agencies and clients for you and your brand How to cultivating great relationships that lead to more and better work How to use your network to make connections that will lead to opportunities How to choose spec work projects strategically to get the work you want down the road Quotes: "We knew, #1, we wanted to take care of our crew, we wanted to take care of our client, and take care of our talent that is on set. So, there is a general way of treating people with respect and dignity and honor, and we want to take care of you, that was our #1 goal, always. And, with that mindset we always were successful." (10:56) "The local and regional stuff, it does become completely about trust. Most of my work was hired because someone knew me and trusted me versus, 'Hey this is an awesome piece of work that you have done.' In fact, a lot of people don't hire based on my work; they hire me based on me." (21:32) "I have learned from creative geniuses and some really bold clients that did some things that I just had a lot of fun doing and I was kinda along for the ride. So, now I want to take all that experience and say okay, who do I want to present myself as on a national stage." (32:49) Links: Jason Wallis Central Standard Productions Follow Jason on Facebook | Twitter Studio Sherpas Episode 44 w/ Gnarly Bay Check out the full show notes page Stay up to date with everything we're doing at Studio Sherpas Tune into our weekly Facebook Lives

You know how your to-do list just seems to keep growing endlessly, to the point where you know you'll never get everything (or even anything) on it done? Many of these tasks you know would move your business forward if you could only get to them, and yet there are never enough hours in the day or days in the week to sit down and knock them out. We feel ya, and today, we (Matt & Ryan) want to share with you how we've used creative hiring in our businesses to free up our time to focus on our strengths, while also taking care of the small things that are necessary to keep the businesses running smoothly, profitably, and effectively. When you think about hiring, you might immediately think about editors, shooters, and producers, which can seem daunting - and expensive. The truth is that there are probably 100 tasks in your business that could be hired out incredibly cheaply without committing to a monthly salary, which will save you time, and be done better than you would have yourself. We share some common misconceptions that keep video producers from hiring, how we got started building our teams, how we use virtual assistants and freelancers to take care of the minutiae associated with running a business, and how hiring out work could actually save you thousands and thousands of dollars. We'd love to hear what tasks you routinely hire out, or what's keeping you from outsourcing if you haven't yet. Let us know in the comments! In this episode: Different ways to hire that you might not have thought of before and the values of each role Our experiences of how our teams have actually saved us thousands of dollars Where to get started with your first hire, and how it's easier and cheaper than you're probably thinking How to hire a VA and which tasks you should consider outsourcing Quotes: Are you charging what you want to charge, are you making the kind of money you want to make? What is your hourly rate? And if you don't know that, then it's really easy to say, 'Well, of course I'm not going to hire an accountant, to do my accounting, because that's going to cost $1500 at the end of the year.' But, when you start thinking about how long does it take you to get all those papers together, and to start punching numbers into QuickBooks. If you want to charge $200 an hour for your time, would you ever pay an accountant $200/hr?" [7:53] What I was able to experience life wise, by not having to think about the numbers, and not having to keep track of all these things, but to have someone that was doing that for me was incredibly freeing, super life-giving. It's hard to put a number on that." [11:38] Links: Upwork Fiverr Studio Sherpas Episode 55: How To Set Goals That Will Grow Your Business In 2018 Check out the full show notes page Stay up to date with everything we're doing at Studio Sherpas

What are your tried and true ways to gain new clients? We're often so desperate for income that we grab at anything and everything without really asking "Is this project right for me?" or "Do I even really want to do this work?). Caleb Wojcik shares some tips on lining up work with clients you really want to work with, in his case, Pat Flynn and ConvertKit. Caleb Wojcik is the founder of the DIY Video Guy, Caleb Wojcik Films, and co-founder of Fizzle.co. His background includes a degree in business, and he can include Chris Guillebeau, the NFL, MLB and the Rose Bowl as clients. He started as a wedding film photographer but slowly grew his business to include a film production company, a podcast, and the many amazing courses he offers on DIY Video Guy. On today's episode, we dive deep into how to connect with the people you really want to work with, the different versions of networking and which will work best for your goals, and how to get recurring clients as opposed to one time gigs. Caleb's insights into the business mindset are priceless and can definitely help you to scale your business according to your needs while charging what you're worth. Things like raising prices can be scary and often intimidating but Caleb breaks it down in a way where you can do small things to help raise your perceived value so that you can increase your prices without the client batting an eye. What is your go-to method for finding new clients? Do you do more business through direct to client marketing, agencies or referrals? Leave a comment below! In the episode: How to connect with people you really want to work with How to make smart gear purchases When and how to grow your team sustainably Some great online tools to help your business How to get recurring clients instead of one-off's Steps you can take to increase your value and prices Quotes: "The biggest thing for me has been knowing the right people and building relationships years in advance of ever working with them... Try to get introduced but putting yourself in the same physical location or at events, like conferences, as other people that are doing cool stuff that's how I have built my network of clients even before I needed them." (7:02) "Two of my favorite things to do at a conference are to introduce people: So when you start to meet people and you meet a new person, introduce that person to someone that might overlap well with whatever it is they have going on because once you become that connector at an event, then people will kind of reciprocate in the same way and introduce you to people. And when I am ending a conversation with someone at an event or conference, I try to ask do you know of one person here that you think I should meet that would be perfect for X, Y or Z and then that gives you the next person to go talk to." (13:10) "Really investing in your peers, certain people at your level, in a few years those people are going to be speaking at events and those people are going to be starting companies that can hire you. So, that's kind of the process I have now." (14:35) "I think it is important to be confident in your pricing and if you do play the low pricing game you're just setting yourself up to compete with a bunch of other people as opposed to if your pricing yourself higher, typically those clients are better and you have less competition at that price point." (32:07) Links: DIY Guy Video Caleb Wojcik Films Fizzle.co Follow Caleb Wojcik on Youtube | Twitter | Instagram Asana Active Campaign Boomerang for Gmail Check out the full show notes page Stay up to date with everything we're doing at Studio Sherpas

How much do you focus on relationship building, not just with potential clients but with other vendors, filmmakers, and photographers? Do you use collaboration as part of your business strategy? Today we're talking to Josh and Serena Gooden about being a couple who works together, the power of collaborations, and setting yourself apart as a luxury brand. Josh is a luxury cinematographer and Serena a luxury photographer. Both focusing on luxury weddings and corporate videos, they have separate businesses but also collaborate frequently. They travel the world for high end projects and clients, and are known for the unique style and special skill when it comes to color. We talk about how they make working together as a couple work when it has backfired for so many others. We also get into how they were able to break out of their small market in Charlottesville, VA and begin attracting clients from bigger, higher-end markets. We also discuss their view on collaborating and building relationships and how that has contributed to their success. Are you part of a photography/videography couple? What are your thoughts on breaking out of a small market? Let us know in the comments! In this episode: How they work together as a couple and stay together The importance of building relationships with other videographers in the industry as well as with vendors, and how that can lead to new opportunities Breaking out of a small market into the larger global scene How they set themselves apart as a luxury brand Quotes: "Because we own our own separate businesses, we understand how much time it takes to run a business and how much energy it takes to run a business, so we value that with each other" [9:39] "I was terrified but I brought along someone i'd worked with in the past who was an amazing interviewer. I think that was the biggest thing I learned, just to seek out people that are better than you, with similar parallel skill sets that will take you to the next level." [20:18] "If you're in a small market and you want to travel, you basically have to reach out to people in those markets and see if you can collaborate with them or get coffee with them and just try to establish a relationship" [18:19] Links: Josh's Website Serena's Website Follow Josh on Facebook | Instagram | Vimeo Follow Serena on Facebook | Instagram Check out the full show notes page Stay up to date with everything we're doing at Studio Sherpas