17 Advanced Strategies to Attract More Clients. EP #172 - Den Lennie

G' day guys. Dan Lany here, host of the how to Scale Video Business podcast. With this episode number 172, 17 advanced strategies to attract more clients. You know, people tell me they often want more clients and in many cases that's not actually what a business needs. But I thought what I'd do today is actually give you 17 strategies to win more business, attract more clients, and leverage the assets you already have in your business in the hope that it will help you to attract more of the right kind of business into your sphere.

So.

The main way that I'm going to help you to grow your business is to move you away from being a freelancer and into a business owner. And his book, the E Myth, Michael E. Garber talks about the difference between a technician and a business owner. The technician still does all the work in the business and never delegates or outsources anything so that he keeps all the profit. The trouble with that is you only have so many hours in the day. So if you're on a job shooting or editing, then it doesn't leave any time for marketing or even client follow up. Now this is a reality that many have to work with, myself included. I've had to do this in the past where when you're starting out, you've only really got yourself. But there is a way to break this habit when you reach a certain revenue level. You know, I have a full time virtual assistant who works with me full time. I've got outsourced accounts that work with me kind of part time, but remotely. I've got people that help me with copywriting or people that help me with the website. I have a lot of outsourced support. That's a choice. I don't want to have a big full time team, but I actually have a big team that I can draw upon. They're just not sitting in the same office as I am. And actually, you know, we speak to a lot of people in the VBA and some of them have full time team and some of them have many contractors. You know, I've worked with ads experts and marketing experts and all this does is it frees me up to focus on my strategic tasks and priorities. So what you got to be careful of is you convince yourself that you can do everything yourself. And in many cases that might be true technically, but it's not necessarily giving you the best bang for buck. You know, if you're still processing your own the receipts, okay, it might only take you 15 minutes, but if you add that up each day over a week that starts to add up. So you should definitely be hiring a bookkeeper. So I want you to start thinking bigger about what tasks you could outsource and start writing down all the things that you do that don't directly contribute to client work and profit. And keep a list for 30 days and then review it and you'll be shocked at how much admin and non revenue generating activities you're actually doing. So there are two types of ways to get business. Okay, there's go and get clients and constantly be successful searching for new clients. Or two, leverage your existing assets, contacts and resources. And both aren't equal. And here's why. You know, getting new clients and constantly looking for new business involves time, cost, effort and patience with no guarantees other than spending a lot of money to find your ideal clients. Whereas if you leverage your existing assets, networks, contacts and resources, this is a much more effective solution and it's based on maximizing what you already have. And what do I mean by what you already have? Well, I'm talking about assets. So here's some examples. You're an asset when you're working as a freelance. You know, you're a shooter or you're an editor, or you're a colorist or a producer or director. Maybe you have some equipment, you may have an edit suite, you may have a camera shooting kit. Each of these is a function of video production and each role has a line attached cost to it in a budget. But all too often in that freelancer mindset, you end up doing it all under the one banner of filmmaker. Now the difference between that and a production company is that your production company is a business which has a series of assets attached to it. So when you're looking to scale up, you really need to adopt this mindset. As a production company, you are coordinating assets on behalf of the client. And so the keys to building a successful business is building and leveraging those assets. So how do you evaluate assets and opportunities? You know, as a freelancer, you're pretty much going to say yes to everything. But in a business, you've got to evaluate each opportunity differently and, and in some cases, learn to say no. And this can obviously be really difficult at first, especially if cash flow is tight. So what you've got to do is get really clear on your commercial value. You know, if you're a professional video production company, you're able to turn mundane objects and subjects into compelling videos that engage an audience, communicate a message, and inspire a viewer to take some kind of action. This is a really valuable service that many businesses could use right now. In fact, I guarantee that in every major city and town around the world there are marketing teams sitting around a virtual table discussing how to create compelling video to promote their product or service or communicate a message to their audience. So the next question is going to be, well, who will we get to shoot this? So what you want to do is you want to be leveraging what you already have. Now, Ben Simkin, mentor and friend of mine who's been on this podcast, calls these asset categories. So here are a list of 17 asset categories that you will almost certainly have access to but may not have considered as a leverage point. And each of these can be used to get clients. So 1. Products 2. Services 3. Peers 4. Colleagues 5. Friends and family 6. Active clients 7. Inactive clients 8. Unconverted leads and inquiries 9. PR and media 10. Joint ventures 11. Knowledge 12. Skill set 13. Skill set of staff 14. Referral systems 15. New markets 16. New geographical markets 17. Guarantees so let me buzz through these and give you an idea of what each one is. When we talk about products, we're talking about what kind of new products could you introduce to your market? Perhaps it's a simple one day how to shoot your own video on a smartphone workshop. Now you might think this will encourage clients not to hire a professional, but I've actually found the opposite to be true. You teach them the basics and when they realize how hard it is they call you to shoot it properly. It actually opens the door to future opportunities. Plus has no real cost to you other than your time. So what products could you introduce or reintroduce to your already existing clients? What opportunities for expansion can you identify in your business? 2. Services what new services could you offer your market? How about a subscription video production service? They sign up for a 6 or 12 month retainer and you offer them a certain number of days filming a month and editing at their offices. And this could work really well in the age of social needing a lot of content. So what services could you introduce or reintroduce to your existing clients that you're not providing already? 3. Peers these are people in your business or industry who don't directly compete with you but are in a similar level. Who could partner with or share resources? Could you share each other's network or assets? For example, could you provide white label video services to cover shoots in each other's company? Maybe you could sub hire your edit suite or other facilities. Think about the relationships you currently have with your peers. Are there any cross promotional arrangements you can set up four Colleagues do you have ex colleagues from another industry who you still have a relationship with? Would they be open to setting up a referral partnership? These make your colleagues look good by helping their clients. They're saving their clients time for searching for high quality providers and the types of products and services you sell. It also helps you to build your client base quickly and easily by working with someone who's known to be trustworthy, knowledgeable about your clients needs and referrals are always valuable everyone. So think about the relationships you currently have with colleagues in other industries. How can you set up a referral program? 5. Friends and family Friends and family are often the least reliable source of referrals or direct business support. But that's not to say there isn't a relation or a close family friend who might be in a position to refer you or recommend your services. Similarly, they might be able to offer help financially or support you in some other way. So think about the relationships you have with friends and family members. Does anyone come to mind who could help you with your business?

6. Active clients these are people who are already doing business with you who you already know. They already like and trust you enough to pay you money. So work out how you can get them to come back more often and invest in other services with you. It's a bit of a no brainer for them. Do they know all of the services you provide? When did you last connect with them outside of a job? So think about what ideas you can come up with to get your active clients and customers to pay you more money for you to provide them more value. 7. Inactive clients this is a really important one. What about clients that you haven't booked or used you in over 12 months? Sometimes things change. People move on. Old relationships with previous suppliers change, and sometimes we feel uncomfortable about reaching out to lapsed clients, especially if the relationship ended less than perfectly. Or maybe they didn't hire you. But people do forgive and forget, and unless the incident was catastrophic, it's definitely worth reconnecting. You can put emotions and feelings to one side and reconnect them to help them understand how your business has matured and evolved. Now, when you're working on reactivating old clients and customers, you're best served by keeping your feelings in check and approaching it in a more logical manner. Remember, there's more than one reason why they might have stopped working with you. Possible reasons might be, you know, they felt a bit neglected or underappreciated. Maybe their situation changed. Maybe they moved away a new Career opportunity or time and money constraints got into play. Perhaps the client's needs changed. Perhaps they got a better deal for the last project elsewhere.

Maybe the client or customer passed away. I mean, these are all possibilities. Now if you look at this list logically, you can see that all of the ones above, apart from someone passing away, can be overcome with some effort on your part. If a client felt like they were neglected, find a way to make it up to them. Offer them a free trial, a risk reversal. Just see if they can have a coffee. Assure them that if you have let them down that you want to make it up to them. If a situation changed, you might need to probe and see what that reason was. Maybe you can tailor your product and service to a new leader situation. And if they got a better deal, ask the customer were they happy with the level of service provided at the lower price? Sometimes they will say no and you can win them back. Other times you might need to match or beat the deal they're getting elsewhere. But if you approach this logically, you can at least try to bring them back in as clients. It's possible to earn money you wouldn't have with, you know, reactivating old clients. So what inactive clients or customers should you contact? Ask why they stopped frequenting your business and what you can do to bring them back. 8. Unconverted leads and Inquiries this is a very powerful source of business. Now, depending on the size of your business, you may have a few dozen or you know, more than that. Unconverted Leads these are people who made inquiries who perhaps you quoted on the job, but for some reason it didn't happen. If you call them up and say, hey, we quoted on this job six months ago just wondering if you went ahead or you're still looking. They're going to likely answer with three things. One they went with someone else, thanks. Two, we delayed the project and are still deciding. And three we went with another supplier, but we weren't that happy with them. So if you get an answer for 2 and 3, you can offer to meet them and discuss alternative options, including re quoting on the job. So when can you add to your schedule to contact Unconverted Leads? This is a really powerful method for re engaging people in conversations. 9. PR and media media exposure can be very powerful for positioning you and your business. And even being featured in your local paper can elevate your business. You know, I worked in TV newsrooms for over 10 years and I know firsthand that television and media are always hungry for stories. They need to fill pages and airtime. So if a story is interesting and they can find a good angle, then they'll likely feature you. Now the key is you can't advertise what you do. Rather you need to find an angle that is newsworthy and be of value. But just sometimes a new way of doing something can be enough. So you know how are you or your business or your clients represented in the news or media? How can you leverage this for your benefit? 10. Joint ventures A joint venture is when two non competing companies cross promote each other's audience for mutual benefit. So for example, if you set an agreement with a media agency such that they would market, let's say your video packages, they would offer this service to their clients on your behalf. You could then offer the media agency a percentage of profits for doing so. This saves you marketing spend and so you can pay that money as a fee to the agency, making it a win win for everyone involved. So who comes to mind that you know and trust who you could start a joint venture with? What types of joint ventures come to mind that could benefit your business? 11. Do you have a particular skill or knowledge? What is your expertise or what? Do you have an intimate knowledge of a sector or an industry or a specialism? Could you leverage this in the form of coaching, training, mentoring or consulting? Experts often regard their knowledge as common sense. Yet many others who are less experienced might regard that knowledge as valuable and would be willing to pay for it. Could you create an E course to teach those less skilled and how to emulate what you do and charge a fee for it? So think about what you're an expert at. What specific knowledge would would you want others to learn from you? What coaching or mentoring opportunities come to mind? 12. Skill set do you have a unique skill set? Perhaps you're a talented motion graphics designer. Maybe your color grading skills are unique. Perhaps you're an expert on the Sony FS5. Or maybe there are skills you have that someone might pay one to one consulting time for. Or perhaps a client or a peer would like you to grade something special. Think about all the skills you have. What specialist skills do you have? How could you sell them to other people or train other people in them? If you've got A team, number 13 the skill set of your staff. This is a big untapped opportunity for many business owners who have a team. Your team might have unique skills that you could promote to clients. Staff are an asset in your business that you're investing in, so you should leverage them as part of your business asset register Pay attention to your team and look out for any unique skills they have that your client base could take advantage of. So think about the staff you have. Do they have in demand skills you could uncover, reveal and turn into a high yield asset? Are there any staffers who would be better suited in a different role in your business? Think about that. 14. Referral systems referrals are one of the most reliable source of new business because someone they trust has already endorsed you. If you don't have any referral systems, you should start actively cultivating and implementing some. The key here is systems. Often referrals come in and nobody follows them up. It's critical that these leads are given priority attention. Automating the process can really help. Sometimes known as affiliate and marketing terms. You can set up codes, for example when selling digital products and then pay a commission when the sale is made to the referring partner. But in filmmaking terms, you have an agreed fee you'd pay someone for a quality referral. So have a think about what referral systems you could actively create and roll out. Number 15. New markets. There are countless markets out there waiting for video services. If you're in a niche or a niche that already you know, could you expand it into a similar niche or in a different industry or an expand sideways, could you take what you do for your current niche and replicate it in another niche without having to reinvent your process or approach? So have a think about what markets you can generate income by moving into. Should you go niche or go broad or change it up? Number 16. This is simple. New geographical market. Could you begin marketing to a client base and outside of your current geographical location? Just take everything you're currently doing and do it somewhere else. And then 17 guarantees. And I see very, very few companies doing this. If you're confident in your service delivery, then why not guarantee your work? Perhaps you can offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee or that you'll offer unlimited rounds of change if the client's not 100% satisfied. Now naturally you'd have to put some conditions on these, you know, so that everyone's giving you consolidated feedback and a timeframe to do it in. But you should be doing that anyway. So you're not actually offering anything here that you don't do already, you're just simply articulating it differently. So have a think about creating a list of 5 different guarantee offers you could integrate into your business and test.

So you know all of these suggestions are going to help you win more business. But you know, changing habits and belief systems is hard and it's uncomfortable, and it's something that our subconscious fights ferociously to avoid. You know, Robin Sharma sums it up beautifully. He says, change is hard at the beginning, change is messy in the middle, but change is beautiful at the end. And, you know, learning to adapt to change is really critical in terms of, you know, moving on in your, in your business. And you have to be willing, willing to do things that are uncomfortable. And change takes time. Okay, so why not take these 17 strategies and implement them into your business and try even a handful of them. Now, if you do all 17, you cannot fail. But if you try just half a dozen, imagine what might happen. Hope you find that useful, guys. Talk to you soon. You've been listening to the how to Scale a Video Business podcast with me, your host. If you're a video business owner who's hit a ceiling and we benefit from mentorship, support, and coaching, then check out how you can work with me over@denleny.com don't forget to subscribe and rate the show over on itunes, and we'd really appreciate you taking a few minutes to leave a review. And don't forget to share. If you feel you've gotten value from this episode and you think it would be useful for other filmmakers you know, then please do me a massive favorite favor and share it on social media and in groups that you might be in. So thanks for listening. See you in the next episode.