Do you want to look successful or be successful. EP #272 - Den Lennie

G', day, guys, and welcome to the show from Edinburgh in Scotland, actually, where I've just wrapped up our second big Mastermind in person event for the year, which was phenomenal.

And one of the topics we discussed at one point was the idea of success and how there's a big movement on the Internet between those who want to look successful versus those that want to be successful. And that, my friends, is the topic of episode 272.

Welcome to the Video Business Accelerator Podcast. Each week we uncover the secrets to creating a wildly successful and scalable video production business. With your host, Dan Lenny, discover how the accelerator program is transforming the lives of our members at www.videobusinessexcel.accelerator.com. enjoy this episode.

So this is a topic that's not new. It's been around really for a long time, but I've been noticing increasingly.

A lot of newer and albeit some younger filmmakers really curating the look of them on set and filming and, and, and almost creating a kind of pseudo influencer type of account where, you know, the focus is not actually on the filmmaking, the focus is on the image of the filmmaking. And the reason I think this is important is because if you're not careful and if you're not vigilant, you could start to consume that kind of content and start to believe that you're not good enough. And that's a really dangerous place to put yourself in. Now, there is a very simple solution to this. It's not easy, but it's simple. And it depends on how you frame easy. You know, social media is like an addiction, okay? So if you spend a lot of time on Instagram, Facebook, any of those platforms, you start to pick up your phone multiple times in a day and you're consuming stuff that actually isn't serving you in any way, shape or form. But it's like, it's like nicotine. It's like a drug. It's addictive because you get an endorphin hit, see what's going on. What am I missing out on? The problem with that is that if you're in the early stages of growing your business, you're going to start believing that what other people are doing is better than what you're doing. And you're going to start believing that they're more successful than you, and you're going to start believing that you're not good enough. And that can be a very heavy, detrimental thing to absorb. And there's a real danger that it will really affect your mental health. I saw something recently with a Filmmaker who's quite young, based in the uk and you know, their whole entire Instagram account was just curated content. And, you know, I think the intent behind the account is to share and to help people. But I sort of dug around a little bit and I found some of the training and I was like, this training isn't even actually accurate. It was a thing about three point lighting and it's like, I don't know where people are learning this stuff, but it's like the lights were kind of in the wrong place.

And I just find it fascinating and I'm not judging anyone and I'm not going to mention the account or who it was because it's not really relevant. But every photograph, every video in this account was very produced and curated and it was all like beautifully, you know, styled photographs of this person filming and they happen to be female, but it was always like lots of makeup, looking great. And I was like, is it, is this what our industries come to, where there is this kind of subculture of looking like a successful filmmaker while basically shooting music videos? And anyone who's been in the business any length of time knows there is fuck all music video money. Like, there's no money in music videos. They can be an opportunity to create content with new, fresh ideas. But I think it's really interesting and what's happening is some of these people are making money from partnership deals.

But look, you know, I suppose to some degree, and I've got to kind of be honest with this. I was an original kind of influencer. You know, I used to get sent gear by manufacturers and I'd make video content and I'd post it on my social channels. So I can't say that that's not something that is valid in today's market. But I think more importantly is the fact that it's going really heavily towards a kind of curated.

Process. And I just think, you know, that that is fine. But I talk to clients who are, you know, some, some clients are starting in the up level program, are starting out and, and I can see that this kind of content really impacts them if they're having a rough time finding work or a rough time pricing their projects appropriately. And so I just want you to be really vigilant about what you consume because not all social media is good for you. In fact, very little of it is. And what I will say is I had this conversation this morning with some clients. I said, you know, if I didn't have an Instagram account at all, I don't think it would make the blindest bit of difference to my business.

And I guess the reason I do have one is because I've had one for years. I actually, my family over in the UK watch my Instagram stories and sometimes that's how we communicate. They see what we were up to, I see what they're up to. But as far as business goes, we post an episode of the podcast every week. I've been posting a few bits of video content recently.

But really, because I've got a team and that team has capacity. So we're like, well, let's take this content we've made for LinkedIn or YouTube and actually post it on social channels as well. But I've been really observing my own behavior on social media in the last sort of six months, and I've been detaching myself from it a lot more. And I can tell you I've been far more productive. Our business has grown and I have felt much better about myself not engaging in social media. And I'll tell you this, you know, there's a. There's a lot. There are people on social media who make a lot of money, but there are very few and far between. The majority of people on social media are literally making nothing. And they're, they're sharing their experience like they're experts in their field. And I think you've got to be. You got to be very diligent and very vigilant and do some due diligence on who these people are, because, you know, it's very easy to, to curate content and publish it and promote it and boost it and get it in front of a lot of eyeballs. But be very careful not to believe that that's how most people are operating the business. Because if I think about my VBA elite masterminders, most of them are doing several hundred thousand a year, up to close to a million. So I know what successful businesses are doing day in, day out, and I can tell you they don't have fucking time to be curating content for Instagram. They really don't. It's like they're busy with clients, they're busy with projects, they're busy with re edits and marketing. So, you know, really it's about just being vigilant to the fact that there are people that want to look successful and there are people that are successful. And I'm in a mastermind group, the guy called Sam Ovens. And some of the businesses in that group are doing hundreds of thousands of dollars a month and in some cases millions of dollars a month in revenue. And none of those guys are posing next to Lamborghinis. None of those guys are sort of, you know, looking like they're partying on a yacht. And Sam mentioned this the other day. He said, you know, I'm not really a very popular entrepreneur because I'm frugal. I dress like a bum and I don't flash things around. I'm very frugal when it comes to my business. He said, I'm very bullish when it comes to investments. So I really want to kind of summarize this by saying it's far better to be successful and blur into the background by helping your clients achieve their goals. And the more people you help, the more money you'll make.

Than trying to look successful. Because trying to look successful like no one really cares and you can get caught up in a really unpleasant web of comparisonitis. And that is really bad for your mental health. All right, guys, catch you next week.

You've been listening to the Video Business Accelerator Podcast with your host, Den Lenny. If you are a video business owner who is tired going it alone and would benefit from mentorship, support and weekly accountability, then mouse over to www.videobusinessaccelerator.com to learn more about how the Accelerator program can help you today. 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.

Sam.