How to never feel alone in your business again. EP #193 - Shorty

G', day, guys. Dan here with episode 193 of the how to Scale, a Video Business podcast from a very, very chilly sunshine coast in Australia today. And I appreciate. I may not have a lot of sympathy because for the most part, we live in paradise with warm weather all year, but when it gets cold, oh, we do feel it. And do we whinge about it. Anyway, it's funny how I've changed from growing up in Scotland, where is cold a lot of the time, and I've gone soft. But, you know, that's okay. I'm willing to. To wear that moniker. I just like being warm.

So we've just finished our weekly group coaching call.

We have two calls a week.

First one is for our US And Australian clients. And this week we were doing a what we call what's working now call. So on the third week of every month, we. We delve into what is working now, what is not. And we had an amazing story of Sammy, who had hit a bit of a quiet spell. A few things had happened in his business, got hit with a few unexpected bills, and a couple of jobs went away because of a Covid scare. And it got him really digging deep into his business. And we were just discussing today, the roller coaster of running a business is that, you know, things can change very quickly, and that's. That's what we sign up for when we run a business. You know, we don't have the security of work coming in consistently, like if we're employed. But what was really cool was he got really creative with an approach to.

Live streaming. His company does live streaming in South Australia, and he reached out to a few groups on Facebook that were running events, and he had some great conversations and is now well on his way to developing a fantastic relationship. And one of the things we discussed in the call today was that, you know, you just have to be willing to move out of a comfort zone, to step up and reach out for opportunities.

And that is something that can be.

Very challenging to do when you're working on your own. Thankfully, you know, Sami has the group, and when he hit his rough spell, we rallied around him and we basically said, right, here's all the suggestions of things you can do. And that is one of the most powerful aspects of the VBA is that hive mindset. You know, you're not on your own. And. And oftentimes these calls can be very powerful because you just hear one thing from someone else and you go, oh, I could try that. So big up to Sammy for. For stepping up and really kind of jumping into opportunities that are available to.

But that was only the only.

You know, one of the things we were very big on in the group is that we were vulnerable as well. You know, we don't mind opening up and sharing when things aren't going so well, especially around, you know, when things go wrong and mistakes happen. What we do is we empathize with the challenge, and then we look at the solution. What are the lessons that can be learned?

And, you know, really the thing that.

Makes the group so powerful is that hive mind. Yes, there's phenomenal training. Yes, you get support and access to me, you know, really as much as you want or need. But it's the getting together with other video business owners. It accelerates the growth of your business by a factor of 10, because instead of trying to figure stuff out yourself, you can literally pose the question to the group. And that is one of the things that I'm most proud of of the community we've buil, and it really has become a great community. One of our amazing members, Ben, has just shared an incredible quoting template that he's been using in his business, and he's recorded a video and he's making that template available to our members. And so there's power in the group. Caleb, for example, shared their statement of works with the group. And big congratulations to Caleb and Sammy, who've just had a baby, little Quentin, who he's having a month off. He's having a month off his business to be a father. And that was something he only dreamed of of, you know, a year ago. And. And his business has been systemized and built to a point where his team and Bailey was on the call today, one of his team members, you know, offering support and sharing with the group as well. So it really is a very powerful group. You know, I could go on. You know, Carlos is in. Is in the Bronx in New York, and he's sharing how he's targeting the healthcare space in. In his town. He's realizing he's getting a lot of inquiries for people just wanting sets of photographs or little bits of media content. So he working on a way to provide that service to those clients to start the conversation. And a new member, Corey, who just joined us from central California, who's just joined the program, and he's excited to kind of, you know, help scale his business up. He wants to move down towards the beach with his wife. And, you know, there are so many different types of members in the group, but everyone's got the same goal which is to, to build a better life for them and their family. That is one of our highest values and our objectives in the vba. Yes, it's about making money. Yes, it's about growing your business, but it's, it's all with purpose. We do everything with purpose. I'm very proud of, of the group that's become, you know, there's some phenomenal members. In fact, everyone's a phenomenal member. You know, we, we have a very strict.

Process for, for inviting people into the group. And that, that is what is really quite cool is like, you know, there's a really big sense of collective care and, and, and investment in each other's businesses. So, you know, that a hive mind shares.

Wins, losses, successes, failures, and lessons. And, and as a result, you know, everyone walks away from each call really fired up. And, you know, the calls go for about 90 minutes, sometimes a little longer. If we're getting deep into conversation. The calls are always recorded, they're transcribed. My assistant then edits the transcription, so you get this valuable resource. And oftentimes we'll do role play on a call where we'll talk about, you know, a process for moving a conversation along. So, for example, you could be talking to a prospect about a job, and it can be going quite well, but we've got to make sure we, we alpha the sales position and actually get that conversation to a point where you can say to a client, okay, so based on what we've discussed, how are we looking? Where. Where do we go from here? And so I'll often do role play on. And then because everything's transcribed, the members can take that role play and literally turn it into a script they can use. And in fact, Josh was sharing with us today that the sales script that we have inside the VBA has been really helping his team to close more deals and follow a process. So everything we do inside the VBA is built around process. It's built around systems. Because what we're trying to do is to build, build a business that can ultimately operate to some degree without you being the main person, the main point of contact. And that's the big shift. You go from, from being a freelancer to a business owner. It's making sure you're able to, you know, transition out of being on the tools. And that can be very challenging. And it's one of those things that everyone's constantly working on. But, you know, look, the truth is, and I'll say this again and again and again, if you're listening to this show wondering if this could be for you. And at the very least, just let's jump on a call and have a chat. Because if it's not for you, I'll be certain to say, you know, we're not looking to acquire new clients at all costs. We want the right people. We grow in a fairly measured manner. We're not out, you know, spending loads on advertising, trying to get anybody who's got money into the group. Because the group is full of really quite established businesses who are, you know, who've been with us for quite some time because they see it as an integral part of their business growth. Having access to me and the other great minds in the group and, you know, they're quite shy. So if I actually got them to tell me what they've all kind of generated each month, they probably wouldn't share it because they're not that kind of people. But, you know, there are some big numbers being thrown around.

And so the expectation, if you like, the atmosphere in the group is one of abundance, of success, of growth, and seeing what's possible. You know, multiple tens of thousands a month is not uncommon in our group, you know, many people are doing 30, 40 grand a month as a benchmark. And so if you come into the group at ten grand a month, it's quite inspiring seeing how you can get to 20 and even beyond. But we help you on that journey step by step. You know, we don't want you to kind of get freaked out and be like, oh, my God, I'll never get there.

So, you know, if you, if you're.

Not yet considered having a chat with me about it, go over to the website@denleny.com, click on Accelerator, have a read about the kind of things we cover off in the group, and if you feel like maybe it's something you'd like to explore and let's have a chat. And if you're not quite at that 10 grand a month mark, if you're doing sort of 2 to 5, we can have a chat anyway because we have an alternate program which is a foundation course, which is a little more accessible for you if you're at that stage in business, with a view to helping you migrate up to the mastermind. So, guys, here's a bit more information about the program and I will talk to you soon.

Ask yourself this.

Has owning your own video business been everything you dreamed it would be when you first got started? It might be hard to admit, but.

Think about whether you're genuinely achieving everything you set out to when you made.

That decision to grab the camera and.

Go it alone, are you really working less?

Are you really earning more? And are you really in control?

Chances are you're bloody good at what you do, but you're having to work like a dog, 70 plus hours a week. Whether it's filming, editing, marketing, or any of the other jobs that come with being the big boss of your own video company. When you're managing projects, constantly searching out for new clients and worrying about cash flow, it's easy to lose sight of the bigger picture or make real progress. Let's face it, that stress is the last thing you need when you're trying.

To run a profitable company that supports you and the people you care about.

Truth is, a business that provides financial, professional and personal freedom really is achievable.

But maybe you've got that nagging feeling.

That you're overworked, lacking stability, and struggling to get to where you really want.

To be right now.

It could be that you just don't know how to make a positive change on your own. So I created the Video Business Accelerator Coaching programs to really supercharge your video business. With these unique coaching programs, you'll learn all the tools you need to get complete confidence in the success of your video business. You can take the first step on your journey to a successful business that.

Doesn'T control your life.

Let me show you how. Head over to Denlany.com and click on Accelerator.