The power of a mastermind. EP #237 - Shorty

G', day guys. Dan here with this week's Shorty Episode number 237 of the how to Scale a Video Business Podcast. And today I want to just touch on the power of a mastermind. If you've not come across this mastermind concept before, it's essentially the bringing together of like minded people.

To add more perspective and value to solving problems.

And that's really what we do every month in this call that we host at this time each month in the VBA Mastermind. And it can be very powerful. So we have a structured kind of process to our calls. In the first sessions of every month we talk about planning, strategic planning for the month ahead, assess the gains and the lessons from the previous month, and then plan ahead of the next month. Then we usually have a new training every month on the second week of the month. This month we had one of our members, Caleb, sharing a strategy approach that he takes to adding additional revenue to his clients. He's based that on Ben Amos program and implemented his own slant on it. And Ben has obviously been on the show a number of times. Good friend of mine runs a video production company and really is the king of video strategy. And then we usually have an open Q and A week where we kind of just, you know, have hot seats and work out if there's any specific issues in a business and how we can overcome them. Then the final call each month is what's working now. And that is really our mastermind call. And I'll just give you some ideas of some of the conversations that have gone on in the last 24 hours across the two calls that we have. With a call that's 9am on a Monday morning in the UK and one that's 8am, 9am here in Australia, depending on the time zone where you are on a Tuesday morning. And that usually covers our US clients and our Australian clients. And you know, we started the call yesterday with some really great conversations around hiring editors. You know, it's, it's the first place you want to be looking to plug holes in your capacity issues is to outsource your editing and discussion was versus, you know, between contractor editors, junior editors versus experienced RR versus full time and a big discussion around the pros and cons of each. And what was interesting was the perspective of the mastermind, you know, as a group of minds with different perspectives on the benefits of one over the other.

And then we took a deep dive into price uplifting on a project that had started life as a, you know, deliverable on social Channels and moved it to a TV gig. And the discussion was around watch the client be charged extra because of the extra requirements for a TV deliverable. Mostly things like, you know, qc, quality control, ready for broadcast and all that kind of thing.

Plus, we had a big conversation on the timely reminder about charging a production fee. Production fees of between, you know, 10 and 15% is a really easy way to add additional margin to your projects that in most cases, no one ever questions, because a production fee is your operating costs, right? It's the cost of having an office and having light and power and your Rolodex of contacts. And so some really quick and easy ways to add revenue and value to your bottom line is to add a production fee. And then today we jumped on a call with our US and Australian clients and opened up with a big discussion around systemization and team and letting go of control to allow you to go and have time off and have the business run without you. And one of the biggest obstacles that we find ourselves facing as business owners is that sense of identity we have from, you know, being the business owner, being the person who the clients are used to dealing with. And what happens when you start to systemize your business and you start to develop.

You know, methods of outsourcing some of that work to your team is that you don't need to be as involved. And so what you can find is you find yourself not being quite so busy. And in that situation, you can feel like you're no longer required. And there's a real mental battle that goes into, you know, how to cope with that. So again, the Hive mastermind, the group shared those thoughts and helped one of our members just adjust a way of thinking around that.

And also the power of systems so they can take the slack. And your team then know what to do, where to go and how to. How to execute, even when you're not there. And so from there, we moved into a big discussion on the power of marketing and trying not to be everywhere and try and appeal to everyone. And that in actual fact, focusing on one industry vertical at a time means that you become the trusted supplier in that space. And what's actually happening when clients look to hire you is they're not looking for a video. They're looking to not be let down. And let me explain that in a bit more detail. Oftentimes we think that the person's looking for video and that is one of the deliverables that they're looking for. But what's actually going on subconsciously with most people is I don't want to get this decision wrong and it to fall back on me. And so when you understand that, then you can understand the irrational fears that a client might have when hiring a video production company and how you can alleviate those fears by, by, by making them understand that you understand their industry, you understand the subtleties of their industry, you understand what's important to them and you show them that you are the obvious choice. And one of the advantages of this strategy is that you then position yourself as the premium option. And as a premium option, you get to charge higher price. You know, that's just a taste of some of the things we discussed in this week's Mastermind. It's the kind of thing that, you know, it's where we are now, the subtle problems of business growth and expansion. So guys, I hope you found that useful and I will talk to you again on Thursday.

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 any 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 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 Denalini.com and click on accelerator.