The power of focus. EP #139 - Shorty

G', day, guys. Dan, Lenny here with this week's Shorty.

Shooting, 8 December.

So it's been an absolute stinker here today. It's, it reads 32 on the clock, but it's actually feels like 43 with humidity. And I still, it still confuses me that in December, you know, even though I've lived in Australia for five years, that, you know, it's really hot and sticky when I'm so used to it being cold and wintry back in the UK and can't say that I miss it. My wife does. My wife often says, oh, you missed the cold, but I certainly don't.

But I, I feel okay because I did my fair share of, you know, freezing cold growing up in Edinburgh. So I feel like it's the latter half of my life I'm going to enjoy the, the warmth. So this week on the Shorty, I wanted to just share something that we started implementing last week and I think might, might help some of you because I know when I talk about the video business accelerating, we had the post last week about it. Typically it's for businesses doing, you know, upwards of $10,000 a month and we help them get to 20, 30, 40, 50 and beyond. And the reason that we have a limit on revenues because the kind of things we talk about assumes a certain level of knowledge around getting clients. But a number of people had approached me and said, Dennis is great, I'd love to join the VBA when I'm ready, but we're not quite there yet. And so what we've decided to do is actually start catering for you if you're in the three to five thousand dollars a month category. So this is really exciting for us because what we're actually going to be doing is helping you to get to 10,000amonth plus. And that just takes a certain amount of work and process and systemization in your business at a point, really mostly focused on sales and marketing. So we actually started bringing people onto that program last week and it was really, really well received. So I'm here to say today that if you've been listening to this show for a while and, and you love the idea of getting some mentoring, some coaching to help scale your business, but you're not quite at that $10,000 a month mark, then we can help. We're actually now offering a course that I've been kind of muting and talking to some people about for a while. But yeah, it's, it's, it's a course that will enable you to Access very similar training to what my VBA members, my Mastermind members get, the ones that are doing 20, 30, 40, 50 grand a month plus, um, but it's without the coaching element. So we can make it a lot more accessible if you're only making three to $5,000 a month and whatever that might be in your own currency. So yeah, I wanted to kind of let you know that, that that's now going to be available. And we've seen quite a number of people come into it in the last week and really just being thrilled that they can access the content. Because what we were, we'd always planned to do this, but it was always a question of focus. And you know, there's the ancient Chines proverb that says a man that chases two rabbits catches neither. And so what's very important when you're growing a business and scaling your business is saying no to things and choosing when to make something available and when to wait. And we, you know, we've gotten the video business accelerator Mastermind to a point now where we're really happy with how the content looks and how our members are going through the process and really frankly supporting them to get the results they're getting, which are staggering. And we're just seeing win after win after win. And so we wanted to know, reach out and offer access to very, very similar training, but at a price point that is more accessible to you if you're only at the three to five thousand a month mark. And you know, to get to that level involves a lot of hands on doing. But to get you from 3 to 5 to, you know, 6 to 10, it's just a process. And so we've, we've split it up into what we're calling an eight week program. And if you had eight weeks with nothing much to do, then you could absolutely get through everything and implement everything. But it's probably more likely going to take you four to six months. And so yeah, we're, we're just rolling that out now. So if you're interested in learning more about that, hit me up on LinkedIn. Or if you go to denlany.com.

Freetraining you can do the free training. Our application process is the same. We still want to, you know, get you to get you on a phone call and have a chat with you about your business and your goals, just so we can make sure we know what it is you're looking to achieve so that we can make sure we are in fact the right solution for you. Because we may not be the right solution for everyone. So, yeah, pretty excited about that, guys. Just started launching that last week and yeah, that's, that's pretty exciting for us. So we're going to be, you know, going, going hell for leather between now and the end of the, to bring people into that program and help people get really set up for 2021 because it's been a, it's been a tough year for some and for others it's been a huge year of opportunity with a few challenges in between. But I think, you know, we know that the methodology we're using inside the accelerator is really helping people to grow and succeed. And so we're now making that available to you if you're not yet at the $10,000 a month mark. So that's really exciting. And yeah, I just wanted to touch on something else. We were talking about the coaching call today, which was just the idea of focus, you know, which I mentioned just before.

One of the biggest obstacles I think that face most creatives is managing distraction. You know, you got alerts pinging on your phone every five minutes. If you've got thousands of emails in your inbox, it's very hard to find the focus required to know, to be, to be working on the right things at the right time. And so, you know, if you are somebody who finds themselves being distracted easily, there's a good chance that you're actually not achieving effective execution of your strategic goals. You know, unfortunately, we come across people from time to time who come into our program who just don't really do the work and then they don't get the results and then they kind of turn and say, oh, it didn't really work for me. But yet at the same time, we've got people who've been in the same amount of time who are absolutely smashing goals. And I think that's true across any sort of business development. Any training that you might do is that it's not enough just to kind of watch a video. You've got to really implement what you learn so that you can actually take advantage of the, of the, of the, of the, of the, of the learnings and actually put yourself through the process. And that's something that, you know, we've, we've noticed time and time again working with filmmakers, that those people. If you're someone who agree, takes action and understands that the success or failure of your business is down to you, then you're going to do really well. But if you're someone who will always find an excuse as to why something hasn't worked. If you're blaming coronavirus for the destruction of your business, then what you're saying is external forces control you.

And what we have to do as business owners is say, well, I'm dealt this card. This is what I'm dealing with. How can I find a way through this process? And I'm fortunate to work with a number of really, really smart business owners. And most of these guys have just, you know, just reinvented themselves, come up with new ways to deliver video products. And actually, many of them now are busier now than they were pre Covid. And that's not an accident. You know, it's down in part to their tenacity, but also we foster a culture of taking action, of extreme ownership. And so I'm really proud to say that, you know, my members are already smashing it just now. But I wanted to just kind of really touch on that idea of focus is at some point you have to understand and take advantage of the fact that, you know, if your inbox is a mess, if you've got thousands of apps on your phone and every time you pick up your phone, you're being distracted, then there's probably a correlation between that and the fact that your business isn't running more smoothly. And this is something I've done an enormous amount of work on and I'm constantly working on it, decluttering, taking away distractions, minimizing distractions so that I can focus on the important stuff. And the weekend I just all the apps off my home screen, every single one, apart from my stripe account, my bank account, my PayPal account. And so when I look at my phone, the only thing I'm looking at is the results of the business. It's what money came in, what sales were made, what payments came in, and therefore, you know, what is my focus for today. And I think if you start thinking in terms of your business revenue.

And what you can do to kind of encourage it, to help it grow, to tend to it, you'll find an enormous shift in your business. Rather than going onto Facebook, Instagram, scrolling through crap and, and seeing other people's work and thinking, oh my God, I'm not doing work as good as that. And then you start to go into a spiral of self doubt. So, you know, I want you to think about that. And if you haven't got a zero inbox, clear your inbox. Go to your inbox right now and just take every single email in there and archive it. So you've got a zero inbox, keep it zero every day and see what happens. It blow you away how much how much extra clarity you get, how much extra freedom, much extra thinking space you get. Anyway guys, that's it for me today. Keeping it nice and short and sweet. If you're interested in learning more about this new VBA option, just connect with me on the website or through LinkedIn. We'll set up a chat and we'll have a chat from there. I guess. See you later. You've been listening to the how to Scale a Video Business podcast with me, your host, Dan Lenny. If you're a video business owner hits a ceiling, 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 favor and share it on social media and in groups that you you might be in. So thanks for listening. See you in the next episode.