Unpacking the 8 Growth Accelerators. EP #142 - Den Lennie

G', day, guys. Tim, Lenny here with this week's episode of the how to Scale a Video Business Podcast. We are up to episode 142. Wow, that escalated quickly.

So today I'm going to answer a few questions we've been having.

Over the last couple of weeks. I've been sharing a bit more about the video Business accelerator and the fact that we've also released a course.

So that if your business isn't quite at the 10,000amonth threshold that we set for our members.

Get access to the training. Because we recognize that a lot of people are doing sort of three to five thousand a month and want to get to the ten thousand plus a month. And so what I wanted to do today was.

Just dig a little bit deeper into our methodology around the video business accelerator, but more importantly, our eight growth accelerators. Now we're actually in the process of writing a new ebook which will be coming online alongside our new website, probably end of January, beginning of February. It's been a pretty massive project. We've been working with some incredible people to help us get that up and running, including a fantastic copywriter who's been helping us just rework everything. Sometimes it's very difficult. Well, it is very difficult to write your own copy. And so we're creating an ebook where we're really going to give you everything you need to know how to create a stable, profitable video business. That one, it doesn't stress you out, you know, and it's using my, my eight growth accelerators. Now over the years we've had seven and nine accelerators, but we've been really refining the process and we settled on eight. And so what you're going to discover with today's podcast and ultimately the ebook, is how you can really reduce your stress levels and your work life balance, but also doubling your profits in the process. You know, my whole philosophy with the new site and the new messaging is to get to help you go from, you know, chaos to clarity in your production business. Because we've got a tried and test blueprint that we've been running now for four years, the last two really refining it. And my goal is to help you get from where you are now to where you want your business to be. And we use this framework which we call the 8 Growth Accelerator. And so in today's episode, you're going to learn what they are and how to get all the tools you need to drive your future success. So if you are struggling to generate new inquiries or win more high quality products, projects, sorry, and actually take control back of your work life balance. It's going to be a great episode for you. The truth is there are way too many video business owners who are at risk of burning out, overly reliant on word of mouth, and whether you're suffering from what I call the freelance curse, which is, you know, working 70 plus hours a week, worrying about future revenue, feeling constant stress or something different, it's time to make a positive change as we wrap up 2020 and look towards 2021. So in today's episode, I'm going to share with you eight growth accelerators that you can start implementing immediately that will help you feel comfortable and confident in the future of your video business. And how do I know? Well, because I've been helping video business owners do exactly the same thing this for as long as I can remember. You know, I've been coaching and training people since 2009 and after working really closely with my clients inside the Video Business Accelerator program, there are certain issues I've seen crop up time and time again. So what we're going to do today's episode is help you navigate through the eight growth accelerators that I've identified as being the key to video business acceleration and sustainable success. All so that you can identify your bottlenecks, implement strategies for success, and finally find your professional and personal freedom. Now, if you're a video production company that's been operating for more than three years with a portfolio of existing clients and you want to grow to 500,000 plus in the next 12 to 18 months, I'm going to give you a clear pathway that you can follow to achieve all of that and so much more. So let me introduce to you the eight growth accelerators. These are your tickets to go from overwhelmed to overjoyed in your video business. So in today's short episode, I'm going to give you unprecedented insight when it comes to scaling, delegating, creating systems, following processes and running successful marketing campaigns. So here's what you're going to learn. Part 1 Growth Accelerator 1 is managing and improving belief systems. Everything starts and ends with stories that have been coded since childhood. We talk about your belief systems and how to manage any major limiting beliefs. Growth Accelerator 2 is creating strong business foundations. To create a video business empire, you have to lay solid foundations. You're going to learn how to do the basics right from day one and scale faster in the future.

Growth Accelerator 3 is planning a long term business strategy. Prior planning prevents poor performance. In this section we look at planning your year strategically and assessing where you are in the business growth journey. Growth Accelerator 4 is marketing your offer to ideal clients. Everything is marketing and marketing is everything. This section goes deep on strategy and tactics to help you attract ideal clients that you want to actually work with. Growth Accelerator 5 is generating leads and inquiries. No leads means no sales means no clients. And while word of mouth has got you to this point, we're going to create a systemized lead flow and sales pipeline to generate consistent inquiries.

Growth Accelerator 6 is closing more high ticket sales. Sales aren't dirty and the sales process, when handled in the right way, is actually a service to your clients. And this section shares a whole load more resources to help you win more projects. Growth Accelerator 7 is building proven video business systems. Systems have the power to help you find freedom. So this is an in depth module that breaks down everything you need to know about creating your own processes. And Growth Accelerator 8 is improving leadership and team building. You know you can't scale a business alone, so whether you choose to have in house staff or work with a remote team of contractors, we'll discuss how leadership starts with you. Now we're also going to be making available soon a scorecard that grades how well your business is currently implementing on each of the eight growth accelerators. And there'll be a link to that on the site@denleny.com.

So let's dig a bit deeper into these accelerators. So Growth Accelerator one is managing and improving belief systems. Everything starts and ends with you and your stories that have been coded since childhood. I'm talking about stories that have impacted your belief systems about what is possible and what you think you can achieve. It's how you interpret and respond to those beliefs that determines your mindset for success and if your business will achieve great things. Think about this for a minute. We've always been taught that failure is bad. But in an entrepreneurial journey, failure is a critical component of success. You want to fail fast, fail often, and then pick yourself up quickly by learning from a mistake. There's a process I call the cycle of failure. Put simply, it's when you keep doing the same things over and over again, hoping that you'll have a different outcome. It's blaming external forces for a failure rather than looking in the mirror. And what you have to understand right off the bat is if you're responsible for your success and failures, you have to acknowledge that nobody else is. If you think otherwise, it's just your ego trying to protect you by triggering certain responses. When we're faced with challenges, one of the most powerful tools you can use to regulate your ego is accepting that when you're going to learn something new, confusion sets in and your stress hormones will trigger a response. Now don't get me wrong, this might make you feel uncomfortable, but when you're building a business, being uncomfortable is something you have to get used to. And it's not just that. Another fundamental difference between success and failure is your attitude towards abundance versus scarcity. Having the mindset of abundance will drive you towards positive outcomes in your business, whereas having a scarcity mindset will likely limit your opportunities to expand and scale. More than anything, you must develop a winning mindset to succeed in business. And there are tools, techniques and strategies you can deploy every single day to ensure you stay on the right mental track. Growth Accelerator 2 is creating strong business foundations. Now, without specific and absolute clarity of your purpose, you'll be pounding a treadmill forever in mediocre mode. If you take anything away from this, make it that. If you don't know where you are and where you want to go, how can you possibly know what you need to do to trigger growth in your business? Ask yourself, what are your personal goals? What is your purpose? Why do you exist as a business? What's the reason that you do what you do? Do you have a clear idea of what you want to achieve in business and what that looks like? What's the legacy you want to leave behind for your kids? What's the impact you want to have on the world? Sure, that's a lot to get your head around, but they're questions that need asking because an idea is just an idea till it's executed. So what does your vision of success look like? Not everyone wants to drive a Porsche or live in an eight bedroom mansion. Most people want to be comfortable and look after the family without any worries. Success to you might mean owning a Red Epic or an Alexa or a Canon C200. But whatever it is, it has to be defined through your own lens. Until you become clear on your purpose, you're shooting blind. Worse, you risk wasting time and effort in a disorganized spiral of procrastination. You'll be exhausted from riding the never ending roller coaster of feast and famine freelancer life. But get this right and you'll have clear motivation every day. And always be focused on your desired outcomes. Whether it's reducing your hours, doubling your revenues, or building your own video empire.

Growth Accelerator 3 is planning a long term business strategy. Now, before we go on a shoot, you've got a plan, right? You do pre production. You have call sheets and you have shooting scripts. So why do so many video entrepreneurs fail to prepare how they're going to scale and grow their business in the most effective ways? In this section, we look at strategic planning for your year and assessing where you are on the business growth journey. Now, to drive success, you have to understand where you are on the roadmap of business growth. Once you've worked that out, you can start looking at how to create a strategic plan. You'll be able to define what success means to you and put a process in place on exactly how you're going to get there. But that still leaves us with the big question. How are you actually going to execute that plan? It starts with exploring what you want the overall outcome to be. Ask yourself this. You know, what do you really want? Absolute clarity. Here is what separates the winners and the dabblers next. Break down. All of the tasks need to be achieved in the next 12 months to make that a reality. And from there, you break those tasks down into quarterly priorities and then weekly goals. By following this process, you end up reviewing your goals every 90 days and executing them every week. Now, over the course of a year, you'll be amazed at what you can achieve. I think it was Tony Robbins that said most people wildly overestimate what they can achieve in one year, but they wildly underestimate what they can achieve in five. Imagine what you can achieve in five years with a solid strategic plan. A plan laser focused on working towards goals that deliver outcomes that feed your own vision of success. If you have a solid strategic plan reviewed regularly, you will achieve more in the next 12 months than you have in the last five years.

Growth Accelerator 4 marketing your offer to ideal clients. If you chase two rabbits at the same time, you'll catch neither in real terms. Are you clear about who you serve? And let me tell you, this is far more important than most video businesses realize. Niche verticals or niche horizontals are the only way to build a business. Period. Too many video production companies try to serve everyone and in the process end up serving no one. They lose gigs on price because it's the only determining factor when you're a generalist to see real growth, you can only target one sector or one target market at a time. And it's not as hard as it might sound. This could be as simple as we support agencies with video production. Now that's not to say that you can't also have other sectors in your business. But the number one challenge I see in video production companies is they're chasing too many rabbits. They don't have a clear idea of who their client avatar is. They fail to understand their audience's pain, their needs, their wants, their aspirations and desired outcomes in great detail so they can service them at the highest level. And guess what? It comes back to bite them. Be honest with yourself. How well have you documented your target clients so you can communicate directly to them in your marketing? And how well do you know your clients and what matters to them? Hint. It's really just about price, okay? If you're chasing two or more markets or even worth selling video for everyone, then you're going to be run ragged on the hamster wheel like every other kid with a camera and some website skills. But get this right and you'll become an authority in your space. Be able to command higher rates and generate repeat business consistently.

Now Growth Accelerator 5 generating leads and Inquiries Video businesses tend to focus heavily on the production and ignore everything else. They have no work and no jobs coming in because they're avoiding the sales conversation. Trust me, this is a sure fireware to go broke quickly. If you don't address this as soon as possible, then you risk going out of business. Ask yourself what are you doing to nurture your prospects? Not everyone's ready to buy right now. In fact, it's likely that if you're doing consistent marketing today, you might not see any return on that for 60 to 90 days. Are you capturing data? If someone visits your website, is there a method for them to leave their information beyond a simple Contact Us form which, let's face it, nobody uses? How well do you follow up with your clients? You know, I just moved house and applied to check out a new Gym and within 60 minutes they called me to set up an appointment. Now that's serious lead generation in action. By 3pm I'd met them and signed up. They won a sale by following up faster than any other gym in the area. The thing is, most of us visit websites and take no action. So if you're not using some sort of follow up strategy, lead capture strategy, or data capture, then you're simply leaving business on the table. Which leads me nicely into marketing strategy. What's yours? Do you even have one? Do you use social media in a way that generates inquiries or you just post stuff randomly on LinkedIn now and again? If you're not consistent in your marketing, you're not going to get consistent results. And if there's no clear pathway for a client when they land on your site, they become confused and end up, taking no action and leave.

By creating a systemized method of attracting prospects into your business and nurturing them into an elite system. It's critical and yet I see it so infrequently with video businesses. So on to Growth Accelerator 6 How to close more High Ticket Sales and by high ticket sales, I mean bigger budget productions. I get it, okay. Most creatives hate selling. But there is a way to ethically persuade and influence the outcome of a prospect conversation. So you get a yes. Oh, and it's non salesy so you won't feel weird. Let's say you have leads and inquiries coming into your business. What percentage are you converting into customers? Do you even know? Do you use a CRM customer relationship management software? How do you know where people are at in your funnel or in your sales pipeline? Do you have a sales process? Do you have a sales pipeline? Do you know how many people are in your prospect stage, in your lead stage, in your nurture stage, your conversion stage and your after sales stage? Do you have and use a sales script? I'm not kidding. This is stuff that you need to know. You need to know the answers to all these questions if you want to be committing to higher quality projects with better paying clients.

Truth is, selling and sales can be very daunting for creators. But like anything, it can be systemized and you can use scripts. In fact, in our accelerator program, we've created a done for you script that our clients use when phoning up and reconnecting with existing clients or talking to new clients. We actually make it easy for you. So having a solid strategy for converting your prospects into clients is absolutely critical if you want to grow and sustain your business. And it's even easier with pre done scripts and templates.

Now. Growth Accelerator 7 Building proven video Business systems There's no doubt about it that structure and discipline set you free. Systems are the backbone of structure. But the biggest challenge most filmmakers face is getting all of the information about their process out of their head and into a system. It means systems can be scary. And it's easy to imagine that creating systems is going to be this laborious process that takes time away from your passion for video. But in reality, it doesn't have to be having a clear system that maps the customer journey. And every process you involve in your production will actually allow you to be more creative and save yourself a hell of a lot of time in the long run. Let me break it down for you a little bit. Systems are simply what needs to be done, how it needs to be Done and who needs to do it. It sounds simple, right? And even better news is you don't have to be responsible for your own systems because we've created them for you. We have an entire system for scaling a video production business from start to finish. All you have to do is implement. It's like painting my numbers for a video business. You know, I have a philosophy that I'm obsessed with. So much so, I have a label stuck on my monitor and it says, do it once, record it, and create a system. Why do I do that? Because systems allow us to scale. They allow you to take processes you do repeatedly and allow others to follow them without needing to ask you questions. You can take a step back and watch your business grow without your influence having to be across every minor detail. That's why systems have to be the single most powerful tool in scaling the revenues of my video business accelerator clients. And they can help you do the same. So, Growth Accelerator 8 improving leadership and team Building. Now, if I had a dollar for every time someone said to me, I just don't want to hire staff from a video business owner, then I'd be very wealthy. Look, I understand what they're saying, but as far as I'm concerned, no business has ever scaled without a team. Now, the good news is you don't have to hire staff. This is where things change with the art of outsourcing. Your team doesn't have to be in an office that you're renting in the same city you're working, or even the same country. You can use outsourced support and leverage lower labor costs in other countries. The key to solid outsourcing is having clear communication, allowing your team to work autonomously based on clear indications of what it is you expect from them. Combined with solid systems and processes, you can build a talented remote team that saves you time and money without compromising on quality. And you don't even have to create those systems yourself. If you hire the right team, you can have them build the systems and processes. You can create the framework and allow your team to step up to the systems and process execution. There are plenty of strategies that we employ and deploy in our video business accelerator, designed to help you navigate more fluidly through the process, to help you onboard your team in a much more practical way. But for all of this to happen, you have to learn to become a leader. You don't want to have to manage staff. You want to lead your team. And it's easy when you use the accelerator method we teach in our coaching mentorship if you are very clear with your instructions, you'll have an incredible experience and wonder how you ever managed on your own. And more than that, you'll gain so much time back, you'll finally be able to unleash your creativity and passion for video once again. So you know guys, that is our eight accelerators. And if you want to, you know, learn where you're at on this journey, you can go to the website@denleny.com on this episode of the podcast and take the quiz. And that will tell you how your business is stacking up against the eight growth accelerator you just learned. Now, if you implement these eight growth accelerators effectively, you'll be able to create a thriving six or even seven figure video production business that isn't 100% reliant on you always being there across every project. And that is the nirvana, right? So with this episode and our future guide is going to be coming out in January and our training program, the Video Business Accelerator, we aim to help businesses owners break through their current barriers and turn their dreams into life changing reality. Now I know video businesses that can get to two or three or even 400,000 a year with brute force and determination because I've done it myself. But it's very hard to get beyond that unless you start working with systems, processes and teams. That's when you start to achieve real, measurable growth. And for that you need to develop a clear strategy for how you want to scale so that you can avoid that feast and famine mindset, fatigue and let's face it, rising stress levels. And this is just the first step. So if you want to take the scorecard, it's a free scorecard quiz. You can see how well your business is performing against my eight growth accelerators. Now it's going to give you a clear pathway you can follow to start moving in the right direction. It only takes a few minutes to complete and you'll get a scorecard marking out 90 that shows you which areas you need to focus on to create a sustainable business that gives you more freedom. So, you know, I hope you find this useful. We've got an ebook coming in January, a brand new website coming in January and what I've shared with you today is just the kind of the framework around the eight growth accelerators. So guys, I'd love to hear if you do the quiz how you're implementing this. Please go to the website@denleny.com and we'll put a note on there to do the eight growth Accelerators quiz and I look forward to talking to you again very, very soon. 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, it's hit the 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 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.