Video Producers it’s Time to Step Up & Take the Lead - Shorty EP #80

G', day, guys. It's Tuesday the 14th of April, week 16 of 2020, and just getting ready for this week's Shorty. So got something a little bit different this week, actually. Good friend of mine and video strategist extraordinaire, Ben Amos. Ben and I were chatting last week and he is about to launch his video strategy course again this year. And if you don't what that is, I'm not going to explain it to you because I'll get it wrong. But Ben is pretty much the world's leading authority on video strategy, and he's also a neighbor of mine. Well, neighbor, he's 30 minutes down the road and I helped him last time he got this program off the ground. And we got such amazing feedback from the people using it that we then obviously did a podcast about it, which I'll link to below. But also, like now more than ever.

When we are having to pivot our businesses with everything that's going on in the world just now, it's a great opportunity to actually, you know, pivot your business and do that thing you've always been meaning to do. And video strategy is one of those things that is absolutely critical for, you know, taking your business in a new direction. So what I've managed to do is actually grab Ben away from his kids and I'll see if I can just bring him up here. Hey, Ben, are you there, man?

Yeah, how you doing?

Cool, man. So, guys, what I thought I'd do is actually just give Ben, literally give him like 5 minutes notice to jump on a call with us and just talk a bit about video strategy and what's going to be involved in this webinar on Friday. So, Ben, thank you so much. I know you're just about to kind of, your wife's just about to go out, so you've got to look after the kids. But I just wonder if you can tell the listeners a bit more about video strategy and how that's impacted your business and then a bit more about the webinar we're holding together on Friday morning or Thursday evening in the U.S. yeah, sure thing.

Look, the webinar is really all about sharing the framework behind what I call the online video strategy blueprint. And the blueprint itself, as you alluded to there, Dan, is a course that over 80 video producers and video production companies have been through over the last 12 to 18 months as they transition themselves into the world of video strategy. So what I want to do, share for you guys on the webinar is really all about the mindset shift around, shifting that focus from video production to video strategy and why you would even want to do that in the first place. And also considering what does video strategy look like today? Like with every social media platform and video platform, we really need to be thinking about the videos we're creating for our clients and how we're setting our clients up for success with those videos. I'm going to talk about the idea of, as video producers, we get paid to create a video and we hand it over. And often that's as far as it goes. And I think I know you, and I know many people who I've spoken to about this. In the world of video production, they get frustrated when the work that they do for their clients isn't being implemented or distributed in the right way. Or in many cases, they just stick it up on YouTube and hope that people find it and there's no strategy behind what it is they're doing. So it just fails to return on their investments and it doesn't make us look good as a video producer. It's certainly not going to be good for the clients. Right.

Isn't that the challenge because you put the budget together and you create this amazing content, you do the research and you tell the story, and then is there a risk that if you just handle the video over and it doesn't get promoted correctly, the clients end up kind of turning around and blaming you because they think, well, they spent all this money on video and it didn't do anything?

Yeah, 100%. And chances are maybe the video that you or they asked you to produce and that you ended up producing for them might not even be the right video in the first place. Because if there hasn't been a strategic discussion that you've guided your clients through before you go into production, then potentially.

They'Re going to be thinking the wrong things and potentially you're not guiding them towards the right outcome. When it comes to video, many people do have some sort of a strategic discussion before they launch into production, but often what I find is that they're just not going deep enough. That's this transition from video producer to video strategist. And I don't really necessarily see it as a pivot. I think I see it as an addition, additional skill set. Another, another. What is it? An arrow in your quiver, you know, so that you. You've got other ways to deploy and assist your clients to get better results with the videos that they're creating. And that's what I want to share.

That's awesome. And tell me, because you, you run a video production company and this is something that clearly you implemented in your own business, saw that it was being successful and decided to kind of help others by training others. What kind of impact has adding this bow to your arrow, if you like, had on your business?

So for us, it's changed everything that we do with our clients right from the first conversation that we have with our clients, where we start talking strategy right from the beginning, even from the initial inquiry, so that we're positioned differently. We, we don't believe in the idea of competition or positioning ourselves against our competition because we're offering a different service. When clients are coming to us for a video and that's what they believe they're coming to us for, we bring the conversation back to strategy first and it changes the way that the client's viewing us. So it leads to longer term client relationships. It leads to not just one video project, but multiple projects over a period of time. It's led to quite a number of our clients being based on retainer strategies because, you know, retainer payment structures so that we can help them implement the distribution of their content over time. So we're not just getting paid for production, we're also getting paid for the implementation, the distribution optimization, measuring and analyzing the data, the metrics behind the videos to inform the ongoing video strategy moving forward so that we become part of their marketing team in a way and that just is a better result for everyone.

That makes a lot of sense. And I would have thought just now, Ben, with the disruption that the entire world is experiencing, that I imagine on a kind of personal level, being a video production business, a video strategy business with retainer clients, you know, you probably haven't felt quite the same hit to your business as a result of having the setup. So I would imagine that anyone who's sitting at home just now, who's really feeling the pinch because of the lack of production, this would be a great opportunity to come to this webinar and just learn some of the techniques and the ways in which you can actually protect your business for the future.

Yeah, absolutely. And I think the critical thing there is a lot of good video marketing strategy across.

The full marketing funnel, to use marketing terms there. Often it doesn't even require high quality production or high production value content. So we're paid to assist our clients in implementing DIY video strategies or processes where they can engage better with their customers using their smartphones through video email and things like that. It's all part of a Good video strategy. And when you reposition yourself as a video strategist, then you can assist your clients with video in a number of different ways, many of which don't include getting out there with your high end video cameras and your crew and your standard production process. You can still do that. There's still a place for that. This is adding in a new way to help your clients achieve better results.

I love it. And I'm just going to just read through some of the benefits that I think are worth sharing. People who are listening to this. So on this webinar we're doing, which is Thursday evening U.S. pacific Time, Friday morning Australia time, I'll post the link on the website to how you can register for this webinar. Ben's going to be sharing with us the big shift in our industry towards strategy and how you can adapt your offering to better serve your production clients. He's also going to be sharing the seven elements to an effective offer online video strategy. Because I imagine, Ben, it's not as simple as just kind of having a call with clients and saying, hey, we can do your strategy and off you go. There's obviously a lot more to it. And you'll be breaking down those seven elements on the call and then the three main video strategy business models, which is really interesting for me because I just thought like, it's one business model, but clearly there's more than one. And you're going to also share some case studies with us, aren't you, with some stories from other video professionals.

That's right, yeah. So as I said, we've had a number of really, for me personally, exciting success stories of people who have been through the program before. And everyone takes the learning that I share or that I will share in the webinar and also in the program, they apply it into their own business in different ways and it makes sense to be applied in different ways based on the different types of businesses that are out there. So I look forward to sharing as well some different case studies and success stories. Just of a handful of some of those students.

I love it. And obviously guys, you know, we respect our audience and we know that giving away a free webinar, you know, there's no such thing as a free lunch, is there? So, you know, we're being very clear here. Ben does have a program which he's launching this week. It's going to be open for a short time. But what I want to recommend to you is that I know Ben well enough that I wouldn't be promoting this if I didn't trust him. And I know he's going to over deliver on the content on this, the webinar. So, yeah, there will be an opportunity to work with Ben in his program towards the end of the webinar. But, you know, whether you decide to do that or not, I strongly urge you just to come and attend the webinar, get the learnings, because I know that Ben will over deliver. Ben, is there anything else you want to add to that?

No, that's absolutely right. My goal is to help you start to shift your mindset and think about ways that you can bring more strategic services into what you're doing as a video production company. Because the feedback that I'm getting from other people as well is that they feel that now is the time to make this shift in their business with everything that's going on. So my goal is to provide value in this webinar and if it makes sense for you to join the program, that would be awesome. But 100% what you said there, Jen, that just attending the webinar will give you, will give you my framework and you can go out there and you can start implementing this yourself just from that framework if you wanted to.

I agree and I just think it's worth being upfront about these things. I mean, I know when I've done webinars in the past, I deliver masses of value and I think that's important. Well, Ben, thank you so much for just dropping into today's shorty and letting us know what's going on. I better let you go and sort the kids out because I know you and your wife's popping out in about 20 minutes and, and thanks so much, mate. And I'll guys, hopefully see you on the webinar on Thursday, Friday, and I will post a link on my website with this podcast. So, yeah, I'll see you then.

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 who's hit a 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. See you next week.