What financial stimulus is available for affected video businesses - Shorty EP #076

G', day, guys. Dan here on Tuesday 31st March, week 14 of 2020.

So I just came off my weekly coaching call with my accelerator clients. We had two and a half hours today. Obviously, situation is such that we need to offer more support. But one of the questions I asked my guys this morning was about the podcast because there's a challenge at the minute around getting the tone right between, you know, obviously talking about COVID and not talking about it. And so I'm curious, what do you think?

Obviously, it's important to acknowledge that different people are having it tough in different ways in different parts of the world.

I know a lot of American cities are really in lockdown and finding it very, very. I know the UK is mostly in lockdown. Here in Australia, we are in, I think, stage two or stage three, which is, you know, stay at home. And so far, the data yesterday was that the rate of cases has slowed. So hopefully that means that the measures here in Australia are having an impact. But anyway, back to what I asked my guys this morning, which was, you know, what is the right tone to can we keep communicating through this podcast? And it was an interesting response. You know, obviously acknowledge that there's the challenges out there, and I've got a bit to say about that today, but really the overwhelming feedback from my team, my guys and the group was, you know, then keep, keep leading, keep, you know, being positive and sharing what you see as the opportunity. Because, you know, throughout any crisis, there is always opportunity off the back and, you know, not to diminish how someone might be feeling at the moment where, you know, work's completely dried up and cash was looking tight.

You know, it's. It's obviously first and foremost, you've got to be in survival mode, but different governments around the world are responding. And I appreciate, you know, this is a global podcast, so it's hard to comment on any one specific case. And please understand that when I share things about, you know, aid packages and stimulus packages that, you know, I realize that not all governments are doing the same. So I wanted to just kind of touch on that first and really just.

You know, certainly here in Australia, there's a lot of very, very fast response from the government. And I'll post a link underneath the podcast with a couple of links to sites where you can read about the various packages that are available.

Certainly here in Australia, if you are running a small business, the government is giving you a $10,000 cash injection in this quarter's BAS, which is our business activity statement.

And that's almost guaranteed for any business and then another one at the next business activity statement. So a total of $20,000 cash injection, which is going to be a credit against any submission of your bas. And there are also some incentives for the self employed which is looking like up to 1500 dollars per fortnight means tested. So there's some hope there. I read today that in Melbourne City there's some other grants available.

And you know, there's just some cash flow assistance happening and if you employ people there are some further grants from the treasury here in Australia, in the U.S. i think from what I gather talking to my U.S. clients there is assistance but it's very confusing and no one's quite sure what's what and where's what. But I know that there is a Small Business Cares Act, I believe that was signed by the President and I've, I'll put a link to that and from what I understand.

And please correct me if I'm incorrect here, is that the, there's a kind of economic injury disaster loan advance up to $10,000 for businesses who are eligible to apply and because the country's in a state of disaster, I think that that's going to be something that will be possibly an option for you from what I get what I understand and please, this is not legal advice. I'm just, just reparaphrasing what I've, what I've read is that this economic injury disaster loan or other loans of its type provide a $10,000 upfront so a tranche payment which I believe does not need to be paid back. I'm not quite sure the details there, but I'll put a link to what I have below this podcast over@denleny.com if you're listening on another app, you'll need to go to the website to see that in the UK they've announced some COVID19 support packages from the government.

And again there seems to be some holding off on VAT.

And the likes.

And I think there's some other incentives. It's obviously very complex because we transmit all over the world to be able to give advice. I don't want to be giving advice to anyone, just I want to make sure there's some links beneath this podcast so you can go and check them out for yourself. But I think some sensible moves are just to do things like, you know, if you've got a mortgage, put it on a payment holiday wherever you can and, and you know, renegotiate if you've got a, a car on finance, maybe see if you can negotiate a payment holiday. A lot of times it's important just to ask the question and see how far you can get. But, but look, I want to leave that there because that's obviously just kind of straightforward, you know, some information you can go and resource I now want to focus on, you know, what can you be doing? Because I've got to say, within my group this morning, there was a real overwhelming sense of optimism and positivity and people actually finding new opportunities and seizing new opportunities. And the thing that we shared in the group this morning was really all about my philosophy of just go out to your clients and make sure they understand that you care. Connect with them by phone and literally call them up and say, how are you? How can I support you? There's definitely a sense in amongst my advisors at the minute that this is a time for sharing your genuine desire to help people. That doesn't mean you shouldn't be selling. We need to stimulate the economy. We need to keep people investing and buying. And that might seem like an odd thing to do, but, you know, I've seen plenty of ads coming in to my email offering, you know, discounted fridges, freezers, televisions, home delivery, all the major food outlets are advertising. There's clothing stores advertising, you know, cheer you up with a, with a shopping spree. So. So we mustn't be afraid to sell in this environment. We just need to be careful with the tone. You know, I mean, I've been selling. I did a webinar a couple of weeks ago, and then we made a marketing accelerator system available at huge 86% discount. And we are still selling. It's actually closing tonight at midnight. So it's kind of coming off the market at that price because we wanted to stimulate people to take action. And, you know, it's. It's a kind of over $2,000 worth of training, but we were giving it away for $297. So it's a huge discount. And it's. Because it's a huge discount. It's a real discount. We can't keep it online forever. So it's coming off. It's actually kind of. It's going, it's going up in price at midnight by $200. So it'll still be available, but that, that initial discount will go. And that's because I want to stimulate people who are sitting at home who are struggling with perhaps, you know, what to do, or they're. They're feeling a little bit helpless because the thing that you can do in this scenario is impact what you can control. And you know, we will get through this. In fact, Simon Sinek had a great piece of video where he addressed his team and he said, look, we know we're in a long tunnel just now, but there is a light at the end. We just can't see how far away that light is. And history will tell us that we will recover from this. We absolutely will recover from this. And so I feel it's very important that, you know, what can I do to support my community? Well, obviously we keep putting out this podcast twice a week. There's no fee to attend that. We have free ebooks on our website you can access. We have very low cost books you can buy on our website or via Amazon. And we have some courses and training available. And I've also just opened up something I've never done before, which is, you know, calls, like if you want to have a call with me and we've got some, some sessions where you can book a half hour call or a one hour call or a 90 minute call or you can just submit a question to me. And these are paid services because, you know, I learned a long time ago that when people pay, they pay attention. And when you give away free, people take it but don't do any of the work. And, and my ultimate goal is to help video content companies succeed. And in order to succeed, you need to show up and do the work. And so we've given stuff away for free before and you know, people that take free stuff, they never do the work and so they never get the result. And then, you know, they complain they're not getting any benefits or any. And that's just one of these unfortunate human behaviors. It's the same across every industry. So we, we are unapologetic with the fact that we're running a business, but we're very sensitive to, to the fact that people are in some hardship at the minute. And so what we're able to do is drastically reduce some of our products to make them very accessible. So that, so that if you're sitting there thinking, well, how can I get my business ready for when this recovers, then that option is there. But as I say, you know, overall overarching mood in the camp just now is one of optimism. We've got clients who are working with art galleries and with, you know, auction houses and even events companies who are bringing their events online and you know, working with events companies and events filming companies who are, you know, working with them to Figure out how can we help you moderate this. And obviously things have changed a lot. But I predict, and it's just my opinion that we'll see probably 90 days of quite significant disruption. But I've got to say, here in Australia, the government have been very.

Very deliberate in not shutting down completely. So at the moment, it's my understanding that Scott Morrison, the Prime Minister here, said, if you cannot, you know, do your work from home, then go to work, but just follow all the, all the guidelines. And so a number of my clients are still out on shoots, but they're going out on solo shoots. They're observing all of the guidelines and how long that will last for, we don't know. Things appear to be slowing here in Australia in terms of the growth of the virus cases, which may not help you if you're stuck in Chicago just now, or Alabama or California, where things are obviously a lot more serious. So, please, you know, it's very important, I want you to understand, if you're listening to this in a state or a country that's really up against, I feel for you. But when I asked my guys this morning, what's the. What's the best thing I can do to kind of, you know, maintain a solid dialogue through the podcast, they just said, please, just keep being positive. We need hope, we need to know that we'll get through this. And so that's why we've been running these campaigns, to kind of create these marketing systems, because the more you activate those deliberate processes in your business, the ones that will prepare you for when this recovers, the more in control you will feel. I mean, certainly don't watch any television news or read the papers. If you want to find out what's happening, go to the government websites, watch the government addresses. Everything beyond that is an interpretation. So that's one thing I'm very clear on. And just focus on what you can control. You know, really just, um, now is the time to be taking very deliberate action and, and, and not slowing down on. My clients are all saying they've never been busier. Um, I'm working seven days a week. I'm spending all available time figuring out how I can prepare and support and get ready for when this shifts again. And, and all of our businesses have been affected. You know, there's not a single business in the world just now that has not been affected by this in some way. And so with that in mind, like, we're all on the same page. But I also believe that we're going to start seeing some Settling. People are going to get used to being in this work from home state and businesses will want to get their message out to the marketplace. And so I really predict an increase in video services for video. It might be helping people understand how to just shoot better in their own homes for the time being. But not everyone's going to be happy to do that forever. And, and as everyone gets used to it, I think there'll be opportunities to support your clients with just a bit of production advice and a bit of production guidance. And some of my clients are saying, well, we're just guiding people on how to frame themselves, how to get a decent microphone, how to put some lighting in place to make it look a little less flat. And then they're taking it and then they're, you know, grading it and putting up, putting a wrap around it and then putting some B roll, etc. So yeah, guys, look, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's an ever evolving situation. But I want you to, to focus on what you can control. Take, take, you know, decisive action and, and, and get government grants and anything you can get. You know, if you can put a make payment hold in your mortgage, then, you know, do that to minimize the short term damage, but start focusing on what you can control. And if you have any questions, reach out to me on LinkedIn and yeah, I'll do what I can to support you and help you. But guys, I will see you again on Thursday.

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 personally 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.