How Mitch Went From $450 Real Estate Shoots to $45K In Video Retainers - Master Filmmaker Case Study
Mitch went from charging $450 for real estate videos to landing two retainer clients worth $45,000 combined by targeting home services trades like plumbing and elevator installation. He closed a $15,000 introductory deal and a larger plumbing retainer, both from paid ads, and now treats retainers as his main income.
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What's going on, guys? I'm here with Mitch from Feature Focused Media, who went from $450 real estate shoots to just closing 45k in retainers. What's going on, Mitch? How are you?
Good, man, how are you?
I'm good. Do you mind just giving us a little bit of background on you, your story, kind of how you got started here?
Yeah, for sure. I guess it started with, like you said, real estate. And I was kind of preparing for the slow season because in my area, I'm here in Canada, it gets a little bit slower for real estate shoots in, let's say November, December into January. Not, not a lot happens. And you know, got some, you know, I've got a kid on the way and you know, my wife's not able to work as well. So just trying to, trying to sort things out, make sure, like we're all good throughout the slow season. And you know, your ads came up and ended up looking into, into this, this type of work and really with the goal of stabilizing my income and really having predictability in what we're doing here for sure.
And, and what would you say, like. Cause obviously that's a big jump from like doing real estate shoots, which is awesome. Right. But I think for people, like, how did the mental shift kind of change from doing like these smaller kind of one off things or like, you know, you're maybe doing multiple houses and stuff like that to like now these larger retainers, like, how did that kind of shift for you?
Honestly, I, I had no idea what I was going to do coming into this. But it's just one of those things where if you're an entrepreneur and you have it like, you can figure it out, you can figure out what you're going to shoot. I would say the biggest piece is kind of what you've been able to teach. Because I see so many videographers in my area who. I see videographers who are much talent, much more talented than I am, who are not bringing in the same size of retainers as I'm bringing in. So it's really the structure behind it. And I would say the biggest thing for me is I need to believe in something that I sell. So if, because I'm an entrepreneur at heart, and I know that I'm helping other entrepreneurs grow and scale their business, like it's for me, if you can get behind what you're selling, then it's a pretty easy sell, right? Yeah.
And then who do you target specifically for these larger retainer Packages just so people understand.
Yeah, I'm home services. So any trades, construction, all that.
And what kind of clients were the ones that you closed? And what were those deal values?
Like?
So was it 2 deals to equal the 45k or what did that look like?
Yeah, yeah. So the first one was actually an elevator installation company. Yeah. So that was 15k over 4 months. I ended up giving them, they were my first deal. So I ended up giving them a bit of a deal to get in the door. And then, you know, I got the second deal, which was a bigger plumbing company in the area and basically offered full, full package price. And they were fully on board. Like, they understood the value, they knew what they were trying to do, and I could articulate kind of what I was going to do for them. And by the end of it, they were honestly selling themselves on it. So I love that. It was pretty cool.
And then how did you get these leads? Like, was it because what were you, like, I know we talked about, like, doing a paid inbound system. Like, how has that been working? Did these come from that? Like, what did that look like?
Yeah, both my, both my closed deals were from our paid ads that, that you guys kind of helped help me set up. Cool.
And then have you ever run paid ads before? Is this like your first time ever doing that?
What is that experience?
Been like, okay, is it weird putting yourself out there in an ad? Cause I see, like, when I first launched ads myself, I was like, man, this is weird. Like, seeing myself on ads. Like, yeah, I don't know. Right?
It was, it was a little bit. I'm a little bit newer to the area I just moved to. Like, we've only been here for a year, so I didn't really give a crap anyways. It's nice to just get your face out there. Regardless. I've honestly been cur of people see me around because they're out there and.
People are probably going to start recognizing you. Like, with a lot of our clients who advertise local, they're like, oh, hey, that's like Mitch. I see his ads all the time and like, recognize him outside. Yeah.
No. What I will say, though, it's honestly, I would say the change in confidence from the beginning of the journey to right now is insane to think about because, like, even before I closed that second deal, I was already thinking, like, I was so confident with the process that I could feel like I could choose who I wanted to work with and not feel bad about it. Like, I, I, I wouldn't want to work with someone who didn't fit with me, because I know that it only takes a couple of clients to really get this thing going. Right? So I want to build it the right way. I want to shoot with the right people. And, you know, at the beginning, you're just like, I'll take whoever I can get. But I think that changes pretty quickly once. Once you. You know, once you get going and build the confidence.
Well, I think the interesting thing you said, too, is, like, it takes them, like, one to two clients to ROI on your videos. So it's like, how much easier of a sell is that to be like, if I could get you one client with these videos, like, you know, would this be worth it? They're like, yeah, absolutely. It's easy, right? And I think. I think what you said, too, is like, it's like, how much do you feel like it's, like, the same amount of work as what you were doing for, like, these. These, like, $450 shoots. Cause, like, I hear that a lot where it's like, you know, hey, this is a huge deal, but, like, I'm really not doing that much more work, like, on a monthly basis for these guys.
Yeah, I would say if, like, I haven't. I haven't done a full, like, you know, so fresh. I haven't done a full shoot.
You just closed.
Yeah. But I would say, you know, from. From what I've mapped out for them, pretty close. The same time on. On site, if you will.
Nice. And then where in Canada are you based?
In the Okanagan, so it's okay. Kind of in British Columbia.
Okay, nice.
Yeah.
And then I guess I'm curious, like, what. What kind of had you choose our program over maybe some of the other ones is just me being annoying and Instagram all the time. Like, what. What kind of, like, drew you to this one, I guess, specifically?
Honestly, man, it's kind of the same reason what I use to sell to my clients or, like, a reason that gives me social proof. It's like I saw you over and over and over again, and it just seemed like without me knowing, a ton about it, seemed like you guys knew what you were doing. You were offering me something that fit, you know, what I was looking to offer. And then it's like, kind of the same thing as what I relay to my clients are like, well, what makes you the authority to do this? Or, like, what? You know, and it's like, well, how did you get here today? You got here from my ads, which I am trying to Sell to you to do the same thing to your clients. So I would say that's, that's kind of what got me in the door.
Well, I think for a lot of agencies too, it's like you have to start making yourself known. And the easiest way to make yourself known to get inbound leads is to run paid ads. Right. As opposed to having to do reach outs or looking desperate or like it's. And then the conversation just becomes like, how can I solve your problem on this call versus like hey, can I please work with you? Like please pay me. And it feels like desperate. I think a lot of times when people are just reaching out and having to do that, you come from more of a place of like authority when they reach out to you through an ad, you know, 100%.
Yeah, it's a warmer, it's a warmer touch for sure. Sorry, I just lost my train of.
Thought there and I guess like. And like what kind of a weird question but like where do you feel like you might have been if you hadn't maybe taken the jump, made the investment in yourself? Because like, obviously it's scary and, and it's a big leap to invest in yourself to grow your business, to make these steps. Like where do you feel like you might have been if you hadn't taken that step specifically?
Yeah, I'd be in a place where I'm, where I was doubling down on the real estate side of things, where I'd be scrambling for work that didn't really exist in this time. So yeah, I would just be kind of waiting for next season to pick up. Really. I mean there's a couple more jobs that I could get. But I mean, when does the season.
Typically pick back up? Like January, February for real estate or February?
Like let's say like I, I doubled down and really went sales mode. Do I get 5 more jobs at an average order value of $450 or.
Should you get 5 more 30k each? It's like it's, it's easier. Yeah, I hear that.
Exactly.
Do you think you're going to make the full pivot to do only retainers? Do you think you'll do both? Like what do you think you'll do into this next year?
Yeah, so as of right now, I've still got it running in the background because it's not a lot of extra to have it still going and it's a nice little gravy on top. But that's what I consider it as now is like this, the, the video agency style of work that is now, like, what's going to pay my bills and what's going to get me through. And then, you know, the secondary side of things would be the real estate, which is going to be just the gravy on top, Right? Yeah, for sure.
And last question, Mitch, and I'll let you get back to closing deals here. I guess if anybody's maybe watching this and they're on the fence about just having a conversation with us around, like, jumping into the program, like, knowing what, you know now kind of on the other side of it. So, like, what advice would you give them specifically?
Yeah, I would. I would say if you've got any sort of determining, like, it's. I would say it's not for everyone, because if you're not willing to put in the work, it's not going to happen. If you've. If you're determined to make it work, the tools are there to make it happen. It is a big investment, but it's a big investment for a reason. Just. It's the same thing that I'm telling my clients is that, you know, yeah, it's an investment, but that's why it's going to get you to where you want to be. Right? Yeah.
And I think you said it perfectly. It's not a magic pill. You have to do the work. This is not some, like, whatever. It's like, you have to come in and really want to do it, but, like, we'll help you get there. So I. I think that's huge. And Mitch, I appreciate your time. Dude, I'm going to do another one of these when we're at, like, multiple six figures and deals closed, which is not that far away. So I'm very excited for you. I'm very excited to see what the future holds, and I appreciate your time.
Awesome. Thanks, Eric.
Yes, sir.
