Live Q&A

What is going on, guys? Ethan's running a little bit behind, so it's just gonna be me on the live getting us started here. But if you're just jumping on, we are going over, uh, how to scale your video agency, questions you might have, how to get more clients, how to get more leads, uh, all of the experience we've had working with over 828 agency owners up to this point. We're gonna be breaking that down. So if you guys are just joining us in, on YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram. Drop the questions you have down below and we will get started on those in just a second here. Just waiting on Ethan to jump in and then we'll get rocking and rolling. But if you guys have questions, we'll go ahead and get started on those. Let's see, I think Ethan just jumped in here. Sweet. If you're live on Instagram, say hey. We are excited to get rocking and rolling here. Ethan, what's up?

How are you? Good, how we doing? Doing nice.

Good. How's the week been?

Good, it's been, uh, it's been a quick week.

We've been popping off on the Wins channel in there. I gotta share some of the wins here. Um, we're just getting some people joining, but we're gonna go over any questions you guys have— how to scale your agency, how to get more leads, how to price higher, all of that jazz. It's been a crazy one this week. We're excited to get rocking and rolling. Let's see. All right, looks like, uh, Denzel had a question. What's the best product or package to sell? I am a producer. I wanna be as hands-off as possible. Been making short documentaries for local businesses. Ethan, how could you maybe turn that offer into something that's a little bit more appealing for like local businesses? What do you think?

So first thing is you're gonna wanna pick a niche, right? You know, an industry that you wanna work with, preferably somebody that offers offers a service typically is what I look for. And then have a set of deliverables, you know, like a defined amount of videos that you provide. Um, and that makes it easy to put people in place, whether it's, you know, editors, videographers, you know, whatever you need to fulfill on that set amount of deliverables. And it makes it predictable also because you know how much you have to pay people, so it makes it better, like, margin-wise, because you can basically just turn it into a math equation.

Totally. Yeah, I'm just making sure we're live here on Instagram, so I'm clicking our, our link. Um, no, yeah, absolutely. I think, uh, like Ethan said, you need to get super clear on who are we talking to. So when you say local businesses, is it service businesses? Is it med spas? Is it law firms? Is it home service companies? Like, who specifically are you speaking to, and who specifically are you working with? And when you say you're making short documentaries, that doesn't really mean anything to a business owner. Like the business owner's thinking, how do I, how do I use whatever it is that you're creating to get me more leads, get me more calls, get me more sales, increase my brand awareness, nurture my customers better. And when you just say short documentaries, I don't know what that means exactly. Like I don't know how that's actually going to help me generate a result for my business. And it's not on the business owner to figure that out. It's on you to figure that out. So it's like, how do you repackage that in a way that's gonna make sense? Well, it's like, hey, we're gonna install our documentary lead generation system into your service business to get you more leads and more clients and people who understand your story and trust you more, right? By, by using our story selling system. Like, I'm just kind of like making something up there, but that would be a good example of like, how do I take something that's like, doesn't really mean anything to the business owner and translate it into something that actually like makes sense and is something that they actually want to buy from you, if that makes sense. So Denzel, let me know if that makes sense. Um, you need to reframe your offer. I have a lot of videos on this on my YouTube channel as well. You need to reframe the offer though around how is it gonna actually help them get more leads, get more calls, and like, why should I care is the biggest thing. Because if like, if they don't care, then they're not gonna buy it. They're not gonna opt in. If you're running ads, they're not gonna become a lead because like the offer's not good. If I'm just like, hey, if you want video, click the link and book a call. It's like, that doesn't really mean anything to me, if that makes sense. So, um, Lorenzo says, any advice on starting a retainer? I've been only, uh, starting on retainers. I've only been project-based. Does retainers mean a guaranteed amount of content a month, or is it more of a use-it-or-lose-it strategy? And is the content social media focused? Um, Ethan, you wanna maybe take that one?

Yeah, so yeah, having the set amount of deliverables is the way to go, um, because there's consistent content going to the client, and consistency is a big part of getting them results, whether it's social content, ads, testimonials. You know, a big part of retainers is we call them like sticky deliverables. It's something that they get on a monthly basis from you. So the use it or lose it isn't the best option to go. So having, you know, a set like cadence of, hey, you get 15 reels this month, 15 ads this month, and then we rinse and repeat next month. Yeah.

Yeah. Well, and it's really not that much different than doing project-based work just because like, think of it as like somebody's going to the gym. It's like, it's easier to sell them on like, hey, content is like going to the gym. You wanna go consistently and that's when you really start to see results versus like one-off projects are like going to the gym one time. It's like you're really not gonna get anything out of that. So it's like, how do we transition them into that? Talk to the people you're already talking to around like who the people who are already on your project-based projects and be like, reframe them to think, well, I actually need ongoing content because one time, like one piece of content's not gonna really change my business. It's how do I actually get that ongoing content to get ongoing results in my business? So let me know if that makes sense, Lorenzo, but that's, that's one of the biggest things we really need to be focusing on. And that's how you can sell people on these longer-term packages because they see the vision of like, this isn't a one-and-done type thing. It's a long-term thing, if that makes sense. So, um, you said, ah, instead of a video agency, it would really be a social media agency. No, not necessarily. It's still a video agency. It's just, it doesn't even have to be social media content that you sell them. It could be like, we have clients that just, just sell testimonials on an ongoing basis. It's like, as they get more clients, they're gonna need testimonials every month. Right. It's like, it can be testimonials. It can be brand films. It can be VSLs. It can be just creating ads for them. It can be like, it doesn't have to just be social media. It can be anything that they might need on an ongoing basis, on a monthly basis. So like, it doesn't have to be just social media. I think that's a big misconception a lot of people have is like, you don't just have to be doing social media. It can be literally, you could be doing their YouTube content, long-form YouTube content every month. Like it, Can be a lot of things. So let me go ahead and share some of our client wins here from the week and maybe that'll give you a good idea as well.

Uh, there we go.

All right. Everybody see this? Ethan, can you see this? Yep.

Gotcha.

Cool. Yeah. So Gage, so they work with, they did a $24K deal. They got $12K upfront. They specifically work with dentists. And he actually posted the sales call here, which is pretty cool. But they actually work with dentists. They only do, they actually only do social media content, which is a good example of somebody who does do that. But like Sarah Peacock here, she also works with— she mainly works with like pediatricians, medical companies, medical practices, people in that space. And she does more of the brand films, the brand packages. It's a little bit more robust, not just the social media content. We got Julian, close a $10K for 3-month package for a design firm, which is sick. Gage again, they got a $15K 6-month Done With You package. Sarah had a big win this past week. She ended up closing $70K in a week, which is great, with 2 different dentists, one for $35K and another one for $35K as well. Brandon works with roofing companies. I hope this gives you guys some ideas too of like types of companies you can sell these deals to. But Brandon works with roofing companies. $15K for a basement waterproof or somebody who literally just like these, these are boring businesses that I think most people would not think about. Um, he did one with a local gym and then he did a $24K with a remodeler, uh, as well. Uh, what else we got? Uh, Steven, you helped him with this one, I think, Ethan, right? With, uh, landscaping. Did a couple reactivations, closed, uh, 2 for 2 on that.

Yep.

Sorry guys, I know it might be a little bit blurry. Um, I'll see if I can maybe, I don't know if I can zoom in anymore on the, on the mobile view. If you go to YouTube and go to our live there, You'd be able to see that as well. Uh, Dante closed a 6-month, $27K with a roofing company, which is great. And then, uh, Ryan ended up closing, uh, a beauty brand for 6 months at $59K, an airline company at 12 months for $90K. Um, and these are more like corporate clients, which is pretty cool. Um, so there's just a couple of the wins, couple of ideas of like types of clients you guys can work with. Um, if you're here on YouTube, uh, go ahead and drop some comments, some questions, uh, and we can answer those. We're gonna have about 15 more minutes here and then we have to run. Um, but yeah, let me know what other questions you guys have around scaling your agency. Like, what are some of the biggest problems you guys are having? I'd love to know. Um, and then that'll help us kind of tailor the questions and the answers and stuff. So, uh, Lorenzo says, in your experience, who is typically the buyer, the business owner or an agency representing them? Ethan?

Uh, definitely the business owner.

Yep.

Um, a lot of times you'll be marketing to the business itself, not to like an agency or, you know, any kind of middleman. You'll be going right, you know, straight to the client, which is the best situation to be in. Because even if you were to talk to like an agency or middleman, you would still want to talk to the business owner to get their, you know, thoughts and feelings on, you know, what are the issues with the business, where are we at, where do we want to be, um, versus having everything filtered through an agency, um, where basically they're just going to want to know your price. And that's kind of the conversation that you're gonna have.

Totally. Um, well, and really you're only gonna be going to the agency owner is it is if you're like subcontracting or if you're more of a freelancer when you're an agency or representing yourself as a video agency, you're typically going after the, um, like direct to business owners type route. We have some clients that go after agencies. Um, and that can work for sure as well. but the majority of your stuff is gonna be like SMB type companies. Um, and I think a lot of people give SMBs a bad rap. They're like, oh, I can't scale my business on SMBs. Like guys, you could scale to multiple 8 figures with literally just working with SMBs. And there are so many companies that do that. Like you don't have to only go after these Fortune 500 companies. And I actually don't love going after Fortune 500 because A, it's like a, a boardroom sales, takes forever to get the deal done. B, it just in general takes forever to get anything done. And then C, it's like you might have one or two of those and that makes up like 100% of your revenue. It's like a big— it's a big risk, basically, to have all of your revenue in just like two clients, right? So it's like, it's okay to get those at those Fortune 500s. But I would subsidize— I guess that's the right word— subsidize with more of those SMBs, more of those, those like, you know, $5,000 to $10,000 to $15,000 a month retainers, those people who are gonna really become your bread and butter. And you don't have to like worry about if one of those leaves, it's only like maybe 10% of your revenue. It's not a big deal.

Right.

They're also way easier to target with ads, which is why we love them as well. And like, there's just so many more of them basically. Um, but Ethan, any thoughts on that?

Yeah, no, there's a lot more gatekeepers too with those larger companies. You know, you gotta kinda climb the ladder and talk to a bunch of different people. But like you said, yeah, having two very large clients, you know, if you lose one of them, then you lose 50% of your revenue.

Yeah, it's just a big— it's a big churn risk. Like, if they leave, then you just can really be in a tough spot. And I've seen that time and time again. We talked to— we've talked to so many video agency owners, um, where that's been the case, and they're like, I can't keep relying on these guys. And also, there's like, if they just decide, like, like some of these companies are huge. So it's like if they just decide like they don't want to work with you anymore and like, God forbid, it was like a breach of contract, like there's nothing you can really do about it because they're huge and they'll just pummel you. Like they'll just strongarm you into doing whatever they want. And it's like not an amazing relationship from what I've seen sometimes, just because like if they're going to do whatever they want, if that makes sense, and like if they disagree with you, they'll just be like, what are you going to do about it? You know what I mean? Like it's kind of like the big kid. On the playground kind of thing where it's like, what are you gonna do? They're like a multi, a multi-million dollar, $100 million company. Like, you're not gonna win, you know, they have way more resources. So, yep.

Um, well, in small businesses, our small SMBs are technically what, $50 million and under? So there's, uh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yep. So there's still, I mean, they're, those are still pretty big businesses. I mean, yeah.

Lorenzo asks, um, why is it that we only work, why, why do you recommend only working directly with agencies or with businesses. He says, I work with a lot of marketing agencies and the main reason is because most clients wouldn't, wouldn't use the content to the best ability. That's part of what you would do for them for sure. Like you would take on that role as a video agency to help them use the content correctly, right? That like, that's part of your implementation with them, which is also why you would charge them on an ongoing basis because you're constantly implementing and distributing the content on a monthly basis for them. So it wouldn't make sense for them to stop paying you because you're doing that, you know what I mean? Because you're taking that on. You're not just like handing them the content and saying, hey, see you later, like, good luck, right?

Yep. When that goes into like the sales and the framing of it is you're going to help them get a result versus just sell them a video.

Yeah, you're selling them a result-based system. You are not selling them content. You're saying we're going to shoot the content, implement the content, distribute the content, all with the goal of helping you increase your brand awareness, increase lead flow, increase calls, increase trust. Like you're helping them get that outcome. You're not only doing one, one part of the process. So DonorBoost says, I like that name too. That's cool. And I like the logo. It's pretty sick. I'm struggling to get my offer correct for serving video production for nonprofits. It always seems like there is, it always seems like there are more funnel pieces needed beyond just video. My ops and fulfillment are difficult. Yes. So I would want to know, like, where specifically are you struggling? Is it in like what types of content to make? Is it how to distribute the content? Is it like what outcome— outcome they want? Excuse me. Like, because obviously for nonprofits, they want to raise more money. And so is it like, is it content for their galas? Is it content for their socials to get more donors and people to— obviously, based on your name, it sounds like it's more for donors. But I would think, like, are you running ads with the content to the demographic that you want to get donations from? Like, are you just posting it organically? Like, there's a lot of pieces that play into that. Um, and I would think more so, like, I would probably be running ads to people who want to become donors for the nonprofit with the content you've created to get more people in the door to basically just, like, put paid money behind the content. Because sometimes when you're just doing the organic content, it can be kind of difficult to get traction from that because you're not, you're not guaranteeing they're gonna see it, if that makes sense. Feel free to give me some more details on what you're struggling with. I'm happy to, happy to help if you want to drop another comment down below. I like that name though, and I like that, that logo. It's pretty cool. Lorenzo says, okay, so you take care of captions and marketing? I mean, kind of. Captions would just be something you do in the content, and then, but yes, you would be, you would be marketing the content, distributing the content for them. Which is one of, uh, one of the main pain points they have. Um, Donor Booth says outcome, how the content actually generates money is the struggle. It's hard to be profitable and upfront cash on cash. Um, yeah, no, totally. I would, I mean, are you running ads with the content? Are you, um, how are you using the content right now is what I'd want to know. And then maybe I can help you find some holes in like how you can solve that specifically. Um, Let's see if you're just jumping in, guys, we are answering any questions around scaling your agency, getting more clients, getting more leads, increasing your pricing. And, and that's what we're here for. We're here for another like 9 minutes. So I wanna make sure I get to all the questions I can help you guys out when running ads for nonprofits. Yeah. So I would look at if it's, if it's hard to get profitable on the upfront cash without like, I don't really have much context. So this is me kind of just answering, answering generally as well. Um, but I would look at, uh, how are you running the ads? What are you optimizing for as far as an optimization event? Like, are you optimizing for lead? Are you, are you like, what does the funnel look like? Are you getting like people as leads and then you're trying to get them on a call with somebody? Like how, what does that flow look like? Um, and if you wanna book a call with us, we can, we can dive a little bit deeper and, and figure that out. But like, I would, a lot of things matter in that to like actually get the funnel working. That makes sense. So Ron, we says how to get more clients on a new podcast room. So I would assume that you, um, have a podcast studio and you're looking to fill it up with more clients. Um, I would think about what is the outcome of a podcast because you're not selling a podcast room. You're selling what is the outcome of somebody doing a podcast, getting more brand awareness, getting more clients, uh, filling up their social feed, using those podcasts clips as ads to get more leads. Like, you got to figure out what am I actually selling, because you're not actually selling a podcast, you're selling what a podcast does, right? And we got to think about what that actually is, and then package that up into an offer, because that's not like a podcast room is not an offer. That's just like, it's just a thing, right? So like, think about what is that actually going to do for them. And then make an ad that talks about all those benefits and then ask them to book a call if they want to learn more about how you can help them get those benefits using a podcast room, right? It's like, it's just the age-old, you're not selling video, you're selling what video does for the client. Lorenzo says, you said ROI, do you guarantee returns? No, not typically. I mean, you're, you can if you want to, but if you're not super confident in it, I wouldn't guarantee anything. You just say, hey, this is what we're looking to do. This is the goal, right? And then you're framing it that way. So, uh, Ron says feature slash benefit. Thanks. Yep, for sure. Yeah, I'd say like, um, and we have a lot of clients that do podcasts, but it's more so like, hey, you wanna build your authority, you wanna build long-form content so you can nurture your audience so people can trust you more. And it's like you wanna frame it around those things, not around the actual podcast itself, cuz nobody cares about that. Um, when you're selling your services, yeah. I think we answered that one with Lorenzo there. I'm like bouncing around from all these questions. The nonprofits don't have a good sales process. So it's mostly, yeah, that's your, that's your main problem. You can't go direct to checkout. Like the conversion, like you said, is so low. Like I don't even think you, I mean, you might need a better offer and I would encourage you, like, obviously this sounds biased, but I would book a call with us so we can look at it a little bit more. But like I would go instead of direct to checkout, I'd go direct to a call. With like a representative. They don't have anybody, then like I would talk to them about getting somebody in place to take calls for donations. Because like, Ethan, maybe you can answer this too. But it's like, if you're looking to donate to a nonprofit, like what's more likely to increase your donation amount? Like, is it going direct to a checkout page? Or is it like going and talking to somebody on the phone who like can explain what the, what the foundation is for, how the donation is going to be used? Like, there's all these unanswered questions in people's mind, and that's preventing them from donating or doing any action for that matter, right? So it's like, if they can talk to somebody, you're going to increase the donation size, which is going to increase their success, and also increase the amount of people who give donations as well. But Ethan, I'm curious your thoughts on that as well.

Well, I would, I would say without even talking to somebody, you could just make a video and encapsulate all that, right? You know, kind of an impact story driven.

But I'd also drive them to a call because like most people are not going to fork over a lot of money without talking to a human being at the end of the day, right? So it's like, that's—

it depends on the size of the donation, right? $25, then all you can just Apple Pay on your phone, right?

You don't need to talk to somebody for that.

Yeah, exactly, exactly.

So, but I think if you're looking for like multi-thousand dollar donations, those people are going to want to talk to somebody or at least have the option, like go to a page, have a video that encapsulates what it is that they're, they're getting right, or they're doing, or they're donating to have like a direct to checkout. And then also be like, if you want to talk to our team and learn more about how you can give a bigger donation, book a call here. And then like just have somebody on the, on the nonprofit trained on talking to people and closing donations. Like, it's— it— that, that's where I don't think it's the ads, it's the, the backend process. So, um, Ron Wee says, best client acquisition: Google Ads, IG Ads, direct messenger, on LinkedIn? LinkedIn, no. LinkedIn's just been too expensive from what we've seen. Google Ads is good for like SEO ads, like search ads. Those are great for retargeting. Um, IG Ads, 100%. I'd go, um, We have a whole training on like 20 to 25 different ad angles going to a Facebook lead form, conditional logic within the form to basically qualify out any bad leads, and then going to a VSL call funnel after that is what we've seen. Um, you can book a call or go to our YouTube channel. I have a bunch of videos on it as well. You can check that out. Um, 1 or 2 more questions and then we gotta jump here, guys. Um, suckers in in-house— Ethan, you wanna take this one?

You're stuck in in-house videographer with Didn't realize he was actually considered a client. What do you mean he was considered a client and not just a regular W-2 job?

So 1099. Oh yeah, because you're a freelancer. Yeah. Um, so you're saying because you're kind of like a 1099, you are— yeah, you're not like an employee of the business. He says, I'd like to get more clients, but it's hard being stuck in a 9-to-5 job. Totally. And I totally understand, like, you got to have a 9-to-5 to pay the bills. Like, I'm, I'm all on board on that. You just have to work. You're going to work 9 to 5 and then 5 to 9 as you replace that income, right? So it's like when you get off at 5, that's when you start from 5 to 9. Hey, how do I get more leads? Run ads to get leads, do cold outreach, uh, find clients that I want to work with. And then it's just that volume of conversations that needs to happen to convert a percentage of those people into calls. So that's the biggest thing.

And the week— and, and the weekends too.

Yeah, you're just going to have to— you're going to have to overwork in the beginning to then replace that 9-to-5 income, to then go back into— go back into the— like, actually have enough revenue to leave that 9-to-5. So cool, guys. Any other questions before we jump off here? Good live. I'm going to throw up my fancy little widget. You can scan this widget to book a call with us, or if you're on IG, there's a new feature. You can click that link below and learn more more about how you can book a call with us and, uh, see if we can help. And we do these lives every Thursday at 2 PM Eastern, so hopefully they're helpful. And we will talk to you guys in the next one. See you guys.

Sweet. Peace.

Peace.