Eric Deeran explains why video production agencies decline despite success: they chase big projects instead of building repeatable systems. He points to two clients, Rich and Jonathan, who lack steady lead generation. The fix is packaging services into $5K-$10K monthly retainers for medical practices, roofing firms, and law offices, replacing feast-or-famine cash flow with predictable revenue.
This is the ugly truth on why agency owners stay stuck. I know, super dramatic headline, but it's the truth. Um, I was talking to one of our clients on the coaching call, two of our clients, uh, Rich and Jonathan on our coaching call yesterday. And one of the big threads and things that I think were unique between the two of them is they both have run video production companies that are successful and have been successful for multiple, multiple years, like 15, 20 years. But they've noticed a decline year over year over year because they don't have systems in place to get more clients, right? They have the skills, the proof, they have the infrastructure. Like Rich has, like, Rich is based in Alaska, by the way, and has a basically one of the biggest sound studios in Alaska and works with like HBO, has worked on True Detective, like these huge, huge projects. But the problem is, is that he's been seeing a decline year over year over year, and he hasn't really figured out why, right? And it really boils down to not having a system, like very simple system to get leads, calls, and clients with a client base that's not one-off project-based, if that makes sense. So like a lot of the stuff that Rich does is like very large, like movie projects and like huge budgets, but, you know, they come around maybe once, twice a year. And then that kind of like instability in the middle is what leaves him in a place where it's, it's, he's, he's struggling and it's tough, right? Where if you can keep that, and this is what I told him, if you can keep that, but then also have a side of your business that just does retainers with like boring businesses, small to medium-sized businesses, then you can have the consistency. And then when you do those big one-off projects, they are icing on the cake. And one of the things we're gonna be doing with him and with Jonathan is building an inbound system, like paid ad system, to attract boring businesses like medical companies, home service companies, roofing companies, lawyers, law firms, professional services companies. Like these are the types of businesses that need marketing and need your skills, especially if you're a large agency like these guys. Um, like they need your skills and you have the infrastructure to supply that to them, but you just haven't packaged it in a way that makes sense, if that makes sense. Like you haven't put together an actual retainer-based offer that basically creates ads for them, social content for them, uh, organic content for them, things that they're gonna pay $5K to $10K a month for on an ongoing basis. And like once you put that together and then you market it in a way where you get leads and calls and people booking on your calendar, then you have a way to consistently sell this service that has recurring revenue within your business and makes it easier to actually scale. So, um, that is truly why I think most agency owners stay broke or they're seeing a decline right now because they don't, they haven't thought about like, how do I adapt to the current market and how do I create co— like content for a client that's going to pay me consistently every month? And not only focus on those big one-off projects. So, just thought, hopefully it helps. See you in the next one.
