MBA2434 How to Think Big and Act Small

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Thinking big and acting small allows you to grow and push the boundaries in your business without going broke. Too many people in this comparison game social media world are doing the opposite. They're thinking small and acting big, spending money they don't have, putting themselves and their business into debt and rolling the dice on gambles that just don't pay off. In today's lesson, I'm going to show you what thinking big and acting small looks like, how it works and how to implement it in your business and all the benefits that you should expect by doing so. It's time for you to leverage some of the best practices, some of the best strategies and methodologies and standards of the big time players without the big time Costs. Let's get into it. Let's get down to business, thinking big and acting small. What does this all mean? Well, in essence it means raising your standards to the highest levels in your industry, looking at who does it best in your world and doing it at that level, but implementing it in a practical, cost effective way. Let me give you a real practical example from my own experience when I was growing Webinar Ninja, the software company that I built and sold. We were launching a new version of the software in 2016 and and I wanted to launch with a great video campaign with a great commercial really that I can use on social media to display all the great features and make it a memorable brand. This video had to be really high level, but I didn't have a lot of money. We're a bootstrap business, we didn't have a big budget. So I researched all the best companies that market their products. I looked at all the commercials that they released during the super bowl during their product releases. I was looking at companies like Squarespace and Pepsi Godaddy and a whole lot more. But there was one commercial that caught my eye that was so, so impactful. It was Apple and it was an Apple commercial for their new iPhone featuring all their amazing features in their phone in a short amount of time. It was like 100 seconds or something like that. What I loved about video, it felt high quality, high production, it really evoked emotion and I really wanted to do the same with my software. But hey, I don't have the budget of Apple. But what I noticed about the commercial is that about 70% of the video was typography that was timed with some really upbeat music. That typography was mixed in with some images, some videos, some quick cuts that were showing the phone and its features. There was no narration, just text and images on the screen. And and of course that music I talked about when I looked at the raw ingredients of this video, of this amazing commercial did incredibly well and it cost millions upon millions for Apple to produce. The raw ingredients were simple text, music, images. I was thinking big, I wanted to create an Apple like commercial but I needed to act small, meaning small budget, small production team which at the time was just me, small time. I didn't have much time to produce this either. I had a couple weeks. So I asked my graphic designer to create some images that I can use for this video. I also asked my EA to create some screen captured video displaying some of the most important features that we were releasing. I also realized I can have an impactful Video, it can be punchy, it can be great. But it didn't have to be that long. It had to be 100 seconds. It could be 45 seconds. That's what we settled on. I then thought, how am I going to create this typography animation with the images? Well, I knew a little bit of Adobe After Effects. I couldn't create something from scratch, but I was pretty good at editing current projects. So I actually went online and bought a template, a typography template. And with those templates they tell you what music goes well with this typography, with this template that you purchase. And I purchased one of the songs that goes with it. It was a really nice upbeat song that I had the rights to. Cause I bought commercial rights for it. I bought the template, I put it all together with the video and the images. I timed the music with the beat and incorporated a very punchy script that I wrote myself and implemented throughout the video with the typography. Now don't get me wrong, it took me about a week of solid work. I'm Talking about like 90 hours that week I worked. My eyes were bloodshot by the time I was finished because of all the edits I was doing in Adobe After Effects. But after it was all said and done, I had one incredible promo video for Webinar Ninja. It cost me less than $500 to put together. I did it pretty much all myself with the help of some of my team members. And when we released Webinar Ninja's latest version with this video, it made a huge splash. We would play this video when we sponsored events or conferences. We'd play this video on our website. We'd play this video as an ad. And one of the number one things people said to me when they met me in person at any event was I love your ad for Webinar Ninja. All because I was thinking big and acting small. Big ideas, good ideas, don't have to cost you an arm and a leg. In fact, most of the time there is a version of this idea that you can afford. This goes not just for videos or promotional material, but for your products and services, for your business itself, for any content that you're creating, anything that you're doing. Think about who do you admire that does something similar. They don't have to be in your niche. For example, I'm in the process of creating videos and video ideas for upcoming YouTube channel. I love YouTubers and they're great, but I love high quality documentary style videos. One of my heroes is Anthony Bourdain. Rest in peace. I loved the way he narrated his stories, how he wrote them to perfection and put them together in a great little episode on his TV shows. I also love the classic show Top Gear out of the uk, which is a car review TV show. Again, very well scripted, very well shot, very well put together. Now, even though I don't have a huge production team like Anthony Bourdain when he was working for CNN or Top Gear which was produced by BBC. But most of the quality that we see on screen or most of the quality we see in business products or business services are concepts, are words, our delivery and implementation. What version can you pull off? So for example, with my videos that I want to create, I can really focus on creating a fantastic script and that can lead me to creative ideas for shots and for a great narrative. And hey, with technology today, your phone has an incredible camera that can shoot better footage and than a $10,000 camera that you would have to buy 10 years ago. So think big. Who do you admire? What can you take from them and implement with your own budget? Now let's talk a little bit about the acting small part. Acting small is all about being conscious of getting an ROI and getting the most value out of your project. What do we mean by that? Well, we don't want to overspend. We have to understand that we want to invest a little bit, but understand we want to get a 10x20x return on that investment. I can't tell you how many sales I'm talking about thousands of sales, thousands of new users of webinar Ninja because of that one $500 video. We got to think in these terms. How can I make sure that I don't not only break even, but make a tremendous profit on this investment? Where do I need to spend and where do I do not need to spend? Where can I spend, actually do things myself? Hire somebody that's a freelancer, get somebody on my team already that can do this and get a version of whatever big idea I have that can work for me within my budget but also within my target for a return on investment. So I actually like to start any project with a spreadsheet. I know that sounds like a big nerdy move, but it's a good way to make sure that we are successful. Because a great creative project, a great product, a great business, a great endeavor that that doesn't actually make you money is really a hobby. It's not a business anymore. I want to make sure that I'm in business, that I'm actually making a profit. So I start with a spreadsheet and I just jot down all the expenses that I think I'm going to need to spend on that project. This could be a new product. This could be a new service I'm implementing. This could be a new website that I'm putting together. I want to write down everything and then I'm going to say, okay, what's absolutely necessary? What here can I do myself? I can get somebody else on my team to do. I can cut completely, I can delay for later. I don't need it immediately so that I can just get the ball rolling, make some money first and then look at the things that are left that I have to pay for and see what version of it do I actually need. How can I just get the ball rolling, get started, do a beta version of this. I don't have to have the deluxe version of this project. And then lastly, I highlight in yellow what are the things that make or break the impact of this idea of this thing. For example, in webinar industry we launched Ninja Channel, which is a community forum where people can share ideas, get feedback, learn from each other. The most critical ingredient here was somebody to manage that group. It needed somebody who can be responsive, answer questions and mitigate any concerns that were in the community. The actual software we ran on it, the form software, not super important. We can actually do it on Facebook if you wanted to in a Facebook group. But the person who's actually communicating and making this a community, a community leader, that person's important. We gotta make sure that we spend money on that, implement that right so that the main ingredient that makes this dish work is not messed up. Does it feel like it's getting really hard to figure out the best way to save for retirement? Fidelity can help you find clarity so you can save the best way for you. With a free personalized plan, goal tracking and timely insights, you'll be set to take on retirement your way. Get started@fidelity.com future expenses charged by your investments and other costs and fees associated with trading or transacting in your account. Apply Fidelity Brokerage Services member NYSE SIPC ADP knows anything can change the world of work. Like what if a blocked shipping port caused a worldwide coffee shortage? Suddenly, businesses are scrambling to manage an increasingly drowsy workforce. Productivity slips 20% just due to the extended time it takes to conduct a job interview while yawning. Anything can change the world of work. From HR to payroll, ADP helps businesses take on the next anything. ADP Always designing for people. Now I have an exercise for you so that you can get started with thinking big and acting small. You don't have to start something new. You can take a look at your existing business, your existing activities, your existing costs, and think, how can I implement the same thing, the same goal, the same vibe I'm looking for without having to spend a lot of money while acting small? One of the examples that Felix Zenis shares in his book how to Get Rich is instead of having fancy furniture in the lobby of your office building or in your office entryway, have some comfortable but basic furniture, but put some fresh flowers in the middle. Fresh flowers delivered once a week. It's going to cost you 20, $30, but it's going to make a lot more of a difference than gaudy furniture. That's going to cost you hundreds of thousands. Maybe you're spending a lot of money on software tools you're not using. Cut those out. And to make more of an impact on all your customers, maybe just hire a freelance designer to redesign the homepage, only the homepage of your website to give it a new coat of paint and create a new vibe and a new tool to get more conversions. Because your homepage is the most frequent page on your site, look at your business closely and see where all your expenses are going. How can you keep that vibe, that professional vibe, alive? Thinking big while acting small? Is there an alternative way to implement the same goal? Thanks so much for listening to the 100 RBA Show. If you love what you hear, make sure you hit subscribe or Follow on your favorite podcast app. Here's why you would want to do that. Number one, by hitting follow right now on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, you get our next episodes automatically so you don't miss a beat. Next. You also get access to over 2400 business lessons in our archives by doing so. It's the only way you can get access, so go ahead and do that. Lastly, it's the best way to support the show. If you have gotten anything from any of our episodes, subscribing following to the show makes a huge difference. Thank you in advance for doing that. Before I go, I want to leave you with this. The most important thing about thinking big and acting small is doing it consistently. Okay? Don't just do it once and done. It's a mindset. It's a practice. It's really a culture that you want to have in your business. Even when you start getting traction and making some profits, don't be fooled by social media the best entrepreneurs. The real ones, they're not extravagant. They're Pennywise. Thanks so much for listening, and I'll check you in Wednesday's episode Q and A. Wednesday. I'll see you then. Take care. USAA knows dynamic duos can save the day like superheroes and sidekicks or auto and home insurance. With usaa, you can bundle your auto and home and save up to 10%. Tap the banner to learn more and get a'@usaa.com bundle restrictions apply.