Studio Sherpas Podcast

There was a time I tried promoting my studio with Facebook ads. It didn’t end up working out. I suppose there was a lot I didn’t know at the time that would have made the difference. But why would a video studio want to consider Facebook ads or ads of any kind? Today’s guest will answer that question and tell you how to do it the right way. Key Takeaways The best lead magnets will position you as a guide who will serve your clients however you’re able to while also letting them know that you may not be the best fit for everybody. Don’t make ads too early on. First, identify your sales process and how you convert leads into paying customers. Then you can create ads that use the successful process that you’ve already established. About Michele Caruana Michele Caruana is a corporate marketing professional, turned local business owner, turned online entrepreneur. As someone who was stuck on the marketing-hamster-wheel for years in marketing her own business, her passion is now helping other local business owners

As creatives and entrepreneurs, we sometimes find ourselves up against a wall, unable to make money the way we thought we would. This is where we can put our creativity into action. There are so many options for us in this business. It just may not be obvious what they are right away. Today’s guest has explored numerous creative and non-traditional ways to make a video business profitable and is here to share some of them with you. Key Takeaways There are countless ways to make money in the video business. Sometimes this involves making videos and sometimes it doesn’t. As a creative, explore what you and your business can do that will help you lead the life you want to live. It takes more than shooting video to make a business profitable. You need a clear plan and vision long before you arrive on set. This means knowing your purpose, your audience, and your process in detail. About Holly Gillen Holly Gillen empowers high-performing leading lady entrepreneurs to save time on both sides of the camera. She teach

There’s a lot of excitement for video freelancers when they start out. But often after a point, they realize that things aren’t going as planned. In order to stay in business, you have to be adaptable and clear on your mission. Today’s guest shares lessons learned from recent pivots and how you can keep your business running during tough times. Key Takeaways Basing your success on how others see it will set you up for disappointment. Build your work around what it is that you want out of your business, not what other people think is important.  It’s good to have goals, but focusing on sustainability is what will allow you to reach them. Focus on what you need to do to grow your skill sets and create systems to allow your business to survive for the long haul. Learning about strategies for business success will help set you apart from the competition more than your gear or shooting techniques will. By presenting yourself as someone who will help your clients’ business succeed will make you more desirable than

If you’ve ever found yourself poised to create something but unable to actually do it, you’re far from alone. There’s a whole psychology behind this paralysis that afflicts so many creatives. That’s why I’ve brought on an expert to help us understand it better and figure out how to overcome our self-imposed obstacles. Key Takeaways When you notice yourself afraid to move forward with your work, identify the actual source of that fear. Doing so will help you reframe your goals and actions so that you can see opportunities where once there were obstacles. Listen to when your body and brain are more eager to create. Block that time off regularly for your own creative process. This will establish a rhythm for creation that will make previously daunting tasks enjoyable. About Dr. Shannan Crawford Dr. Shannan Crawford is a clinical psychologist, adjunct professor, founder of #7MCulture, and leadership consultant who has invested over 15-years honing optimal performance strategies for those leading in the creative a

What drives your business? I bet it’s not what you think. It’s not your style or your gear. It’s not even the amazing videos that you create. It’s your marketing. When you put marketing first, the business will follow. Today’s guest explains how to market your business while still staying true to your work. Key Takeaways An effective showreel should go way beyond just clips of your videos. It should say more about who you are as a company and what it is you can provide to clients.  Add value for your clients beyond just making the video. Teach them how to use it so that they utilize its full value or even manage it yourself for a fee. This will set you apart and create more business. About Simon Banks Simon Banks is a video coach and producer. He works with businesses to get visible using consistent video content. With over 30 years of experience in the video industry, Simon made documentaries for many of the major broadcasters, such as BBC, ITV, CH4, and National Geographic. This gave him great skill in dist

The secret to lasting social change is to create compelling content that actually gets results. I’m joined by Ben Gilbarg of Big Picture Anthems to talk about where he spends his money, who he works with, and how he distributes his videos to maximize his client’s return on investment. Key Takeaways It’s more important to spend money on what’ll bring you the biggest return on investment. If that means investing in marketing, sales, branding, invest there rather than upgrading your equipment first. About Ben Gilbarg Ben Gilbarg is the Chief Creative Catalyst for Big Picture Anthems. Ben's been doing professional video at the intersection of youth development, community outreach, and social justice since 1998.  Through community events and video campaigns, Ben’s work has reached 3 million-plus people, and he has directly impacted more than 4,000 young people in his career through teaching, mentoring, and community programming.  Ben’s expertise in producing video campaigns is articulated by impressive results fro

Your time is precious. I’m sure that as you get further and further into the business of video production, more things are competing for your time, especially marketing. It’s so easy to lose countless hours on social media or in your inbox marketing what you do. Don’t get trapped! Today’s guest is here to tell us how to avoid this all while maximizing your outreach and landing repeat customers. Key Takeaways Don’t rely solely on a single social media platform to market your business. Bring potential clients to a platform you have more control over, like your email list. This will give you more direct access and control over your outreach.  Everything you do should tie into your overall brand. This means having consistency in how you present yourself and your business in every way that you present yourself. About Laura Higgins Laura Higgins, founder of Lala Social Club and My Marketing Playbook, is an online marketing expert. Based in Australia, Laura is a recognized marketing consultant and educator with expe

Rejection hurts. Nobody likes the feeling of it. But we need to take risks in our lives and businesses for progress to happen. Today’s guest shares some great advice for how to get over rejection and even turn it into an asset. Key Takeaways All your communication to clients should center on getting them what they want. Be clear on what the problem is that you can solve for them and how you are going to do that. Everything else is just details. Your business needs systems in place if you are going to have any freedom. The consistency that these systems provide will give you the time and space you need to free up your time. About Den Lennie Den Lennie is a true veteran of video broadcast and production having worked in this industry for two and a half decades. He is a business coach and marketing strategist who partners with video professionals to grow their video business. Making Connections Without Fear Den explains why it’s easier than many think to make the connections needed to grow their business. In a w

Although the best advice urges us to pick a niche and stick with it, that’s really hard to do. We’re creative people and entrepreneurs. We want to do all the things. It’s in our very nature. That’s why stepping back and taking a more hands-off approach can be a challenge. Today’s guest understands the struggle and has some great advice for any of you going through it. Key Takeaways Having a well-defined process for bringing in employees is essential. Have your workflow structures in place and refine them as needed. Give new hires a trial-run to see if they like what you’re doing. This will let you step back and hand over responsibility as smoothly as possible. Getting work takes a lot more than making a great video. Your personality and the connections you make are just as, if not more, important. Cultivate being the person that others think of when they need video. Be the person who they can always deliver when called on and regularly work on maintaining those relationships. About Anthony Seratelli Anthony s

It’s that time of the year again. Well, it’s the end of the year. That’s why I want to take some time to talk about how it went. There have been wins and there have been losses. Some goals were met and others weren’t. I hope that this will help you get some perspective on how 2020 went for you and set you up for an amazing year ahead. Key Takeaways The business and video landscape changed drastically this year. This meant that I had to shift my goals in real-time. Although there were many shortcomings, there were also many successes both expected and unforeseen. A Rocky Year Indeed As I imagine it was for you, this past year was a challenge. Plans went out the window pretty fast and we had to adapt very quickly. It’s no surprise that we fell short of our revenue goals. There was even a point when I wasn’t sure if my video production business would even survive. A Year of Pivots I’d spent years building my business on meeting and connecting new people. When everything went into lockdown, we had to get creative

Turning down opportunities can sometimes be a good thing for you and your business. It’s not easy to say no to jobs and money. Yet, strategically doing so opens up doors to what you actually want to do. Today’s guests have successfully built their studio around this idea. Key Takeaways It’s natural to want to branch out your business into many fields. However, this will dilute your talent and energy. Instead, create a narrow focus on where your skills and passions intersect. About Joshua Martin Studios Joshua Martin Studios is a small production company based in the United States. It is co-run by founder Joshua Martin and business partner Cody Wales who focus on telling stories of the human condition. Lessons of Starting a New Studio From the very start, Joshua and Cody knew what type of studio they wanted to run. However, like any new small business, they had debts to pay. They tell how they learned very quickly to leave their egos behind and take the work they needed to get their business off the ground. Wh

Many of us get into this work to feed our creativity. We love to create and see our visions become reality. But we still have clients who have their own visions and ideas. It can be a tricky balance creating a business with the structure to satisfy both your clients and your own creative needs. Today’s guest explains how he manages to do just that. Key Takeaways Your business is built on relationships. Getting them right from the start leads to better work down the road. Take the time to suss out the good relationships from the bad first thing in order to assure that you’ll have a good working relationship as the project progresses. About Josh Emerick Josh is a DP and Producer from Zanesville, Ohio who leans on structure and planning to manifest what people perceive as creativity. He is mostly known for his work in music videos, but still actively shoots a lot of commercial work, weddings, and recently narrative films. Creating Systems for Efficiency and Creativity Systematized efficiency is a large part of h

Your business will be made or broken on relationships. Building trust and being passionate is central to this. Whether it’s your team, your clients, or your competition, these relationships are crucial. Today’s guest has not only built an amazing business based on relationships but clearly loves what he does every day. Key Takeaways Finding opportunities to take on side-gigs will keep your skills sharp and allow you to do exciting work you otherwise couldn’t. There’s a lot of learning and inspiration that comes from branching out and trying new things that will help you constantly level-up as a filmmaker.  When building a team, start with trust and passion. Knowing that your people will faithfully and enthusiastically get the job done whether you’re there or not is central to a well-functioning business. About Chris Ray Chris is a filmmaker who got his start in action sports filming skateboarding videos. Since then, he has done a wide range of work with companies such as DC Shoes, NFL Films, Ford, GoPro, ESPN

As a freelancer or small business owner, buying gifts for your clients may feel frivolous and wasteful. The truth is, it can be a small investment with a huge reward. However, we often get it wrong when it comes to determining the best gifts to give. If you are hesitant to spend a little extra to treat your clients, this is the perfect episode to change your mind. Key Takeaways Showing up and giving with no strings attached attracts genuine reciprocity. Give these gifts at unexpected times. It leads to growth in relationships that may take time but will be stronger in the end. A world-class gift should focus on the recipient, not the giver. Thinking from the other person’s perspective and trying to understand what they really want forms strong and lasting bonds. About John Ruhlin John is the world’s leading authority in maximizing customer loyalty through radical generosity. He is the founder of and author of Giftology. John has been featured in Fox News, Forbes, Fast Company, Inc., and The New York Times. Th

Those of us with a YouTube channel know this frustration. You put in a ton of work into creating amazing content, but no one sees it. It may be because of your naming strategy, scheduling, title, image, or something else entirely. With so much to keep in mind, wouldn’t it be nice to have the right information on your side? Key Takeaways Even if you’re busy with client work, find the time to shoot your own content. By showing people the behind-the-scenes of what you do, you are naturally and easily promoting your business. For best live streaming results, focus on having good audio by investing in a quality mic. Have a plan in place in case things go wrong, like losing a signal or connection. Investing in the right equipment will help ensure that everything goes smoothly once you go live. About Rob Balasabas Rob is a partnership growth manager at TubeBuddy. He is an active content creator on his own Linkedin, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook channels. Rob works hard sharing a lot of video and content creation

Tax planning. Just those words make me shudder. Over the last 17 years, I’ve learned some hard lessons on this subject. I really wish I knew what I know now when I got started. It would have saved a lot of worry and frustration. While this is not the most glamorous topic, this is the kind of stuff that makes or breaks a business. Key Takeaways It’s well worth the upfront costs of having an expert do your books. Not only can they save you money at tax time, but they will help you avoid making costly mistakes in the first place. About Jeremy Doorn As a ten-year-plus employee of Core Wealth Management, Jeremy Doorn helps small businesses do a better job of tax planning. In addition to firm administration, he handles business advisory services and business succession planning for his clients. The Importance of Expert Help Jeremy tells us that you don’t need to be a tax or accounting expert to run a successful business. But you might want to find one to help you out. Getting at least a basic education on how to ru

Making smart gear purchases can help grow your video business. It can also be an expensive distraction. With such a large variety of choices and features, it’s easy to get lost down a rabbit hole of gear. To help shed light on this, I’ve brought on a true expert to this episode. If you are new to live streaming, make sure to test it out thoroughly before you go live. Get the right gear, but don’t go overboard. Once you are comfortable with what you have, try it out and get familiar with all the settings. When it’s time to do the real thing, you’ll know what to expect and come off as a pro. Key Takeaways Be proactive with your customer service. Being quick to respond and communicate reduces anxieties and makes customers feel heard and valued. This is what ultimately leads to repeat business and referrals. About Chris Monlux Chris is the multimedia editor for Videomaker and their magazine. He conducts and writes all of their reviews and produces all of their learning videos content. This guy knows his gear! The

Seventeen years of running my own video business have taught me that success is not about getting the best shot, or having the best demo reel or the best gear. There’s so much more to it. It boils down to your priorities and how you choose to focus your energy and time. In short, you need to become an essentialist. Key Takeaways Not everything is equally important. Start your day with the question of what is most important today and focus on that. That will set your priorities in order and help assure that you focus only on what is most essential to you. Set boundaries. It is up to you to decide what to do with your time. Stay in control of it and let others know when you are available and when you are not. This leads to efficiency and more overall satisfaction. About Greg McKeown Greg McKeown is the author of the amazing book and New York Times bestseller, Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less. He is also the founder of McKeown Inc., a company with a mission to teach essentialism to millions of peopl

It’s hard to believe it - 200 episodes! When I started this podcast, I never imagined that I’d make it to 200 episodes. But here we are. I know I’m here today because of you. I do this show on a weekly basis for you. Your countless messages of gratitude keep me going. This episode is going to be different. I have a bunch of really amazing and fun messages from listeners like you. It really is both a joy and honor to make this show and get to know so many of you. Some of you have been there from the beginning. Others have recently started listening. Either way, I really appreciate you coming along with me on this amazing journey. With that in mind, I’m turning the mic over to you. This episode is full of messages from my many listeners who share some takeaways from the show over the years. We’ve learned a lot together and I want to hear how you all have benefited over the last 200 episodes. If you weren’t able to send in a message for the episode but want to share how Studio Sherpas has helped you in your busi

Have you ever had a friend or family member ask you for a big discount or to make a free video? If it hasn’t happened yet, it’s only a matter of time. As a giving person, it’s tough for me to turn them down. However, as a business owner, it’s really hard to do the work that I do for free and bad for my business in the long-run. Key Takeaways It’s okay to say no to any project, even if that means turning down family or friends. Your priority is running your business. Once its needs are met, you can decide how and when you truly want to give back. You can turn down a request for discounts by saying you don’t have the time, or that you simply don’t do discounts. Adding value by providing more and going the extra mile will always be more rewarding than not charging enough for your work. The Great Power of Video Having met hundreds of people in this industry I know one thing to be true: we’ve got big hearts. We want to do good in the world by telling stories. Video is perhaps the most powerful medium for doing goo