214: What is the Engine That Drives Your Business w/ Simon Banks

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 distilling complex messages into engaging films. Simon now uses this approach to produce videos for small businesses right up to large corporations. With his insights on working with hundreds of businesses and producing thousands of videos, Simon believes it's not all about the production. In this digital age, unless you have a robust strategy and distribution plan in place, your video will not be effective. So much so Simon has written a book, How to Get Video Right, a video marketing guide for your business. It's All in Your Presentation It's easy to get hung up with marketing to new clients. Many of us fall back on a showreel to present our work. Sometimes this is a good way to go, especially when approaching an agency. However, when working directly with a client, this is seldom necessary and often counter-productive. Simon describes how you'd be better off strategically sharing relevant samples and making an introductory video instead. This will speak more directly with what they're looking for and really highlight how you can be of service. Time to Pivot How You Market More than anything else, Simon urges us to put a focus on marketing. It's been a difficult time for many businesses. Simon explains how to stand apart from the crowd. He also talks about why it may be time to pivot. With the changing playing-field, what can you do that's new for your clients? When we don't know what the future is going to look like, it's time to think about what you can do right now to be of service beyond creating videos. How can you provide extra value for your clients beyond video creation? How can you present yourself to prospective clients beyond a showreel? Let me know in the comments on the episode page!   In This Episode: Teaching clients about the power of your videos [4:10] How to strategically use your showreels [10:00] Identifying who you want to build a business relationship with [17:55] Being the marketing engine of your business [20:50] Why now is the time to pivot [39:05] Simple marketing tips for adding extra value for your clients [43:00]   Quotes "No one really cares how long you've really been in business or what cameras you use or where you're based. They just know that 'I can make a video. Can you deliver the video that I think I want?'" [10:40] "If you want to be different and stand out from the crowd, don't make a showreel. Make a reel about you." [15:42] "I'm happy to work, so I'll do any job. I don't think that serves you well." [17:53] "We need to be smarter with our clients. We need to help our clients with strategy and marketing as well as the creative. You can still do the creative, but you need to do more. You need to actually help our clients win with video; to make sure that it works with the goals that they have." [44:03]   Links: Join the free Client Budget Workshop Core  Storyblocks Find Simon Banks online Follow Simon on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Linkedin How to Get Video Right by Simon Banks The Video Blueprint Method   Additional Links: Check out the full show notes page Do you have something to share on this podcast? Fill out this form here. Be sure to take the Studio Sherpas survey for a chance to win some incredible prizes (if we do say so ourselves!) Stay up to date with everything we're doing at Studio Sherpas Tune in to our weekly Facebook Lives Follow Studio Sherpas on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram If you haven't already, we'd love it if you would take 1 minute to leave us a review on iTunes!