499. Stay Three Steps Ahead of Your Competitors with Liz Slade

When COVID wiped out her entire client base overnight, Liz Slade didn't fold—she reinvented two businesses and went on to transform an entire industry with better video. In this episode, she shares how she escaped the race to the bottom, stayed ahead of the copycats nipping at her heels, and finally found the courage to launch her own podcast after sitting on a fully built studio for three years. It's a candid, funny, and genuinely useful conversation about quality, bravery, and getting out of your own head. Key Takeaways Quality is your moat. Taking the time to do the work well is what separates you from the bottom feeders racing to the cheapest price. Staying ahead is a habit, not a happy accident. Liz constantly researches, invests, and innovates before competitors even notice what she's up to. Bravery beats readiness. Liz sat on a $20k studio for three years before a hard deadline finally pushed her to hit record. Your past clients are a treasure trove. A simple 15-minute catch-up call surfaces why people hire you—and where your next job is hiding. About Liz Slade Liz Slade, founder of CI Marketing, host of The Visual Marketing Podcast, and someone who's built businesses across marketing, photography, production, and even the lift technology industry.  Liz is passionate about authentic storytelling, human-centered marketing, and helping businesses create content that actually connects with people.  In This Episode [00:00] Welcome to the show! [03:01] Meet Liz Slade [06:43] Podcasting [16:57] Real Estate [20:50] Using AI [33:01] Talk To Your Clients [37:20] Connect with Liz [39:08] Outro  Quotes "Get out of your own head and get in the head of your customers." — Liz Slade "The key is to stay three steps ahead of everybody else. If you can keep doing that, they'll never keep up." — Liz Slade "AI is only as good as the human inputs and the human direction that you give it." — Liz Slade "Just talk to your people who've already given you money. They hold a treasure trove of information." — Ryan Koral "It's not that scary once you start." — Liz Slade Guest Links Follow The Visual Marketing Podcast CI Marketing — @CIMarketing on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and TikTok Links Find out more about the Studio Sherpas Mastermind Join the Grow Your Video Business Facebook Group  Follow Ryan Koral on Instagram Follow Grow Your Video Business on Instagram Get your Early Bird tickets for the Onward Summit Join the Studio Sherpas newsletter