Are you struggling with how to grow your career in audio, not sure where to begin? Well think about this for a second. Where would you be today if you began one year ago spending ten minutes a day focused only on business development? Well we are going to talk about exactly that and I am going to give you four actionable tips that you can begin using today to start moving forward.
Welcome back everyone thanks for being here this is The Adam Clairmont Show. I am your host, Adam Clairmont.
Here we Learn to start and grow a career in audio production. With actionable tips based on personal experience from me and others.
But before we begin our conversation I’d like to offer you a free gift. Ever have certain days or projects that seem to take forever. You keep getting interrupted by phone calls or people tapping your shoulder. Then when they leave your check facebook. And then you check your email quick before you get back to the job. But then you need to write a bunch of responses and make a quick call to someone else. Then you get back to work but you get another phone call…
I know it’s one thing after another. Well I got sick of all that a while ago and dug deep. And then I got better at my process and now for you, I put together a list of tips and tricks that help me to be more productive and more efficient with my time.
The short version is if we can automate redundant tasks, clear distractions, plan, prioritize, and batch then we will complete projects much faster. Which means more time for more work and to make more money. Right?
And that my friends is my hope for you.
So please go to http://www.AdamClairmont.com/workflow and pick up your free pdf guide and begin working faster and earning more in less time,
Okay now let’s get to it!
Today I would like to talk about some ways that you can build on your Client List. Because simply put, a bigger list equals a bigger stack of cash
it’s hard to get by and pay all your bills, pay your overhead, if you only have a few paying clients. even if you have just a few clients that pay you a lot, if one of those clients happens to take a break or worse, go away completely, then just by the percentages you will find yourself in a deep hole very fast and scrambling to replace that revenue. it’s just a very risky business model to have all your eggs in one basket or just a few baskets so to speak, and so it’s important to consider that as your building and growing your career. Perhaps a stronger business strategy would be creating a steady income stream with a good number of clients and a diversified client base.
So if you’ve ever struggled with this or want some fresh ideas, you are in luck! Stick around to the end because I have 4 proven strategies that I personally have used and had success with and I know of others who have benefited as well. So here we go
- Create a Podcast or YouTube channel or blog, or all three!
- Its a great idea to create content that establishes you as an authority in your niche and displays that you can deliver the services that you claim you can. It’s also a great place to display your personality which ultimately can be the single most effective way to market yourself since everyone wants to be around people they enjoy! Whether it’s written or a video or just audio, it all serves the same purpose. You can give answers to frequently asked questions or solutions to common problems. Walk through the process of your services and demonstrate how efficient, painless, and effective YOU can make that process for your client. It shouldnt be all bragedotious! Just be professional about it, have fun still, but most importantly be you and be honest. This kind of content creation can really snowball to your advantage. If you are consistent about making the the content especially evergreen content it can continue to serve your business for years to come!
- Fb, LinkedIn groups, Quora, Reddit
– we all like to hang around people who do what we do to talk shop and learn from them and there is great value in doing that. But I’m always curious of the people who try to solicit their services to people who provide the same service as them. You’ve probably seen the posts in the audio forums asking if anyone needs mixer… when 90percent of the people in that group are mixers…
I mean maybe that can work in some cases but I think we can be more effective with a better target audience.
- So, be active in groups that need you, not groups that are you ( like audio groups)
Look for film makers, content creators, songwriters, producers, ad agencies, etc. You’ll be amazed at how often they have audio related questions and you can be the one answering as an authority in the topic rather than someone who has more of a background video for example. You’ll instantly have credibility and be seen as a problem solver. Just look for good opportunities to help and make positive, fun conversation. Again, don’t be cocky about just be you and give tremendous value in your responses. If you are following tip number one, you can either link to your content that discusses the topic or you can now create content in the topic because you now have a proof of a painpoint and you have a solution to offer. Just make sure if you do have content to link to that you don’t just post the link and drop the mic. That link won’t get many clicks because you haven’t yet established that you have anything to offer. First post a thoughtful, helpful response and finish by saying you know I actually go much more in depth on this topic in this video linked here. Now you are giving immediate assistance, establishing trust and credibility and then offering even MORE value because you have an amazing video with even more information that they NEED. These interactions are potential goldmines and can lead to real work! LinkedIn for example is my personal go to for this.
- Build by way of retention
– it’s far easier to retain a client then get a new one. The cost for customer acuisition is also far greater than customer rentention. So do everything in your power to wow the crap out of your clients. Don’t let the idea of bringing their next project to someone else ever creep into their minds!
How do you keep a customer? Obviously product is important, but it should not be your sole focus. Create an atmosphere and experience that they cannot receive anywhere else. I always say when someone takes a tour of Overitstudios.com the studio I work at, that I want them to think they’ve never had a better interaction. They’ve never seen a nicer cleaner studio. They’ve never felt more appreciated and better served. That is the goal 100 percent of the time.
And for my clients that I’m working with, I invest myself fully in their project and their needs and that is how I gain their trust.
I strive to create an honest, valuable, irreplaceable relationship with them. Make a friend! That is the goal 100 percent of the time. Now we do not hit that goal 100 percent of the time, but when it is your prime focus and your entire team buys in, you will have almost bulletproof relationships with your clients and excellent retention. When it comes time for your client to consider who they want to work with next time, the emotional currency you’ve built with them will be their driving decision making factor!
- Diversify your service offerings
Another great way to increase your client list is to increase the number of ways you can accept clients by offering more services. Diversifying your offering to include a type of customer you haven’t yet acquired. The tricky part here is that if you offer it, and you sell it, you better deliver it. So make sure you’re prepared to do a great job and make good on the promises you make. And just as an anecdote on this one, when I first began running Overit Studios I did just this, I took a look at what we did and then identified other services that we could prepare to offer in the future. And rather than advertising them all at the jump, I took the time and one by one did a little research and prep to be sure we would nail it in on the first shot because I know that work of mouth and a happy client is one of our best advertising tools. So, for example I identified ADR as an excellent service that could help us develop relationships with other post studios, post coordinators, sound supervisors, actors, etc so I spent some time learning the how, learning the tools, and pretty soon felt confident that we could rock n roll. And just like that I got a frantic phone call from a post coordinator who needed a studio immediately because they just had an awful crash and burn experience at another studio near me. The actor was still in the area and they needed a studio like yesterday. So, we talked for another minute about their needs, sounded like a fit and pretty soon the session was over, the audio was sent off and I got a nice message back from the sound supervisor thanking me for helping them out so quickly and hey, can we finish the rest of the season with you guys. And that was for a show on Amazon called Transparent and the actor was Gabby Hoffman and we worked on that show until the series ended. And all because we prepared and delivered. Now the flip side is, that other studio not only lost that session, but lost what easily could have been the entire series. They also lost what likely could have been the subsequent work I got from the actor and the referrals from the actors agent. I mean this is how it works right, do good, treat people as best you can and they will advertise for you and refer you. Flipside is the other studio who is likely getting bad advertising like hey don’t go there they don’t know what they are doing.
So that’s how I approach adding services, I don’t like to promise much without knowing I can really do a great job.
And you can do this too by adding things like voice over recording for marketing agencies, or podcast editing for content creators and businesses, or sound design for film makers or working in clubs as a front of house or monitor engineer, on and on and on. But all of this makes you more employable and and really makes you a well rounded and exceptionally experienced audio professional.
There so 4 tips for you. The last thing I’ll say about how to grow your client list is really probably the most important. And that is, business development takes time which means you need MAKE the time in your schedule to devote to growing your business. That’s not watching youtube videos about mixing or gear etc. That means action that means creating your blog, that means time devoted to writing and helping inside the groups mentioned in Tip number two etc. Growing relationships. All that needs to be prioritized because believe me I know how easy it is to get caught up in the work. But to have a bright future and a thriving business, I would encourage you to spend even 10 min a day toward building that business. And then maybe work toward 30 min a day and on.
Okay so let me know in the comments what tip you are going to make your first priority
Is it tip 1) creating content
Is it tip 2) Writing and helping in the forums
Is it tip 3) focusing on customer service and retention
Or tip 4) developing a wider offering of services
Comment below and let me know and also share the video and help our your friends. Make sure you tag me and I’ll give you a shout out!
Lastly, don’t forget your free gift! Please go to http://www.AdamClairmont.com/workflow and pick up the free pdf guide with easy steps on how to work faster and earn more in less time.
Thanks for watching. See you next time.
Adam Clairmont 