“What do I do with this now, Darren?”
 
The question that sparked a whole new fire inside me. 
 
“Well, you can put it on your website, or your social media pages, or show it to people using your phone or tablet when you meet with them…” I loosely replied.
 
“Ok” came the response, with a puzzled look on their face.
 
We exchanged pleasantries, thanked each other for the opportunity to work together and I went on my way with the next gig in mind…
 
But I was troubled by the exchange, I didn’t really acknowledge it for a while, but I knew something was niggling inside me.
 
This story goes back a few years. I’d been running my own film production company for over a decade (I still do) and we had got ourselves into a routine, a nice routine, where clients got in touch, asked us to create a promotional video or two for them, we put the project plan together, filmed it, edited it, tweaked it until they were happy with it, delivered it and then moved on to the next project. Without really thinking about the real reason why they called us in the first place.
 
We weren’t making any mistakes, we weren’t doing anything wrong, we were doing exactly what our clients asked us to do. But, unwittingly, we had neglected to solve the real problem that they came to us for.
 
Our clients didn’t need a promotional video and they still don’t. It’s a nice thing to have but nobody sets out to spend money on a video for the sake of it. What they actually needed was the new business that the video could generate for them. They wanted more clients, more customers, the ability to reach a new audience, a higher profile for their organisation etc. 
 
So… when we gave them a beautifully crafted promotional film, they really didn’t know what to do with it to make it work for them. And we weren’t offering any answers.
 
Hence why everything changed when one client quite rightfully asked me what they should do with their video now that it was finished.
 
From that moment we changed the way we advised our clients when we took a project on. Clients that asked us for promotional videos were questioned about what they wanted to achieve by creating these videos. We asked them who their desired target audience was, and where they usually found them. We asked what social media sites they used, and whether they were working for them or not. We asked how much time and resources they had to getting the message out there and, once we knew them a little better, we’d put together a master plan to ensure that the video worked hard to bring them the new clients and customers they were dreaming of attracting.
 
I was regularly asked by business owners and marketing professionals how they could create videos that actually worked for them and I’d always take the time out to explain the best way to achieve what they wanted to achieve. I’d explain how to hone in on who you’re talking to, how to structure a project to speak to those people, how to create some content and, crucially, how to get it out there so that it reaches an audience. It didn’t matter if they were a client or not, I’d always offer advice to anyone that asked me. It has always made me happy to offer my expertise and experience to people that needed help.
I would speak at events and, once I was off the stage, people would gather round me and ask the same questions; “How can I get people to watch my YouTube videos?” “How can I get more views for my Facebook videos?” I would answer everyone and repeat the advice to the next group of people that wandered over when there was a break in the crowds.
This was working extremely well for many years, our clients loved how their videos were performing and our entire approach to the process had been revolutionised. 
But now another question was burning in my mind… ‘How can I get this information out to all the business owners and marketing professionals that really need it?’ There didn’t seem to be a simple answer because I was busy every day of the week, I split my time between film shoots and my family and there just wasn’t any room in my life to start a new project.
 
And then 2020 happened, and I had time to write a book and a course!