At the beginning of my journey as an entrepreneur, I would never have predicted that narrowing down my list of clients and saying the word “no” more often would actually make me better at my job… but it did. When I can fully connect with my clients and fully appreciate the value of their work, I have the ability to change lives outside of my movement.
Hey everybody! This is Marley Baird and welcome to the world of video, impact, and profit - or as I like to call it, the VIP Code.
We’re going to jump right into today’s episode, but before we do, I want to make sure I give you the tool you need to take your video marketing strategy to the next level and save time in the process. If you’re looking to create omnipresent video assets that act as salespeople spreading your message every day, around the clock, perpetually, forever - I want to help. So go ahead and visit www.bairdstrategycall.com to schedule your free strategy call with one of my VIP Code Certified Coaches. That’s b-a-i-r-d strategycall.com.
Speaking of “spreading YOUR message”, in today’s episode, we’re talking about how I built my movement by helping other people build their movements...It isn’t as complicated as it sounds, I promise!
My friend and client, Cristy Code Red, recently hit 10,000 subscribers on her YouTube channel. That’s 10,000 people committed to losing weight, keeping it off, and taking their lives back.
Seeing Cristy hit that milestone made me so proud, not only of the amazing work Cristy does for her audience and clients on a daily basis, but for the work that my team has put in to elevate her channel over the past year. We’re in our third season of videos with Cristy, and it’s always so much fun to film with her and see that audience reaction to the videos every week.
It’s funny - as a video marketing agency, you spend a lot of time empowering other people’s movements. You’re behind the scenes, and in some cases, you can be your client’s best kept secret. Even if you have seamless editing skills, or you write the best copy the world has ever seen - your work will more than likely go unnoticed by the audience, because they’re busy paying attention to the person on-screen.
There are two ways to think about this:
You could think, “Wow, I spent HOURS working on this video and it’s such a bummer to not get any of the glory. While the face of the brand responds to comments and rakes in the praise… it’s back to the drawing board for me.”
But when I see my client doing well - maybe they earned more subscribers this week than any other week previous, or maybe they had really high engagement on their latest video - I can’t help but beam with pride. I don’t need that external glory; I get all the glory I need from seeing my client lead their movement and make a massive impact, knowing that I helped them along the way.
As an entrepreneur in general, it’s easy to feel like you’re grinding it out with little reward. Especially when you’re first starting your business and maybe you don’t have a lot of money coming in, it feels like you have to hustle 24/7 at a thankless job just to make ends meet.
But what’s so inspiring about my business is that I get to work with visionary leaders like Cristy and watch them grow in their zone of genius. Seeing my clients in action and making an impact is the greatest possible reward for my team’s hard work.
Think of the people on social media who are solely concerned with their own wanna-be movement. I’m sure it won’t take you long to land on a few examples; they are all over the place. Social media can easily feel like a breeding ground for noisemakers, people who are mostly concerned with vanity and… frankly, hearing themselves talk.
So there’s something really special about doing your part and then stepping out of the way so that your client can take center stage. When you know you’ve helped them in some small or significant way to build their meaningful movement and actually change lives, it’s kind of magical.
I think one of the keys to this is being pretty choosy about your clients. When I first started my business, I wanted to succeed and make as much of a profit as possible to keep it going, so I thought I had to say yes to everybody. Whether or not their business aligned with my values or seemed like a good fit didn’t matter as much - a new client was a new client.
If you’re listening to this as an entrepreneur, you’re probably nodding your head right now because I’m pretty sure we’ve all been here, right? In the beginning, you’re just thinking about how you’re going to get by or how you’re going to pay your team. Everything is results-driven, and you don’t stop to consider whether the client is a good match.
And just like you probably did, I had a few clients who didn’t work out. Eventually, for one reason or another, we had to part ways. Although that’s never an easy decision to make, it becomes part of your story. I’ve never learned anything from being right all the time; a few mistakes along the way is healthy and necessary for the long-term success of your business.
But I never could’ve predicted at the beginning of my entrepreneurial journey that narrowing down my clients and saying “no” more often would actually make me better at my job. Back when I was saying yes to everyone, I didn’t always feel as passionate to help them. I thought I was giving them my all, but in reality, I was doing as much as I could given my lack of connection to their movement.
When I’m really passionate about what my client is doing, I give them my fullest attention. I’m driven to help them amplify their movement to the greatest extent possible.
I realized one day that my movement is helping other people build their movements, and keeping that in mind as a bit of a mantra has really helped me to stay the course and remember my “why” over the years.
Along the way, you may experience those moments when you’re in your ego and you think “jeez, I really wish I was the one getting all that attention”, especially when you’re working so hard to contribute to someone else’s movement. But when you recognize that thought as part of your ego, and ultimately focus on the lives that this movement is bound to change, you remember that this whole movement isn’t about you at all. It’s not your job to be the face of it; it’s your job to put the megaphone to it and be that connector between your client and their audience.
And maybe, just maybe, when you’re not paying attention… you’ll suddenly wake up to realize you’ve built your own movement as a result of helping other people build theirs.
Even since starting this podcast, I’ve gotten so many messages and positive feedback from other entrepreneurs, agency owners, influencers - people from all over the world who tell me that what I’m talking about in these episodes resonates with them or allows them to approach a conflict from a new perspective. And I’ve made this kind of impact simply by helping other people build their movements.
If you want to learn more about how to maximize your impact and profit through video, head to www.bairdstrategycall.com to sign up for your strategy call with the Marley Baird Media team! Let’s talk about your business, your goals for the future, and how you can harness the power of video to create omnipresent assets for your brand. Go to www.bairdstrategycall.com, that’s b-a-i-r-d strategycall.com to schedule yours!
Thank you so much for listening to the VIP Code! Be sure to subscribe to this podcast, share it with your friends and on social media; we have a lot of really exciting VIP content coming your way. Until next time, I’m Marley Baird and this has been the VIP Code podcast.
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