The aim of this video is to help out people, help out creatives specifically, who aren't getting paid work that they want. I was headed into Central London for a few meetings, so I thought I'd bring you with me so we could talk about these burning topics, speaking corporate so you can win more work. So I found myself in a couple of situations recently where I've recommended friends for jobs and, what I found is that. And at first I couldn't figure it out. Seemingly on the surface of things, both of the people I've put forward recently had better showreels than I do. But I was having a chat with one of these guys the other day, who I put forward this videographer to, and what he told me was they didn't have faith that the guy who I was sending them could actually communicate the message they wanted to communicate. Delving further into it, what I realized that, uh, there's a huge gap for a lot of creatives. You have fantastic show reels, they have fantastic books if they're designers, but they can't speak business, they can't speak corporate, and they don't know how how to articulate the things that businesses need in the creative output. So I'm here in London's, uh, busy financial district, looking completely out of place dressed like this, um, but it's almost to prove a point that I can rock up to meetings more or less dressed in, you know, flame vans, um, in an unbuttoned shirt with a Santa Cruz screaming hand on it, and walk in and confidently get work and feel like I completely belong there, in a building. Like this full of suits because I know how to speak business and I know how to address the things that business people want, uh, in the creative outputs that they want. Okay, so I thought I'd give you a bit of a change of location. I think the real trick to getting business nowadays where content creators and people can point a camera at something are a dime a dozen. So I think the real trick is just understanding people's businesses a little bit further. I'm understanding what it is they do a little bit further and really understanding what the tangible business goals for somebody are beyond. Just a piece of content that they want created. I think people rely far too much on prior work. And I know that sounds really weird because having, having decent quality prior work is really important. But if you can't back that up with an understanding of how your work is going to further someone's business, then you're probably not going to get the next job. One of the things I love about central London is how many movie locations there are. So I stroll through the set of Wonka Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Harry Potter, among other things, to get to my next meeting and I just dig it so much. Now another very potentially exciting place for any Star Wars fans because this is the Barbican Center in central London This was Coruscant and the show and or the best Star Wars show in the last well very long time But yeah, the Barbican Center here is full of awesome Star Wars locations. So welcome to Coruscant and anyway back to the tips So I'm going to set up over here and, um, what I want to do is take you through three of the things that I think are going to help creatives actually earn money and, uh, get those people who hold the purse strings to open up their pockets. Alright, let's put you down here. So look, I've got three tips here for you. The first one is going to be impressing people with knowledge of their business and showing a lot of understanding of business. This is from my perspective, both as someone professionally making videos, but also as working in an agency as a creative director and client side at places like Apple and Microsoft too. I think a lot of the time, one of the big mistakes that people early on in their careers make is trying to come on too strong with awesome creative ideas and showing awesome flashy work. But what they don't do is spend enough time demonstrating to clients that they really understand their business. A simple creative piece of work, no matter how stunning it is, no matter how technically accomplished it is, or how creative it is. Isn't actually going to cut it for a lot of business clients. And I will go with something that looks less interesting and less creative and less cool. And frankly, it doesn't do as well for them, um, just because you don't demonstrate a knowledge of what they actually need and what they actually want. So big part of, uh, winning work, which I would suggest to any freelancers out there, anyone who's just starting out an agency is to get to know your client's businesses a little better and get to know the deeper reasons why people are actually having work created. One of the underlying things that most businesses is trying to drive is a bit of a buzzword now, is return on investment. And most people proudly spout that out without really understanding what return on investment means. A lot of creatives I've met will start talking about metrics, like vanity metrics on socials, views and likes and comments, because that's what works for them and that's what builds their businesses. But for big corporations, for even small to mid sized companies, What really matters to them isn't so much how many people watch their video on Reels, um, or visit their YouTube channel, or even their website. Although websites actually do convert a lot of people for certain types of businesses. If I could give you like one easy win with this, have a discussion with any client even before you pitch them an idea. and ask them who their customers are, what they're trying to achieve as a business with the particular piece of creative that they're trying to get you to make or get you to pitch for. So a lot of them won't actually even know and this gives you an amazing opportunity to add value, so to speak, um, to really prove to them that you are incredibly valuable and that your work will help them achieve their business goals and then work backward with them. Look at what they are trying to achieve as a business and work backward to figure out the piece of content, the piece of creative that is going to best achieve that for them. Not just flashy shots, not just beautiful illustrations, but something that is actually going to appeal to their target audience. Takes us really nicely to the second thing that I want to talk about. Then the second tip I want to give you is think what the target audience actually want, not what you want, not even what your client wants in some situations, but what their target audience actually wants to see, which is going to help them make a buying decision to purchase that particular client's product. How do we do that? Well look, ask your client or your potential client who their ideal audience is. Tell them it's going to help you make your pitch better or help you make your work better and then do a bit of research. Figure out where those people shop. People figure out where those people go online, if they are online even. What social platforms they're on a look at the types of content that those particular demographics are consuming. You can do some really easy, really good research on really basic free platforms like Google Analytics, stuff like that. Now that's a free platform and that's only scratching the surface of what you can do. One of the other great ways that you can do research is stay offline completely and talk to real people in real life. Actually go and interview people who fit into a target market, hang about in the street, wander around places like this, like the Barbican. This is a public place in London. Obviously don't necessarily come here and wander around. Um, but go and speak to people who you think fit into that demographic. If you don't know them. Go and find them. A lot of people are going to knock you back, a lot of people are going to turn you down. But the information you do get from real people who fit into that market will be invaluable in making sure that you win business from clients. This method has served me so well in landing some of my bigger clients by really talking to their customers to figure out what it is that they want. And then coming back to clients with this sort of here is an informed, here is some informed information about what your clients want. Here is how we can best make communication that best appeals to them. We've got number one, which is working backwards from what the clients are trying to achieve with their business and then trying to help them figure out what is the best piece of content or the best piece of work for them. We've got number two, really deep diving with that, the audience for that client's work and trying to figure out what it is they want. And then number three, the final one, is just thinking out of the box slightly with the work you propose to people. A lot of businesses will have seen the same tired old work again and again and again, and they settle for that again and again and again because nobody's offering them anything new. But what I would suggest is trying to think differently about what it is you pitch to clients. Maybe how you weave in a story to this sort of stuff. You don't have to completely reinvent the wheel with every piece of work you do. Sometimes people do just need an event recap, but how can you make that better? How can you make that more interesting or better value for a client? A great example with event recaps is oftentimes people just do these highlight reels from events of shots of speakers on stage, maybe sound bites from somebody talking at an event, little snippets of people networking, close ups of food, all that sort of stuff. Go back to what the event is about. Really think about how you can extract value from that for your client. What are the learnings that everybody got from that event? Uh, what was the audience experience like? What were the periphery things that audience members did on the out, on the outskirts of the event that wouldn't normally get put into an event recap video, um, that you can put into yours to make it exciting and different audience focused, something that will drive value and return on investment and clicks and purchases for the client as well. That's just one example, but there are so many, uh, layers of the onion to peel back with this sort of stuff. Um, there's a rabbit hole that you can really dive deep into. I know I'm using lots of metaphors here, um, but there are so many different ways you can approach every single job you get. I was thinking more about what I was talking about, about food. thinking differently about your creative work. And one of the big things that I think a lot of people would push back with and definitely have with me in the past is that clients often sort of know what they want. Ask for something very specific and look in my experience, what I have found. Um, so this isn't always the case and it's good to not be too pushy, but one of the things with creative work and clients, Asking for specific things is if you can confidently, um, and in a way that is carefully framed around how their business operates, tell them why what they've asked for isn't what they actually need and then prove to them what they do need without making a huge upsell. Because again, that's why people don't trust you when you come up with ideas in the creative space. A lot of the time. Because they think there's going to be a massive upsell. But if you can give them something for the same budget that they're asking for, or even less, that is going to deliver more value to them, then a lot of clients will actually then trust you even more. People don't mind being told that they're wrong. Um, particularly if you're a creative of some kind. You're often the subject matter expert in that field. But where a lot of people get burnt is they have people come and upsell them or tell them they need to spend a whole bunch more money on something. And then they don't see results from that. So if you can be the trusted person who comes in and upsells an idea, but without costing them more money, then you can secure yourself a really long term client, a kind of client for life sort of thing. So it can be such a valuable thing to think about. Think differently about the work. Don't be afraid to tell people that they are wrong and that you know, as an expert, what they actually do need. And look, I hate using that word expert. It's an awful term to use. You can come across as being so full of yourself. It's such a powerful thing to do. To show somebody that you can be trusted, that you know what you're talking about, and that, um, you can help them make money and drive their business forward. Alright, I've reached the station. If anyone's a fan of slow horses, this area is full of movie locations. Right over here, where River, in Slow Horses, had sort of a chase scene. I think the Slow Horses building is actually just down the street here somewhere. Ultimately the goal of this video has been to try and help out creatives who aren't getting work, or are just starting out in their careers, to think slightly differently about how they approach getting clients. I hope this has helped people. I do know a lot of people struggle with this sort of advice, because it's not tangible, so Do this step, do this step, do this step kind of stuff. I have created a PDF that I'm going to link in the comments down below, um, to try and help people through this process and give you some pointers, um, as to what to think about. So look, do let me know if this was helpful and, um, until next time, take care. Couldn't resist it. Here is Slough House from Slow Horses. You can imagine Gary Oldman sitting in there, having a smoke, yelling at people. I love it. Alright, headed home. So take a minute to like and subscribe and all that good stuff. And uh, look forward to seeing you next time. Take care of yourselves.