If you’re like me, you’re always looking for new business everywhere you go. I do my darndest (is that a word?) to strike up a conversation with anyone and everyone I meet because you never know. I was out at Trece Tequilla Bar the other night (yeah, i know…lush) and randomly ran into a retired couple at the bar. This was my first time at this particular tequilla bar (I’m working on a project in Dallas, right now and unfamiliar with many of the new establishments). The retired couple at the bar, though, were regulars and knew the lay of the land all too well. After a few minutes of “Hi, How are Ya’s” they introduced me to the three bartenders (getting to know your bartenders is the best thing you can ever do) and then I started asking them about some of the things they did when they weren’t guzzling tequilla and chipotle salsa. One thing led to another and I got to talking about my work as a film/video producer and social media and marketing consultant. Wouldn’t you know it, they have a son who is the marketing director at a very prominent company here in Dallas. I gave them my card and took down their son’s information. They promised they would call him, so that he would be expecting my call. Guess who I had a 20-minute conversation with on the phone today and guess who is now a part-time freelance consultant for a very prominent company here in Dallas? You guessed it, I am.

Now, I’m not trying to brag (alright, I am a little), but I am trying to illustrate the point that new business can come from anywhere or anyone. I’ve never understood business people who act so standoffish towards meeting new people or discussing what makes their company so great. This makes no sense to me. The more people you meet the greater chances of coming across someone that your company can genuinely help, or even better, someone that can genuinely help your company. It’s been said millions upon millions of times, landing new business is strictly a numbers game. If you put yourself in front of enough people, you will find you have more business than you can handle. So, what do you do once you have a steady portfolio of clients?

5 Ways to Maximize Your Relationships and Get Business Referrals:

1. Give your clients quality work. If you consistently go above and beyond what your clients ask for, you won’t even need to ask for referrals, your clients will just give them to you voluntarily.
2. Follow up once projects are completed. You did everything and more that your client asked you to do and you hit it out of the park. But, often times, there will be tiny little changes or additions to a project that a client may realize they need once a project has been officially invoiced and closed. Your client may not feel the changes are that important and might not want to bother you, but if you follow up any project with a quick phone call asking if the client needs anything else and then make a few tweaks or changes free of charge, then you can bet the client is going to come to you first with the next project and sing your praises all over town.
3. Keep clients abreast of other project success you are having. I like to call this soft bragging. Whenever my team and I complete a new project, I will send out an e.mail to my entire client list and brag about what a great job my team did and list any awards that might be attached to the project. The key is to brag about your team, not about your company or yourself. Your team deserves to be recognized for their efforts and the more you brag about them, the more confidence your clients will have in you the next time they have a project that requires your company’s expertise.
4. Take your clients out on the town. This can get tricky, especially if you’re not that familiar with what your client does for entertainment. But, if you’re perceptive, then you probably know one or two things that they might enjoy. Invite them out to a round of golf, for a drink (make sure they drink), to a networking event, etc. An even better approach is to throw a company party every quarter and invite ALL your clients. This allows you to treat everyone at the same time and is a great way to get one set of clients to brag about you to another set of clients. Even better, have your clients invite other companies that might be interested in utilizing the services you offer. In addition to free food and booze, provide a brief presentation of your product or service and then hand out some literature that can easily fold up into someone’s coat pocket. Be sure to give your presentation early in the night, though. The last thing you want is a bunch of businessmen that have had too much “sauce” watching your presentation at the end of the night and remembering none of it in the morning. Make sure you collect business cards and follow up in a day or two, thanking everyone for coming to the party and offering to go into more detail about the services you offer.
5. Just ask them. If you’re doing your job right, then your clients probably like you. If you’ve had a client for some period of time, then you probably have somewhat of a more relaxed or even personal relationship. I wouldn’t suggest asking every single week, but in passing, while you’re having a more relaxed conversation with a client, simply drop into conversation that you’re expanding and looking to take on a few more clients. Then ask them if they have any suggestions of companies that might be a good fit with your product or service? If they do, great! If they don’t, no harm done. Just make sure it is clear that you will always give the same amount of attention to their company.

If you follow the above five suggestions, then you’ll find you can increase your client base significantly. Another great way to keep current clients informed and attract new clients is to start a company blog or newsletter. Anytime you can separate yourself as an expert in your particular field, you will see an increase in new and referral business.

Bonus Tip: Finally, make sure your clients understand all of the services you offer. Sure, you may have done a great job putting together a marketing campaign for Client X, but do they know that you also offer video production services? You’d be surprised how many of your clients don’t fully understand all of the products or services you offer. Make sure they know that you offer multiple solutions to multiple problems. There’s a strong possibility that you could double the revenue you make off one client, simply by up-selling them to more than one of your products/services.

How do you get referral business, or new business for that matter? Do you find more of your clients come through online relationships, or is a face-to-face meeting still more valuable in acquiring new clientele? What am I missing here? What is working for you? I’d love to hear your thoughts on the best ways to expand your business.

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While I was playing golf today (pictured above…yeah, I play casual Rambo golf), one of the people I was playing with complimented me and called me one of Austin’s movers and shakers. WOW! That made my head about as big as a blimp and whether they were just blowing smoke up my rear or being serious, it got me thinking what a real (someone other than myself) mover and shaker is made up of and how could I better become one?

Personality
First things first, I have never met a mover and shaker that did not have a magical quality about their personality. Getting ahead has always been easiest when people genuinely like you. So, how do you develop a winning personality? Well, I guess a lot of it is instinct, but there are a few things that will put you ahead of those lacking any personality whatsoever, or worse those having a bad personality. Here are a few tips that I think help any negotiation, relationship or conversation start on the right track:

1. Look people in the eyes. People want to know that you are sincere and by looking someone in the eyes, they can tell if you are being genuine or not.
2. Be genuine and sincere. There’s no point in faking this. Sure, you can pretend for a while, but eventually you’ll be found out and everything you’ve worked towards will fly out the window. Lose your credibility and you’re screwed.
3. Be friendly. It’s not hard to put a smile on and it makes everyone in the room more comfortable. Smiles are contagious and it’s hard to be anything but happy when you’re wearing one. Try it. Just putting on a smile for ten seconds will make you and everyone around you feel better.
4. Don’t come on too strong. We get it, you’re the life of the party, or the funny guy, or the hot shot at whatever you do. But, that doesn’t mean we want to hear about it all the time. Nobody likes someone who brags about themselves too much. Let others brag about you and spend your time bragging about the people around you. They’ll appreciate the compliment and it will give them an opportunity to talk about themselves a little. People love to talk about themselves. Set someone up to talk about something they are passionate about and they will love you, too.

Work Ethic
Personality can only get you so far, though. Sure, in high school and college it was easy to skate by on personality alone, but in the real world, you might actually have to do a little work. In the beginning you’ll need to work around the clock, that’s just the way it goes. But, if you’re smart, things will get easier and easier for you. Just remember, that you’re work ethic is not necessarily the number of hours you put in on any given project, but how well you manage the time and assets at your disposal. You don’t want to work 16 hour days, after all, what time would that leave you for networking and building new business relationships? The key is to hire people more talented than you and then become the best boss they’ve ever had. Work hard and get to the point where you can afford to put together a talented team. Don’t skimp on your hires, because they are an extension of who you are as a person and a company. It is much better to hire someone with infinite talent and pay them three times the average salary, than to hire three people who are unmotivated, just to save some money. The talented employee will be the greater asset to your team. Be a fun, fair and dedicated boss and show your employees that you appreciate them helping you reach your ultimate goal. As they help you get closer, reward them and thank them. Work ethic, like smiling, is contagious. If you work hard and are passionate about what you are doing, then your employees will be as well. Now, you can take over the world together.

Style
Many would argue that style doesn’t matter as long as the quality of work is exceptional. Obviously, quality of work is the most important thing to worry about, but when it comes to taking on new clients, style goes a long way. In business, first impressions can make or break you. As you are out on the town networking, you never know who you are going to meet and you only get one chance to meet them the first time. I’m not saying you have to be dressed like you walked out of a GQ Magazine every time you go out. But, it certainly wouldn’t hurt. The key is confidence and confidence is its own style. If you can be 120% confident in you and your company while wearing jeans and a T-shirt, then that is exactly what you should wear. But, big clients want to see that their money is going to be handled responsibly and that 2004 5K Fun Run T-shirt with the cut off sleeves doesn’t necessarily scream confidence. The same goes for your office. An interior decorator doesn’t cost that much money and it is well worth the investment. It’s hard to close a $100,000 (much less a million dollar) deal while your client is sitting in a folding chair you bought at a church yard sale. Perceived value can go a long way.

Can’t afford fancy office furniture, or worse, can’t afford an office yet? Not a problem. Do what I used to do and find a swanky conference room downtown that you can rent out for a nominal fee. Most big office buildings have a reservation schedule for their conference room, and you can usually work out some sort of fee by the hour to rent it out. In nicer buildings, the rental will even come with a secretary that can take drink and food orders and take your forwarded phone calls for the duration of the rental. This is an inexpensive way to impress clients and put them at ease from the get-go. You want each potential client listening to your pitch, not wondering if the water stains on the floor were an artistic choice. For really special/important clients, I suggest finding a conference room that looks out over a body of water. Trust me, clients like this.

Networking
Great! You’re sporting a winning personality, putting in 10+ hour days with a staff that’s doing the same and you’ve developed impeccable style, now what? Now we need to round up some business, shake a few hands and land some clients. This is where networking comes in to play. Whatever city I happen to be in, I like to find the local rag paper and find out what the recommended or popular events for any given night might be. Events designated as industry networking events are obviously the best, but any event that you feel will draw a crowd will suffice. When you arrive at the event, open a bar tab and if you can afford it, tip the bartender twenty or so dollars right off the bat. This will assure that you take precedence over everyone else at the bar. Nothing is more embarrassing than trying to buy a prospect client (or worse, beautiful young lady) a drink, only to have the bartender completely ignore you. Now, make your way around the room and meet people. For more information on how to network, you can read this post that I wrote a while back. Perfect! Now make sure you have some business cards (the more creative you get with these, the better) and more importantly, make sure you get a business card from everyone you talk to over the course of the night. I like to make little notes on each card so I remember what we talked about, then when I get home or the next day, I will send a personal email to each person I spoke with the night before. If I feel they could be a potential client, I make a personal phone call, as well, to request a meeting where we could get to know each other better and decide if our two companies might be a fit with one another. You can word this however you like, but if you can afford it, people love a free lunch. Just remember to save those receipts!

Time Management
Finally, the greatest thing you can ever learn to do is manage and use your time efficiently. The typical mover and shaker will work 10+ hours a day, 7 days a week. But, that doesn’t mean you’re always in the office. Much of that time will be spent drinking (I mean, networking) and pitching new clients. When you are in the office, though, it is important to create a list of things you need to do for the day and then prioritize them in order of importance. Learning to delegate to your staff or project team is the most important thing you can do in freeing up your own time. Remember, if you hired well, then your staff is more than capable of handling anything you throw at them. So, determine what chores need your personal attention and then delegate everything else out to your project team. Hold weekly, or bi-weekly meetings with your staff and make sure everyone is on the same page. Let them know how you’d like to see something handled and then ask if anyone has a better suggestion. A lot of the time someone else will have a better idea than you. Congratulations, you put together a great team!

The next thing you know, Forbes, People, GQ and Time will all be knocking on your door. Have your butler politely seat your admiring guests, you’ll be downstairs in a moment.

How did you become a mover and a shaker? What advice would you give to someone trying to achieve that status?

P.S. Yes, that is a Softball Tournament t-shirt that I’m wearing in the above picture (very similar to the 5K Fun Run shirt I was talking about). Hey, I never said I was a mover and a shaker, someone else did. I’m going to call that t-shirt, “dressing to your client’s tastes.” What I wear, drink and how I play on the golf course varies wildly when I’m meeting with an Alt. Rock band manager, as opposed to the creative director of a national agency. Now, if I could only find that pink polo!

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Let me start off addressing those of you who are reading this blog for the first time. My name is Jon Ray and over the past nine months, I have written extensively about how social media can be used to help you create an online presence and community around you, your company, your band, your film, etc. Over the past nine months I have talked about social media and marketing at several conferences, colleges and seminars. All of these opportunities came solely from readers of my blog. It is my hope that I will have the same amount of success blogging about my experience as an independent HD video producer.

What does a video/film producer do?
Three and a half years ago I started a social media, marketing and HD video production company called Suited Productions (now PAPERTANK). Since then, I have produced over 40 commercials, 20 music videos, 15 short films and a handful of mini-documentary projects on a local, regional and national level.

So, what does a video producer do? In my experience the producer’s job is to breathe life into a project. The producer is the one who goes out into the wild and finds the projects. Once the producer has found a project, it is his job to find the money to fund the project. Sometimes, especially with creative projects, this means attaching talent to a project that investors will find attractive. Other times, it just means that the producer negotiates a project budget with a client. Once funding is in place, the producer now attaches talent to the project. A producer will typically select a writer, director, director of photography, production designer, unit production manager and editor. Ideally, you hope that you have enough money to hire all of these people and more. But, often times, there just isn’t the budget to hire everyone you’d like to hire. I’ve worked on quite a few low budget projects where we just couldn’t afford all of the production talent we wanted. In cases like this, I like to find production talent that can multi-task several jobs. In the past, I’ve used a director that was also my DP and editor. I, often times, act as my own unit production manager and as a production assistant. Working low budget means that everyone is playing multiple roles. The key is finding a group of people (no matter how big or small) that are 120% devoted to making the project the best it can be.

You have your production team, now what?
Once you have the perfect team in place, it’s important to get everyone in a room and make sure they are all on the same page. Or, better yet, that they are all on your page. As the producer, this is your project. Yes, the director and writer are going to have a lot of say in things, but the producer is the one who gave birth to the project and it is the producer that has the final say so on how the project turns out. Of course, there is always a certain amount of give and pull and the idea is that the team you hired is on board for your vision. But, in the end, this is the producer’s project, so it’s important that you make sure the initial vision for the project is being met. If you are working on a creative project, then you’ll want to finish developing your story or concept with your key production staff. If you are shooting a client project, then there are probably already guidelines that the client has set forth for the project. It is important that you, as the producer, make sure that those guidelines are being met. You should always check in with your client and give regular status reports. Nothing makes a client squirm more than a producer that does not communicate with them. Clients want to know that their money is being well spent and a constant stream of communication between the producer and the client is a great way to keep the client from getting cold feet or wanting to send in their own people. If you show the client, right off the bat, that you are in control and there is nothing to worry about, then your shoot will go much smoother. Constant communication will assure that the client uses you for future projects, as well. Remember, the client like the investor on a creative project is the money man. Make sure the money man is in the loop and comfortable and things will run much smoother on your set.

The producer should be omnicient.
As a producer, you should always know what is going on with a project. Your job is to hire the best people to get a job done. Once you have good creative talent on board, your job is to manage and supervise that talent. The producer will supervise the development of the project concept or story. The producer will help set a budget based on that concept. The producer will help find key cast members and then develop a shooting schedule. The producer will view daily footage and make suggestions if deemed necessary. Once shooting is completed, the producer will sit-in with the director and editor while the project is cut together. The producer will help find a composer or any music needed for the project and negotiate those contracts. The producer will be the main contact for clients involved with the project. But, most of all, the producer is the ultimate problem solver. No matter what kind of project you are working on, there will always be unexpected problems that arise. As a producer, it is your job to calmly, quickly and efficiently solve any problems that come up. If you’re good at thinking on your feet and finding creative solutions to problems, then you’ll be a great producer!

So, there is a brief look into how I’ve operated as a producer over the past few years. Of course, there is no right or wrong way to approach becoming a producer. But, the above is what has been working for me. You’ll find that you may prefer to approach projects in a different way. If so, I’d love to hear how you like to attack creative and client projects. I am in no way an expert, but I do have a little bit of experience in putting together smaller music video and commercial projects. Are you a feature film producer? How does producing a feature film differ from putting together smaller projects. What advice would you give to young film producers who are looking to raise money and produce their first feature film? Where did you get your experience as a producer? Was it a trial and error process, did you go to a producer mentor program or work underneath another producer? I’d love to hear from anyone that would like to add to this post. And if you have questions, leave them as a comment. If I can’t answer them, I promise I’ll find someone that can.

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Become Chako’s friend on MySpace. Click Here.

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I had to post this as soon as I finished watching because it might be the most accurate portrayal of a text message relationship that I have ever seen. It also happens to be hilarious in a really funny because it’s true kind of way. If you haven’t already, you can read my text message love letter post here and then watch this video to get the full picture of how it all goes down. Awesome! Thanks for sending me this, Laura! ;)

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