How to convert one-off projects to long-term video content creating clients

Introduction

One of the biggest challenges that video production companies face is building certainty into their business. Our industry has been built on a project-by-project way of working, which means that cash flow is lumpy and you can never really see more than two months down the road at any given time.

In this how-to, we look at how to win long-term contracts that create recurring revenue streams into your video business. It's actually a very simple process to follow – and there's a ton of free resources available to help you implement it straight away.

What You'll Learn

• The Proactive Pitch – A proven method for opening conversations with existing clients about ongoing partnerships.
• Identifying Content Gaps – How to spot areas in your client's video marketing that need development, particularly awareness and consideration stage content.
• Forecasting ROI – Using safe metrics to confidently predict what results your proposed content will deliver.
• Structuring the Conversation – The exact slide structure and talking points for converting one-off clients to retainers.

The Backstory

In 2010, I ventured into the world of self-employment as a freelance videographer and quickly transitioned into a full-fledged video production company. I grew the team to 33 full-time members of staff, working with brands such as Adidas, Nike, and Yves Saint Laurent. But then in 2018, that mini empire came crashing down.

When I reviewed everything, there was one thing that was apparently obvious – I didn't have a system in place to convert one-off projects to long-term contracts or retainers. I met with around 30 marketing, advertising, and PR agencies because they had this model locked down. After a year developing a process that applies their way of working to the video world, life is somewhat different now – with long-term contracts in place with brands such as Shell, Deloitte, and the International Olympic Committee.

The Process: The Proactive Pitch

Assuming you already have clients, the first step is to open up the conversation. There's a high chance that for most of your clients, you've created what we would call decision stage content – designed to convert a viewer to an end goal like a sale, inquiry, or opt-in.

By looking at the content you've created for them and identifying areas in their video marketing that need work (typically awareness and consideration stage content), you can start a conversation about how they can open up their own big blue ocean of perfect prospects who haven't yet considered their solution.

Send a quick email saying you've identified areas of their video marketing that, if developed, would have significant returns in terms of results. You're not pitching the retainer yet – just asking for a 30-minute spot in their calendar to chat.

Structuring Your Slides

For each session you land, structure your slides or conversation in the following way: Start with a slide that outlines the work you did with the client. Then talk them through the power of the buyer's journey when it comes to video content, relating this to their business. Outline what content they have in place already, identify where their content has gaps (likely awareness and consideration stage), and finally show them what their results could look like if they fix them.

As long as the content you're proposing hits some very safe metrics – for example, a 25% view rate and a 10% conversion rate – you can confidently forecast the client's return on their investment and win that retainer.

Transcript

00:00:00:00 - 00:00:37:00
One of the biggest challenges that video production companies face is building certainty into their video business. Our industry has been built on a project by project way of working, which means that cash flow is lumpy and you can never really see more than 2 months down the road at any given time. Now, I've got other videos on retainers, how you can build them into your video business, how you can manage them and deliver them, but in today's how-to, we're going to look at how we win them. And as always, there's a ton of free resources available for you to download, which will mean that you cannot fail. How to convert one-off video projects to long-term contracts.

00:00:40:00 - 00:01:27:00
So, how do we win retainers? How do we win long-term contracts that create recurring revenue stream into our video business? Well, there's certain things that we need to do, but it's actually a very simple process to follow. Now, you may or may not know my backstory, but in 2010, I ventured into the world of self-employment. I started as a freelance videographer and quickly transitioned into a fully-fledged video production company. I grew the team to 33 full-time members of staff working with brands such as Adidas, Nike, and Yves Saint Laurent. But then in 2018, that mini empire came crashing down. Once it did, I reviewed everything and there was one thing that was apparently obvious and was the reason for my downfall. I didn't have a system in place to convert one-off projects to long-term contracts or retainers.

00:01:27:00 - 00:02:14:00
I knew that if I was going to go again, I needed to fix this. So, I met with what must have been 30 marketing agencies, advertising agencies, PR agencies because they had this lockdown. I'm lucky enough to have built very strong relationships with many of the owners of London's biggest agencies. So, I spent time with these people. I had calls, lunches, dinners, quizzing them on their business model and how they won and delivered retainers. I knew that if I could apply their way of working to the video world, well, life would be very different. So, I spent a year developing a process in which I and now you can win and deliver retainers. And life is somewhat different now. I now have long-term contracts in place with brands such as Shell, Deloitte, and the International Olympic Committee.

00:02:14:00 - 00:03:00:00
So, what did I learn? What's the process? Well, as mentioned earlier, in this video, we're going to focus on how you win these retainers. I have other videos that are focused on what a retainer should look like for a video business and how you manage those retainers, which I've linked to below this video. But the first step in the process is to win a one-off project. And if you'd like help with that, you might be interested in two of my books. The Lead Generation Machine, which teaches you how to attract a constant flow of opportunities into your video business, and Conversion 90, which teaches you how to convert over 90% of your opportunities to paid and profitable projects. Both of those books are available in the links below, and you can get them for free, along with the video versions and the audiobook versions, all for free.

00:03:00:00 - 00:04:04:00
So, assuming that you already have clients, here's the very simple process of converting them to a retainer. We use something called the proactive pitch. And if you use the link below, you'll find the template document that my students use to proactively pitch the concept of a retainer into their client. But the first step is to open up the conversation. There's a high chance that for most of your clients, you've created what we would call decision stage content. So that's content that is designed to convert a viewer to an end goal. That end goal could be a sale or purchase, an inquiry, an opt-in, a subscribe, and so on. And if you've watched any of my other content, you would have heard me bang on about the buyer's journey. Obviously, I talk about this a lot to video professionals because we're very often guilty of only creating decision stage content for ourselves, our show reels, our case studies, our about us content, our directors cut videos, and we expect those to attract and convert prospects to clients. But we know that this just isn't the case. And if you'd like a far more detailed review of the buyers journey, the link is below.

00:04:04:00 - 00:05:07:00
But just like this is a huge opportunity for us as video professionals, it's a huge opportunity for our clients. Video is powerful. By looking at the content that you have created for them and identifying areas in their video marketing that need a little bit of work, i.e. their awareness stage and consideration stage content. You can confidently assuming that you understand the concept of the buyer's journey link below. Start a conversation about how they can open up their own big blue ocean of people that are perfect for their service, their product, their cause, but haven't yet considered their service, product or cause as a solution. Can you see how powerful this is? So, the first step is to look at your client's work. Jot down areas in which they could become stronger and send them a quick email to say that you've identified areas of their video marketing that if developed would have significant returns in terms of results for them. So that's step one. Open up the conversation and in the link to the resources below, you'll find a worksheet that helps you work through each client and take notes on how their video content could be that much better.

00:05:07:00 - 00:06:15:00
And this email or this phone call is short and sharp. You're not pitching the idea of a retainer to them. You're just asking for a 30-minute spot in their calendar to chat. Nice and simple. Now, step two is to build out your slides for that conversation. In the resources that come along with my book, Retain, which again is completely free, there's a template proactive pitch document that you can use for this. So, for each session that you land, structure your slides or conversation in the following way. You start with a slide that outlines the work that you did with the client. You then talk them through the power of the buyer's journey when it comes to video content and you relate this to their business or organization. Then you outline what content they have in place already. You may not be their sole video provider, so they may have more content than just the content that you've created for them. Then you identify where their content has gaps, which is likely to be in the awareness and consideration stage. And then finally, you show them what their results could look like if they fix them.

00:06:15:00 - 00:07:03:00
How do you do that, I hear you ask? Well, there's another resource available for you that will walk you through this, and it's called the metric calculator and ROI forecaster. So, as long as the content that you're proposing to create for them hits some very safe metrics, for example, a 25% view rate and a 10% conversion rate, then you can confidently forecast the client's return on their investment into you and win that retainer. Once you've pitched the concept and talked through those points, it'll now be time to discuss what that plan looks like. And this is where you need to be able to associate costs and time frames to the relationship. Typically, it's wise to start small and to flesh out their awareness and consideration stage content, for example. Then, as you start to create the content and drive results, you can grow those accounts.

00:07:03:00 - 00:07:48:00
So, that's the process of converting a one-off client to a long-term contract and proactively pitching the concept of a retainer into your clients. Now, this is obviously just one part of a wider retention strategy, which is what my third book is dedicated to. Within Retain, I walk you through the process step by step of building a retention strategy into your video business. I show you how to win them, how to manage them, how to grow them, how to deliver on them. And those that apply that framework to their video business convert on average 42% of their one-off clients to long-term contracts or retainers. And that means that they have recurring revenue. They can see more than 12 months down the road when it comes to the workload and cash. They have certainty so they can invest into themselves, their businesses, their kit, their offices, their staff, their family, and they can do it in complete confidence knowing and having sight of what is coming 12 months down the road in terms of cash and project load.

00:07:48:00 - 00:08:16:00
So, below this video, you'll find a link that will allow you to get all three of my books, video courses, and audio books for free along with a ton of resources and pre-built templates. So, if you're serious about building certainty and recurring revenue into your video business, grab that all for free now via the link below. I hope that's been helpful. If you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to reach out to me or leave a comment below. Have a fantastic day.