How to Get Clients for a Video Marketing Business

By Adam Stott, founder of Big Business Entrepreneurs and business growth expert

How do you get clients for a video marketing business?

To get clients for a video marketing business, find what won you your best client and put it in front of far more people. At a Big Business Entrepreneurs Business Scale Up Breakthrough Day, the owner I brought into the hotseat had won his best client with one free video. Run ads to a specific niche offering a free intro video plus a discovery call, then present clear monthly packages to the right people.

Key takeaways

If one free sample video won you your best client, that isn't luck. It's your front-end offer, and you should be putting it in front of far more people.

• Prospecting only when you're short of work creates feast or famine marketing. Growth needs a consistent source of leads.
• Run ads to a specific niche offering a free intro video plus a discovery call, then present clear monthly packages to the right people.

The business owner in this article has been anonymised to protect their privacy.

At a recent Business Scale Up Breakthrough Day, I brought the owner of a new video marketing business up into the hotseat.

The business is young, and he's doing all the work. When I asked how he'd won his best client, the answer told me almost everything.

He made one video for them, for free, and sent it over. In effect he said, "I made this video for you." They said, "Great, let's do business."

One video. One client. He had found something that works, and he wasn't using it.

Why do new video marketing businesses struggle to get clients?

Because many new owners have no clear strategy for where their clients will come from. They do the work, stop marketing, then go looking again when the work runs out. The skill is there, but without a consistent way to bring in leads, the business swings between busy and empty instead of growing.

I told him there were two blocks. One is that he's doing all the work. But I think the major block is strategy, because he doesn't actually know where he's taking this business.

What are the three ways to market a business?

You can buy leads, borrow leads or earn leads. Buying means paying for marketing such as ads. Borrowing means using someone else's platform, like their podcast, YouTube channel or audience. Earning means investing your own time to go out and market the business yourself, through prospecting and outreach.

The biggest problem with earned leads is what comes next.

What is feast or famine marketing, and how do you stop it?

Feast or famine marketing is when you only go looking for leads once the work dries up. You prospect, win work, get busy delivering it, stop prospecting, then find yourself back at zero. You stop it with consistency: carve out a fixed part of your time, every day, for bringing in new business.

This is the cycle I see all the time: "I've got no leads. I'll earn a bit. Now I'll do the work. Now I've got no leads."

"So what you've got is your feast or famine marketing."

Imagine you spent three hours every single day prospecting. Leads would start coming in. But it's still hard work.

What is demo power, and why does it win clients?

Demo power is when you do something for someone for free, or at very low cost, to demonstrate what you can do. The prospect experiences the result before they buy, so the sale becomes simple. The right people see that you can genuinely help them and want to work with you long term.

"You have got a demo power in what you did that would get people to do business with you. The only difference is you're not telling anyone about it."

The free sample video shouldn't be a one-off favour. It should be the front end of the whole business.

How should a video marketing business use paid ads?

Target a specific type of client who has the ability and the money to work with you, and offer them a free video in exchange for attending a discovery call. The free video is the hook, the call is where you qualify them, and the call is also where you present your paid monthly options.

Imagine you went out and said: "Hey, coaches and speakers. Do you want a free intro video made? A two-minute video that shows you and all the amazing things you do. We'll do it for free. All you've got to do is attend our discovery call, so we can get to know you and your business and see if you qualify."

Imagine, just as an example, you're paying around £20 a lead and getting ten people a week onto discovery calls. Lead costs vary by industry, so work out your own. On each call, you present the options for working together each month. In my example on stage:

• A £1,000 a month option.

• A £2,000 a month option, where you come out, spend time with them, film and get everything done.

• A complete content creation option at the top end, for clients who want everything handled.

How do you choose where your clients will come from?

Choose the route that gives you consistency without relying on your own spare hours. Earning leads only works if you prospect every day, and it's still hard work. Paid ads let you put your demo power in front of a specific client who has the ability and the money to work with you.

Ask yourself:

1. Can you give it time every single day? Earning leads means "you have to carve out a percentage of your time."

2. Do you want growth to depend on your own hours? Prospecting works, but "There's easier ways to do it."

3. Can you reach a specific client with the money to work with you? That's who I'd target with paid ads.

4. Have you got a demo power to put in front of them? If something already wins clients, tell people about it.

Feast or famine vs a steady flow of clients: what changes?

With feast or famine, you prospect when the work runs out, win the odd client and keep your best sales tool to yourself. With a steady flow, paid ads put a free video offer in front of one niche every week, a discovery call qualifies them, and monthly packages turn them into recurring clients.

Here's the side-by-side for this business:

• Where leads come from: going out to find work when it dries up → paid ads targeting a specific client with the ability and the money to work with you.

• The free video: a one-off that won his best client → a free intro video offered to a whole niche.

• The first conversation: the client saw the video and said yes → a discovery call to get to know them and see if they qualify.

• What comes after the free video: a single client relationship → clear monthly options at different levels, presented on every call.

• His demo power: "you're not telling anyone about it" → it becomes the front end of the business.

Why this matters to me

Our events are a form of demo power. We invite good people in, show them what we can do at very low cost, and the right people see that we can actually help them. Then they want to work with us for the long term.

5 steps to get clients for a video marketing business

1. Find your demo power. Look at how you won your best client. What did you show them, or do for them, before they paid?

2. Pick a specific client. Choose a niche with the ability and the money to work with you.

3. Run paid ads with a free offer. Offer a short free intro video in exchange for attending a discovery call.

4. Qualify on the call and present monthly options. A few clear tiers make the decision easy and build recurring revenue.

5. Stay consistent. Keep the ads running, or block out time every single day if you're earning leads yourself.

He already had the thing that wins clients. He just needed to stop keeping it a secret.

Frequently asked questions

How do you get clients for a new video marketing business?

Adam Stott's advice is to use "demo power": run paid ads to one niche offering a free intro video in exchange for a discovery call, then present monthly packages on that call.

Should a video production business offer free work?

Yes, if it's deliberate. A free video demonstrates what you can do. Pair it with a discovery call so you qualify people and present your paid options.

What is feast or famine marketing?

It's the cycle of only prospecting when you have no work. You win clients, get busy, stop marketing and end up with no leads again. The fix is consistency.

Should I prospect or use paid ads for my video business?

Prospecting works only if you do it every day, and it's still hard work. Adam Stott's advice for this business was paid ads aimed at a specific client with the ability and the money to work with you.

About Adam Stott

Adam Stott is the founder of Big Business Entrepreneurs and a business growth expert. He helps business owners scale through events, training and coaching.

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