IAM1028- Owner Teaches How to Use Video Marketing to Attract Clients

Lenzy Ruffin is a video communications strategist and owner of Park Road Studios in Washington, DC. He specializes in teaching small business owners how to use video marketing to attract clients.

• CEO Hack: Book- The One Thing by Gary W. Keller
• CEO Nugget: Understand and embrace marketing and sales
• CEO Defined: Freedom, self-fulfillment, and opportunity to maximize your contribution to the world.

Website: https://parkroadstudios.com/

Full Interview:

Transcription

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00:26 – Intro

Are you ready to hear business stories and learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and level up your business from awesome CEOs, entrepreneurs, and founders without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO podcast.

00:52 – Gresham Harkless

Hello, Hello, Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Lindsay Ruffin of Park Road Studios. Lindsay, it's awesome to have you on the show.

01:02 – Lenzy Ruffin

Thank you. Thank you for having me.

01:04 – Gresham Harkless

Definitely super excited to have you on. And before we jump into the interview, I want to read a little bit more about Lindsay to get to know about all the awesome things that he's doing. Lindsay is a video communication strategist and owner of Park Road Studios in Washington, DC. He specializes in teaching small business owners how to use video marketing to attract clients. Lindsay, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

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01:24 – Lenzy Ruffin

I am ready, let's go.

01:25 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome, let's do it then. So to kind of kick everything off, I wanted to rewind the clock a little bit and hear a little bit more about what I like to call your CEO story. We'll let you get started with all the work you're doing.

01:34 – Lenzy Ruffin

Sure. I started, my background is actually IT. My degree is in information systems and it was one of those situations where I got to the top of the mountain and didn't like the view. I just hit the wall and burned out and just I had to change course entirely photography had been a hobby of mine for some time by that point so it was the only other skill I had that I could actually make money with so I started a headshot business and in the process of that, I learned that you need to know marketing. It wasn't enough to be able to produce these great images. People have to make, you have to make people aware that you exist and why they should hire you. So that's how I started down the path of educating myself about marketing and then video and they kind of combine together.

And so I was doing video marketing to promote my photography, photography business. And along the way I found out that I was actually really good at helping other business owners use video to communicate about their business. And so it started as kind of like a little side hustle within my photography business. And then it got to the point where it just became a business unto itself. And I actually enjoyed it more than the photography business. I enjoyed the business aspects of the video communications business more than I enjoyed the business aspects of the photography business. So I changed direction, which allowed me to put photography back as my hobby, which is what I really wanted all along. And now I help small business owners use video to communicate more effectively with their target audience about what they do.

03:07 – Gresham Harkless

Nice, I definitely appreciate that. And even like I think so many times we don't respect or remind ourselves of the evolution of ourselves and our businesses and how things change. And it sounds like you've been able to be ahead of the curve of video marketing becoming really important and probably so necessary for business owners to be able to kind of communicate what they do. But I think so many times I hear people say that at least I think 2 of the most foundational skills you can learn are IT and marketing. Because I think no matter what business then you're going to be leaning on both of those. It's great to hear you have that foundation in the business that you have now too.

03:39 – Lenzy Ruffin

Yeah, and I would say the number one, the most foundational skill that anyone can develop is communication. And that's what I'm teaching people how to do is how to communicate more effectively via video. Warren Buffett has said that, been saying for decades, that communication is the highest-paying skill. And if you think about it, regardless of industry, the people who communicate better make more money than the people who communicate less effectively. I don't care.

It even offsets skill. You can have a less skilled person who is a more effective communicator and they will out-earn the person who's you know the guru at whatever industry but doesn't know how to communicate with people. So that's what I'm working on now. What I do now is teach people how to communicate more effectively, and use video to deliver a more effective message in front of many more people. And that is a skill that people, most people can make money with.

04:35 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, I appreciate you for making that, you know, that the thing, the solution to that, because I think you're absolutely right. We get so sometimes stuck on the tools by which we use then the core foundational skill that you mentioned that communication skill. And like sometimes we forget that we're communicating with our target clients, but we're also communicating with people on our team. And the better you can quote-unquote refine that skill, the better off you'll be able to earn and reach your goals and see that success. So I love that you do that. And I know you touched a little bit on how you work with your clients and how you serve them. Could you throw down a little bit more and tell us a little bit more about that and how that process goes?

05:08 – Lenzy Ruffin

So yeah, it starts with I tell everybody I need you to have 2 things. You need to have your ideal client in mind. You need to know who that person is and understand their pain points and their ambitions. And 2, you have to have some expertise that is valuable to that client and can help them get where they wanna go. You have to be the best in the world, at least in your mind, for You have to have a solution that's best in class for that ideal client. And when you know who you're talking to and you have something that legitimately will help them get where they're trying to go, now it's just about communicating that effectively.

And when you're intent for your business is really to help people, not let me go make as much money as possible, but how do I apply these skills, these gifts, these talents that I have to help a specific client achieve what they're trying to achieve in their life? If you start with that focus, the money will come. So what I help people do is when you have that intent, when you have that ideal client, you have those skills, and you have that intent to actually help these people achieve the life that they wanna achieve, Now it's just a matter of communicating that effectively, bringing your personality out in front of the camera.

And when you do that, this is how you sell without selling. You don't have to try to convince people to buy stuff. They can see your sincerity. They can see how genuine you are. They can see that you really are offering something that will benefit them. And when you do that, people contact you looking to buy rather than you having to try to convince people that they wanna buy something from you. Instead of you trying to sell, they contact you looking to buy.

06:47 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, that's so huge. And I think sometimes you hear the word like attraction marketing. And I love that because those 2 foundational questions that you kind of talked about, who you're trying to target, what, and I think we forget this so much in business is we get caught up in so many different things, like what problem are you solving? And I think if you're able to, as you said so well, be able to understand who you're talking with, who you're communicating with, and know how you're solving that problem, people can begin to see themselves in that problem or understand those pain points. And it sounds like they'll definitely be beating down the door, so to speak, to be able to talk with you.

07:18 – Lenzy Ruffin

Exactly. Just marketing in my mind is just about painting the picture that your ideal client wants to see themselves in. If you do that, they're going to contact you.

07:30 – Gresham Harkless

Absolutely, absolutely. And so would you consider that to be what I call your secret sauce, the thing you feel kind of sets you apart or your business apart and makes it unique? Is it that ability to feel and understand exactly what the potential clients want to know and see, be able to kind of translate that via video?

07:48 – Lenzy Ruffin

Actually, yeah. I've learned that I can see things that other people don't. I often, when I have a consultation with a small business owner, they leave feeling that I communicate about their business more effectively than they do. Because when they tell me what it is they do, okay, now I understand, I'll give you an example. I was talking to a guy who's a mechanic. He has an auto repair business, but it's really so much more than that. Cause I asked him, how do you, how do you differentiate yourself? His garage is everywhere. I can take my car anywhere. And when he started explaining the different things that he does, I said, okay, so you don't fix cars. What you deliver, what you do is deliver a carefree vehicle ownership experience because of his business.

Will come to your house to pick your car up. They do, they service all models, makes, and models. So Ford, Honda, Toyota, they do exotic cars. They handle insurance claims. They do bodywork. So if you have, if you're a family that has 4 or 5 cars, because that's, or you have exotic cars and you're a busy person, you, you, The more people who have a lot of money don't have a lot of time. Showing them how you can save them time is how you can get their business. Showing them how you can make their life simpler is how you can get their business. And that's the clientele he's targeting. So I told him, let's not talk about that. You know, you charge 125 an hour and the dealer charges 145, whatever the numbers are.

That's not relevant to those people. What's relevant is that if something goes wrong with their car, they can call you for one, they can call one number and get their problems taken care of. You'll come to pick up the car, you're going to service it, you'll be proactive on service, you bring it back, and that solution, that problem is completely solved without them having to do anything. So you are delivering a And you can do that for as many cars as they have in their family. You can just deliver a carefree vehicle ownership experience. People pay for experiences and transformations. Any amount of money you ask for, if you're able to deliver an experience, If you're able to deliver a transformation, people will pay you.

The skill that I have, the secret sauce, as you put it, is helping people, helping business owners determine what is the experience or what is the transformation that they deliver and how to communicate that. Because that's the thing that the consumer is paying for. We don't buy stuff because we want the thing itself. We're trying to use that thing to get us somewhere. Well, if you describe that destination that they're trying to arrive at and show how what you offer helps them get there, you don't have to sell that. They're gonna ask you how much. And that's my secret sauce.

10:39 – Gresham Harkless:

I absolutely appreciate it and love that breakdown because I think so many times like we've been talking about you get so caught up in our products and services and what we're doing. As you said, I love that dealer example, we're 10% less or we're a lot quicker, or whatever it is. But if you really drill down to quote-unquote the human psychology and understand your target market, understand what they're looking for, what they value, as you said so well, you really see how you can bridge that gap and tell them and show them that transformation and that: experience that you kind of talked about.

So absolutely love that you're able to kind of see that and it kind of communicates better than sometimes we can about our businesses and what we do. So I wanted to switch gears a little bit. And I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

11:25 – Lenzy Ruffin

The one book is called The one Thing by Gary Keller. And I love that book because it teaches you, it has a methodology for helping you eliminate all of the things that are, will waste your time, and not help you actually achieve your big life goal. That's my number one book to recommend for anybody. If I could only recommend one book for the rest of my life, that's that book.

11:49 – Gresham Harkless

I wanted to ask you now for what I call a CEO nugget. So this could be a word of wisdom or a piece of advice. It might be something you would tell a client or if you happen to be a time machine, you might tell your younger business.

11:59 – Lenzy Ruffin

Pearl of wisdom. You, You have to embrace marketing. You have to understand marketing and sales, and they're 2 different things. Marketing is making people aware you exist. Sales are closing the deal when they contact you. You have to promote your business. It is not enough to make the world's greatest cupcakes or the world's greatest whatever. If you are not making people know you exist on a regular basis, you're not setting yourself up to have a successful business. And marketing is not something that you do when you get motivated to do it. Marketing is an everyday activity.

12:35 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome, Awesome, Awesome. Well, Lindsay, truly appreciate that. And I wanted to ask you now my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. And we're hoping to have different quote-unquote CEOs on the show. So Lindsay, what does being a CEO mean to you?

12:47 – Lenzy Ruffin

It means freedom. It means self-fulfillment. As the CEO, you have the opportunity to, at least for me, what it means I am able to deliver the maximum value that I'm capable of delivering to the world with no impediments. I don't have to like when I used to when I had regular jobs W2 jobs I used to be so frustrated about the morning times being my best times, like before 11 o'clock. That's when I'm sharpest mentally and I can really do some serious problem solving I have capacity to solve really big problems when I can just focus on something and grind away at it. I would always be frustrated because I had managers interfering and disrupting my ability to deliver the maximum value that I was capable of.

Well, as a CEO, you don't have that. You get to determine what you're going to work on, when you're going to work on it, and how long you're going to work on it. And so now you have an opportunity to maximize your potential to improve the world in whatever way it is you do it. And that's what being a CEO means to maximizing your contribution or having the opportunity to maximize your contribution to the world.

14:05 – Gresham Harkless

Absolutely, and I appreciate that. I appreciate your time even more. What I wanted to do is just pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional you can let our readers and listeners know, and of course, how best they can get ahold of you and find out about all the awesome things you're working on.

14:18 – Lenzy Ruffin

Sure. I want to encourage everyone to create a business development day for yourself. Build this into your schedule. This is, so there's a book called The E-Myth by Michael Gerber. And that book is so important that I wish you couldn't even get a business license, without reading that book, walking in with a copy of that book in your hand. Because many people, most people will start a business, business, when really all they do is create a job. They've created a job that, a business that doesn't operate without them having direct intervention and everything. So you don't have a business, you have a job.

You can't walk away, you can't take a vacation. You can't sell it to somebody because it doesn't work without you. So 1 of the things that you can do to not put yourself on that path is to have a business development day where you're going to work on your business, not on it. So this is a day where you're not going to take client appointments. You're not going to you're not going to do anything that, that just keeps you where you are.

15:20 – Gresham Harkless

Absolutely. And I definitely appreciate that Lindsay. And for people who want to get a hold of you, what's the best way for them to do that?

15:25 – Lenzy Ruffin

Sure. Visit me on the web at parkroadstudios.com, P-A-R-K-R-O-A-D studios with an S at the end.com. And yeah, you can find me there and also on LinkedIn, just search for my name, Lindsay Ruffin. And yeah, I'm happy to talk to anybody.

15:42 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome, Awesome, Awesome. Truly appreciate that Lindsay. We will have the links and information in the show notes. I love that last piece about the one thing. And I love requiring that to be read before you get a business license because it's such an impactful book. And I think everything that you do as well too is extremely impactful. I automatically think of that question of like, if a tree falls in the forest, but nobody's around, does it really make a sound?

And I think so many times, as you said so well when we're doing really great things but we're not able to tell people what it is that we do and communicate that, are we really making the impact that we could? So I love that you bridge that gap and help people to take their excellence and their expertise, their gifts, and bring that to fruition. And I appreciate you, of course, for taking some time out and spending some time with us today, providing so much value. And I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

16:25 – Outro

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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