We recently connected with Dan McVey and have shared our conversation below.
Dan, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So, folks often look at a successful business and think it became a success overnight – but that often obscures all the nitty, gritty details of everything that went into the growth phase of your business. We’d love to hear about your scaling story and how you scaled up?
When I first started my business, I did it with one thing in mind; working for myself.
I started as a freelancer, had no niche of any kind, and worked with just about anyone and any budget. I was scraping by with cheap gigs and one-off projects for about 2 years.
Even though it gave me a good amount of freedom. I realized this was not how I wanted to live my life.
I started looking into better marketing tactics, like running ads, copywriting, and creating marketing funnels. This helped me understand why branding and sales were SO important, and served as the pipeline of leads for your business. Without a targeted strategy and SALES, your business doesn’t exist.
I kept experimenting with these things for the next year or two, with big ups and big downs. Running ads can be cool when you land a client that is willing to pay you $6,000 a month! But then realizing that ONE client takes up all your time and mental energy, this was NOT sustainable or scalable.
Fast forward to 2021, the pandemic has rocked everyone and I had to think of something different. I had always enjoyed shooting real estate videos, and was looking into ways I could work with more of those clients. And I meet this guy online.
He’s made a post in a real estate videography group on Facebook, and it reads like it’s trying to sell you something…it was! I went to the link in the post and ended up scheduling a call to learn about the course this guy was selling.
After multiple reschedules because of my hesitation, we finally end up getting on a call. I meet this guy named Chidi.
Chidi runs a real estate media company based in Anchorage, AK called Just Pended. He introduces himself and starts to run me through his process for scaling his business. He was doing exactly what I wanted to do…I had finally FOUND the model I was looking for! After about 15 minutes or so, he got through his presentation, and he wrapped up by saying “so, you ready to do this thing?” and paused, awaiting my response.
What I said next caught him off-guard: “it sounds cool and all…but wouldn’t you rather partner up with me?”
He paused for a moment, visibly made a pensive “hmmm” face, and said something like “well, I don’t really know you…BUT, this sounds like something we should explore.”
And about a month later, we decided to partner up. He was going to be my guide to implementing all his systems of his company and implementing them here in Denver.
And the biggest thing I learned about SCALING while going through this process was; you CANNOT scale without Standard Operating Procedures that have been TESTED and PROVEN.
Chidi’s business model was appealing because he had tested and proven results that he could show me from his business, and painted the picture for what my business could be like.
On top of that, Chidi is a stellar dude who has become one of my best friends in a short period of time. He just moved to Denver so we can really capitalize and take Just Pended Denver to the next level!
As a final note, I learned something about myself as an entrepreneur; I am at my best when I am partnered with someone who’s achieved more than me. Always surround yourself with people who have done bigger and better things than you, because the odds are you’ll be following after them soon enough.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I started in videography after graduating from the University of Northern Iowa with a Digital Media degree. But it REALLY began back in small-town Iowa, where I made parodies of popular movies with friends, and of course, our own dumb ideas. Just some of these ideas included fake trick shots, “hyper” obstacle courses, chase scenes, and more.
After my college graduation, I didn’t now where to go. As a hopeless romantic, I ended up following a girl to San Francisco, only to work part-time jobs that didn’t pay much. So after stressing about my finances and living the “California Dream”, I took a good friend from high school up on an offer; move to Denver, CO.
It was a new start, lower cost of living (at the time), and a chance to be with my best bud. This is the friend from my youth that would make videos with me, and we always talked of days where we could finally be together to hone the craft. We started making sketch videos and music parodies, thus sparking my creativity again.
Shortly after, he helped me invest in my first legitimate DSLR (the Panasonic GH5) and I was finally able to start creating and investing in my skills. While we unfortunately stopped creating together, I did work on promoting myself and starting my own business. I had landed a few jobs on Craigslist and other gig websites to make due, but the money wasn’t plentiful. So I found a full-time job that paid the bills, where I learned many tricks of the trade from my colleague, Matt Pangman. Matt taught me a lot of what I know today, and I’m forever grateful for his mentorship and friendship.
Less than a year goes by, and I have a few opportunities that allowed me to quit that job. From there, I went on the journey described just before I met my business partner Chidi. And thus, Just Pended Denver was born!
We are the one-stop shop for real estate agents and their listings! We shoot beautiful photos and videos of homes, provide 3D tours and 2D floor plans, and custom listing websites and marketing kits. We set the agent up for success when it comes to selling their home.
We also create branded video content for realtors who are looking to build awareness on social media and turn their following into their customers.
While we realize that photos are a very small part of the home buying / selling journey for agents, we pride ourselves on having an amazing experience for our agents and making it as easy as possible to quality media for their listings. We love to hear that they were satisfied, but that THEIR clients were, too. If we can help their business grow, we’re doing the right thing.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
I have TONS of goals. But the main one for me is financial independence and providing for my family. I was given a great life growing up, and I want to repay that to my parents. I want to take them on trips and help them experience things they’ve never experienced before. And I want to provide for my partner, Madi, and our favorite doggo Melvin. I want to have rich experiences, a lifestyle of pursuing passions and growth, and ultimately the ability to give back to people who have not had the opportunity to build something themselves.
Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?
MindValley. It’s a personal development platform filled with courses on every topic you can think of; health, spirituality, business, growth – whatever you want! It’s like the Netflix of bettering yourself.
Contact Info:
- Website: justpendeddenver.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/just.pended.denver/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/just.pended.denver
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-mcvey-50a11b10a/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@DanMcVey/
Image Credits
Dan McVey