We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Travis Hatch a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Travis, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear the story of how you went from this being just an idea to making it into something real.

Back in March 2020 the pandemic hit, I got a call that the startup I was working for was bankrupt and I no longer had a job. I realized at that moment that I needed to use this as a push to do what I really wanted. I decided to go all in on my passion for videography. Even though I had fairly limited experience, I knew this is what I wanted to do and I could really visualize where I wanted to be.

With there being a pandemic with everything shut down and unemployment from my layoff, I could see the timing was right. I spent the next 3 months learning the craft and figuring out the business, basically studying 7 days per week. I decided to put all my savings into my initial video equipment, and spent basically all my time taking online courses to improve, practice, and practice some more.

I started by offering to do free work for people on instagram while I was learning, and then slowly transitioned into charging for my services. A couple of these clients I still work with today! I started by filming the things I was interested in; gym and fitness type content and real estate listing videos. I would spend days reviewing books and online courses, then get a free project for someone to put those ideas into actual operation. I’d come home, be unhappy with my work because it wasn’t where I wanted it to be, but be excited that I was seeing large improvements each time.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Today, I own and run Travis Hawkes Media. We are a video production company in Denver Colorado that specializes in mainly brand story videos, short form marketing content, and documentaries.

I’m able to apply my 8 years of experience in sales & marketing, along with all of my experience in video production, to help empower brands by telling their stories. I set myself apart because I’m not just a videographer, I like to think of myself as a video strategist. I work together with my clients to come up with ideas and powerful imagery. Our goal is to reach the right audience with impactful storytelling.

I work with an amazing, efficient crew, so we can put together big productions in an efficient manner. Video is the most powerful medium. Whether my clients need to establish a brand, or kick off a marketing campaign, we can help accomplish this.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

This is an area where a lot of creatives struggle. The normal experience is we wait for a project to come in from the website or social media. Then we’re really busy for a while, then it’s done, and we wonder where the next project will come from. With my background in sales and marketing, I knew that’s not the way most successful companies operate. They need a sales pipeline, and a sales / marketing strategy. I was able to implement this fairly early on in my career, using mainly instagram, LinkedIn, and email. I put together a content and outreach strategy that was able to bring in a steady stream of leads, so usually when I’m finishing up a project, I can look at my CRM and pipeline to see what else is coming up. Always staying in touch, reaching out, networking, and having a process that you follow is going to be the best way to grow your clientele.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

The best source of new clients for me is probably LinkedIn. I think a lot of creatives still don’t really know about or understand LinkedIn, so there’s less competition on there vs instagram. Plus, as a platform, the people on LinkedIn are looking to do business compared to other platforms. It has better organic engagement for your content, and all around I’ve found it to be a really effective platform to connect with potential clients.

A bonus best source is: referrals and word of mouth! (very old school) – being fun and great to work with, getting along with my clients, low stress, being responsive, doing high quality work – these are all great ways to get repeat clients, and get referrals or be referred to others.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.travishawkesmedia.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/travishawkesmedia/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/travis-hatch-83a66257/
• Other: Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@struggletostrengthpodcast