Peter: I'm joined by Josh Watson of Watson Wedding Videography, an amazingly talented filmmaker who's been in the game a long time. Tell us a little about yourself.

Josh: I've been doing weddings for 10 years. I started with a little tax return, and it took off. Now I have a wife and two kids, and the business funds our family trips and memories. When bookings started slowing down last year, I thought, "No, I don't want to slow down yet." So I reached out to you, and you said, "Cool, we'll run ads." I blew you off at first. A few months later, Todd, who I'd worked with before in the industry, told me, "You should talk to Peter. I'm working with him, and it's great." So I reached back out.

Josh: I hate ads. When a commercial comes on TV, I mute it or walk away. If I see "sponsored" on Instagram or TikTok, it doesn't get the time of day. I didn't want to be the guy annoying people with ads. But now I see it in a totally different light. If someone is running ads, they care about their business enough to put it in front of you. If an ad annoys me, it's just because I'm not interested right now. If I'm interested, I click. It literally rewired my brain.

Josh: About a month before our first conversation, a buddy who owns a business told me, "You've been doing this 10 years. Put yourself on a salary and do a monthly budget." So I called my CPA and restructured the entire business. Two months later, when I talked to you, my wife asked if there was money in there, and the money I needed was right there. The timing lined up perfectly, so I said, "Let's take a step of faith. The worst that happens is I lose this money."

Josh: Bookings went up consistently for eight or nine years, then plateaued, and then started going down. I blamed it on COVID, but when they went down again, I realized it was a trend. I have great relationships with planners and venues and I'm on a ton of preferred vendor lists. But if I weren't running ads, I'd have six weddings next year. My quality has stayed the same, if not gotten better, so I honestly don't know what it is.

Peter: I'm talking to super-established people all the time with the same problem. Part of me wonders if the industry has come online in a big way, and the people who aren't adapting are getting left behind.

Josh: To be completely honest, the first two months, I got nothing. I was calling you, frustrated. You kept saying, "Trust the process." Then on a call with one of your team members, I was told, "Stop chasing them." I was desperate because money was going out the window on ads, so I'd jump on every lead immediately and keep messaging them. It was like dating in high school. You can't be desperate. So I started letting leads sit for a bit before texting them. Because we were running a giveaway, that waiting period got them anticipating, and when I reached out, they were ready to go.

We also added a step: "Hey, I got your inquiry. Fill out this form to be entered as a finalist." I'd been getting ghosted a ton, and once we added that, I knew anyone who filled out the form was super interested. No more ghosting.

The two-call system didn't work for me either. I'd do the first call and couldn't close the second, maybe because I'm not a salesman. So we changed it: if they fill out the form, get them on a Zoom within 72 hours. That was magic.

Looking back, those two dead months were a blessing. I watched every module, downloaded every script, and built my view book, so when the leads came, I was ready. Before this, I'd just email my prices and packages and say, "Do you want it or not?"

Peter: Every business, market, and time of year is different. Business is messy. There's no magic wand, just a proven process, executing it, and working out the kinks. To your credit, you kept showing up.

Josh: Your team tested about 15 campaigns until one clicked. I still use that same ad. When Facebook says there's ad fatigue, I just make a new 15-second reel, swap out the creative, and it starts popping out leads again.

Josh: Once leads started coming in, I started booking. Almost every third or fourth call was a booking. The year before we started, revenue was about $74,000. This year, we did $171,000. Even my best year before this topped out around $120,000. I spent $8,300 on ads and made $83,200 in revenue from them, so that's a 10x return. And I was able to give my second shooter more weddings as a lead shooter while still being home and present with my family.

Peter: People come to us saying they need more clients, but what they really want is predictability.

Josh: My salary is covered for next year. The truck I bought through the business is covered. My shooters and editors are covered. I have no worries.

Josh: My lead shooter met someone and was going to move to Texas to be with her. He asked if we could expand into Texas. So I duplicated the ad you created, put my original creative on it since Texas hadn't seen it yet, and ran it in Austin and San Antonio. Two or three weeks of crickets, but I wasn't worried. Then leads started rolling in, and I booked three or four weddings out there in the first month and a half. Then they broke up. So now I have four weddings in Texas, and we're going to fly out together to shoot them. It was a really good feeling to know we could pivot that fast.

Peter: People move. If you don't have a strategy for getting clients, it's a rude awakening, because nobody knows you in the new market. Being able to book weddings in a new state within a month is incredible.

Josh: I also wanted to shoot an elopement when we first talked, and you said what I really needed was stability. We got both. My wife and I just filmed an elopement in Montana and Wyoming for a client from Georgia.

Peter: What would you say to someone who's been in business a while, has never advertised, and doesn't want to run ads?

Josh: Take the leap. It's an investment, but it's incredibly worth it. I had every objection. First, "I've never needed to run ads." It was almost a pride thing. Second, "I don't want to be that guy." Third, "It'll cheapen my brand." When the ads offered a discount, I told you, "Peter, I'm not a discount company." You said, "Then why would people click your ad?" I trusted you, and it didn't make me a discount brand at all. My prices actually went up.

I see other companies booking a ton of weddings because they're killing it at marketing. You don't have to be the best videographer or have the best gear. If you market and engage your audience, you'll book. My quality was better, but nobody knew it, so it didn't matter.

Peter: Most people don't have a photography, videography, or logo problem. Nobody knows they exist. If you get more eyes on your work and you're good at what you do, it's inevitable that you'll book more.

Josh: Doing calls scared me away at first. I just wanted to send my prices and let couples decide. But the modules really helped, and I picked what worked for me. On a call last week, a guy told me, "You're probably the worst salesman I've ever seen. I can't tell if you're the worst or the best." He started with a really low budget, and by the end he said, "No, we have the money. We want you." I just ask about their day, let them talk, and show them what we can do. If you're not a salesman, don't let that hold you back.

Peter: Referrals already know your price range and like your work, so you don't really have to sell them. But strangers from the internet are comparing options. You don't have to be the greatest salesperson who ever lived, but you need some skill set.

Josh: The most transformative thing was getting on calls and getting in front of couples. Making the connection is what books it, and you can't make it without a call, and you can't get the call without the lead. Every piece of the process matters. If you join, go all the way. Don't cherry-pick parts of it.

Josh: You told me something hard to swallow: I'm the bottleneck. I have a six-year-old and an eight-year-old, and I never want to be at a wedding while my son is on the ball field or my daughter is cheering. I could have made $250,000 to $300,000 this year, but I said no a lot. My business is built on quality, so I'd rather train new shooters slowly than scale too fast and let quality slip. For now, the goal is to keep it about where it is, maybe a little more, and keep running the ads.

Peter: It's a crazy place to be when growth is just a choice. I have two little kids too, and a lot of people don't talk about this. So I'm glad you are.

Josh: It's the opposite of the problem I had when I called you last year. Now I have too many people.

Josh: If you're thinking about it, take the leap. It's the greatest money I've ever spent. My business was trending down, and this was one of the best decisions I've made.

Also, hype up others in your industry. Once you start running ads, you see how many weddings there are. I get five or six leads a day and do about five calls a week, often at 9 p.m. after my kids go to bed. Other videographers aren't competition anymore, because there's plenty to go around. Now I look at their work, appreciate it, and borrow ideas, and it's made me a better filmmaker.

Peter: It puts things in perspective when you realize there's enough for thousands of videographers to all be doing multiple six figures.