So you lost a project to a competitor? Why? What made the potential client pick them over you? Was it just price, time it took you to answer emails, or does your competitor offer something you don’t?

I’ve missed out on a few projects but I typically know why and most of the time I’m alright with that but sometimes it really baffles me and I have to stop and think about what made that client pick the other guy for the job.

The best way to think about this is to take the time and write down the services you offer and then write down what the competitor offers. A venn diagram works out nicely for this. It will help so you can clearly see the differences and the overlaps as well. By breaking down what you and the competitors are doing you can see what your strengths are and learn what you could improve or focus on so the next time you’ll win the job over them.

It may be crystal clear to you how your company is different, but I’ve learned that you need to spell it out. When you’re able to highlight your strengths, it’s going to help you stand out and this new client is going to see your value.

When you have a good understanding of what you offer that’s unique to your competitors you then have some key talking points that you can focus on to help new customers understand your value which will help them make a better decision.

If you were advising a friend, in what situations would you recommend your competitor over you? Is this an area you should improve on so you’re not missing out on that work? Maybe it’s not the work you want to focus on and that’s fine. But when you understand where you overlap with your competitors and how you differ it will help you answer why a new client should choose your service over the others.

There were a ton of highlights in 2012 and only a few missteps or miscalculations. Which is good; its better to finish up, then down. 

I decided to shelf CellarCaptain. It’s a project that I’d still love to see happen but right now I decided to not worry about it anymore. If something happens and I find a great developer to help maybe we’ll see what we can do. You have to know where to focus your time and energy and this wasn’t it.

Another project that was a bit of a time suck that I would love to see more of and I know many of you would is Cellarz. But man just that one episode was a lot of work. 

I think the common theme of this past year has been that I need to make sure I’m focusing on my direct goals. I love experimenting with side projects and seeing where they go but sometimes when they begin to suck up too much time or aren’t working, you have to drop them. 

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when you’re making an explainer video. Often one of these videos comes in at around two minutes. Two minutes is a long time. If you have friends or colleagues working in advertising, they are typically working on things that are 30 seconds or 60 seconds. You’re making something that’s two or four times as long as them and you’re trying to explain a new service or a product. In no way am I saying that when you’re making an explainer video for a business you’re doing more work than someone creating an elaborate ad spot. It’s just different and the time and energy I’ve seen my friends put into five seconds of animation let alone 30 seconds of animation is amazing.

But whether it’s 30 seconds or two minutes, you need to think of the project the same way in order to not overwhelm yourself. My favorite way to look at a project is with baby steps. Yep that’s right baby steps.

When you’re working on an explainer video you’ve likely already storyboarded the video out. When you first start the animation just worry about one scene in the storyboard at a time. Don’t think about how you’re going to get to the next frame. Just animate that one scene and make it look great. Then move onto the next one and do the same thing. Soon you’ll have every scene done. By doing a single scene at a time you’re able to focus your time and energy on that one piece rather than worrying about that scene at the end that you still need to do. When you’re able to really focus like this you’re able to make a better animated video. Once you have all those scenes from your storyboard animated then you can go back and think about those transitions from one scene to the next.

I’ve been using this very idea on a holiday short that we just started at LooseKeys. It’s a three minute animation that we’re trying to finish before Christmas. Three minutes is a lot but each day we’re focused on one scene and I have a feeling it’s all going to come together.

It seems like just about every day I see a new explainer video company pop up.  Some of them are doing great and have a talent for animation and storytelling, while others I can tell are just in it because they see a hot market right now; one where they can make money. No matter if they are good or bad, I try not to let these newcomers get me down or take my focus away from building LooseKeys. Most of them will disappear as fast as they came to be. But being constantly worried about these other guys can really get you off track. Make sure you’re aware of your competitors but just enough to stay ahead of them. 

Building a business that is synonymous with one thing is quite an endeavor and takes a lot to accomplish. Zappos did it with customer service and Apple has done it with design. It can be tricky figuring out what your one thing might be. Maybe its the service, the product or the amazing experience. I know what we do at LooseKeys; helping to tell business and brand stories through simple and creative videos. I want the customers and clients to walk away happy they have an amazing video. With that comes great communication, creative illustration, animation and a product we’re all happy and excited to show off. It’s often hard to realize how all those pieces play a part in that one thing you’re known for but when you concentrate on accomplishing that one thing it helps keep you focused and on target.

The other night I was talking with a girl at a party and she mentioned that she was an aspiring fashion designer. I asked her what her focus or niche market was. Her response was “everything, I didn’t know you needed to have one.” Everything? I don’t know much about the fashion industry, any little knowledge I have comes from watching project runway. So really that’s basically nothing. She was trying to tell me her potential brand was going to design shoes, underwear, and dresses? Even if I don’t know much about the fashion business I know from my own business that not having a target seems silly.

From my experience in the motion graphics industry I know that at times being a generalist can be an asset. You can work on a lot of different projects and fix any issues that might come up. You’ll get a good amount of work because you have a lot of skills. But it seems that to really excel you need a focus; if that’s 2D, 3D, matte painting, editing or composting. You might not have as much work sometimes but when you do you’re able to charge more for it. Some day you’ll want to be paid as an expert in one area not just known as the person who knows a little about it all. I know a lot of generalist who are busy but I know more specialized people that are busy and they are creating amazing work.

Maybe motion graphics is a bad example compared to a fashion designer. But no matter what field you’re in, having a focus is going to get you further. Don’t try and do it all right away instead expand your field as you grow and learn.

The creative process is a strange one that’s hard to explain and even harder for you to bill. One day a simple task might take you 30 minutes, the next time that same general thing could take two days. Learning your creative process and how to make use of your time more efficiently is often trial and error. I’ve learned over the years what works best for me. For instance, I know that I have to have a little time to think and brainstorm before I start a new project. When a new project hits my desk you’ll almost never see me start working on it right then. And that’s not just because I have a handful of other things in the pipeline. Its actually because I need time to think about it and let it digest. Depending on the project, that could take me five minutes or a week. No way I can just jump into something new straight off. I need to let it simmer there for a while… you can’t just turn creativity on like a faucet. I usually have at least one project on the back burner that I’m starting in a few days or next week. I’m not working on it so I’m not billing for the time. But I know it’s there and my brain is thinking about it. Perhaps while I’m sleeping or while I’m out for a run, the ideas will start forming and coming together. Maybe its the color, style or how best to explain the product in a witty way; it all begins to take shape before I actually start officially working on it. So when I sit down to finally get to work on this project or idea I don’t spend a day forcing myself to be creative, I already have an idea of what I want to do. If you take time to understand your creative method, you’ll be able to work more efficiently and maybe even produce better work.

You might be surprised at how many late nights I spend moving a few keyframes back and forth trying to get a video perfect. Or maybe you’re not surprised because you’ve seen my updates online at all hours. I hear a lot of similar stories from folks, toiling away at their computers trying to get things just right. There is always one more thing that needs to be done or fixed. But is it really ever going to be perfect? What we need to realize is that nothing is perfect and that perfection, is just an illusion. You’ll never finish anything if you are always trying to make it perfect. Instead we should focus on simply doing our best everyday and forget about trying to make it flawless. Do the best you can with the time and skills you currently have. It might not be perfect but don’t let that stop you. Learn from this one and move onto the next project.

I can’t believe I’m writing a post about keeping focus. I must of been derailed a dozen times while I was trying to put this together. But I’ve embraced that a long time ago and know it’s going to happen. As an entrepreneur and creative person, I’m a bit all over the place. I have a constant stream of ideas for designs I want to explore and things I want to try to do. For the most part I try to welcome these ideas and go with it. Life is an adventure and you have to see where the path takes you sometimes. Usually it works out and the design or concept is stronger; the creative process was victorious. Far too often I have to reign myself in a bit because I could spend the entire day working on new ideas and opportunities. If one of these new ideas isn’t adding real value, I need to shut it down. Every minute I’m not focused on building my core business or brand is a minute wasted. It might seem like I have a hundred projects I’m working on but I try to make sure each and every one of them is helping my core business grow and improve. If you love what you’re doing, stay focused on that and become the best at it. Then worry about moving onto the next thing. Because if you head down the wrong path, there is someone right behind you who has just been waiting for your focus to slip. They’re going to sweep in there and take your place. Don’t let all the new opportunities that arise let you lose sight of your real focus at the moment.

How quickly it can happen, losing site of your vision and your goals. This happened to me over the last couple weeks and I find myself needing to take a step back to remind myself why I decided to work for myself and what I’m trying to do. After years of creating motion graphics work in the industry for small and large clients I decided to take the plunge and try to start my own business and work for myself. Being my own boss and creating my own hours, working where and when I needed. I wanted to focus my craft and create videos for startups and small businesses. To see the work that I create help those businesses grow and succeed. And I’ve been very busy doing just that! And yet I quickly lost sight of this goal in only a months time. I recently took on a project that split my focus, it took time away from this goal and time away from important projects that I should have been focusing more attention on. It wasn’t something that I had passion for or something that helped me to reach towards my goal but for some reason I still found myself saying yes to doing it. I can see now why the idea of a mission statement or a defined goal is so important. It gives you something to keep yourself from going off track. Try writing up a mission statement or a set of goals for yourself or your company if you haven’t already. If you don’t have a clear path set out, sometimes all it takes is a push in the wrong direction to remind yourself of the right direction that you should be heading in.