"The BEST way to connect with your future customers, build your business, and grow your brand is video, hands down."
Evan Staehle Tweet
In 2018, Evan Staehle and his wife had a crazy idea. What if they put their creative talents together and started their own business? And so Staehle Media was born–first as a side hustle, which they were able to scale into a full-time, sustainable business by the beginning of 2021.
As a video producer with 10+ years of experience in the industry, Evan creates done-for-you video content for stressed-out solopreneurs that doesn’t break the bank, and helps them connect with their ideal clients. You can learn more about Evan and Staehle Media at StaehleMedia.com
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Table of Contents
We are thrilled to have you join us today, welcome to ValiantCEO Magazine’s exclusive interview! Let’s start off with a little introduction. Tell our readers a bit about yourself and your company.
Evan Staehle: Sure thing! I’m Evan Staehle, the Co-Founder and Creative Director of Staehle Media. We’ve been serving solopreneurs and small businesses since 2018 by creating video content to help grow their businesses. I’ve been in the video production industry for 10+ years, and decided to take our businesses full-time in 2021.
2020 and 2021 threw a lot of curve balls into business on a global scale. Based on the experience gleaned in the past couple years, how can businesses thrive in 2022? What lessons have you learned?
Evan Staehle: The best way to thrive in today’s world is to focus on digital. That’s what I think a lot of people did when the COVID pandemic first hit. In-person events were cancelled, in-person services were not selling, etc, and everything moved online. Having a core digital-focused strategy is absolutely key, and will be well into the future.Which makes video marketing all the more important for businesses!
For me personally, flexibility is something I’ve learned the importance of over the past 2 years. Things can change in the blink of an eye–markets can dry up, industries can collapse, while others explode with growth. You never really know, but you need to be open to the change and adapt where necessary.
The pandemic seems to keep on disrupting the economy, what should businesses focus on in 2022? What advice would you share?
Evan Staehle: Go all in with video marketing 😉
In all seriousness though, video is more important now than ever. The pandemic pushed everybody online, and so naturally, video consumption skyrocketed, and that growth keeps increasing year after year. The BEST way to connect with your future customers, build your business, and grow your brand is video, hands down. My advice to business owners who haven’t fully invested in video marketing yet would be, start thinking NOW of a video marketing strategy, and start planning it out. Skip video all together, and it’s highly likely your business will be irrelevant and left behind in just a few years.
How has the pandemic changed your industry and how have you adapted?
Evan Staehle: Most in-person video shoots disappeared. Some production companies found ways to adapt to still keep shooting, others had to completely change their business models. Some thrived and are still around, while others sadly had to close up shop. We adjusted as well, focusing more on video editing than in-person filming, though once things got better, some clients were open to start filming video content in-person again. Now, video editing is our main focus when it comes to services.
What advice do you wish you received when the pandemic started and what do you intend on improving in 2022?
Evan Staehle: Great question. I kinda wished someone had advised me (maybe even pushed me) to focus more on self-care. I waited too long before I started taking some action, and looking back, I wished I started sooner, A lot of people felt the emotional effects of the pandemic and lockdowns–loneliness, anxiety, depression, etc. That was something I was not prepared for myself. Now, I’m focusing more on making time for myself and getting better at stress management.
Online business surged higher than ever, B2B, B2C, online shopping, virtual meetings, remote work, Zoom medical consultations, what are your expectations for 2022?
Evan Staehle: I see it increasing every year for here on out. Remote and virtual options for anything I think are here to stay. Things were headed in that direction already, but the pandemic really sped up the transition to fully digital. It really opened people’s eyes to the opportunity for doing business online and not have to do something or sell something in-person.
How many hours a day do you spend in front of a screen?
Evan Staehle: Probably too many to be honest. My line of work involves being in front of a screen, so I kinda have to. I’d guess 5-10 hours per day.
The majority of executives use stories to persuade and communicate in the workplace. Can you share with our readers examples of how you implement that in your business to communicate effectively with your team?
Evan Staehle: I can’t speak to this in terms of teams, but definitely in engaging with prospects. Understanding your ideal buyer is so key, and that involves understanding their story, where they’re coming from. This will inform how you interact with them, how you market, what language you use. It’s all about identifying that pain point, then speaking to that point with your solution, while clearly demonstrating the outcomes they’ll get.
Business is all about overcoming obstacles and creating opportunities for growth. What do you see as the real challenge right now?
Evan Staehle: For businesses in general? Perhaps adapting to a post-COVID world, and figuring out where to go from here.
In 2022, what are you most interested in learning about? Crypto, NFTs, online marketing, or any other skill sets? Please share your motivations.
Evan Staehle: I want to get better at sales. I don’t a have a sales background, so to be honest, I’m not the best at it. Some stuff I’ve had to learn on the fly, but I’d like a more developed skill set in that area.
A record 4.4 million Americans left their jobs in September in 2021, accelerating a trend that has become known as the Great Resignation. 47% of people plan to leave their job during 2022. Most are leaving because of their boss or their company culture. 82% of people feel unheard, undervalued and misunderstood in the workplace. Do you think leaders see the data and think “that’s not me – I’m not that boss they don’t want to work for? What changes do you think need to happen?
Evan Staehle: Yeah, I think that goes through a lot of leaders’ heads. It’s hard to see it objectively when you’re in that position, we all want to think we’re amazing leaders. But this can be remedied. Leaders can start by giving their employees more decision-making power and opportunity. If nothing else, welcome their ideas and value their input.
Regular rewards, like pay increases, bonuses, or at least something tangible given for outstanding performance, could go a long way in helping employees feel valued, and like they’re contributing to the company. It’s really demoralizing when you’re working super hard, and the work you’re doing is really pushing the company forward, and you know it, but your boss doesn’t seem to. Hard work should be rewarded, especially if it’s directly impacting the company in a positive way. Those are just a few ideas that come to mind.
On a lighter note, if you had the ability to pick any business superpower, what would it be and how would you put it into practice?
Evan Staehle: Man, I don’t know. Flying would be a cool superpower, but I’m not sure how that would help with business. It would be awesome to have a sort of clairvoyance type of power, where you could instantly know what your ideal clients are thinking, what their problems are, and what they need. Would save a lot of time for sure.
What does “success” in 2022 mean to you? It could be on a personal or business level, please share your vision.
Evan Staehle: Having more free time to work on stuff I enjoy, even if it’s just for fun. I have big plans for some creative passion projects in the future, so I’d love to have more free time to start working on that stuff.
Jed Morley, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Evan Staehle for taking the time to do this interview and share his knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Evan Staehle or his company, you can do it through his – Linkedin Page
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