The One Reason You're Losing Opportunities Meant For You

Today I want to share a personal story, that taught me an important lesson.

A few years ago in college I was fascinated with all things videography.

I got my start by recording videos of my younger brother skateboarding.

He wanted to create a "sponsor me" tape so I had to learn how to film, how to edit, and most importantly how to skateboard to keep up with him.

I became obsessed with the world of videography.

I spent hundreds of hours on Youtube learning every little trick to edit videos better.

Before I knew it, I was editing videos for different companies in ATL to make extra cash.

I became pretty good and very confident at my video editing skills.

While I was learning the ins and outs of video, my bestfriend, Dwayne, was learning all he could about art.

He was already very talented at a young age, but he kept building on it.

He transitioned from sketching portraits to learning how to paint, and eventually getting really good at digital arts.

Those two skills eventually came together to form our first real business but that's an epic story for another day.

While I started freelancing video work for companies, Dwayne started freelancing logos and digital designs for people.

It was one of many ways we bonded.

One day I was scrolling through instagram, when I got a random DM notification.

I wasn't doing anything special so I decided to open it up.

It was a friend of a friend, so an acquaintance, and they needed some help with a video project.

They started explaining how they have this promotional video they want to create for their new clothing product and they wanted to get it down super high quality.

I started smiling to myself thinking, "Seems like my work is building a reputation for me ;)"

I continued to ask about all the details of what they needed done and the turnaround time for the project.

We chatted back and forth for 5 minutes before they finally sent this message.

"Yeah so I'm super excited for the project. That's why I wanted to immediately reach out to you and ask if you could ask Dwayne if he's interested in making this video for us."

I paused.

"What on Earth are they talking about?", I thought to myself.

The frustration boiled over.

"Dwayne doesn't even do videography! I mean he can, but he's better at art!"

"I'm the video guy. Did they only message me to get to Dwayne?!"

"I should set them straight. I'm the editor they need. No that would be taking away from Dwayne. Urghhh."

So I immediately sent them Dwayne's number. And he helped them make the video they needed.

What I learned in the days after was simple.

Nowhere on my instagram page mentioned anything about videography.

I rarely ever mention that I do video work.

Dwayne's entire IG and FB was filled with art and creative projects. No videos but it was clear to tell he was a creative.

The only thing you could tell from my Instagram was that I was...an introvert.

I realized that day that it's never enough to "let your work speak for you"...because it won't.

You have to decide what you want to be known for and you have to scream it to the world.

I changed my entire IG feed, my username all socials, and built a personal website.

Now when people think of Tim, they think business.

What do people think when they hear your name?

Are you choosing your brand, or are others choosing it for...

In progress,

Tim