How do I use my own story to position my video business?

Pick the part of your background a specific client would recognise as their own world: the industry you came from, the career before this or the place you're rooted in. Write it as three lines (where you came from, what you saw from the inside, what it gives the client), strike the parts that would mainly impress another filmmaker, then use it in the first paragraph of your About page, in one sentence at the start of a first call and in a short "why us" paragraph in every proposal.

Field Guides / Positioning

How to use your own story to position your video business

Q: Why do video business owners leave their background out of their positioning?

Because it feels too obvious to be worth anything, so the showreel goes up instead. Yet the background is usually what tells a specific client you understand their world from the inside, and a competitor with a better reel can't claim that.

Q: What should I say about my background on a first sales call?

One sentence near the start, then a question that hands the call back to the client: "Before I started [business name] I spent [years] in [industry], so I've seen [the problem] from your side. Tell me what's going on with [their situation] at the moment." The longer version belongs on your About page.

Your background is usually your strongest positioning asset: the industry you came from, the career before this or the place you're rooted in tells a specific kind of client you already understand their world. Pick the part of your story that client would recognise, write it as three lines (where you came from, what you saw, what it gives them), then use it in the first paragraph of your About page, in one sentence at the start of a first call and in the "why us" paragraph of every proposal.

Why do video business owners leave their background out of their positioning?

Video business owners leave their background out because it feels too obvious to be worth anything, so the showreel goes up instead. Yet the background is usually what tells a specific client you understand their world from the inside, and a competitor with a better reel can't claim that.

I see the same pattern across the owners I coach. One is ex-military, and someone ex-military wins work with organisations that value that discipline. Another came home to their region and is building around it. A third is a construction insider weighing up construction as a market. Someone from the trades might win construction work for the same reason: the client doesn't have to explain their world before the conversation can start.

The members I've coached often assume positioning has to be invented or borrowed. Anyone can send a showreel. One owner had five years of dental work in the portfolio and was still looking for something new to say.

How to find the story that matters to your client: the method, step by step

The story that matters to your client is the part of your background they'd recognise as their own world, written in their language rather than a filmmaker's. Five steps with a pen and the worksheet below.

List where you came from. Every career, industry, place and sector you've spent real time in, before video and inside it. A previous job counts. A town you came home to counts. Five years of shooting for one kind of client counts. You're finished when the whole list fits on one page.
Write what you saw from the inside. For each line, one sentence on what you know about that world that an outsider doesn't: the pressure people are under, the words they use, what tends to go wrong for them. Stop when every line has its sentence.
Translate it into what it gives the client. What doesn't the client have to explain to you? What risk is lower because you've been where they are? Every line should now end with something the client gets.
Strike the filmmaker version. Cross out anything that would mainly impress another filmmaker: kit, credits, awards, the camera you started on. Lead with the lived experience, not the credentials. Credits can sit further down the page as proof. What's left should make sense to someone who has never held a camera.
Pick one and check it. Choose the story that fits the client you want more of, then check it: would a specific type of client see their own world in it? If you can't identify that client, choose the market first (How to choose a niche for your video business). To check which part of your story clients actually value, ask them why they hired you. The step is finished when one story is circled and you can say who it's for.

Copy and paste: the "my story" worksheet

Where I came from: [career, industry, place or sector, and for how long]

What I saw from the inside: [the pressure, the language, what goes wrong, in one sentence]

What it gives my client: [what they don't have to explain to me, or the risk that's lower because I've been there]

The client who'd trust this instantly: [type of business, and the job title of the person who hires video]

The filmmaker version I'm leaving off the top: [credits, kit, awards]

Proof I can point to: [a result, a client or a case study]

How to use your story on your About page, on a first call and in a proposal

Your story goes in three places at three lengths: a paragraph at the top of your About page, one sentence early in a first call, and a short "why us" paragraph in each proposal.

How to write the About-page paragraph

The About page is where a prospect checks who they'd be dealing with, so open it with your story and keep the service list for the services page. If you haven't yet written the one line that says who you help, start with How do I write the one line that says who I help?

Copy and paste: the About-page paragraph

I spent [years] in [industry or career] before I started [business name], [doing what]. I saw [what you saw from the inside] up close. That's why we work with [type of client]: you don't have to explain [the thing they'd otherwise have to explain] to us, and [the risk that's lower for them]. [One line of proof: a result, a client or a case study, with a link.] If that sounds like your world, [the next step, for example book a call].

How to say it on a first call

On a first call your story is one sentence near the start, then a question that hands the call back to the client. Real authority comes from asking the right questions and letting the client feel you understand their world. The questions themselves are in How to show real authority on a sales call.

Copy and paste: the one-line version for a first call

"Before I started [business name] I spent [years] in [industry], so I've seen [the problem] from your side. Tell me what's going on with [their situation] at the moment."

Done looks like one breath, no credits and a question at the end.

How to put it in a proposal

In a proposal your story is a short "why us" paragraph that ties your background to the problem the client described on the call. Three or four sentences is plenty. The template below is a starting point; use the client's own words for their problem wherever you can.

Copy and paste: the "why us" paragraph for a proposal (template)

Why [business name]: [your name] spent [years] in [industry] before starting [business name], so [the client's problem, in their words] is familiar ground for us. [One sentence on what that means for this project, for example fewer briefing meetings, or interviews that put your people at ease.] [One line of proof, with a link.]

A worked example: my own story, run through the worksheet

Here's the worksheet run on my own background, because it's the only story I can vouch for line by line.

My background has two versions. The broadcast one is three decades in production, starting on news cameras for Reuters, the BBC and ITV. The business one is about a decade running my own production company.

Worksheet line	What I wrote
Where I came from	About a decade running my own production company, after starting in broadcast TV
What I saw from the inside	In the early 2010s my company finished within ten grand of the same number every year, because I wouldn't hire. The ceiling was my own hours.
What it gives my client	I've sat in their seat. I learned the hard way that you can't brute-force your way to a business that works, and I coach so other owners don't have to learn it the same way.
The client who'd trust this instantly	A video production company owner whose turnover won't move while they're in every seat
The filmmaker version I'm leaving off the top	Reuters, BBC, ITV
Proof	A number of my former clients have gone on to become business coaches themselves.

The one-line version I'd use on a first call: "In the early 2010s my company finished within ten grand of the same number every year, because I wouldn't hire. What's holding your number where it is?"

The business version leads because it matches the work I do now: helping owners understand why growth got harder, then giving them the systems to regain control.

The mistakes that undo it

The story usually fails because it's dressed up, stretched or bent towards the wrong client.

Dressing it up. One owner was handed a sales script full of phrases like "Psychological Safety Phases", and the instinct that it didn't sound like them was right. Use the words your client would use.
Stretching the facts. An AI-written bio once credited me with six years running a multi-camera studio. I never did. Check every line of your story against the record before it goes anywhere.
Picking the story that fits the biggest budget. Chasing whoever pays the most keeps owners stuck, because no client has a reason to choose them.

The rule of thumb for positioning with your story

Your story is ready to use when you can say what it gives your client in one sentence without mentioning a camera. If that line on the worksheet is blank or full of credits, go back to step 3 before you touch the About page.

Hold yourself accountable

Which of these have you taken on or put in place recently?

You've filled in the "my story" worksheet and circled one story.
The first paragraph of your About page is your story, written to the client.
You used the one-line version early in your last first call, then asked a question.
Your last proposal had a "why us" paragraph that tied your background to the client's problem.

Your one move this week

What's the one thing you can commit to implementing this week? If you're not sure, start here.

Fill in the "my story" worksheet and circle one story.

One thing executed every week creates 50 strategic moves a year.

Questions like these come up regularly on our weekly Elite Boardroom calls. If you'd like someone to hold you to account each week, and to learn from a group of peers who run video businesses too, the Boardroom is for you.