💪 Become a 6 Figure Fitness Filmmaker: https://www.contentcreator.com/6-figure-fitness-filmmaker
Today, I am sharing the crazy story about how my wife Paige and I paid off $116,000 of consumer debt in a year and a half.
This was largely due to being super intentional with our money, having a strong ‘why’ behind getting out of debt, and putting my foot to the floor with my video marketing company, Snaadt Media Group.
So make sure to stick around for this whole video so I can share with you the exact steps we took to get out of debt and how you can take a passion for creating videos and completely change your financial situation.
With some basic knowledge, intentionality, and high demand business like creating videos - this is all very possible. I am not a financial advisor or guru, but I am a guy just like you, that changed my stars by taking advantage of the massive demand in the fitness industry to create videos. Hopefully my story will show you how possible it is and motivate you to make a positive change with your career!
My Story
So my name is Ryan Snaadt, it rhymes with odd and I own a video marketing business based here in Central Iowa specializing in the health and fitness industry. I also run the largest Facebook group for videographers in the world called The Freelance Videographer Community.
My career as a fitness video producer started when I was a sophomore in college. I have always been really interested in health and fitness and started a YouTube channel, documenting my workouts on a GoPro. After a year of shooting every week and putting out over 50 workout and diet videos….. - my channel flopped and nobody was watching. Depressing, I know, BUT I learned how to shoot, edit, and publish consistently in that first year. I learned a really valuable lesson that your viewers don’t care about you, they only care about what you can do for them and the value you can provide. My first fitness edit was of my roommate who was the captain of the swim team. So on a Sunday we went to the pool and shot everything. I still remember being so excited to get that footage offloaded and start editing.
I didn’t know it at the time but I was starting down the path that would take me from shooting YouTube workouts in my spare time to running a 6 figure video marketing business in the next couple of years and helping to pioneer a new niche for filmmakers around the world. I realized that I liked making videos and wanted to specialize in the health and fitness niche as I grew my skills.
A few years later, I approached a professional bodybuilding couple at my local gym and worked with them to build a YouTube channel from scratch and helped them transition their hundreds of thousands of Instagram followers into YouTube viewers. We shot a ton of workout videos together and I got the chance to continue to hone my craft. With them, I traveled to other states and shot international fitness competitions like the Arnold Classic, which is one of the largest fitness events in the country. This got me in front of a bunch of other fitness brands including supplement companies, clothing lines, social influencers with millions of followers, energy drink brands and more. These connections really helped me build a client list.
During these years of starting out, I never really considered doing videography full time. It was always just a little fun thing to do on the side and make some extra money. When I graduated college I started working at a video production company as a marketing strategist and had no intentions of leaving that. I’m also a compulsive saver, so the first 3 years of my business I never paid myself. If I made money from videos, i would just save it in my business account because I didn’t have a plan or intent with the extra money I was making.
Wedding Plans
In 2019, I got down on one knee and proposed to my girlfriend of 8 years. We started planning our wedding and realized how expensive weddings can be. Ours clocked in around $35,000. So while looking at wedding expenses, we sat down and realized that combined we had over $100,000 of consumer debt in credit cards, student loans, car loans, and things like that.
After asking around, We hired a financial coach who specializes in getting young couples out of debt and he told us, if we got intentional about paying off $116K in consumer debt, we could be out in less than 2 years. We had to make some sacrifices to get there and be intentional with our money, limit spending, and made as much money as we could.
And this really unified us as a couple. Nobody wants to stop going to Starbucks or limit eating out, hitting the bars, or buying their family a ton of presents on Christmas. But for my wife and I, we had this unified goal of getting out of debt so we could do the things we really wanted to, like start a family, and be able to give children and ourselves a life we wanted. Having that clear ‘why’ behind the debt payoff was critical to our success because when times got tough we focused on that and it got us through.
Turn on the jets and hit it hard
Up until that point, I was only shooting videos for fun in a variety of industries like
weddings, real estate, corporate, and non profit. After talking to some other freelancers in the area, I realized quickly that If I put my foot to the floor, reached out to prospects, and pushed - my video marketing business could get us out faster. And that’s exactly what I did. All of the profit I had from my side business went straight to the debt. We battled through lots of lost work in 2020 from the pandemic, surprise expenses like needing a new $7,000 furnace, and other mishaps along the way.
Through this process I kept shooting as much as possible and I found my favorite niche to shoot in, which is fitness. When I say fitness clients I mean Sports teams, fitness brands, local gyms, and anything to do with health promotion. It was my personal calling since I love fitness and health to begin with, hence creating a YouTube channel about it in college. Being known for this and having a portfolio to show, helped me land even more projects and monthly retainer clients. And in exactly 1 and a half years, we paid off all debt besides mortgage in 2021.
When the dust settled, I realized I had grown the business to six figures as a side hustle by working on nights and weekends, still working my 9-5 at the agency. Then I started asking the question of: what if I did this full time?
So after we stayed at that pace for another few months to build up our savings, I Left my full time job to pursue video marketing for fitness brands. Since starting down this journey, I have been helping others do the same in Facebook Groups, guest appearances on podcasts, my blog, YouTube channel, and online courses.
Current Day
Today, I shoot with a variety of clients ranging from regional yoga studios to national brands like Schutt Sports and Primo Chalk. I also speak at fitness conferences to help business owners in this industry maximize their use of video to get more of what they want.
The crazy thing is, aside from myself and a handful of other filmmakers… Almost no-one is focusing on the health and fitness content creation niche even though it's growing exponentially every single day. I went from shooting videos for a few hundred bucks to charging 10s of thousands for brand promotion work. Today, I literally can’t keep up with the amount of opportunities there are in this niche which is a big reason why I’m sharing these insights with others who, like me, have a passion for fitness and content creation.
When I first started, I scoured YouTube and Google for help shooting better fitness videos, landing fitness brand clients, and other related topics. That was 7 years ago and there was virtually nothing out there. Now, 7 years later - there still aren't any strong resources out there. Which led me to create this training and give my knowledge to you guys.
Misconceptions about this niche
Some of the biggest misconceptions I wanted to share about shooting fitness include the demand. Many videographers I talk to think there is not enough demand to focus here. But even in Des Moines, Iowa where I live, there are hundreds of gym locations, chiropractors, massage therapists, CrossFit boxes, Pilates, yoga studios, and other fitness centers. And that is just one subset of this niche. If you want to shoot product promo videos for fitness brands like shoes, weight lifting chalk, hats or bicycles - there are 10s of thousands of ecommerce brands out there that need videos to sell and market with. And with the way the world is shifting toward social media video consumption, it will get to the point where every single brand needs to be online using video to sell and engage with their customer base. That is where you will come in to help them achieve this. So as you can see, there is no limit to the dent we can put in this space because there will always be more work than there are shooters.
I also started offering marketing services that I already knew how to do including running clients Facebook and Instagram ads, building out a YouTube strategy, or other related services as an upcharge to jus shooting videos for them.
Misconceptions about debt with a side hustle
The big realization for me came when I had the choice to do what I wanted rather than what I had to. So many of us work a job that we don’t enjoy because we have such high bills that we can afford to take any risk or a chance on a business that we love. And that is the beauty of doing it the way I did. I built the business while still working my full time job. It was less risk for me being a risk averse person, and allowed me to get a pipeline of new work lined up prior to going for it.
And with a little guidance, I have no doubt that others could do the same thing using my blueprint of reaching six figures shooting fitness to apply it to their situation.
Why I created a program to help others do the same thing
There is so much opportunity in the fitness industry for videographers to make a killing. From sports teams at the college and pro levels, fitness brands selling products on Instagram, local chiropractors, commercial gyms, and rec centers - there is too much work out there for just one guy to shoot. Looking at this opportunity made me want to educate the next wave of fitness videographers just like you and give them the step by step processes that I use in my business and how to tailor your offerings to this industry.
That’s when I worked with the crew at Content Creator.com to build a program to teach other videographers how to break into the fitness industry and realistically build a 6 figure business.
The program is called 6 Figure Fitness Filmmaker.
It is the first speciality program of its kind, helping beginner & professional filmmakers break into the fitness industry and realistically build a 6 figure income. Teaching you how to shoot hype videos, marketing videos, branding campaigns, and much more - all in the fitness space.
The idea for this course came from those early days I had in college searching Google for a resource like this, just to figure everything out on my own. I wanted to take the last 6 years of knowledge I have and create something that could help the next wave of fitness video producers.
There are literally tens of thousands of potential clients in the United States alone that have a need for fitness videos. With opportunities locally for gyms, CrossFit boxes, and yoga studios to national opportunities with supplement, product, and clothing companies to sports teams at college and professional levels. I am just one person and there is plenty of work to go around for all of us.
What’s included:
So here’s a breakdown of exactly what you’ll learn in 6 figure fitness filmmaker...
We will start out getting you up to speed on creating value for clients and charging higher rates based on those outcomes. As I have mentioned, this is critical to your success in growing a business. Then we will move into how to get started, I will share my processes, software I use to automate client admin tasks, and how to build a website so that clients can find you on Google.
Next we will talk about how to find clients. I give detailed walk throughs on finding clients on Instagram, Google, and LinkedIn with copy and paste message templates. After you learn to sell your services, we move into how to run discovery meetings properly to find a client’s problem and their budget. This will eliminate the fears and doubts you have when selling to clients and make you feel less squeamish when running these meetings. I even share call recordings from real clients to show how I close and speak confidently.
Then we move into the fun stuff which is actually producing professional fitness videos. I cover how to script compelling videos with storyboards, find great music, and plan properly. You will come behind the scenes with me on real client shoots to see what gear I use, how I set up shots, light interviews, get creative with camera angles, and direct talent on set.
Then I will take you in the editing room with me to put together an editing timeline, build a story sequence and add awesome effects, sound design, and transitions that give things the professional pop that gets attention. I will also break down my high performing videos to show you why I edited them the way I did.
Not only will we be talking about creating fitness videos, but I am pulling the curtain back on how to build the actual business behind it. I share my marketing best practices for building a social media following, using your work to attract more ideal clients, and more advanced training for doubling your income including running client’s ad campaigns for them and signing content retainer deals for more monthly cash flow.
We set out to make this the most comprehensive, easy to follow, and cost effective way to become a professional fitness filmmaker. And since we know that all of this can seem daunting, we are throwing in our 30 day launch guide which will give you a day by day instructional handbook to launch your Fitness Filmmaking business and get started. This will give you the accountability you need to achieve your goals.
Where is the Value?
Now in terms of value and what is included, you will get access to sessions helping you start your business, effectively sell, market yourself online, prepare, shoot, and edit professional fitness videos. I am also throwing in detailed case study breakdowns for clients I have worked with including local gyms, chiropractors, national brands, and sports teams so you know exactly how to approach different clients.
And if you still have questions about any technical aspects of filmmaking like gear, camera movement, lighting, or editing - we will be including 14 Day Filmmaker as well. It’s the most affordable and comprehensive way to learn filmmaking in just 14 Days.
On top of all of these lessons, we are including 60% off of the Adobe Creative Cloud which is my editing software stack of choice. That is over $300 of savings each year just for signing up for the program. We will also be throwing in our custom asset packs which include special effects like flashes and light leaks to make your footage pop even more.
We have had some great feedback from students already digging into the course from all around the country and the world.
The community that comes with the course is just as valuable as the lessons in my opinion. They will support you if you are feeling down and encourage you to keep pushing for success in your business.
And just as the adage goes, your network is your net worth. So surrounding yourself with other like-minded people will only spur you closer to where you want to be.
Should you shop around?
Now I could tell you to shop around a little bit and see what else is out there but...No one is teaching this! There are huge online film schools that cost a thousand dollars and you’ll be lucky to get 2 videos on the fitness industry and that's it. Apart from a few scattered YouTube videos, you are pretty much on your own.
If you want to break into this niche and start shooting videos for sports teams, athletes, and fitness brands - 6 Figure Fitness Filmmaker is for you.
I mentioned a second ago that this complete program is well over $1,000 worth of value. But I don’t want you to have to pay that much to get in and start learning.
If you want to join today, we are willing to offer the full program for 50% off so you can get started today for only $498. Lifetime access to all current and future lessons in addition to all of the bonuses.
With 6 Figure Fitness Filmmaker valued over $1,000. These extra bonuses including the Adobe annual discount, 30 day launch plan, access to 14 Day Filmmaker, and our editing asset bundle…all together are valued over $500. So, you will be getting over $1500 worth of instructional videos and bonuses all for well under $1,000. We wanted to give you everything that you need to get off on the right foot and start making money shooting fitness videos.
Now you are faced with a choice. You can either attempt to break into the fitness videography market on your own, become frustrated, struggle, and if you are lucky - finally find success after sacrificing years to get there.
Or you can join this program, follow a proven system and generate a HUGE return on investment with your first client! Yup, think about it. All you need is one single fitness client to make a return on investment from this program.
We designed it this way so that if you are 100% serious about creating fitness videos for clients it would be a NO-BRAINER investment for you.
You may be a start up solo shooter right now that is making a little bit of money in a variety of industries. And that’s a great place to be! But you will find that sooner or later, clients start looking for the cheapest option because you don’t specialize and can’t articulate the value you are bringing to their brand, business or team. And I totally understand, when I started out I was only able to get gigs for a couple hundred dollars and didn’t know where the next project was going to come from. You can keep plugging away and hope that you can overcome these challenges or you can join our program and evolve to the next level of your career. This isn’t a pipe dream, if I could grow a fitness focused video production company to 6 figures as a side hustle, you can too.
So if you want to lock in this deal right now, all you have to do is click the link below this video to get started. I can’t wait to see you on the inside. Peace!