Matt Jamieson is the director of Render X, a creative rendering business based on the Gold Coast of Australia. Over the past 10 years, Matt has earned expert reputation- known for delivering high-end, noteworthy finishes. He has built an impressive portfolio working with Dior, Homebodii, Sabo Skirt, Rick Shores, ABI Interiors, the Tweed Terrace House and more.
Heres how he did it…
CONNECT WITH MATT: Website: https://www.renderx.com.au/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/render.x/
WANT TO CONNECT WITH ME? Website: www.thedigitalapprenticeship.com.au Instagram: www.instagram.com/thedigitalapprenticeship
WANT MORE? Download my free ebook, The Digital Marketing Cheat Sheet for tradies here http://www.thedigitalapprenticeship.com.au/ebook
SHOW NOTES (including a blog post of this episode and all links and resources) can be found here https://www.thedigitalapprenticeship.com.au/22
HOW TO SUPPORT THE SHOW:
Matt Jamieson is the director of Render X, a creative rendering business based on the Gold Coast of Australia. Over the past 10 years, Matt has earned expert reputation- known for delivering high-end, noteworthy finishes. He has built an impressive portfolio working with Dior, Homebodii, Sabo Skirt, Rick Shores, ABI Interiors, the Tweed Terrace House and more.
Heres how he did it…
CONNECT WITH MATT: Website: https://www.renderx.com.au/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/render.x/
WANT TO CONNECT WITH ME? Website: www.thedigitalapprenticeship.com.au Instagram: www.instagram.com/thedigitalapprenticeship
WANT MORE? Download my free ebook, The Digital Marketing Cheat Sheet for tradies here http://www.thedigitalapprenticeship.com.au/ebook
SHOW NOTES (including a blog post of this episode and all links and resources) can be found here https://www.thedigitalapprenticeship.com.au/22
HOW TO SUPPORT THE SHOW:
Stephanie Trinder:
Hey Matt, welcome to the show.
Matt Jamieson:
Thank you. Thanks for having me.
Stephanie Trinder:
I'm stoked to share your journey with the listeners, especially now that I'm on the Gold Coast, because I see your work everywhere.
Matt Jamieson:
Oh, that's awesome.
Stephanie Trinder:
Literally everywhere. For the people listening who don't already know you, did you want to tell us a little bit about who you are, what you do and your journey to the present day?
Matt Jamieson:
Yeah, sure. So my name is Matt Jamieson. I'm 29 years old. I've lived on the Gold Coast for 10 years now, and I have a company called Render X, I'm a renderer by trade. I started rendering when I was 16 years old.
Stephanie Trinder:
Wow.
Matt Jamieson:
And so I actually left school at the end of year 10 and started rendering. And there's a few people that were wondering, why did I do that? But it was the best decision I've ever made.
Stephanie Trinder:
How does a 16 year old decide that they want to get into rendering? What's that thought process?
Matt Jamieson:
Look, I wasn't thinking too much back then. I just knew that school wasn't really my thing. And I just wanted to get out there and start working. I think ... I probably, at the time I would have taken anything that came up from being an electrician, to being a plumber, to being a builder, or anything. But there was a local renderer in the town that I'm from that offered me an apprenticeship, and I took that on.
Stephanie Trinder:
Awesome.
Matt Jamieson:
And from there, when I was 18 I moved to the Gold Coast and finished my apprenticeship up here. The rest is history.
Stephanie Trinder:
When did it go from you working for someone else to then you owning your own business? Had you already started making a name for yourself, or did you just decide that that's what you wanted to do?
Matt Jamieson:
Yeah, look, from a young age I always knew that I was going to have a business one day when I was older. So I sort of knew from the start it was a two-way street in rendering. You could have your own business, I saw myself creating my business and taking on big rendering projects. I started my business in standard rendering, rendering houses. And after a few months of ... I came up with my name and started all that. I stumbled across the artistic rendering, which is what I specialize in right now.
Matt Jamieson:
And as soon as I found that, I guess I found a new passion in life, I guess. I could actually use the products and create something that I could stand back and go, "Wow, this is an art piece. This is a masterpiece." So from there I started pushing that. I had a few friends that bought houses and said, "I'll do walls in your house for free, just to get a little bit of a portfolio and get some photos behind me." And then I would just drive around the Gold Coast with samples, pulling up to any sort of construction site that I saw and walk on and show the builder what I could do.
Stephanie Trinder:
Wow.
Matt Jamieson:
A lot of the time the builder would look at me and go, "What is that? Get off my job site." But there were a few people who took it on. And from there I slowly built up a couple of jobs and I started in Instagram sort of before anyone really used Instagram for tradies and stuff like that. So I did it more just for a hobby and to show my family and friends what I was doing. I was doing tables at home, and I think I even rented my fridge at one point.
Stephanie Trinder:
Is that on your Instagram?
Matt Jamieson:
Not my fridge, no. I got a couple of tables right back at the start where [crosstalk 00:04:04] I'd buy a cheap table and then try out my finish on it. And yeah, but from there it just grew and grew. I've got a big contract, a job that's here on the Gold Coast down at [Gerambo 00:04:20] Which is called the egg house. So it was one of my first bigger jobs. And it's ... This place is just super out there. It's just a massive ... It looks like a spaceship has landed on the hill.
Stephanie Trinder:
Yeah, my partner and I did the walk along the coast there in Tweed and we wondered what it actually was because it looks like such a complicated and expensive build. Is it a house? Or an events space? What is it?
Matt Jamieson:
Yeah, so it's actually just a guy's house. So I think-
Stephanie Trinder:
Wow.
Matt Jamieson:
He saw a house in Mexico that looked very similar to it. And he's a very wealthy man, he just wanted to find the land where he could build it. He found that land and he built that house. It's very out of the ordinary. But working on that job on such a diverse job, what no one else has done, every single edge on the job was round curves. Getting through it was another level. It took us one year to complete. And once I finished that sort of people started noticing and seeing what I could do. And then I opened up a showroom and sort of just was experimenting with products, sort of breaking the boundaries.
Matt Jamieson:
Getting a lot of jobs in new restaurants that had a lot of hype, so people would come in there and check out the restaurant, and a lot of people would see the finish. It would nearly be like my work's on display here. So I knew any job I got, I wouldn't want to cut a corner. I'd be ... If the client would approach me and say, "We want a concrete look, a smooth concrete." I'll say, "Nah, let's do something that Jack doesn't have around the corner. Let's do something that no one has. Let's make it look next level so people walk in and go, "Wow, look at that."" So that's what I try to do with my clients, push the boundaries a lot.
Stephanie Trinder:
I love that. How do people make the connection between a project you've completed and knowing it was your work? Do you rely on your social media presence? Does the client advertise for you? What does that look like?
Matt Jamieson:
The work I do is quite unique. I think a lot of people that know my work can walk into a place and know it's my work. And there's not a lot of people doing what I am doing. There's a lot of upcomers as there is in anything. Sort of learning the trade and trying to push it out there. But I think the benefit with me, I did get out there quite early. Instagram is a great tool. I love Instagram, that has definitely helped me out so much because. I can just put all my stuff on there, and it just goes out to whoever wants to look at it.
Matt Jamieson:
But I think it's mainly word of mouth, Instagram, and then I guess people on the Gold Coast always go out, they always talk. Not only do we just do restaurants and cafés and stuff, we also do a lot of high-end homes. So builders talk amongst themselves. I have a lot of interior designers that I'm connected with, which put me on specifications for jobs so then when the builder gets the specification, it says, "This wall is done by Render X."
Stephanie Trinder:
Yeah, great.
Matt Jamieson:
Opposed to finding the work through the builder, you're already in front when you've got the architect or the interior designer specifying you for that job.
Stephanie Trinder:
Perfect and if you don't mind me asking, is there a finders fee involved or do you just help each other out?
Matt Jamieson:
It's more, they tell me ... If they just want me to do a good job, they want their brand to look good. So by their brand looking good, they need the people that do work for them to perform. So it's mainly ... I have had a few people ... Because I do get a lot of work through interior designers maybe saying, "We could work out a little deal that we could take some off the top," but it doesn't happen. At the end of the day, they're super happy with the job and it reflects on their brand. So as long as I'm doing a good job, then the work's just going to keep coming in, I guess.
Stephanie Trinder:
For sure sure, what you demonstrate so well is that when you do an exceptional job and you're really passionate about what you're doing-
Matt Jamieson:
Thanks so much.
Stephanie Trinder:
It really shows. You don't have to cut deals because there's no competition.
Matt Jamieson:
Yeah. There are other people out, I'll give credit to some other people out there. There's a lot of people getting into it that are doing some good work. And it does make me nervous a little bit, but it's good to see, you know what I mean? It's good to see other people get into it, and everyone has their own different technique of doing the finish. Not necessarily from the Gold Coast, but all around Australia and the world. There's a lot of amazing people doing what I do, rendering in the artist area overseas that do amazing work. America's high up there. Russia, they do crazy work over there. So another good thing about Instagram, you can watch what people are doing around the world and take a bit out of what everyone's doing.
Stephanie Trinder:
Be inspired.
Matt Jamieson:
Yeah, that's the word.
Stephanie Trinder:
Absolutely. Do you get much work through Instagram?
Matt Jamieson:
Yeah, so through Instagram, I get a crazy amount of work. Yeah. I get ... So I get about 10 inquiries every day through Instagram for work.
Stephanie Trinder:
Wow.
Matt Jamieson:
That's my biggest platform where I get work from. So I'm constantly ... When I finished work, I'm ... Do my emails first, and then I get back to everyone on Instagram, then I get back to my messages. So by the time I've worked all day, do my emails, get back to everyone on Instagram, then my messages, then I go to bed pretty much. So-
Stephanie Trinder:
Yeah, wow.
Matt Jamieson:
Yeah, it keeps me busy. That's for sure.
Stephanie Trinder:
And what happens when someone contacts you? Do you have a process in place that qualifies potential clients? Because I can imagine being in the position that you are, you can't do everything for everyone.
Matt Jamieson:
Yeah. Yeah. So a lot of my inquiries, so I will be straight up with them. I'll tell them how much I charge a meter, not on the first email, I just want to get to chat first. So I'll go back to them and say, "Is there any inspiration you have? Anything off my Instagram or website?" Or usually people have something off Pinterest. I'll say, "Send me through what your style is, what you're thinking of getting." Because all my finishes range from $40 a meter to $600 a meter. So I can cater for everyone. So, and then if they come back to me and say they want to polish placid bathroom, all the walls done, floor and ceiling and their budget's $2,000. Then I say, look, "Unfortunately, this is roughly what I charge, thank you so much for inquiring. If this suits you, then we can move forward and set up a showroom appointment."
Stephanie Trinder:
Okay.
Matt Jamieson:
So I would think a lot of people that inquire do know that it is quite a high-end finish, all the stuff I do. So usually when people inquire, if they're not a hundred percent sure what they want, then we'll book them in for a showroom meeting. I have a showroom in Burleigh Heads. And I usually do about two days a week and do about ten people through at a time in half an hour intervals. And show them through my showroom, I have about 20 different finishes on display there. Usually people aren't going to walk in and just point to a board and go, "I want that as a feature wall." So they'll come in and bring a tile that they have, a bit of timber that's going to be on their shelf and their paint color on their wall. Then they can put it together and we can work together and create a finish that doesn't necessarily exist.
Stephanie Trinder:
Awesome.
Matt Jamieson:
So we can go, "Look, I think you want to go this product with this texture, but you're looking like you want to go this sort of beigey bone color." So then I go into my workshop, which is at my showroom and I mix colors together, create a finish that I think it's going to fit perfectly with their space. I will then give that to the client and they will look at it and go look, "Look, Matt, I think it's a little bit dark. We want to light that up a little bit, but a little bit less texture as well." Usually by the second sample, I bring it back to them and it's spot on. And then from there we put the products on the wall, or on the bench top, or in the bathroom, splash back, external of the house, where ever they want.
Stephanie Trinder:
Amazing. I can imagine that opening the showroom would have been a huge turning point for you?
Matt Jamieson:
Yeah, it definitely was. It was something that I needed. Before that I was doing samples from home. This didn't last too long. So doing samples from home, and then sort of going out to jobs, and consulting people on the job and, then going back then coming back to the job with the sample. At least usually I have the client come to me. We get the first ideas and I come to them. When I come to them, I check out the space and give them the sample. And then after that, if we need to tweak it up a little bit more, we go from there, but we don't necessarily go back and forth more than twice before we nail a finish.
Stephanie Trinder:
So good.
Matt Jamieson:
But you have those few clients where you do about five samples for, but at the end of the day, if they're happy, I'm happy.
Stephanie Trinder:
Absolutely.
Matt Jamieson:
And if they're doing something different that no one's done, that's what I love most.
Stephanie Trinder:
I'm not surprised that you have zero issues attracting the right kind of client, one that looks for high-end services. Because across all of your touch-points: Instagram, your website, your showroom, you have tailored your messaging and content to really speak to someone who appreciates quality and uniqueness over price. I especially love the video on your website, it's hard not to like and trust you and your brand after watching that.
Matt Jamieson:
Yeah, yeah. I'm very ... I sort of ... I saw that from early days. So obviously, as I said before, I love sharing my stuff on Instagram. And I would use my iPhone, take the photos, put them up. It was cheap and I was all happy, but it came to this point where I have an amazing photographer. He's name's Christian. He is absolutely incredible, I'm so lucky to know him. So he takes all my photos for me. And it's now I don't think for the past year, I've put up a photo with my iPhone. I pay to get a professional photographer to come in and shoot the job, if I think it's worthy to be on my feed. And it just makes it look so much more professional. Are there guys over at Biz Video, they did my video. They're absolutely amazing to work with. If anyone needs a video for their business, I strongly recommend seeing Biz Vid.
Stephanie Trinder:
Yeah. I do follow them, they do great work.
Matt Jamieson:
Yeah, really nice guys as well. So I guess the way you bring your brand across to people, you also have to be professional in person. But these days everyone's seeing you online before they're seeing you in person. So I think it's super critical that you have everything right, from your branding, from your logo, keeping your same colors where you need to, having obviously my colors and my logo of black and white, my uniform's black with the white logo. The boys don't really like it in summer because it gets quite hot.
Matt Jamieson:
But I like to just have everyone in their uniform. Everyone's super respectful that works for me. We don't swear when we're on the site like most tradies, none of us smoke. We don't drink. We don't mind to a beer on a Friday afternoon, [crosstalk 00:17:32] but I'm trying to do a new sort of ... Bring a new side of tradie through, if you know what I mean?
Stephanie Trinder:
Yeah, absolutely.
Matt Jamieson:
Because renders don't have the best name. It's in the category of renders, concreters, brickies, tilers. But I think the younger generation that's coming through is absolutely amazing in every-
Stephanie Trinder:
Awesome.
Matt Jamieson:
Every trade that I see. And we have a good future.
Stephanie Trinder:
Yeah, absolutely. And I mean, you have the track record to prove that what you're doing is really working for you guys so it's exciting to see you replicating this with your latest venture, Object X. Did you want to talk a little bit about that?
Matt Jamieson:
Yeah, I'd love to. I'd love to.
Stephanie Trinder:
What is Object X?
Matt Jamieson:
Yeah. So Object X is my furniture line. I do that with my beautiful, amazing partner, Emma Sweeney. She's incredible. She is a big part of the business as well. She really helps me with all the admin, and making decisions, and all that sort of stuff. But object X, so a one year ago, the start of 2020, I came back from Christmas break and I came back ... I think it was the 5th of January and all the builders that I worked for weren't coming back for another week. So I was eager to get back into it, weirdly enough. But so what I did was I thought I always wanted to do tables with my finishes. So I thought, "You know what? I'm going to bring out ... I'm going to do four different dining room tables and four different coffee tables in this week and just see what I come up with.
Stephanie Trinder:
Cool.
Matt Jamieson:
So I did them and, then obviously we went back to work as I did just doing my normal jobs. And my partner, Emma said to me, she goes, "They are incredible. We need to ... Can't just sell this and invoice for Render X. We need to brand this, put a lot of think into it and branch off and do something that's in the same game. So it's Render X, Object X, but not ... If we want to sell it to stores, I don't want to in there and have the tag Render X on it. It's too tradie-like, if you know what I mean? So we came up with the name, Object X, and then we spent a lot of time figuring out our branding, our branding colors, our logo. So we decided to do this in about probably February, 2020-
Stephanie Trinder:
So new.
Matt Jamieson:
And then we launched on the 1st of September, 2020. So it was the first day of spring and we just released the tables that I made earlier in the year.
Stephanie Trinder:
Wow.
Matt Jamieson:
So the tables, they're unique. You can check out the website, Object X, or the Instagram to have a look and see what they look like. But we sort of ... The first range, I didn't want to do them too plain. I wanted to do my split stone finish, which is a marbling effect on them. Because anyone that makes concrete tables can just pour the concrete and make a concrete table in any color. So I wanted to do something that no one else could do, so I could-
Stephanie Trinder:
Or replicate.
Matt Jamieson:
Or replicate, or know how to mix up. So I did my veining and my split stone, and then I pour in epoxy resin over the top to make it super strong. And then I put a satin sealer over that so it looks like a honed stone. But I was sourcing-
Stephanie Trinder:
Beautiful.
Matt Jamieson:
I was sourcing the steel and then taking it to a guy that cuts up the steel and welds it together, then I was driving it to the powder coater and I was just doing all this stuff. So I was, "How-" We sat down Emma, and I, and we're, "How are we going to maintain this if it kicks off?" So by this time we were bringing out the second range, which we did a collaboration with Kel Howard.
Stephanie Trinder:
Yeah, I saw that, yeah.
Matt Jamieson:
And that came out on the 1st of December, and we did a whole new look with it. Because every range we want to bring out, we want it totally different. This range was super organic. I decided why make the legs out of steel and aluminum and powder coat them when I can just render the legs. So instead of running around to all these people, so we decided we'll make the legs, render the legs, render the top, and do all of that in-house. But the second collection we brought out featuring Kel Howard, she designed them with us and we worked together to create something that we both loved and we thought would fit into everyone's home.
Stephanie Trinder:
Awesome.
Matt Jamieson:
It just came out amazing. I still can't believe it, every time I look at the products, how nice they look. So it's sort of Fred Flintstone vibes. I don't know, it's super aged, but lux. But check it out, go on there, have a look at the latest range. It's actually just starting. We're getting a lot of traction over the past month because it started off a little bit slow and we're, "Oh, hopefully this is going to work." We launched the last collection at Rick Shores in Burley Heads-
Stephanie Trinder:
So cool.
Matt Jamieson:
Where I did all the rendering in there, amazing people in there, amazing restaurant. If you're ever on the Gold Coast, go there, Rick Shores. So we did the launch event there and invited a lot of interior designers, big builders, people that own furniture stores, and put on an event for that. That got a lot of traction and now it's cruising along and I've got about four that I need to do next week.
Stephanie Trinder:
Awesome.
Matt Jamieson:
So pulling me off wall a little bit, but super good to do both at the same time and see it's starting to take off.
Stephanie Trinder:
Yeah, absolutely. I wanted to ask if you keep stock on hand, or if you make them for order?
Matt Jamieson:
Yeah, absolutely.
Stephanie Trinder:
So you make them for order?
Matt Jamieson:
Made to order, yeah, yeah.
Stephanie Trinder:
Yeah, okay.
Matt Jamieson:
So someone will inquire and there's a four to six week wait to receive it. And then when you order, we custom make each piece. Yeah.
Stephanie Trinder:
Very cool. So it sounds like a lot of the marketing that has worked for you with Object X has been around collaborations, and networking with the right people.
Matt Jamieson:
Yeah, exactly. Yeah.
Stephanie Trinder:
Has it been facilitated through Instagram as well?
Matt Jamieson:
Yeah, it has, very much so. So my partner, Emma, she has her business is called In The Game PR.
Stephanie Trinder:
Oh, so handy.
Matt Jamieson:
So that helps. So I do my Render X Instagram, because it's my baby. I've been looking after that for about five years now. But Emma does that for a job. She looks after people's social media and she does influencer outreach, a lot of digital marketing. So her and her team do a lot of connecting, feeling out, getting people to come in. And the Instagram was yeah, very, very nice. Posting stories, the lead up to launches and stuff like that. We didn't skim on that at all, that's for sure. So she pumped it up completely with her team like that. I made the pieces, Kel Howard helped us design them. And from that, yeah, we just created something amazing. So good. So good to see it, and so good to see them in people's houses, it just makes you feel amazing. I love it.
Stephanie Trinder:
You should be really proud, they're beautiful and I'm excited to see what the future holds for Object X. The opportunities you have now must look so different to when you first started out in business, so what did those early days look like for you from a marketing perspective?
Matt Jamieson:
Yeah, so the early days when I first started Render X, as I said to you before, when I first started, all my ambitions were just to be a standard renderer that rendered brick homes, and that was it. I had no idea or intentions leading my life the way I have. But just in a nutshell, so there was a guy named [Kenny 00:26:51] who was on The Block, and he was a renderer. And he ended up doing Rock Coat, a product that sell renders in Australia. They brought out a product that he was using on The Block and it's similar to the product I use now. And as soon as it aired on TV, everyone went, "What is this? I want to use this." So they had to keep up with the demand of people wanting to use some product through Rock Coats.
Matt Jamieson:
So they had courses. I did the course through Rock Coat and learnt how to do it. From there, that's what I said before. I started building my business and then I met a man from Italy that lives down in Melbourne. His name is Mario, he's the importer of Giorgio Grayson. So that's the product I use today. And then as soon as I started using his products, I was, "Wow, this is the authentic Italian way. This is where it originated from." I ended up actually flying over to Italy and going to Milan to where they make the products.
Stephanie Trinder:
Wow.
Matt Jamieson:
And I met all the Giorgio Grayson team, and saw what they did over there. But that's sort of what sparked it. With my Google Reviews and that sort of stuff, that was just something I knew I had to have going. Another thing Emma, my partner, that's what she does. She does people's websites and works in that industry. So she said to me, "You need to do this. This is what you need to do."
Stephanie Trinder:
Go Em.
Matt Jamieson:
So the top ... Go Emma. So we tidied all that up, obviously after I'm finished every job and everyone's happy and I get payment, I do ask them to leave a review for me.
Stephanie Trinder:
So important.
Matt Jamieson:
And usually they do, and they'll give me a nice comment. And that definitely helps. But looking at my statistics, I don't necessarily get too much traction of people calling me from my website or from Google. It's just mainly from interior designers, and architects, and people in the trade that are seeing this sort of stuff. And mainly going back to it again, Instagram.
Stephanie Trinder:
Yeah, just really making an impression.
Matt Jamieson:
Yeah. So, yeah, as I said before, Instagram has really grown my business. Obviously it's not just I post a photo on Instagram and then next minute I've got a job. I've put hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of hours into all the content that I take, how I do it. There's so much thinking and care into showing people my product, I guess. How I put it out there. It's not just take a photo, put it up, take a photo of one of the boys doing something funny and put it up. I just, yeah, I have a particular way of my stuff, and it's just how I would like to see it if I was watching it.
Matt Jamieson:
And I think that's why I get most of my work from people seeing that and going, "I want that. He did that restaurant. I want him to do this." But if I have one restaurant where I do a finish, and then another restaurant wants the same finish, I won't do that. So then I've got to figure out a similar finish with a twist on it so we don't end up with a beautiful restaurant in Burley looking exactly the same as another beautiful restaurant in Broad Beach. So you've got a really keep on inventing finishes, keep on inventing colors. Every day ... I've got a color chart of 168 different colors, I think it is.
Stephanie Trinder:
Wow.
Matt Jamieson:
But from there I'm always mixing three different colors. And I think that's the main thing, people seeing different stuff. If they saw the same thing every day it would get boring. People know if they can come to me, they're going to get something that no one has. And I think at the end of the day, that's why I keep on picking up all these amazing projects.
Stephanie Trinder:
No doubt your innovation has been a huge part of your business success. For those listening who are just starting their trade, perhaps even at an apprenticeship level. What advice do you have for them?
Matt Jamieson:
Stick with it. Stick with it. There might be some hard days, you might struggle a little bit with money, and you might work around people that you don't like, or you don't necessarily get along with. But as soon as you're finished your apprenticeship and have enough experience, you can break away from that and you can shape your own life and mold it to exactly however way you want it. Whatever avenue you want to go down, whether you want to be a boutique renderer, whether you want to be a render that's doing high rises, pumping on render every day, whether you're a render that just wants to do render repairs and work for yourself and just live the simple life.
Matt Jamieson:
So it's really up to you. As long as at the end of the day, you finish your apprenticeship. That's the main thing. Get over the line, get a couple of years of experience under your belt, and then you got to know exactly which direction you want to take your life and your work. And just grab it and run with it, because the opportunities are endless and you can do whatever you want.
Stephanie Trinder:
So true. Having your own business can be so challenging, but the freedom that comes after all the hard work is definitely worth it.
Matt Jamieson:
Yeah, for sure.
Matt Jamieson:
And you've got to be able to cope with it, and you've got to be able to meet deadlines, deal with people that you don't necessarily want to deal with, and keep a smile on your face and keep your head up. And if you've got a good vibe, good vibes will just pop up everywhere around you.
Stephanie Trinder:
I'm all about the vibes Matt! I'll add to your advice about the deadlines too by saying, you have to accept that admin comes with the territory. At least until you can afford to outsource it.
Matt Jamieson:
That's it. And you can't ... One bit of advice I'd give you, can't let it bank up. I get home every day, as much as I don't want to do it, I get back to every single email. Otherwise you'll hit Thursday and you've got 20 in your inbox and you go, "What am I doing?" And you work until 10:30 at night time. I just get home, bang out however many emails you got. Say if you've got 10 inquiries that day, get back to every one, and then do the same the next day. Maybe if you have one day off, that's fine. You got a little bit more work to do the next day, but always keep hacking at it. And you just, yeah, you can't be lazy. You've got to just keep up.
Stephanie Trinder:
It becomes a part of your routine.
Matt Jamieson:
Exactly. Once it is in your routine, it's just life. And that's it.
Stephanie Trinder:
Yeah, exactly.
Matt Jamieson:
And you reap the benefits. It's good.
Stephanie Trinder:
Totally. Before we wrap up Matt, do you have any marketing specific tips you would like to share with the listeners?
Matt Jamieson:
Well, I guess my best tip would be with your content you're going to put on social media and your website, make sure it's professional. Spend that extra little bit of money and get a professional photographer out to come on site, make sure they know what they're doing obviously, but make your content look unbelievable. Don't just do something off your iPhone and put that up, get a professional photographer and get proper, legit, good photos that are going to appeal to your audience.
Stephanie Trinder:
It's definitely worth the investment. You don't realise the difference in quality and the time it saves you until you make the leap and start paying for your content creation.
Matt Jamieson:
That's it, exactly.
Matt Jamieson:
Yeah. And as you mentioned before, the video that I did, that's another thing I would recommend. Getting someone that does a good video to tell a story about you. So your clients know a little bit about your background before you come into their house, they can sort of trust you. Because I try to attach my video to my quote, so they feel like they get to know me before I come on site, and they're happy to let me come into their house.
Stephanie Trinder:
For sure. And make sure you check out Matt's video before you work with a videographer because it really does set the standard for video marketing, partcularly what can be achieved when you combine video and storytelling. Even though I have never met you before, coming in to this interview I felt like I already knew you just from watching that video. It's super professional and does a great job of connecting people with your brand, beyond your services.
Matt Jamieson:
Aw, thanks so much for the kind words. And that video is on my website on Render X. So that's where you can see it, or on my Instagram, about 20 photos down, I'd say.
Stephanie Trinder:
Yeah just to clarify thats renderx.com.au, and the Instagram handle is Render.X.
Matt Jamieson:
Awesome. Well, thank you so much for having me on today, Steph. I really appreciate it, and I've had a ball.
Stephanie Trinder:
Thanks for your time Matt!
Matt Jamieson:
Thanks so much. And thanks to all the viewers who've tuned into this, and I hope you like the story.