If you want to turn your freelance business into a video production company, check out this one-hour training on my website. www.filmmakingmentor.com/Video_Production_Accelerator_Opt_In
20+ years as a studio owner here, also remember to include video storage to your price. Each client of mine has their own hard drive that I include in my price. Also, if the client wants me to shoot in 4k that's additional expense. Bigger files, larger storage. Some clients will want to keep the footage for themselves but in all my years of doing this only one agency did this. I always bill the bid, if it takes me half the time to edit, they are still paying what I bid it out for. Also, I never charge hourly for shooting. I always charge half or full day rate even if I only shoot for an hour. Remember, travel and set up times.
Listen you keep me coming with these videos man!!! You eventually cracked the RU-vid code on the type of content that works for you man. Keep it up! And oh I’m trying to set up a proper company instead of freelancing
I've been looking and waiting for content like this for years! I feel like you either have to know someone who's in the industry and then pay them for consultation to get this kind of information. I get that these are kind of "trade secrets" but for someone who's been trying to break out of the freelance world & has no idea on where to start to look to get this kind of building-a-business information, I am so happy you've made videos like this. I'm definitely going to consider looking into your course. In the meantime, I wanted to thank you for putting out this content for free. It means a lot and I bet I'm not the only one out here who feels this way. Thanks a million
I followed exactly this path. I started with tight margin projects as a hired set of hands that recorded and edited. Once I proved to my market place that I could deliver, I “niched down” into highly specific topic areas in which I am a respected expert and melded my production skills with my specialized knowledge and boom; more revenue bcz now I was providing more value. My caveat is that while my rates and revenue increased it didn’t all shoot up at once; it took a little time but overall I still had MORE to play with.
This is great advice, thank you, I am finding your channel to be very informative to freelancers like myself. I really keyed on the last couple of minutes in which you discuss what really matters: the value and results that you bring to a client, which is what will have clients coming back for more. I've noticed that most of us who do freelance work (specially those of us who are very much artistically inclined) are usually more concerned with the quality of the video production rather than the goal of the video, and that leads to amazing videos that great looking and entertaining, but that are not always effective at generating sales. As for me, I do my video production on a part-time basis and more for the love of the art than for the money, so shifting the paradigm from being a creator to being a salesman is not something I want to do, yet I realize that effective content distribution is critical for success. Sorry about the winded comment, I'll end with a question: what could be a profitable business model for those who love being a one-man band and have no desire to grow a video production agency?
Thank you for your comment and great question. I think if you enjoy being a one man band, there is plenty of avenues for it. I would highly specialized though so you can get paid for your expertise. For example, for freelancers that do not want a company to worry about, I recommend becoming a great DP and really mastering the craft. For individuals that want to run a one person company, I usually recommend value based offering, such as helping a small business get clients through video. You'll have to help them get the video out there too in order to see a full value and result of the video. So DP career if you just love shooting and don't want to deal with production and small businesses in a specific niche that have a hard time marketing and making a marketing video for them and help distribute that video.
YUP!!!!! Loving this info. I hit that SUB and the bell BOYYYY.... My biggest issues are defining a niche and then the marketing & messaging in a way that resonates with the niche but still unique to me. I'm very interested in the new course when it's ready. Congrats on a great channel and best of LUCK making the course. --- P.S. --- I'll be Chicago Later today.
Awesome, thank you. Chicago is actually really nice today. Usually, it's freezing in December. Let me know what other type of content you want covered in the course. I'm gonna focus a lot of niche and creating effective marketing around it.
Great advice! Thanks! “Be the premier price of your area”. I feel as if my skills are much higher and I get it all the time from clients and I feel as if I’m competing price wise to get their business. I have to realize I am an asset to the project and not just someone who needs to do it for little pay competing with the other content creators in the Houston area that are no where near the caliber of content I can produce. Knowledge is power, I know a lot more about editing and filming so It should only be right I charge a higher price if my products blow the competition out of the water. Thanks again! Solid advice!
You are a genius and that is exactly what I was planning to do moving forward was an Ad retainer. Any advice on getting meetings with potential clients before your name gets out there?
I was overwhelmed within the first 1 minute of the video, lol. The network and possible clients I deal with are nowhere near this level of budget either. I do EVERYTHING. For me there's no such thing as a crew. I AM the crew. A couple months ago I even almost lost money on a 2-day project. My profit? $11. Parking fees put me in the red, until the client felt bad and gave me a bonus. My mistake was agreeing to a pitiful amount. Won't make that mistake again. It's better to collect unemployment! I'd literally make more money working at a fast food restaurant.
Yea it’s a place we were all at or are at some point in this career. Hopefully I can help with some more tactical videos on how to escape that spot. We’ve all been there though
@@Filmmakingmentor I’ve been doing it professionally for like 3 years…I’m shutting down and redoing everything and promoting to a better paying audience
To be honest I love this channel it’s just what I needed some really good business side info about videography 🙏🏽❤️ thankyou so much for making this content it was hardly needed
Not selling yourself short on your own prices is what call girls have known for a long time. The more they charge, the better they get treated. And for other businesses, one thing about not being afraid to set your prices high is that you price out customers who are going to try to get you to charge less, and who will expect you to deliver the product quickly, but will try to delay as much as possible when it comes to them paying you. There's a local photographer who does senior portraits a lot. Nothing greatly unique, just the usual nice outfit, makeup and retouching. And as she got more clients and took the next step of raising her prices, she noted in an interview that after she raised her prices she had an easier time dealing with clients. You can literally help yourself out by pricing out flaky people. One thing about pricing high is that the people who can afford it, part of their pleasure for paying for it is the validation they get from being able to afford it while others either can't or would shy away from it. Works in the fashion industry so well that it's their foundation.
Hey Saj, that is really great advice and a great SEO-based title. The real one would probably be, "how to price based on value" or "give clients what they are ACTUALLY looking for". If you're not familiar with them, you should check out Chris Do and his "The Futur" channel. He is the one from whom I learned most of this. Keep the great content coming. I'm based in Germany though, and your course seems to focus on the US. Are you also going to do something on the "value-based pricing" topic? I come from the online marketing/web design area industry by the way. now venturing more into video platforms, which is probably the best way to digitalize expert services and to detach income from work hours (also a great topic for your course maybe)
Hey. I do love a good SEO based title since this channel is still small. I do like the Future. I remember watching one of his video years ago about charging 15k for a logo and I found it super valuable. I'm still outlining the course based on feedback I'm getting and from RU-vid comments. I'm trying to break up the pricing section into two parts, similar to this video. I found value based pricing to be beneficial for projects under 20k. But when working with agencies and fortune 500, they still prefer the traditional pricing. So I think it's good to know both and use the correct model based on the client you want to go after. I think lot of the course, specially creating a marketing plan, landing pages, advertising, and sales would be pretty universal. As far as business structure, taxes and payroll, rates, it would be based on my knowledge in the U.S. I'm sure those will be a bit different in Germany.
Sir, thank you so much for this content, perfect for someone like me who struggles with the business side of things! You say the exact things I need to hear and learn.
@@Filmmakingmentor can you please help me with a link to purchase the one you have? That has an estimate sheet that automatically calculate for you please and thanks
Fantastic video. I completely agree that niche identity is huge. It's taken me far. I have also said plenty of times that I won't participate in the race to the bottom, and I won't. If you want me...you'll have to pay.
Great video Saj, really appreciate all the wisdom you share across your channels. I first found you on tiktok and just came across your Channel. Looking forward to seeing more of your work and growing using some of your tips. Thanks again for sharing 🤙🏽
Great video and channel! It reminds me when I started a handyman service with my friend, we were scared to charge an average price, and we had hard time with customers, they were mostly just rude and not willing to pay sometimes, however our quality was above average. After realizing that, and raising prices, we started getting more customers with the same advertising expenses, and making more money eventually! And the customers have become nicer. Unfortunately, there are always those guys who offer services for cheap, and not only they underprice themselves, but they also make customers get used to lower prices, which is bad for everyone in the sphere. The best advice - don’t be cheap, even when you just start. Planning to move to Dallas and start video production in March!
What a great video. Been watching a ton of your content lately and love it all! I'm super passionate about pricing and profit. So often I see people feel like the have to justify their pricing and when they feel that way they tend to lower it so they feel like it'll be less of an issue. People, don't do that! I guarantee you your pricing is usually never high enough, there is so much time that goes into running your business that you're probably not even paying yourself for and overhead your forgetting that should be factored into your business.
Great video, Saj! This was truly helpful. I mainly do solo work and I always have a hard time knowing how to price myself, since I'm the one making sure the audio is okay, directing the talent, setting up the lights, filming, etc. Would you recommend that I include what hiring a gaffer/DoP/audio technician/etc would cost into my own personal day rate?
That’s really hard to do and justify to the client. I would just recommend expanding your crew to more than yourself. So you don’t do all those things and you can raise your price that way. I’ve never seen anyone justify charging a full rate for doing multiple jobs. The client needs to see more people on set to understand why they are paying for multiple people
@@Filmmakingmentor Thanks for the response Saj, and fair point. Charging that full amount per position is probably out of the question but I would imagine a slight increase in day rate is justified.
Yea I use to do that. For example, if I was shooting and my rate was 600 and the producer asked me to do sound, I would charge another 150. And I would also charge for more gear since I need to bring audio gear now too.
@@Filmmakingmentor Okay cooleo. I figured your rate would have to go up at least a little. Well thanks, man! I just subbed to the channel and hit all notifications on 🤙🏼
some people have been reporting your website as a dangerous site. please fix or comment saying that this will not harm my computer in any way. so i can join. a red screen showed after pressing the notify me button.
This is great content. Awesome work. The only addition I would offer sir is for companies to hire an actual marketing person (a rainmaker). The marketing people who hire you. Get one of those people on your team.
There isn't really a good source for that. I learned about different day rates by talking to other freelancers and by hiring freelancers on projects. It's different in each market and unless you are in a union, there isn't really a place to find this information.
Thanks Well I agree with some Points Can be large company pay that much round $5000 But these companies will never come to freelancer to make that video for them They most ask for Agency Unfortunately almost impossible to get this kind of job can be one or two timers but not regularly What about amazon video from 20sec to 60sec Do you know how much they ask for this kind of video but professionally ? They ask for Max 150£!! Unfortunately photography and video slowly will disappear for sometime Most people they do by himself
Hence why you need to give more than the commoditized items( photo, video). You paint the picture for them of what your creative will do, IE people flying in, creating money moves,, You have the ability to create content for them, that DIRECTLY gives ROI. If your invoice is in list form, you need to adapt. i would only give an itemized invoice, if it were for a specific reason, a tax thing or accounting variables. As your business grows, your doing one thing: giving results, they do not care about you needed to rent soft boxes or a red camera or an 8k editor or any 0other B.s. people try to justify pricing. Andthat is just it, if you have to justify your price, you need to adjust your approach. If you have a customer that from the jumpo is wanting to know every thing your doing , why, or "can you do it without it or a cheaper way?" save yourself time and effort and end it, give back any depostit that day. this will make 2 things happen, 1. you saved your self the hastle and possibly missing more profitable jobs due yto Capt. Cheapskate and is large collection of pennies he has saved. ahaha. or 2. you Set the tone(which most times would be already done, but we all start at 0.) and the person quickly checks himself and realizes im overstepping and being a Dick. You may even shut down a pre- or otherwise productio that has gone on, and pack up the truck and figure out a deposit return better if instant or with in 24 hours...NO later. So now Dickie has nothing going on, and gets home to the basement, haha, and thinks they can find some one else or cheapher, etc. etc. and over the next 4hrs realizes there was a reason he chose your co., and see the great reviews where people say they should have been paying more. Long story too long, he takes his head out of his rectum, and calls you crying and begging. You make him sweat it out, and there will be additional charges for having to rent stuff all over again( what they dont know wont klill them, but also dont be adick yourself and grossly over charge.) show up next day, maybe telling a story of how you finagled the rentable stuff in otder to get the shot done. j Sorry for the rant, also this stuff happens in real life business, that you can only learn through experience. No book , or at least no book written in last 20 years, haha, will tell you this stuff. If it does, one stiull has to have the intuitive abilities to call the shots and have the Coconuts to back up what you say. Best wishes to all. Davy@STUN
You’re very negative in your mindset. Video will NEVER go away. If you’re a company and want a good marketing video you CANNOT do it yourself no matter what you or the company wanting to make the video says. Imagine being a high end company but your promo videos are made with an iPhone that’s very embarrassing. These companies will hire someone like me or you to do the work for them since you have the equipment, and experience using the equipment. This is my experience. Don’t be negative!
@@adnan_velic thank you for the advice Yes I should be honest I am sometime give up and negative you are right What I was tried to say that good pay client is not easy to find it Or big company they don’t need professional videographer because they shot with their iPhone You can check Instagram many big companies they have video with was done by smart phone How they will come to me and you to shot their video By the way, I do shot short videos for promotion So these clients are tidy budget for video projects The max price they pay for pro 60 seconds video £150 So I don’t know how other videographer pay their bills Or maybe I am too cheap I was trying to increase the price but as soon as increase the price they never back !
I know lot of production companies they do have gear. They simply rent gear when needed or hire freelancers with gear to do the job. You don’t get bigger clients because of gear. You get them because of your finished videos. The client could care less if the gear is owned or rented or borrowed
They pay for access to your brain (creativity) and not your gear. You may rent some gear that is job specific. You may buy some gear to expand your availability for last minute jobs (last minute pop up shoots) or to practice workflow concepts, test creative theories and techniques or just to have some fun.
