http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ Videomaker Community Forums » Tag: profit - Recent Posts en Thu, 16 Feb 2012 04:28:42 +0000 http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/what-should-i-charge-1#post-74795 Wed, 15 Feb 2012 02:56:30 +0000 Larry Williams 74795@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p> i have recently came into a simular problem not an over all pricing but pricing for greenscreen editing </p> <p>I noticed its starting to hit my pockets but its not doing that when i do shoots in natual locations it when i do a green screen, between the rendering and editing green screen footage it makes the edit process brutal. i charged 400 for a 5 minute music video but i was editing green screen fotage on both of my macs for about a total of 18 hours in doing that pushed back a couple of my other projects i was working on baically what im asking is does anyone have advice about the editing of greenscreen and should i charge a put up and tear down fee </p> <p>i have a big arsonel of equipment also that is all paid off becasue of military duties </p> <p>equipment i have</p> <p>canon T2I mulitple lenses</p> <p>Canon xha1</p> <p>steadicam with vest and spring arm </p> <p>8-12 foot crane</p> <p>tripods</p> <p>monopod</p> <p>tripod dollies </p> <p>green screen set up </p> <p>lighting </p> <p>microphones </p> <p>reflectors </p> <p>a 20 inch imac with fcp7 and 13 inch macbookpro with fcp7and pc with sony vegas and sony music studio</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/what-should-i-charge-1#post-74787 Tue, 14 Feb 2012 20:22:09 +0000 cfxcorp 74787@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>You have to ask yourself, too...Do you want to do this work at these rates?&nbsp; Word gets out and you will probably get referrals that you may or may not want to commit to.&nbsp; Can you sub the work out (supervise it) and then mark it up X% ?</p> <p>I think your price is reasonable for the time you estimated.&nbsp; This project will add to your portfolio so you can show the next potential client what they will get for their money and your time.</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/what-should-i-charge-1#post-74786 Tue, 14 Feb 2012 19:59:39 +0000 Kolyssa 74786@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>I have so much equipment because it's all I ask for on christmas lists, birthday lists, etc. and all the money I make from video production goes right back to buy more equipment :) You could say video is my life... because it is at the moment. </p> <p>Oaken Beeson, where are you located? That might make a difference. I feel like if I charge that much people might not take me seriously. But then again I've never tried. Also I'm only 21. I'm located in Milwaukee WI. </p> <p>I decided to charge $2500 for the entire project.</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/what-should-i-charge-1#post-74673 Sat, 11 Feb 2012 14:55:31 +0000 Cinebasics 74673@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>I'm kinda impressed with the amount of gear you have for a beginner, so to speak. That's more than what most people use unless you're borrowing or renting all that. All I can tell you is what I charge, which is the best way to come up with prices. Try and find people who do w the kind of work you do and see what they charge. I'm at 125 hour for shooting and 85 an hour for editing. So far no one complains ;)</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/what-should-i-charge-1#post-74648 Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:16:54 +0000 Kolyssa 74648@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>@Mike, That's a brilliant website! Thanks for the link! I've always been slightly opposed to hourly rates only because I was living in a college dorm and my hours would often be interrupted by roommates or other things. But now that I have my own office space I think you're right, I should consider that! I think $50/hour sounds reasonable... here's my equipment list:</p> <p>Panasonic GH1 with multiple lenses</p> <p>Canon 550D with multiple lenses</p> <p>Tripods, monopods, etc.</p> <p>Boom mic, lapel mic, hand-held mic + Zoom H4n Recorder</p> <p>LED lighting</p> <p>Adobe CS5.5 on my 27" iMac (I also have FCPX, but I prefer Adobe...).</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/what-should-i-charge-1#post-74645 Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:51:41 +0000 Mike Wilhelm 74645@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Have you considered coming up with an hourly rate as opposed to a per-minute finished rate? Check out this rate calculator: <a href="http://freelanceswitch.com/rates/">http://freelanceswitch.com/rates/</a></p> <p>I'd say $50-$100 /hour would be a reasonable rate, depending of course on what equipment you're using.</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/what-should-i-charge-1#post-74644 Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:50:54 +0000 Kolyssa 74644@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Hello! I found this forum on Google and I've seen lots of experienced people giving their advice here, so I thought I would try it out!</p> <p>I usually charge $100/min of edited footage when I make promo or recap videos. (So a 5 min video = $500). That's perfect for my target audience and the kind of videos I make. However, I was recently approached with a project that I am unsure how to price. Here are the details:</p> <p>8 to 10 videos at 15-20 minutes each. The content is educational lecture. We'll probably spend a day (8 hours) filming all the videos, then my guess is that it will take about 60 hours of editing to get everything put together within the next 3 months (I'm a college student with classes so yes, it will take that long). With my *usual* pricing formula, the quote could be like $15,000!!! And that's way out of my client's budget. I understand that the editing for these videos will actually be minimal compared to my usual work :::::: <a href="https://vimeo.com/17085389" rel="nofollow">https://vimeo.com/17085389</a> ::::: so it will cost less. But I also don't want to be taken advantage of.</p> <p>If you need to know anything else, please let me know! Other than that any advice is very appreciated :)</p> <p>-Kolyssa</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/working-for-free#post-74097 Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:56:34 +0000 Petar 74097@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Me no expert but you need to do some projects for free for confidence and respect, only you can decide when you start charging people for your work. You dont have to be scared if you ask money for your work its how business works.</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/working-for-free#post-73829 Sat, 07 Jan 2012 11:58:52 +0000 vid-e-o-man 73829@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>&nbsp;Mark, you might start your search for a name for your company at your state's attorney general's office. My state has a fictious name registry. You decide on a name and check with them about it's use. Your state may be different but worth looking into. In my state the fee for name registry is nominal and is good for a number of years and easy to renew.</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/working-for-free#post-73821 Sat, 07 Jan 2012 01:43:39 +0000 Mark 73821@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Earl -</p> <p>yes I do most of y forum searching at night, when the kids are asleep. And when I came up with this handle, I was a big wrestling fan. I am all over the internet as stonecoldmark, so I just keep running with it. It's not often someone calls me out on it.</p> <p>I am just starting to get my feet wet with the marketing. However I did run into a problem with a video company already having a name that me and my brother in law picked out. So we are going back to the drawing board. I've tried contacting a few of the places you recommend for video work, but so far nothing. but I am going to be working on getting my website, facebook and twitter all situated for all things dealing with Videography. I am also looking into the direct mailing that you speak of. I have made a list of 10+ places so far and plan on keeping a running log that I am eventually going to enter into a database and print off labels. I'm also going to be putting a reel together to show the different things I have recorded for people over this past year. It's quite diverse.</p> <p>Love the tips, keep 'em coming!</p> <p> </p> <p> </p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/working-for-free#post-73053 Sun, 04 Dec 2011 04:45:10 +0000 EarlC 73053@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Running into you a lot tonight, well wee hours of a Sunday morning for me ... sleepless in Southern California. R U any relation to Stone Cold Steve Austin? Just kidding ...</p> <p>A day rate is good to have, depending on what you're working/bidding. So is a half-day rate. NOTE: half day rate is usually higher, on average, for 4-6 hours, than a day rate for 8-12 hours, sort of develops an incentive for the client to go with the DAY rate, as it saves them some money in the event production goes south and can't wrap in half-a-day.</p> <p>I keep my math simple and try to average a $70 per hour rate (used to have two, one for shooting, one for editing, but ...) and occasionally do better than that, but sometimes do worse. I usually use my target hourly fee as the basis for flat fee or turnkey estimates ... not always a win-win, especially if you're a bit too optimistic on how quickly you can get the work done.</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/working-for-free#post-73046 Sun, 04 Dec 2011 02:05:57 +0000 Mark 73046@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>WOW! What a great topic to just stumble upon. I am at this stage right now. I decided to go back to school last Fall (2010), and during that time, I did not mind working for free, I was gaining experience shooting all sorts of different video, and recently did a job for a charity that turned out to be the most professional thing I have done. </p> <p>I am currently finishing up my last 2 weeks of schools, and I have two more obligations to do for free and I have decided that at the beginning of the new year I am no longer working for free.</p> <p>The other question I have is I have no idea what one would charge per day. It seems on here $500 is considered a 1/2 day of expenses. Does that mean that most Videographers are charging $1K/day? I find it hard to believe that there are that many people out there charging $1K/day.</p> <p>What about editing, I am also positioning myself to edit the content as well. That is a separate fee, what do people charge for editing? That of course is in many ways more time consuming than shooting.</p> <p>-stonecoldmark</p> <p> </p> <p> </p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/working-for-free#post-70624 Tue, 30 Aug 2011 20:10:39 +0000 John Tate 70624@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>&nbsp;If you believe you have enough work under your belt so you have good sample footage of your work, and your now confident/know the ropes. Then yes start charging. "Yeah i can edit this film for you, i'm going to have to charge a fee though" Work out a deal, if they insist on not paying say your going to have to pass then.</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/working-for-free#post-68050 Tue, 17 May 2011 18:45:40 +0000 SargeHero 68050@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Aaaaa...working for free, been there, done that. I worked for free initially to gain some experience, but later on you really need to say, "okay, no more free gigs from me". Like Composite mentioned,<em> "keep an eye out for folks who are just trying to hook you in to get free labor", </em> those people are everywhere in the world, you just need to be firm when is time to ask for money. At first is a little scary, but if you don't learn how to do this, the "parasites" will eat you. What I do is start with a high price and keep negotiating until me and the client agree on the price. </p> <p>One thing I do for free is church and family members social activities. I get some income by selling DVD and the good thing is that church and family members market your product, increasing the chances of selling DVD. A family member of mine manage to get me 25 DVD to sell at $15 each. I'm editing a church activity and they are making a list of people interested in buying DVD (around 10 people right now). For the church the DVD is $20, but I'm donating $5 for each DVD I sell to the church. This is a good strategy because people could buy the DVD to make a donation to their church and preserve and amazing DVD. </p> <p>You are going to learn many things along the way, just don't stop learning. If you are going to work for free be sure to do gigs in which you can learn more than you already know. </p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/working-for-free#post-68042 Tue, 17 May 2011 13:22:42 +0000 Tim 68042@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Great advice.  Thank you guys.  It's tough having bills and live and still keep at it.  You've bee a big help though.  If've any of you are in Dallas drop me a message.  I'm open to work on whatever's going on.  Thanks again.</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/working-for-free#post-68019 Mon, 16 May 2011 15:22:16 +0000 composite1 68019@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Tim,</p> <p>Grinner called the ball on this one. I'll add that you'll also need to keep an eye out for folks who are just trying to hook you in to get free labor. There are dump truck loads of parasites out there like that who prey upon newbies trying to break in. That said, I've done in-house gigs where we weren't paying. However, nobody got paid on those gigs (including me) and I made that plain. </p> <p>On the other hand, I made it worth the while for those who worked those gigs with perks on the job and covered their meals, lodging and transportation while they were on location. That and they all got paraphernalia swag associated with the project and a first run pressed copy of the final product. Anyone who works those freebies get first call for crew and such during paying gigs. Most of the people I work with regularly all did a freebie either initially or later on.</p> <p>Before hooking up on a freebie, ask around for people who've worked with that producer/production company before and see how they are about giving 'reach arounds'. If they turn out to be a 'one-way' outfit (you work one for free then find your way out the door) give them the 'thanks but no thanks'. Now, if you find a project you're enthused about just make sure whoever you work with is good about giving what was promised. Credits and Reel fodder (as Grinner called it) are only good if you actually get them.</p> <p>Hard truth is; when you're just a student or an otherwise newb trying to break in, you're going to have to do some freebies. Just pick and choose when and how many you do wisely. In the meantime, network with the people you work with as more often than not, newb's get picked up for crews because somebody knows them because they worked them before. </p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/working-for-free#post-67989 Sun, 15 May 2011 06:12:23 +0000 grinner 67989@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p> Nobody should work for free unless they are passionate about the charity. That said, we've all done gigs for no currency.... in trade for the other benefits involved, be in contacts, reel fodder, or that client's name on our resume. That's all you have to weigh... can you afford the time invested knowing it'll pay no bills that month and how many bills with that pay down the road. </p> <p>Free is subjective sometimes too. Even spec gigs will cover expenses sometimes and owning your own gear, of course you have xpenses even if you don't whoop up a b udget for a shoot. Meaning, you can always counter with, I don't mind doing a spec gig for you t his time as way of introducing myself, how about a check for 500 to cover my costs then we'll negotiate pricing on the next one? As you know that paints you in a corner because they'll ALWAYS expect the same time next time but in their mind you are doing it for nada and possinly in yours you squeezed at least a half day's pay out of it. </p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/working-for-free#post-67988 Sun, 15 May 2011 03:46:26 +0000 WSanford 67988@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>&nbsp;Its not just in video, its in every walk of life. Not only is there a sucker born every minute but ten of those looking to take advantage of each of those suckers.</p> <p>It may seem easy to get caught up in the trap of doing "Pro Bono" work to build a portfolio and get some references that will sing your praises but more like giving into the easy way that never seems to work out. Once you start working for someone for free or even at the "Best Buddy" cut rate, they won't ever be able to understand the full rate or your real worth.</p> <p>It may seem like a longer road but don't cut yourself short. If you take care of yourself first you can take care of a family and then any charity you wish but if you let the charity work run the show you'll never get anywhere.</p> <p>There are some cases where it wouldn't hurt to help someone out but IMHO you don't ever want it to lead to "Go talk to this guy, he's cheap". <a href="http://shouldiworkforfree.com/clean.html">http://shouldiworkforfree.com/clean.html</a></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/working-for-free#post-67987 Sun, 15 May 2011 03:04:37 +0000 vid-e-o-man 67987@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Tim, probably just about everybody on this forum has struggled with this. You will have to gain enough confidence in yourself and your abilities as a videographer, producer etc. to feel comfortable actually charging for your work. This confidence may only come with some amount of 'free' work. Maybe the best way to make this transition is to set some goals for yourself. Tell yourself that you will shoot 'x' amount of interviews or events or video resumes for actor etc. before you begin to charge for this work. Stick to your schedule and announce when you reach 'x + 1' that your schedule has become crowded and you can only fit paying gigs in. As you gain experience from these freebies, make sure that you get in writing that you retain rights to your work so you can use it for your video resume that you will use to promote yourself. Keep shooting.</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/working-for-free#post-67985 Sun, 15 May 2011 02:09:42 +0000 Tim 67985@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>I've just moved to a large metro area and have networked with several groups, mainly artists and performers, that have opened up a great number of opportunities for video work for me.  I'm a film student right now, but I've been doing video for around 7 years now.  My dilemma is that a lot of people come to me asking me to help them out by producing a video on the grounds that it'd be good experience, build my resume, spread my name...ect.  I realize that to a degree situations like that are true.  I just don't know at what point I can say "Ok, but you have to pay me." I want to build resume and all that, but honestly I'm afraid of becoming the guy that works for free.</p> <p>Any advice.</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/space-shuttle-launch-posting-advice#post-65917 Sun, 27 Feb 2011 09:36:01 +0000 designcbts 65917@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p> I used two camcorders to capture the launch, from 15 miles away.  From what I'm seeing on YouTube and CNN, most of the other videos are closer.  They don't capture a wide angle and are short due to cloud cover.  I do have a reasonable close-up (20X zoom on my Sony HDR-FX1000.</p> <p>I'm just getting started in the world of video for profit - especially on the web.  My question is:</p> <p>Should I join a stock footage site and hope for takers or post my footage to YouTube or CNN to get exposre?</p> <p> </p> <p>Any constructive replies will be greatly appreciated!</p> <p> </p> <p>Ed Rogers</p> <p>Fidelity Productions LLC</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/building-or-increasing-your-business#post-61386 Mon, 09 Aug 2010 08:16:51 +0000 EarlC 61386@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Thanks, Luis, for your words of support, your interest and participation in Video StoryTellers!™ and I also wanted to thank you for the video producer in South Africa who is considering participation due to your recent referral. In addition to Puerto Rico (Luis) being onboard with VST, we have Mississippi. Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Florida in the program, along with Australia and Canada. This is going to be HUGE, and mostly with thanks to Luis and others who show a lot of enthusiasm for its potential as a world wide branding and marketing strategy based on a simple, affordable and important service with heavy socially oriented approach.</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/building-or-increasing-your-business#post-61263 Wed, 04 Aug 2010 10:15:32 +0000 SargeHero 61263@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p><em>"Thanks SargeHero (Luis) for leading me to that useful tool."</em></p> <p>Dropbox have become a necessity for me. I have use it to sent video samples to clients. I encourage everyone to take a look at it. </p> <p>Like Earl mentioned Video StoryTellers™ offers an immense amount of business opportunities. I'm proud to be Video StoryTellers™ associate for Puerto Rico and this program is simply genius, works in every corner of the planet. You don't believe me? Feel free to check it out at  <a href="http://www.videostorytellers.com/VST/Welcome.html">Video StoryTellers™</a></p> <p>PS: Spanish speakers, feel free to visit <a href="http://www.xeneuxe.com/vst/Language_Selection/Select_Language_Seleccione_Idioma.html">Video StoryTellers™ in Spanish. </a></p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/building-or-increasing-your-business#post-61258 Wed, 04 Aug 2010 09:00:00 +0000 EarlC 61258@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>If you have just started a video production business and want to develop a major branding video service program, or if you are an established independent video services provider and seek to expand beyond your current market offerings, drop me an e-mail.</p> <p>I have begun a program that focuses on an area of video production that is under served, with a demographic that is currently numbered at 39 million and will reach 100 million by 2029 in the U.S.A. alone. This program has a world wide marketing potential based on a simple and affordable production concept that anyone who enjoys producing video can quickly adapt to their current business model.</p> <p>While it starts simple and sweet with a low price point, the business offers a multitude of opportunities for up-sells, referrals and renewable business in an area where, if every person making video for money on the planet served this demographic it would not become saturated.</p> <p>Visit <a href="http://www.videostorytellers.com">Video StoryTellers!™</a> and study the website carefully, check out the existing associates and if you like the concept and want to be a part of it ask for the information PDF and I will attach to an e-mail reply or make it available at <a href="http://www.dropbox.com">Dropbox</a>. You DO use Dropbox, don't you  ;-) Thanks SargeHero (Luis) for leading me to that useful tool.</p> <p>E-mail me at <a href="mailto:echessher@hotmail.com">echessher@hotmail.com</a> or visit my video marketing blog at <a href="http://www.eccomeecgo.blogspot.com">E.C. Come, E.C. Go</a></p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/sharing-resources-to-help-everyone-make-more-profit-in-online-video#post-56841 Sun, 28 Mar 2010 04:14:41 +0000 oseeit.com 56841@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>I just visited <a href="http://www.reelseo.com">http://www.reelseo.com</a> and they seem to have a lot of online video marketing information that may be helpful.  Please share any other resources that might be helpful for everyone in the video industry who wants to capitalize on the rapidly growing online video market.  Help yourself and your business clients make more money.</p> <p>All The Best!</p> <p> </p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/inspiration#post-56829 Sat, 27 Mar 2010 08:32:57 +0000 grinner 56829@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p> I wouldn't say I skipped a business plan, I just didn't have to spend time thinking about it or writing it. The plan is to do what I have to to provide for my family. I could have typed out a plan, I guess but, as John Lennon said, life would have happened while I wasted that time.</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/why-should-businesses-choose-video-instead-of-other-advertising#post-56828 Sat, 27 Mar 2010 08:30:27 +0000 grinner 56828@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p> Many are habitual. Look how many car ads you see on tv that cannot be afforded today. Why do they continue to pay for folks to pee, hit the fridge and tivo through their spots? Because their daddy advertised on tv. Seriously, that's why. Evolving them to web advertising is like putting a computer mouse in my grandpa's hand. It scares them. It's ironic how many companies pretend and even advertise to lead the industry. Truth is they all wait for the other guy to make a move then they do it. When one follows, they simply can't be the leader.</p> <p> </p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/why-should-businesses-choose-video-instead-of-other-advertising#post-56825 Sat, 27 Mar 2010 05:47:35 +0000 oseeit.com 56825@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Thanks Grinner.  To your point regarding affording a great video, most businesses would realize that in most cases, video will provide a better advertising ROI.  A great question to ask businesses is; if they consider advertising an investment or cost.  There is usually a higher cost for not doing great advertising, which is lost market share.  Without customers, we have no business.  Even the most successful companies continue to advertise, since someone else is always trying to grab your market share.    </p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/inspiration#post-56823 Sat, 27 Mar 2010 05:06:54 +0000 oseeit.com 56823@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Nothing beats a great business plan and hard work, however, some inspiration along the way sure helps.  When you need some extra motivation, just Search for inspirational or motivational quotes.</p> <p>Please share your favorite one(s).  </p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/why-should-businesses-choose-video-instead-of-other-advertising#post-56787 Thu, 25 Mar 2010 18:44:39 +0000 grinner 56787@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p> I'd rather watch it than read it.</p> <p>Same thing... different wording. </p> <p>All businesses know this, some just don't know they can afford great video. </p>