What to charge when you are first starting out?

imageonepictures

imageonepictures

Well-known member
Hey,

I am a Writer/Director/Producer and I did my first feature last July 2007 and now I want to do videography which would mean commercials, shooting live events/weddings and that sort of thing.

What does one charge when they first start out? I think I will be getting a Panasonic HVX200 and it would be a single cam shoot and I have a MacBook Pro with Final Cut Studio 2.

Any ideas? Did you find your first gigs a challenge?

Chris
 
For your own sake, if you're getting into the wedding videography business, I'd suggest finding some people who don't require videography services for theirs and offering to do them for free to build a portfolio and work out the kinks. If you do well, they'll be very happy with it and hopefully recommend friends and you'll have great portfolio work. If you don't do well, well, they likely won't care and won't bad mouth you as they weren't going to get the video work done in the first place and they didn't waste any money on it.

It's a very unforgiving business, good luck going into it, if you're great you can make some good money.

Corporate events, well, break down a hourly and day rate + equipment rental (whether using your own or renting) and stick to your prices. Commercials, as I'm sure you understand, are another beast entirely. Start networking with ad agencies.
 
Wedding videography can be very intense work-especially the ceremony. Do at least one if not a couple of free weddings as part of your overall marketing plan. Not only does it help in the word of mouth arena, but you'll gather valuable experience. Also, there are some really good threads in here (the one by Ryan Brown comes to mind) that will help a lot.
As far as cost goes, it really depmds on what geographical market your in. I'm in the Toledo, Ohio area and this is not a top level market. From what I've researched, a single cam shoot in this area earns around $600.00 or so. i shoot with two cameras and I'm at the $1200.00 mark.
I've done too many "favors" in the several years I've done this and refuse to discount my effort and experience anymore. This is hard work and we all deserve to be paid. Whatever you do, do not advertise in the yellow pages. All you'll get is an unending line of bargain-hunters. Just like in the world of film, referrals do wonders.
 
The best advice I ever got was from Guy Cochran. He let me go out and shoot and edit two music videos for a band, for a predetermined price, no contract just verbal agreements... and then once he saw how frustrated I got told me this. ALWAYS GET A CONTRACT! Make sure you include pricing for revisions... this is the key! If you just give a flat rate, your customer will expect to be able to revise and revise until they're content, meanwhile you end up earning like $5 an hour because you didn't put in a revision clause, or tell them that would be extra. Of course be willing to revise, just make sure they're willing to pay for it. Even if you're just starting out, if you know your way around editting and filming, your time is valuable, and you can't let them cheapen that. It takes a few tries to start to get the hang of how long something will take to make satisfactory to the customer, but don't get caught up in constantly changing it for them without getting paid for it.
 
one charges nada to start out.
just the way it is.
Build a reel, build a demand and then enjoy a paying career.
 
I'm not sure it's the best idea to jump from features to videography, haha, but ok. It's a tough business from what I understand and hard to make much money, there's not much upside. You can make a few bucks but it won't ever amount to a lot. As side gigs, I guess.
 
JonathanLB said:
I'm not sure it's the best idea to jump from features to videography, haha, but ok. It's a tough business from what I understand and hard to make much money, there's not much upside. You can make a few bucks but it won't ever amount to a lot. As side gigs, I guess.
Click to expand...

If you're good and the demand is there, you can make good money. It just takes a while before you reach that spot most of the time.

Like everyone else is saying, do a bunch of free gigs and go above and beyond. You'll have to work your ass off for nothing, but if you're good, it will pay off in the end. Once you get a solid portfolio together, then you can start thinking about how much you want to charge.
 
JonathanLB said:
I'm not sure it's the best idea to jump from features to videography, haha, but ok. It's a tough business from what I understand and hard to make much money, there's not much upside. You can make a few bucks but it won't ever amount to a lot. As side gigs, I guess.
Click to expand...

If you can deliver a good product and manage clients well I don't think it's difficult at all to make decent money. I know quite a few people who make not just a living, but a good living working in event videography - nevermind corporate work and commercials.

I think it's much easier to make a living in those sectors than it ever would be working strictly in narrative feature content.

Just my 2 cents.


That said - listen to the advice in this thread, especially when it comes to weddings.
Work for free or dirt cheap on the first couple.
Otherwise you run the risk of killing your business before it even gets off the ground by leaving a client unhappy due to inexperience in the field.
Word of mouth and reputation is everything - and that goes double for the wedding business.
 
Think about calling or having a friend call a few competitors to find out what they are charging. This will give you a rough idea of your local market.

I agree, do a freebie or two to build up a reel. A photographer friend of mine hooked up with videographer, a caterer and a couple of guys who do flower arrangements for weddings. They all referred each other and 85% of the time, they are all working for the same wedding now.
 
There's a lot more to weddings than just showing up and pointing the camera at the bride and groom. It's a once in a life time experience and people expect a good result no matter how much or little they pay, so you can't screw up.

Find local videographers and offer to work for cheap to build up your portfolio. Unlike others, I would never recommend to someone to work for "free". You should always get paid for your work, even if it's very little.
 
RandomHero said:
The best advice I ever got was from Guy Cochran. He let me go out and shoot and edit two music videos for a band, for a predetermined price, no contract just verbal agreements... and then once he saw how frustrated I got told me this. ALWAYS GET A CONTRACT! Make sure you include pricing for revisions... this is the key! If you just give a flat rate, your customer will expect to be able to revise and revise until they're content, meanwhile you end up earning like $5 an hour because you didn't put in a revision clause, or tell them that would be extra. Of course be willing to revise, just make sure they're willing to pay for it. Even if you're just starting out, if you know your way around editting and filming, your time is valuable, and you can't let them cheapen that. It takes a few tries to start to get the hang of how long something will take to make satisfactory to the customer, but don't get caught up in constantly changing it for them without getting paid for it.
Click to expand...


This was great advice, thanks

-b
 
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