“Fair” Compensation

[Mark Suszko]

$50 each is ridiculous; at least working at McDonald’s you get a snappy looking paper hat, name tag, free or discounted meal out of it plus your minimum wage. Even a beginner fresh out of college has *some* training as opposed to them doing this themselves.

I think your options are to charge $200 a pop or charge nothing at all, and work out some other kind of arrangement, like they buy you some gear as a trade-out.

Pegging yourself at such a low rate early will make it impossible to raise the rate with these folks later. They are never going to respect what you’re doing at that rate. Suggest a trade-out for gear they buy and write off on their taxes, or a weekly or monthly retainer for which you will do more than 2 but less than 5 of these. And they will give you full credit for the work and permission to use it unrestricted in your online portfolios and demos.

If they counter by suggesting you take a really low rate now and they will make it up later in volume and bigger projects, this is your signal to walk away from these folks entirely. For your own good. It is never going to get better after they say something like this. Tell them to go to Craigslist if they want suckers.

[John Cuevas]

When I started out in this business many many years ago, desperate and hungry, I still wouldn’t of gotten out of bed for $50.

Johnny Cuevas, Editor
http://www.thinkck.com

[Mike Cohen]

You want experience – great. But don’t compromise principles of good business, and don’t contribute to the undervaluing of professional skills.

$50 barely covers your costs, and does not count as a living wage given the multiple hours of work you will be asked for.

Walk away and get a job at Olive Garden. You’ll make more money and enjoy those lovely breadsticks and all you can eat salad!

Mike Cohen

[Todd Terry]

$50????????

They need to add at least one zero to that… and that would still be working for peanuts (this is assuming you are delivering them a decent production, with a decent “recent college skill level”).

If you want to build your reel, build it… but do it with projects that you want to do, where you can take time and energy and devote your skills and brainpower to doing it. Go out and make something up. I guarantee you that would be more useful than doing an actual “paid” video for Scrooge McDuck there.

The fifty bucks isn’t paying your time or your expenses. And I’ve never seen an actual fifty-buck client video that was good enough to go in anyone’s portfolio. Put your skill and attention toward something that will help you… not something that will waste your time.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[David Burkart]

Ha – you guys are hilarious with the job alternatives. I’m actually working at a restaurant on the side (though it’s a bit nicer than the aforementioned joints)

Seriously though, thanks for the advice.

I shot $100/project at him – I’d honestly be happy with that for shooting and editing 20 minute interviews. They’re a cinch to cut up and export, and the whole process probably takes 2 hours tops, especially working from my MacBook.

“A song is an excuse to go to a chorus, and a chorus is an excuse to go to a breakdown.”

[Greg Ball]

$100.00!!! Please let me know where you’re located, because I’d love to hire you for that rate and then mark it up to a realistic amount.

[Mark Suszko]

There’s a reason restaurants don’t sell a steak dinner for the $2 the raw meat cost them.

[Mike Cohen]

If I get a quote for professional video services, one of three things happens:

Too low
Too high
Just right

Sound familiar kiddies?

Too high is an easy one to figure out.
Just right is of course what i am looking for – sometimes it is just right out of the gate, sometimes there is negotiation.

But what about too low? Wouldn’t I automatically go with the lowest price?

Not always. If I have an idea of the fair market value of a professional service – say $800 for a full day XDCAM camera op, lights and sound operator – and I get a quote for $200 – I can think one of the following must be true:

1 – The guy doesn’t know what his work is worth

2 – The gal has the skills but not the business sense to price accordingly

3 – The person wants the experience, but does not consider the cost of doing business

In any of these situations, the vendor is depriving himself or herself of a fair wage.

$200 may seem like good money, but factor in the cost of paying for and maintaining your gear, your own salary, taxes (you may not have been keeping track of your self employment tax liability, but I cannot pay for freelance services without a signed W9 from the vendor), overhead, cost of materials, etc. You could be left with nothing or in the red.

If I feel you have the skills, based upon talking to you and looking at your work, and perhaps talking to another customer, I may hire you, but at a price I deem worthy of professional work. I will not pay $200 for a day of shooting because in my mind, I am paying a kid with a camera. If the kid screws up, he only loses $200 – no biggie. but if I raise my price to $500, the kid has more to lose and likely will do a better job, and more likely to stand by his work.

Even $500 for a full day shoot is a steal.

As for editing services, same thing applies. Think of the big picture, not just the quick cash.

Good luck. And can I get a refill on my iced tea?

Mike Cohen

Funny story. I was having lunch with fellow COW Steve Wargo. We waited and waited for our server to refill our drinks. Finally Steve walked over to the wait station, grabbed a pitcher of iced tea, and did it himself. Now that’s thinking on your feet.

[Jamie Thorne]

What did they pay for the original 10 minute doc and writting?

[Mark Suszko]

I hope you tipped Steve well:-)