“Fair” Compensation

[David Johnson]

Well said, Ryan.

While I agree with everything you said and think the right decision depends somewhat on an individual’s circumstance, I used “irreversible” to refer to the business standpoint that it’s often very hard to get away with charging one customer $1000 for the same exact thing you charged another customer $100 … and rightfully so … assuming that the idea is for the majority of customers to be in the $1000 camp, having any $100 customers at all is an easy way to make the more important majority feel like they’re being gouged and, thus, end up out of business altogether.

Doing a favor for a friend is a completely different subject in my mind. I’ve done that many times throughout my career. In fact, the first occasion was similar to (yet also sounds different from) the scenario David described and turned into an opportunity that catapulted my career. In my case, a very significant difference was that the “client” had already been my best friend for 10 years (and still is 20 years later) … not someone I met as a client who wanted to be “friends” because they wanted something from me.

[Craig Seeman]

But what you need to be aware of is that the undercharged client, if they’re a happy client, are likely going to use word of mouth to express their happiness with both quality and price. You then get a bunch of referrals which are useless since they all feel they’re being gouged if you try to charge them higher rates. If you work in a market or niche where word is likely to spread this is bad for business.

Word of mouth is probably the strongest marketing tool you have and word of a low rate can really hinder the growth of your business. You are then left to pitch to new clients without referrals based on the reel only. For many, word of mouth is even a stronger marketing tool than the reel.

[Ron Lindeboom]

Craig is right, again. ;o)

Once you lock yourself into a reputation as a “low-baller,” you are almost guaranteed to be stuck there for years — if you ever get out, at all.

“Some work is better than no work” seems like good advice on the surface but I have seen far too many people in my near 60 years of drawing air on Planet Earth that paid for years for letting themselves do jobs that were done cheaply.

Work cheap and do the job with cheap work, and the reputation of doing crappy work will hurt you. Work cheap and do good work and the reputation of being a low-baller that works for nothing will hurt you.

Don’t ever cheaply sell out your work, which are your Crown Jewels.

Best regards,

Ronald Lindeboom
CEO, Creative COW LLC
Publisher, Creative COW Magazine

Creativity is a process wherein the student and the teacher are located in the same individual.

“Incompetence has never prevented me from plunging in with enthusiasm.” – Woody Allen

[Bob Zelin]

I have not read all the responses to this thread, so I apologize for going off topic, or repeating anything that may have already been said.

I unfortunately see “pro” companies using “free labor” (students) who work for the glamour and honor of doing a “professional” video so they can use it on their reel. The owners of these companies should be arrested. I unfortunately observe a particular company here in Florida (a name that you would know in a second) using student labor (hidden behind a dummy company name) to avoid having to hire actual labor, even at low wages. Again, these people need to be arrested. We have reached a time that “professional companies” really don’t give a crap about anythning other than “how much will this guy cost, and how much profit will I make”, and you are describing a pathetic offer to do anything – least not make a video. Would you come over and cook lunch for the owner of this company for 50 bucks ?

With the “leveling of the playing field” with cheap excellent equipment, I wonder how long it will be before companies realize that they can have a contest (like awards shows), where you edit their video, and YOU PAY THEM for submission (maybe 50 or 100 bucks), and if you are lucky, they will pick you, and put your video on TV, and you will see your name at the end of the credits. (hey, if we give them 100 bucks, and edit their video, we can win, and people will see that we did this awesome video, and we will get a lot of work from it !!!!!).

Bob Zelin

[Tim Wilson]

[Bob Zelin] “if you are lucky, they will pick you, and put your video on TV, and you will see your name at the end of the credits”

Doritos has done with SuperBowl ads – work seen in front of nearly 100 million people in the US alone, with massive coverage in the trade magazines (think AdWeek, etc.)…and there’s always a follow-up about how little work came to the producers because of it.

There is no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. There’s mostly just what you get paid before you hand the work over.