Hourly rates for basic corporate events

[Bouncing Account needs new email address]

For doing what?

[Todd Vanslyck]

Shooting. Sorry. I’d say basic package, 1 camera w/tripod, wireless mic, lights if necessary. Just basic stuff. Shooting a speaker at a convention, blah blah blah.

Mac G5 dual 2.5’s
2.5 gig ram
Final Cut Pro HD 5.0.3
and all the studio goodies
After Effects 6.5
Photoshop CS

[Greg Ball]

I don’t understand how you charge hourly rates for shooting to begin with. Suppose you book yourself for a two-hour shoot on July 10th. Now a large client contacts you for a large project for two days July 10th and 11th. You turn them down because you’re working for 2 hours on the first day?

At the very least you should charge a half-day or full-day rate. We typically do not offer even half-day rates. It’s not like we can book another shoot for the other half of the day.

Keep in mind that part of shooting involves planning, packing up your gear, driving, setting up, shooting, breaking down your gear and driving home. Do you include all of that in your hourly rate?

I suggest you re-examine your business plan including your rates. Of course this is all just my opinion.

[Bouncing Account needs new email address]

[Greg Ball] “I don’t understand how you charge hourly rates for shooting to begin with. Suppose you book yourself for a two-hour shoot on July 10th. Now a large client contacts you for a large project for two days July 10th and 11th. You turn them down because you’re working for 2 hours on the first day?”

What would YOU do under these same circumstances.

Its not really an “hourly” vs. “day-rate” situation.

Do you dump the pre-arranged one-day to do the two-day?

[Todd Vanslyck]

Greg
I’m not a freelancer. I’m full-time at a University (doing video and post-production) and I’m looking for ways to supplement my income. The University is opening an events center and I have an “in” to get work like this.
I think if I told Joe from Joe’s Market I was going to charge him $450 for a two-hour shoot he would drop his jaw.
That’s why I think, in this case, an hourly rate would be better.

Mac G5 dual 2.5’s
2.5 gig ram
Final Cut Pro HD 5.0.3
and all the studio goodies
After Effects 6.5
Photoshop CS

[Mick Haensler]

[Todd VanSlyck] “I think if I told Joe from Joe’s Market I was going to charge him $450 for a two-hour shoot he would drop his jaw.”

Then let his jaw drop. If you are doing quality work then you will command a quality price. If you can’t charge a good price for your work than please stay out of corporate and leave it to those who know how to charge for their work. Sorry for my harsh tone, but I am currently doing battle with a state university who is trying to market their new HD teaching studio to the open market. Using public bought equipment and public paid staff for free market profit. Be thankful for your job and leave the corporate gigs alone, especially if you plan on using university equipment.

Mick Haensler
Higher Ground Media

[Rob Jackson]

There’s no correct answer for this question. I agree with the half/full day rates, but in this scenario, charging hourly works just fine. Charge whatever you feel your time is worth. If they balk, see if you can negotiate. You can base it on what others charge if you want, but that’s how much they think they are worth, not what you think you are worth.

When I was in college I would charge $80/hour for one camera on a tripod. This didn’t include any editing. Maybe start at $120 and if they seem hesitant, offer them an “exclusive” discount of 10% because…insert reason here…They’re X type of company, You like his haircut, etc. People love feeling exclusive.

Good luck.

[Rob Jackson]

That’s why people hire college students to do this type of work. They don’t want to pay for experienced videographers. They just want their meeting recorded. Would I prefer they pay a professional $500++ for it? Yes, absolutely. Would I prefer they pay a college student $200 and give that student more experience before heading out into the career abyss rather than not pay anyone at all? Yes.

Rob Jackson
1018 Productions LLC
Real T Video

[Greg Ball]

Then if you’re a full-time student be a full-time student and leave the video work to professionals.

If you told Joe that you charge either a full-day rate or at least a half-day rate, he’d need to understand. If not, Joe is not the type of client you want.

If you think you can fill up the other 6 hours of your day with other shoots then go for it.

[Greg Ball]

You asked “Do you dump the pre-arranged one-day to do the two-day?” No way! I’m professional and I treat clients professionally. I keep my word.

If I’m booked I’m booked. Better gigs always come around, but you have to keep your word in business. That’s my point. I would not want to put myself in a situation where I booked myself and my gear for 2 hours at $50 -$100 per hour where I know I could book a day for $850.00. Just don’t think in those terms and your clients will respect you too. If you want an hourly job try fast food