Tips for becoming a full time videographer?

[Mark Suszko]

One consideration if you want to do this is that you’ll have to create a separate identity as a corporate/business shooter. No matter how skilled a wedding videographer you are, business people looking to hire someone for a project look down on wedding photography as irrelevant and frivolous. If they do a search for a shooter, they will not look under wedding/events people, but under corporate/marketing/training type keywords.

If you advertise on a web site with wedding and business video side by side, you will be perceived as unprofessional. Wedding customers will think you only dabble in weddings part-time, and business people will think you’re an amateur.

So step one in your “re-branding” is to create a separate web site/portfolio apart from the wedding work. This could go as far as having different phone numbers and voice mailboxes you answer in different ways.

Your web page might be a “portal” page to various “divisions” where you showcase specific kinds of services, or you could just create a completely stand-alone business video services web site.

Next you’ll have to create a new online portfolio of demo material. That’s an out-of-pocket expense, unless you have friends who will let you shoot at their offices on the weekends or make a training video for them for free, just for the portfolio.

Even before all of this prep work, though, you’ll want to think through what kinds of services you want to provide, what niche market you can serve well. Internal communications to employees or share-holders? Public Relations? Advertising? Each of those areas are specific niches, and if you say you can serve them all, equally well, you are either an elderly pro of many years, or a fibbing youngster. Much better to pick one main area of concentration. There’s a difference between shooting the CEO in a piece directed at potential investors, versus a trade-show extravaganza, versus making video product catalogs or “how to fill out customer order forms” training aids for the boiler room. Pick a focus, a core competency. Then work to be effective and very cost-efficient at that kind of project.

[Edward Calabig]

Wow thanks so much for such a detailed response! I will definitely start rebranding a different site geared specifically towards business/corporate work. I’m currently offering free 30 second promotional videos as a way to build local connections and my business video portfolio.

One more question. Do you have any suggestions on resources for finding freelancing work? I’m currently using Craigslist, Thumbtack, and going to businesses in person. I was wondering if there are any other websites to utilize.

[Mark Suszko]

You may think this a dumb little distinction, but don’t say you are offering free promotional videos. To anyone. Make the video, submit an actual invoice, for what you’d normally charge (you DO know your day rate, right?), then mark the amount as “comp”or “pro-rated”.

“But Mark,” you say: “I don’t see what the difference is.”

What you’re doing here is important psychologically to the eventual deals you make. If you just give stuff away, people value it less than if they think they got a “bargain”. The word of mouth is very different between the two situations. In the first case, everybody automatically wants you to give the product away, always, and up-selling to higher rates becomes super-tough, you’ll never make any money.

If you start out with a product properly valued, and ESTABLISH that value, people don’t question that value as much.

An example of this exact thing that I learned from a restaurant marketing and management consultant:

This particular restaurant had a problem: nobody was coming in on Monday nights, and they were losing money staying open, with only four or five customers a night. The trick they used was this: The waiter would go to one of those tables, picked at random, on a Monday night, and instead of the bill, gave the patrons a note saying:

“We hope you enjoyed tonight’s dinner. It’s on us. Every monday, to show our appreciation, we randomly cancel the bill for one of our loyal guests. If you enjoyed tonight’s meal, please let your friends know. And do come back, any time. ”

This was totally word-of-mouth, no advertising.

Mondays soon became as busy as their peak nights. Even though most people coming knew they would end up paying, the word of mouth brought in many more diners and more than offset the cost of the comped table. But it WORKED because it was structured to demonstrate a VALUE. Had they just put up a sign for “free meals for everybody on Mondays, 6-9”, it would not have made them any money, and people would think the food was so poor you were giving it away.

When you make a business promo clip, your client would rather tell their boss:: “I got this hundred-dollar job done for free”, versus, “I brought you this give-away package.”

One makes them seem a like a hard negotiator, the other makes them look like any slob that got a handout. When they brag to others, their perceived valuation of your service will be that it costs a hundred dollars. The next customer may ask you for “the same deal you gave XYZ company”. At that point you can tell them you can’t since this is the new client’s first contract, but that you can pro-rate the next job for them… and now you have their business.

As for where to find clients, well, Craigs is not where you try to find business clients. One thing I recommend is to haunt the monthly local Rotary and Chamber Of Commerce Meetings, get to know the business leaders there. Find out what charities they support, pick those that you also like, then make some spec PSA spots for those charities, and offer those to the business people as your “calling card”.

[Edward Calabig]

Ah great that makes sense.

If you don’t mind me asking, do you have any advice for the initial proposition if the service is not to be offered free? Do you just mean that I should give them a complimentary rate or discounted rate when the video is actually done or prior to that?

Many thanks in regards to the rotary and chamber of commerce information! I will be attending the local rotary club next week 🙂

[Mark Suszko]

Handing a company a free piece of work (unless it’s that spec PSA I talked about) isn’t the way to show your value. The point of what you do is it is bespoke one of a kind, custom-made to specific needs and specifications.

To make that, first requires you visit for a consultation. You have to learn the customer’s needs, their constraints, their budget. The PSA for the owner’s favorite charity is a “calling card”; a sample to show your technical and creative skill, right up front, with no strings attached to it. It gets you in the door and starts a conversation. The rest is up to your listening and marketing skills, and your salesmanship.

If you make it thru that first meeting and pivot the subject to what you can do for his or her company, directly, then you can talk about the cost of making them a training or marketing piece or whatever. But first, this is a business that’s all about building a personal relationship. You can’t stampede to a sale; you have to build up to it in a natural sequence.

[Collin Sumpter]

Lots of good resources online. Heres a guy who makes youtube videos specifically for videographers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKmq_EiSgJY

[Ned Miller]

A Bucket of Cold Water from a Wise Uncle Here:

Some Real World Advice from someone who has worked as a freelance videographer for 36 years: You’re Nuts to Think It Is a Possibility (now). Why? Because there’s a tidal wave of fairly qualified people (like you) who will work for free thus bringing everyone’s prices down. I have witnessed this with my own eyes. The equipment has now gotten so cheap and easy to use that anybody with a modicum of technical skills (the geeks) and are somewhat creative can at least enter the biz. 99% can’t make it after a few years due to non-sustainable revenue, but they are in the biz compteing against us, lowering prices.

The gigs that come in through the crowd sourcing sites like CL, Thumbtack, Gig Salad, Gig Masters, E Lance, Staff Me Up, etc. are paying peanuts. I’ve gotten their alerts and bid on them so I know. Why? Because it’s a competitive bidding situation and the video buying public now sees production as a commodity so they won’t pay much.

Recently for a client I had to find DPs in Buffalo, Indianapolis, Garden Grove & Cleveland so I posted on Production Hub which draws the professional class compared to the above mentioned low pay crowd sourcing sites. My conclusion: Guys working 100% as videographers are starving. Their rates are lower than anytime since the 70’s. Many of the responses I got were from young guys begging to do it for super cheap or free to build their reels, there’s no money in just being a videographer. Naturally I was afraid to hire them.

Just a few years ago when a local retail owner or service like a chiropractor wanted a 3-4 minute website video, you could get $900-$1400. Now they call me and expect to pay no more than $300-$500. There’s guys at my local chamber of commerce who will do it for FREE for the experience or as a side biz. Do you realize how many of these types of videos you’d have to do in a week to survive? Do you want to compete against guys doing it for free? Guys like you who are so hungry to start they will give away what rightfully should be a decent paying gig?

I assume you went to college and had some biz courses? Sit down with someone 10 years older and figure out a realistic personal budget for middle class survival (rent/mortgage, utilities, phone, car payment, health insurance, groceries, etc. etc.). This is your PERSONAL budget, not your biz budget. Do you think you will have enough profit left over after your biz expenses to survive if you go into Videography? No way. I know this because I have two kids in their late twenties and have been through these realistic budget exercises. Life is expensive and gets more so every year that goes by. And you’re considering a career path where people will compete against you for free to a target base that sees no difference in the services rendered? Eeeesh…

So in sum, going into shooting full time you will not be able to achieve a decent lifestyle in terms of financial security. You are considering entering into a career plan that pays no money. The only way you could possibly survive is if you produce the whole thing and be servicing large clients. There is absolutely no way to make it as a 100% videographer now. It’s chump change. You won’t be able to afford the 20% down payment for a house, buy a nice car, engagement ring, foreign vacations, afford good health insurance, start a retirement fund, etc. etc. Every cent left over you’d have to put into equipment to keep up with the Joneses and the first time you get stiffed on a big job you’d have to leave the biz.

Unfortunately, you were born 30 years too late. Go into producing and only for large clients who respect quality and won’t stiff you and they are as hard to find as hen’s teeth. I know. Forget Videography…

The above advice is from a Freelance perspective. If you can find and put up with a staff gig, ignore the above advice.

Ned Miller
Chicago Videographer
http://www.nedmiller.com
www,bizvideo.com

[Walter Biscardi]

[Ned Miller] “The gigs that come in through the crowd sourcing sites like CL, Thumbtack, Gig Salad, Gig Masters, E Lance, Staff Me Up, etc. are paying peanuts. I’ve gotten their alerts and bid on them so I know. Why? Because it’s a competitive bidding situation and the video buying public now sees production as a commodity so they won’t pay much. “

Just recently bid on a project on Thumbtack. Two 30 minute videos, shot and fully edited with graphics for $300 each.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author, Chef.
HD Post and Production
Biscardi Creative Media

Craft and Career Advice & Training from real Working Creative Professionals

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[Ned Miller]

Walt, you’re joking right? I can’t even get a good grip for $300. I just have to make it two more years!!!

Ned Miller
Chicago Videographer
http://www.nedmiller.com
www,bizvideo.com

[Walter Biscardi]

[Ned Miller] “Walt, you’re joking right? I can’t even get a good grip for $300. I just have to make it two more years!!!”

100% serious. Said the previous project was shot by someone with three GoPros.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author, Chef.
HD Post and Production
Biscardi Creative Media

Craft and Career Advice & Training from real Working Creative Professionals

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