[Bruce Bennett]

Hi Milton,

Good responses to your post. My 2-cents… Billing your clients is just one side of the coin (pun intended).

My suggestion is… Either way, if you charge the same or differently for each service, set up different/specific “items/services” for each one. When I want to know which services/items are making the most money (video, graphics, Web design, etc.) having a detailed Items List and Chart of Accounts gives me the answers when I run the numbers.

Good Luck,
Bruce

Bruce Bennett
Bennett Marketing & Media Production, LLC
Creative Inspiration
Documentaries for those who love to create … and to be inspired.

[Bruce Bennett]

Wow, Grinner. I think I remember King Crab Fisherman being top of the list for that show, Most Dangerous Jobs (or something like that). So be careful. Hopefully we’ll get to hear about your adventure when you get back via a COW podcast.

Bruce

Bruce Bennett
Bennett Marketing & Media Production, LLC
Creative Inspiration
Documentaries for those who love to create … and to be inspired.

[Bruce Bennett]

[David See] “I have been shooting news for nearly 20 years and have just recently been dropped back in the world of corporate video out of necessity.”

I’m sorry, David, but I find this statement somewhat insulting to a guy who has been in the corporate production world for about the same amount of time that you’ve been doing news.

If you have just been “dropped back” in the corporate video world, you are, hands down, worth less than those who you are now competing with. An established Videographer rate is comprised of much more than the going rate for “a guy/gal with a camera.” If I were you (especially after being 2 decades out of corporate production world) I’d worry about establishing relationships more than getting the most money you can out of your day rate.

Cheers to you!
Bruce

Bruce Bennett
Bennett Marketing & Media Production, LLC
Creative Inspiration
Documentaries for those who love to create … and to be inspired.

[Bruce Bennett]

I would equate this as a location scout with my Videographer/DP. Charge half your normal day rate.

Bruce

Bruce Bennett
Bennett Marketing & Media Production, LLC
Creative Inspiration
Documentaries for those who love to create … and to be inspired.

[Bruce Bennett]

Hi Phil,

I just saw this from one of my LinkedIn group emails. Might be something worth checking out.

ClientSpot: https://www.myclientspot.com/

Good luck,
Bruce

Bruce Bennett
Bennett Marketing & Media Production, LLC
Creative Inspiration
Documentaries for those who love to create … and to be inspired.

[Bruce Bennett]

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for the reply. Are you saying the royalty costs for Blue-ray are so high that Blue-ray replication/fulfillment is not profitable for most replicators? Can guys like you and me create copies of our own Blue-ray projects and distribute/sell them? Or do we need to license the technology for our very small operations?

Please elaborate if you wish.

Thanks,
Bruce

Bruce Bennett
Bennett Marketing & Media Production, LLC
Creative Inspiration
Documentaries for those who love to create … and to be inspired.

[Bruce Bennett]

[David See] “So, what this means is – they come to me with a budget: “this is all we want to pay for this job” and you either do it or quote so high that they choose not to do it…and risk losing future work.”

You establish your rates based on what YOU need to make in order to stay in business. Even though you say your competitor is charging “too much” they are probably estimating based on this principle. If your fairly estimated price is seen as too high by the client, yes, you risk losing future work. If you play the game “How much money do you got and I’ll do it for that” you won’t be in businesses very long or you will be working 24×7 in order to stay in business.

Bruce

Bruce Bennett
Bennett Marketing & Media Production, LLC
Creative Inspiration
Documentaries for those who love to create … and to be inspired.

[Bruce Bennett]

For the past 17 years, I have used Microsoft Excel to estimate projects. One page for actual estimated hours, units, markups and costs. The second page with “summed line items” for the client submitted as a PDF (i.e., Page 1 = 32 hours of post at $100/hr. and Page 2 = Post Production, 1ea., $3,200.00).

Bruce

Bruce Bennett
Bennett Marketing & Media Production, LLC
Creative Inspiration
Documentaries for those who love to create … and to be inspired.

[Bruce Bennett]

Hi David,

No matter what you do, be sure your final invoice has a line item with the description, “Discount courtesy of (insert company name here because it is not in COW profile)” with the price/money lost on the project. QuickBooks and Peachtree, as well as most other invoicing/accounting software, has a “Discount” item/inventory part.

When you email or mail the invoice, write a little note saying something like, “Glad to help out with your budget for this first project.” I would stick to pricing the next time.

Good Luck,
Bruce

Bruce Bennett
Bennett Marketing & Media Production, LLC
Creative Inspiration
Documentaries for those who love to create … and to be inspired.

[Bruce Bennett]

Hey Steve,

I have found that some people say “You’re welcome” to deal with anxiety. Some say it while trying to pack up as quickly as possible (and try their best to save me money), Some say it because they haven’t figured me out since it’s the first time we’ve worked together. And some say it because if they didn’t, their parents would beat them silly no matter how old they are.

If they did a great job, fagetta ’bout it. If their work speaks louder than their words, hire them again:)

Just my thoughts…
Bruce

Bruce Bennett
Bennett Marketing & Media Production, LLC