[Ned Miller]

Nick is right on, except I have a twist that works well regarding the VO. In the old days, of which I am a member, one had to hire union VO talent because all the best people were union. Nowadays most of my clients are worried about the word “union” because there are so many ways they now want to use the video: powerpoint, trade show, internet, etc., and they are worried about keeping track of the union fees for all these versions. As a marketing tool I now have the line item (similar to Nick’s) but it says: Professional Voice Over Talent: Non-Union, Royalty Free Total Buy Out. Client’s love this compared to the word “union”. They want the freedom of usage.

Thanks to the lowered price of technology many narrators now have their own “home” studio, some better than others. This allows me a bigger mark up because I no longer have to meet them at a recording studio which would add a few hundred more at least. Money stays in my pocket or gives me room to come down if the client compares about price. 90% of the time I am not present. I pay 50/50 over PayPal.

Word of advice: make sure they send you the files uncompressed and they cut out the breaths with an edit system, not software. Most of these VO guys are audio geeks anyway and invest in a real good mic and know the recording programs. Since the biz is so much more competitive now having VO several hundred less is a good idea.

Try https://www.voice123.com and lately I found https://www.cnotespots.com

And as far as line items other than VO, I have found the more detailed the better because your typical exec is used to breakdowns from other industries that are very detailed. I always keep wiggle room in terms of: Fed Ex, messengers, parking are in addition. That’s very important since we have no idea what they may cost and they can run into a few hundred.

Since the recession started I bury lunch costs where it is not it’s own item. A separate line will say what OT will be after 10 hrs from time of arrival. All these things are important in case the client complains about the final bill.

Lastly, (and most of my tricks are borrowed from the pros I have worked for over the years), I list all the lines and there is padding in each, and my last line is Ned Miller’s Producing Fee (fancy name for profit) and it will say a %. In this way my estimate looks more similar to estimates they receive from vendors outside our industry that they will be accustomed to.

And if it’s over around $6-7,000 I go to Kinkos and pimp up the covers to make it look more official.

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

[Ned Miller]

In the event you do not get this bid, and the school in question is a public institution supported by your taxes, if it was me I would…..

Out of curiosity and to better my bidding for the future, I would call the local newspaper and talk with the reporter for the “education beat”. This reporter knows the ins and outs of ferreting out financial information regarding the schools. Without mentioning your failed video bid, ask the reporter if bidding information is a matter of public record. This reporter would know. There may be a cut off, like under $100,000, is not in the record, or all bids may be a matter of public record and you could go down to the district’s office and ask to see the “winning” bid.

Being extremely curious, and somewhat vengeful, I would like to see if the winning bid had great detail that I was not privy to. I would imagine so. In which case I could assume my bid was what is known as a “check bid”.

Or…if you DO win the bid it may be interesting to see what your competitors put in and use those tid bits of information to help set a course for the next three years. Let us know.

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

[Ned Miller]

I agree with Mark IF this was a bid for a corporation. Companies have ways of borrowing from other budgets, or departments or shoving our costs into next year’s budget, etc. But what I have found when dealing with “institutions” like a school, is that a board or committee determines a budget and there is no wiggle room. That’s why I try, try, try to find out what their number is, so I don’t waste my time.

I usually don’t bid on institutional projects anymore because often someone has the “inside track”. I also ask: “Is anyone else bidding who has done video for you before?” If there’s a long pause followed by an “ummm…” I send in a cursory estimate or don’t follow up. Institutions usually have to collect a certain amount of bids.

One time the giant Navy base near me said they wanted to use me but had to get three bids. They asked how they could tailor the specs so I would look the best and come in the least! So I had them solicit bids from the most expensive production companies I could think of. As for the corrupt state of Illinois’ videos, I stopped bidding on them because the lowest bidder had an inside track, would come in lowest, and then when they are awarded the bid they lay on the add ons, like open captioning, etc.

So, in sum, I wouldn’t bid on something with so few specifics because the outfit who will win probably already has all the specs, that would be their way of getting the producer they prefer. But if you do bid please let us know what happened.

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

[Ned Miller]

Yes, let’s return to basics: In these trying economic times what are others doing to drum up business, assuming you need more biz? I have a diversified client base and it’s very unusual for all sectors to be dead simultaneously. My major retail accounts are not spending one dime on video communications, my corporate clients are actually going back to DV so it doesn’t look like they’re wasting money, my documentary clients have taught themselves how to use prosumer cameras or are getting slave labor off of Craigslist., etc.

So, assuming you’re slow (which is not unusual for the winter here in Chicago), how do you go about prospecting? Are you using email blasts like Constant Contact? Going to networking events? Direct mail? Cold calling? SEO? My websites are dated and I am having them revamped but my history of new business has mainly been referrals so I have had no incentive to pour money into my sites, until now.

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

[Ned Miller]

• I often ask, “What range were you wanting the budget to come in at?” Smart business types will say they don’t know but I bet the people at an educational institution kicked some numbers around and your contact may blurt them out if your lucky.

• Also, since this project is being made with public funds beware that captioning may be necessary.

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

[Ned Miller]

Here’s my 2 cents having done a 3 year project on an EPA grant. I also have a banking client in which each job takes practically a year.

• Musical clients: Over a 3 year period there is a good likelihood of the people who are your contacts may transfer, quit or just up and die. A lot of what we negotiate is verbally based so be sure on such a long project that everything down to the last detail is laid out in a contract or at least memos. I had some problems where the new folks taking over were not up to speed, and certain issues that fall into grey areas, like revisions and cancellations, those things may cause arguments and delay of payment.

• Revisions in Post: This job seems to have straight forward shooting, almost formulaic once you have a few done. The danger of a project like this is in the post, lots of revisions. You are dealing with a non-profit which I have found are not as decisive as the business crowd, no one has the cahoneays to make a decision so everything will be decided by committee. They’ll hit you with revisions. Post is the danger in going over budget with a project like this. I would ask about graphics, powerpoint and text that must be added. If there is some, I’d avoid bidding since they have no details.

• Do not bill in halves, thirds or quarters. With really long projects you may want eights! Or even quarterly for three years. Otherwise you will have to dip into your own cash flow, especially to pay for freelancers and outsourcers, so then you’re running a negative cash flow until their next payment. Also, the definition of “done” is often open to interpretation, meaning it sits waiting for a committee to pass approval for weeks, yet you need the money now.

• Bid high, very high. There are so many unknowns you can not predict. This could be a miserable albatross if you win the bid then have to figure out for 3 years how to squeeze every last nickel out of everyone involved so you at least break even, hopefully don’t lose money. You have no idea as to how the editing will go. If you bid low and then win the bid it could be a depressing situation that won’t go away for 3 years. So make sure there will be some good profit in it.

• Try to find out how many other companies you are bidding against, it is OK to ask and they should tell you. If it’s more than 3 or 4, forget it. The odds of there being a low baller are too high and you’ve wasted your time, unless you’re certain they are not going with the lowest bidder (find that out). Sometimes, the person may have loose lips and will tell you the names of who you’re bidding against, which they should not, but if they do that is powerful business intelligence and will let you know where your bid should come in.

Let us know what happened.

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

[Ned Miller]

Hi Bob,

I’ve always cold called, it’s just the last resort for me. Ever since the invention of voice mail it’s rough to succeed. What I meant by 33 years is that I have never seen business so bad in 33 years, all sectors slow (TV, corporate & documentaries). I had a good ’09 since March but I now believe this is a double dip recession. Lots of my work is for Fortune 100s, they’re dead. The cable networks will do anything to avoid shooting that includes travel, so being in Chicago is a negative. Documentaries have become do-it-yourself shooting. A perfect storm…

And Rob,

What I mean by “kids” stealing bids is being so young they charge practically nothing, as I once did when I was living in my parents’ house.

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

[Ned Miller]

I’d suggest you visit https://www.dvxuser.com there is a 300 forum there that addresses this issue. Apparently some 300 owners have experienced “out of the box” problems like this or little black dots. Once you download the firmware update, and go to Panasonic’s site and download the scene files (I suggest Vivid), you will then love this camera (except for the skewing).

I am a 300 owner, with reservations, but under controlled conditions it is very good. If you want to converse privately I am at https://www.nedmiller.com, but all these issues are discussed in depth at dvxuser.

Regards,

Ned

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

[Ned Miller]

The bottom has fallen out of this business. I have been doing this for 33 years, mainly as a DP and I have two kids graduating college. If they said they were going to enter into the video production business I would drown them.

Unless one is from a wealthy family or marries someone who is or making a great steady salary, it is now financial suicide to offer freelance creative services, especially in video. Us old pros here on Creative Cow have client bases and networks, but these young kids will never be able to support themselves financially.

And it’s not just small companies that are going cheap, I shoot for many Chicago area Fortune 100s and they actually want me to “dumb down” the look so it doesn’t appear we are wasting money. How can they justify a slick video when they’re laying off people? Sometimes I’m given my full day rate to use their in-house mini DV camera! And that includes filming the CEO.

I also produce quick turn around online videos for small companies and thank God I have the office in the home during these times. With minimal overhead I can do a half day shoot/half day edit and make the same money as a full day DP shoot. I think we are all working harder to make less…

The internet is a double edge sword, and with the low entry price of getting into the biz, the ease of use of cameras and the digital media savviness of young kids, this was bound to happen. On the other hand, the internet has increased the amount of desired professional looking video for websites, so if we can ferret out these clients we can survive.

The Golden Age is over. Only the Johnny Hustles will survive, especially when you lay a recession on top of all this. Viva Low Overhead!

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

[Ned Miller]

Got the answer! From the folks at the Yahoo Legal Video Group, seems everyone who responded on this thread that a digital copy is just as good are correct, in civil litigation. Criminal it would be a different matter erasing the “original” but it seems Chain of Custody pertains to criminal.

So thanks everyone for your two cents worth!

Ned