Not Making Enough Money as a Filmmaker or Videographer? Do This Now
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- čas přidán 25. 02. 2022
- I want to have an honest conversation about making money as a filmmaker that no one is talking about. In the first seven years of my career, when I constantly struggle and couldn’t make a decent living creating videos, I really wish I had someone that would have had this conversation with me and told me what I needed to hear.
In the last few months, I’ve talked to a lot of filmmakers and I’ve responded to a lot of comments on CZcams there is a common theme or a false belief that we need to overcome. My goal is to help filmmakers make more money, but I can’t do that without breaking this false belief. This is the same thing I’ve heard for 15 years of doing this and it’s going to be a common belief in 15 years too.
I created several videos showing a pricing breakdown of a $5000 video project. In some of those comments and some one-on-one conversations, a few people mentioned that they are doing videos for 200, 300, or 500 dollars and 5000 doesn’t make sense.
They believe that their clients won’t ever spend 5k for a video.
And to be clear, through my company, we don’t do 5000 videos. That’s where we started. Our average project hasn’t been under 10k for a long time.
But let me break this down and explain where the disconnect is and why a 5k video is within the reach of most people. And I understand that in some countries, creating local videos is going to have a different entry point. But the false belief behind this is the same.
Let’s just take the 200 examples. Let’s say you are the most hard-working person out there and somehow manage to do 100 video projects in one year. That’s planning, producing, shooting, and editing everything by yourself. If you do this for 200 dollars, you are making 20k per year. Take out taxes, the equipment you need to buy to do the job, gas, insurance, and everything else that is required to make a video, you are working for free at best.
At 500 per video, you may be able to reach a minimum wage living.
Your other option is just to freelance as a shooter and not do the entire video, but now you need more than 100 shots a year to make a decent living. You’ll probably need closer to 200 which is really hard to get.
I think we can agree that this doesn’t make much sense to pursue.
The option that I’ve been teaching and what broke my 7-year steak of not figuring things out is charging what a production company would charge for a video and promoting yourself as a company instead of the one-man band that will do it all.
In doing so, you will spend some time learning basic marketing and advertising.
This is another false belief. Because more filmmakers are creative people, they refuse to get into the business side with marketing at the center.
So the 2-3% that actually do tend to get all the higher paying clients, and the rest are left fighting for jobs under 1000 dollars.
And regarding the comment about my clients won’t pay more than 500, that is 100% accurate. Your current clients will not. You need to find the right clients that will.
How? Learn enough about marketing, so you can let the people that you want as clients know you exist.
I remember the exact moment when I was able to suddenly go from 500 videos to 5000 videos. I didn’t convince my existing clients to pay me 10x more.
I learned sales and marketing and got new clients that paid 10x more. And I was able to create videos for them at an entirely different level for that price.
Then I kept leveling up over time. There are 30-second videos getting made for 100 dollars all the way to 500,000 dollars. If you are stuck in the 500 video world, you have to understand that there are bigger fish in the sea.
Be one of the few filmmakers out there willing to learn the business side of filmmaking and you will break your false belief and discover a new career path.
Learn the exact blueprint I used to go from a struggling videographer, to running a profitable video production business, in this one-hour free training.
www.filmmakingmentor.com/Vide...
My business changed 100% when I started learning more about the business side of videography. And this video is exactly what I went through. I was afraid to charge more than $500 per video and when I was editing I would be so mad because I didn’t charge enough.
When I started selling video strategies instead of single videos, my business changed completely. A single video doesn’t have the same effect as a series of videos.
Video strategies...I like that. Create a series of content for them to build value ?
@@DirectorNathanJ yes, sell content packages for Social Media or a series of videos like a Brand Message Video, Promotional videos and Testimonial Videos for your clients.
I want to thank you for this reminder. I refuse to nickel and dime. Besides, the low level clients give you the most trouble. Believe in yourselves my fellow videographers and filmmakers. If you don’t believe you’re worth it, the client sure won’t. Live the way you deserve to live! If at the end of your day you can only afford a cup of coffee, you failed yourself and your family. Raise your standards and raise your fees!
Just what I needed... I am about to lose my car, and home and can't barely survive with the fees I charge... Too much work to do on a laptop I can't even pay for...
I have even started applying for jobs because I feel that I have failed 😞
I quit my well-paying IT job exactly a year ago and invested my money in all the necessary gear, editing, and marketing skills. I have not found the right client for the types of jobs I need to survive. I have not been targeting the right clients...
Good to see someone talking the business side...well done.
have been stuck in a $500 black hole budget range for ten years. felt like you were describing my exact circumstances. grateful to have stumbled upon your channel. this was really helpful
Man you may don't realize this but you just told me the right thing, at the right time.
Thank you so much man.
Thank you thanks you thank you i was about to give up as its just too hard at the scraps level . Your video make so much sense I'm going to double down and go for totally different clients set once again Thanks
We should team up.... what area do you live in???.... me I am in Washington DC area.
I can't wait for your course thanks for all the knowledge
Well enjoying the content your uploading atm, keep up the good work 👍🏼
You are such a breath of fresh air. Thanks for the advice.
Thanks for the videos you make. It helps immensely.
These videos are great mate! Could you run over how to charge for editing specifically, and please if you could go into video packages such as social media package or rolling contracts etc that'd be really handy. Thanks for your work
Love all of your videos my man!
Great breakdown of the numbers!
needed this, thank you!
You changed my world !
Great video. Finance is the least taught and tested subject in our education, period.
Man, you’re so cool!
Thank you!!
it would be interesting also to understand how to price video editing services
Thank you!
Very very good points .... I sub to learn more
It’s great to think of your videos as art. But to others, who are using your work to advertise their businesses, your work has to bring them back some kind of return. No good business should value paying as little as $500 if they’re expecting a GOOD return on their video.
It wasn’t until I started getting involved in the marketing department at my job until it made sense. Videos are advertising. If you’re creating work that is not going to be used as a video post and not an ad, you’re going to keep getting $500 clients. Businesses who run your work as ads will understand the value that they offer. VIDEOS combined with advertising provide GREAT ROI.
Your videos are amazing
Check also books on value based pricing
Man! I'm not charging enough. Average cost of a video right now is $2500. Basically a day rate, gear rental(my gear) and final edit. Shoot i need to charge more.
Hey mate ! Thanks for this video, it was very enriching ! I just don’t know how to transition from 500 to 5000. What do you do in the meantime ? How to you find those 5K clients ? Tell us more ! Thanks again !
Yep will make videos about this soon
Based on your business model at your production company, do you now only focus on producing projects for your clients, meaning hiring contractors and vendors needed for each project? What happens to your DP and Director career, do you pay any attention to that simultaneously, or is that a separate entity and business model? In other words, when speaking of sales/marketing how much are you marketing your DP/Cam op service vs. marketing your video production company?
Yea when we land a client, we produce the entire project and hire contractors as needed to fill different roles. And I hire myself into the project as director/DP. The DP career as a freelancer is entirely different and separate, but I’ve focused away from that. I find it easier to choose a path that best suits your personally. Really hard to pursue a life long career as a DP and running a production company, but plenty do both. They just treat them as two separate entities and market each separately
Well explained, you will never win the game with low rate projects. Im sure you already have more to offer than you ever imagined.
Step up your video business and show what you can offer.
Saj is #TheTruth 100%
🙏🙏🙏
Would you say the CZcams video editor field in general is a wrong field to play if you would want to get paid a good amount relative to other fields?
Yea I would. I have youtube editors including the one that edited this video. It’s a good starting point but every crowded and youtube videos don’t make enough money to justify paying an editor a lot of money
Thanks for making these videos. If I was to get a client that would pay $5000-$10,000 for a video, I could hire a cinematographer while I produce and direct. My concern is when the client sees the cinematographer on set and that he/she knows more about lighting and lenses than I do, they may ask them for a business card and hire just the cinematographer the next time for a video. How do you deal with this situation?
I always hire people I trust that wouldn’t do that to me and the higher level you get, the less this happens.
@@Filmmakingmentor Thanks.
There is no catch all approach. There too many factors. When first starting out no one is going to pay you $500 per job. You have to work up to that and beyond.
I agree with the comments below about looking for a $5000 client. I DO WANT to shoot $5000 video and I KNOW HOW to do it, what gear to use, how to do it in terms of video production, but where can I find them?
I texted a lot of people offering them my service and I didn't get a response from them...
Thank you
Ok. I will make several videos to talk more about getting higher paying clients
@@Filmmakingmentor thank you!
I'm a Magician, and the same thing happens in my business, it's like two different realities
Oh interesting. I bet it’s the same for lot of creative industries
Do you think your online course will be up anytime soon?
Yea it will be released first couple of weeks of April
Okay but i specifically want to make music videos... tips on getting higher paying clients there?
Working directly with artists for music videos is a very crowded market and I’ve only seen very low prices relative to the work. The only way I’ve seen higher prices points there is when you partner a brand and an artist and create a branded music video. But I don’t have personal experience with making music videos for artists are a higher price point directly
@@Filmmakingmentor thank you, thats still useful
Companies don’t trust me as a filmmaker, sometimes not even to do for free. How do I change this ?
It’s a process but usually starts by creating examples that will impress them, even free ones. Next, you’ll have to pitch yourself as a company and not just a solo filmmaker. Companies want to work with other companies and not a freelancer. Most of my videos are all about that and will show that process
@@Filmmakingmentor Thanks Boss 🙏🏿
Do you do any consulting work?
No I don’t. But I’m working on a course coming out in April
@@Filmmakingmentor ok awesome!
great video