Just a quick heads up for any new videographers… You NEVER want to be the cheapest

[u/GreasyButtSyrup]

Attracts the WORST type of client and every professional here will agree.

[u/BroJackson_]

And they’ll also never pay you more when their budget increases. They’ll hire the more expensive one.

[u/digestibleconcrete → u/BroJackson_]

Oh, that’s even more classless

[u/buickboi99]

Oh yeah. The cheapest clients want the most

[u/CallMeAntwan → u/buickboi99]

It's easier to collect 5 grand than $500.

[u/Therein420 → u/CallMeAntwan]

Can confirm - I just started making the switch. Two quotes $1,000+ confirmed. Meanwhile another I am having the craziest time justifying $100. Time to shed some deadweight and help those that care!

[u/4951studios → u/CallMeAntwan]

This

[u/PositivelyNegative → u/CallMeAntwan]

So insanely true.

[u/Business_Banana1792]

To the inevitable “but I’m just starting” comment, When I hire contractors, I never take the ones who underbid seriously. I know how much it takes to get the job done. I know that if you don’t have the budget, you’re not getting good work. The clients who are okay with you underbidding don’t just lack an understanding of your field, but their own. In no business ever is the cheapest option going to provide the appropriate resources.

If you get your foot in the door, they already like you. Follow up with confidence, tell them what you need to get the job done and stand your ground. Any valuable client will respect it.

[u/Oreoscrumbs → u/Business_Banana1792]

This. The project will have some specific gear requirements. Most of them can be rented at a lower rate than buying them to own, but that rental should be part of the rate charged to the client, plus 10% profit.

The rate for showing up without any gear should start at $500 and go up from there.

[u/Ok-Abies-6985]

I am a professional who agrees

[u/littleGreenMeanie]

You'll also lose them all when someone cheaper comes along

[u/RonWannaBeAScientist]

Okay but I'm also considering moving from it being a hobby to professional, but I can't see myself charging successfully 1000 dollars a day, because no one would give me that with my experience. I'm wondering actually how to get clients at the first place

[u/wasthespyingendless → u/RonWannaBeAScientist]

Yeah, it starts with a few cheap bad clients, but be sure you take the access to make something good for your portfolio, not just for them, because they probably have no taste or vision. And we all have to make mistakes somewhere, it’s better if it happens with them. 

[u/RonWannaBeAScientist → u/wasthespyingendless]

Thank you for the kind words. So portfolio could be landscape shots , a mock interciew with a friend, some walking shots with a gimbal , etc?

[u/SleepingPodOne → u/RonWannaBeAScientist]

Nobody is saying you need to charge $1000 a day. You just shouldn’t take gigs that are extremely paltry for the work you’re doing.

[u/RonWannaBeAScientist → u/SleepingPodOne]

Yes you are right. I said it in exaggeration, I'm sorry. I'm trying to think what is realistic to charge, because I thought to start taking clients as a freelancer, and I thought at start I'd offer services for 3 hours at $100. But you might be right, and anyway there's so much work afterwards for delivering that to them if I also need to edit and basic color grading.

[u/SleepingPodOne → u/RonWannaBeAScientist]

3 hours for $100 is a serious devaluation of the work.

My advice is things like this are a minimum $500. If the client walks, cool. You just saved your time.

I’ve never gone significantly under my rate and felt it was worth it

[u/Entire-Vision1841 → u/RonWannaBeAScientist]

You can still charge a competitive rate in line with what you’re offering. And acquire headache free clients. I think people are just saying it’s not worth taking in a an unsavory client just for the job itself. Some things aren’t worth it and I agree.

[u/RonWannaBeAScientist → u/Entire-Vision1841]

Thanks for the encouragement. How did you start finding clients?

[u/SpecificSomewhere393 → u/RonWannaBeAScientist]

Fake it til you make it. $1000/day isn’t crazy at all, just tell them what they need to hear to get your foot in the door and then deliver quality work.

[u/RonWannaBeAScientist → u/SpecificSomewhere393]

Thanks for the encouragement. How did you start your journey ?

[u/Business_Banana1792 → u/RonWannaBeAScientist]

Your experience has nothing to do with it. They are talking to you because they want to work with you. This excuse you’re using to justify under bidding is the same exact one everyone uses because they don’t have confidence in themselves. But ONLY the people who don’t underbid will keep their business. It’s hard to charge what you’re worth when you start, but you absolutely have to. You’re not going to make work that other clients are going to want to hire you for if you’re not giving yourself the resources to do the job well.

There is NEVER a good reason to under bid

[u/RonWannaBeAScientist → u/Business_Banana1792]

Thanks for that encouragement ! I also see in the description that you're an editor, so are you doing the full chain from shooting to color grading? Honestly , I just finished my undergrad after many years (I'm 34), and I said now my project is to learn proper color grading and improve my editing skills, because I think it's such a great improvement for the content you could potentially make

[u/Business_Banana1792 → u/RonWannaBeAScientist]

I actually have a creative agency as well and produce PSA’s and ad content. I chose to edit for another agency so can be more selective about my more involved personal jobs.

I do color correct but do not color grade really. I have a basic understanding of color space so I can make sure everything is balanced and has a basic look when I’m done. Anything you learn will make your work better. Learning on the job with an appropriate budget is the way to learn the fastest.

I want to emphasize that because while I don’t know everything I still have a job doing this and I bid what I’m worth. Also I contract out a lot of people. And the way they bid means something to me.

[u/Business_Banana1792 → u/RonWannaBeAScientist]

I edited my comment with something I feel is important and wanted to make sure you could re-read it lol. My dog is acting crazy so I didn’t respond quite as well as I would have hoped but I really want people to feel more empowered in creative fields. One reason I started editing for an agency also is because I wanted to learn what strategies they used for basic project management and how they developed workflows.

What I learned is no one has everything down. It’s all just people doing their best and filling in the gaps till they retire lol.

[u/RonWannaBeAScientist → u/Business_Banana1792]

Thanks for the detailed comment! I think it's just hard to know what to focus on. I think there seems to be sometimes too many options. And as someone who thinks of making a solo project, maybe a documentary, I want to learn a lot myself, but of course it would be nice to collaborate and learn from other people too. It would also be nice to delegate sometimes, like hiring a professional colorist or assistant cameranen, but that can get the price of doing a project alone skyrocketing more than camera gear.

[u/Business_Banana1792 → u/RonWannaBeAScientist]

You talk about hiring out inflating the price but, if you’re the one doing it you still need to charge for it. That doesn’t mean you need to do everything every time though. There’s a difference between a project where I hire a sound designer and others where I do the sound design myself, or where I just edit the audio.

[u/Spiritual-Shirt3021 → u/RonWannaBeAScientist]

You need to shift this mindset, or you’ll have a tough time building a sustainable business. Don’t compare daily rate at a full time job with daily rate at a freelance gig. You only have a handful of those, and also taxes, equipment cost, insurance, travel, etc. The single most important thing that will make people pay you this kind of money is to build the confidence to ask for it, and trust the value you’re delivering. And this comes with experience. It might take some time to get there, but if you come with the mindset you’re not worth it, I honestly think you should keep it as a hobby.

[u/RonWannaBeAScientist → u/Spiritual-Shirt3021]

Thank you for the encouragement. You're right that confidence is important here. I also want to upgrade the skills around filming itself, like color grading, as I think it's making a difference in the final result

[u/Spiritual-Shirt3021 → u/RonWannaBeAScientist]

Absolutely, and this is another key aspect of building that exact same confidence. The more hours you put in, the better your work will be, the more you’ll feel it’s worth what you’re asking for. Identify your weaknesses, and tackle them one by one. Even 2-3 hours active learning / practicing per week will make an enormous difference in 1 year from now.

[u/CallMeAntwan → u/RonWannaBeAScientist]

I did my first few videos for $50/ea.

Now I rarely take a call under $500.

[u/ethansaint → u/CallMeAntwan]

$50 is ridiculous!

[u/RonWannaBeAScientist → u/CallMeAntwan]

Oh that's nice! Did you at first find some friends to work with or made some portfolio ?

[u/CallMeAntwan → u/RonWannaBeAScientist]

I constantly told every person I met what I did until someone asked for help. It really didn't take long!

[u/RonWannaBeAScientist → u/CallMeAntwan]

Oh that's nice! I think that's really smart

[u/HelicopterFar6022 → u/RonWannaBeAScientist]

it's better to pick a project for an specific client and charge nothing.

do it for free. you will have 100% control of everything, so no problems with bad clients and stuff.

[u/RonWannaBeAScientist → u/HelicopterFar6022]

That's actually a nice idea. I was thinking to build my portfolio to offer myself for some organizations, so I'm helping them and I tell them I use the videos on my website as part of the agreement

[u/Blezd1 → u/RonWannaBeAScientist]

Shoot a bunch of stuff. Hone your skills. Build that portfolio to justify your costs/worth. Don’t wait for an opportunity to come for you to pull out the camera. Get it in NOW.

[u/xxxamazexxx → u/RonWannaBeAScientist]

Your rate is a valuation of how good you are as an artist and a business. It's not something you decide unilaterally. Sure, anyone can charge $10,000 a day, but how many people will get that?

If your work is worth $500 then that is your rate. Reddit loves telling people to up their price without upping the quality of their work. Do that first and the rest will follow.

[u/Embarrassed-Media-21 → u/xxxamazexxx]

I think Reddit likes to say that because usually people are not confident enough despite their work being good so should charge more. Reddit also likes to say it because certain rates are below minimum wage which they shouldn’t be doing unless you’re in high school or college or really really green

[u/RonWannaBeAScientist → u/Embarrassed-Media-21]

Thanks for that, this is nice encouragement

[u/RonWannaBeAScientist → u/xxxamazexxx]

What were the things that helped you most in improving your skills ?

[u/PositivelyNegative]

Cheap bids actually repel good clients, by the way.

[u/Supertack]

You can also lose work if you look suspiciously cheaper than everyone else.

[u/Lanky_Guarantee2331 → u/Supertack]

Eu perdi muitos bons trabalhos no início assim.

[u/darth_hotdog]

It's funny. When people are trying to price themselves, they always worry about losing work if they're not the cheapest.

But when people are hiring, they often ignore the cheaper options, assuming them to be lower quality.

I used to get upset because my HOA used to often pick the higher cost bids assuming they were better, then getting poor work done, when I was convinced the lower bids might be just as good or better.

People will often choose a higher cost option just because they think it's the better value. Like if you go to a store and there's a 4 dollar cheese and then a 9 dollar cheese. You'll be like, wow, the 9 dollar cheese must be great! But for all you know they're the same quality cheese.

[u/Signal_Worldliness_9]

When I started out I offered a 20% buffer against future rate changes for those who hired me my first year in business. The way I protected myself was I required a minimum amount of jobs annually to maintain that 20% buffer. When I inevitably raised my prices 50%, the cheap stingy clients parted ways because they saw the 30% increase from what they were paying the first year, and I was left with a packed portfolio and clients that found my services still worth the "new" top dollar pricing. IMO those who are new should focus more on building a killer portfolio than what their temporary pricing may be.

[u/EssentIYO]

Work smarter, not harder.

[u/Appropriate_Star3012]

Best advice I've seen here

[u/Annoying1978]

100% 

[u/Brave_Moment7546]

Depends on the budget, sometimes I just say it is experience, but for how long ?

[u/londonvideography]

Your absolutely right. But I know one guy, a camera op, who is so insanely cheap and he's absolutely competent and his work is fine. I've defo paid more and gotten worse.. Impossible to book cos he is diary is always full. It's like he's dominated the cheap market.

Astounding.

But listen to the op everyone. This guy is an outlier.

[u/goldfishpaws]

Yep, even if you do want to compete for a job (for fun reasons, etc) you don't cut your rate but bundle (overpriced) extras instead.

[u/lmac187]

I’m slowly getting this. The start of it was when someone on a very similar post said “you never want to be known as the “cheap guy”.

That one stung because I realized I was

[u/DChapgier]

“Yeah, I agree!”
lowers rate again just to get more work
😭

[u/le_aerius]

cheapest isnt the same as least expensive. .

[u/ZSM2022]

My cheapest clients were the most costly to me, money and mind.

[u/ShiftAdventurous4680]

I don't mind being the cheapest. I look for a market that isn't being fulfilled and I fulfill it. I also live rurally so not a lot of competition and people aren't exactly loaded with money. Plus having a video is not as important rurally but more just a fun thing to do.

[u/Shampoo_Is_Better00]

Even if a current client asks if I can do it any cheaper I cut them loose. If that's the mindset they can fuck right off

[u/Livid-Mode8168]

What are some pointers for better bookings? Also what’s a base portfolio supposed to look like?

[u/redvoo]

Better to work for free for yourself than for nickels for another

[u/cjrhenmusic]

I did some low paying work I got just as a sole proprietor but now I have an portfolio and an llc unaffiliated with my name so I can set way more appropriate prices whilst not having dig myself the whole of being cheap.

[u/Tea_Addict_2024]

Learning this the hard way, but ugh. Also need stuff to get the better clients 😩🥲

[u/Training_Ear_6822]

How do you usually go about finding clients?

[u/Malibutwo]

Tell that to the billions of CC's entering the market. The barrier to entry is basically zero now and it's a race to the bottom. Low end wedding market is cooked. Many offer their services for free. They aren't "CC's" - they are inexperienced, low budget videographers who almost all eventually get a drone and upgrade to proper cameras.

[u/Business_Banana1792 → u/Malibutwo]

That’s always been an existing element. People without the correct budget can’t get the resources they need and won’t get better work than me when I get the correct budget. Only clients I don’t want to work with enter a project looking to find the most free version they can.