Video
Pros should get paid for their time and
expertise - Another 4Video Real Life
Story in the business of video
"But
the
Tape only costs $2.00", he said. As
a video professional, you deserve to be paid
for your time and expertise.
If I may suggest to the Video Pros, print
this and save it for the next insulting
cheapskate... Oh sure you will offend them
with this article... but who cares once they
have insulted you - they don't value your
time or expertise and figure that since the
tape only cost 2 bucks, anything over that
is profit and since your their
"friend" you should do it at your
cost - that cost being the 2.00 for the
tape. Some people honestly believe this is
your cost.
Let me cite a few examples from personal
experience, I will omit his true name to
save him the embarrassment. Let's call him
"Mr. Mercedes". He owns a car
dealership in Tampa Bay. I have bought two
cars and a used pick-up truck from him in
the last 5 years. Yes, I got good deals
because of our prior business relationship,
but rest assured he still made at least a
few grand. Not that I begrudge anyone a fair
profit.
A few weeks ago he calls me and informs me
his daughter is getting married and asks if
would I be willing to create their Wedding
Video. "Sure", I reply, "I
will coordinate the details with your
wife". Now I don't make it a practice
of doing wedding videos for good reason.
Internet Video or a 30 second spot is by far
more profitable. Also consider this- while
you can always get a deposit, getting the
final balance after everyone else providing
services for the wedding has gotten paid and
the couple blew a wad in Cancun can be
difficult.
First,
because you have fallen for the, "well
we don't have it right now but go ahead and
give us the video and we promise to pay you
later" and been burned more times then
you care to admit NEVER to see the balance.
Since you won't give them the tape without
payment in full - you are being difficult..
Or they begrudgingly pay you the
balance and cuss you under their breath.....
What he doesn't trust me? Trust this.... it
always becomes a no win situation. Worse and
quite ironic, I have found that the people
most able to afford your services expect the
world for nothing or dirt cheap.
After gaining all the details and answering
Ms. Mercedes questions I ask her for a
standard 50% deposit check of $300.00 (about
what she spends at the Safety Harbor Day
Spa.) She says she thought her husband said
I was doing it for free. News to me. Though
true we never did discuss price other than
"whatever it is OK - tell my
wife". She then instructs me to call
her husband. So I call Mr. Mercedes up and
explain I am giving him my best $1,200.00
Gold wedding package for the price of
$595.00 the cost of the "Most Popular
Package" A 50% discount on my services.
( Video Pro hint* Adding extras is better
than lowering cost) I am willing to do this
because Mr. Mercedes meets all the Real
estaters , stockbrokers, lawyers and other
assorted crooks that can afford my services
to edit their family / vacation videos
etc... and the guest list is sure to include
my targeted clientele'
Now
please keep in mind I am not a weekend
warrior with a 300.00 consumer cam and a
editing VCR. My work and my reputation is
why Mr. Mercedes called me in the first
place. These prices are fair in my market. I
refuse to compete on price, but I will
compete on quality all day long. Mr.
Mercedes invites me to come over to his
dealership so I do. He starts by reminding
me that he gave me his long distance account
several years ago. I remind him that by
switching him from his rip off rate AT&T
pricing to Worldcom I saved his dealership
$18,000.00 a year. I found lines GTE was
billing him for that were not connected to
anything - plus I saved him another
$15,000.00 on a new phone system that once
installed was more practical and efficient.
Still running smoothly today. I also remind
him about the 3 vehicles I had purchased
from him and the 1/2 a dozen people I know
bought a car from his dealership I referred
to him. One would think at this point Mr.
Mercedes would say, " your right thanks
and here is a check for the lousy
$595.00"
Instead he spews those words, " But the
tape only cost you 2.00" I have
heard this from one too many
"friends" . I always agree - and
since I can buy DVD's now for under a buck I
suppose I should only charge you 89 cents
for a DVD. PLEASE ALLOW ME TO SCREAM HERE!
AWWWWWWW! IT IS NOT THE COST OF THE TAPE!
It is the $4,500.00 for the Cannon XL1 - The
1000.00 for Final Cut Pro 4 - plus the other
$5000.00 in software, it is the $3000.00 for
a G4 / G5 Mac. It is the 6-8 hours I'll
spend shooting and then the 10 -15 hours
spent editing it. It's the 800.00 a month
for my tiny yellow pages ad, plus all the
other costs nobody calculates like the cost
of gas to and from the event and running all
over town simply to get a lousy 300.00
deposit check!
Some might say, "yes but your my friend
and you already own all your
equipment." They don't understand that
equipment does not last forever; repairs and
maintenance are costly; and every 5 years
you need new everything just to keep up with
the technology.
I
don't expect Mr. Mercedes to know video
anymore than I know about selling cars. But
even I know his cost of selling a car also
includes full page ads every week in the
paper - a sales and service
department, plus the multi - million dollar
commercial property and buildings, so I
attempted to explain it in terms he could
relate to. Then he says this is true, but my
costs are peanuts by comparison and that I
just shouldn't worry about them. Then he
adds one of my all time favorite lines.
"Yes, but think of all the business
I could send you."
Well I have thought about that Mr. Mercedes.
In the six years I have known you, you have
not referred a single customer to me. Lets
also clear up this "friend"
thing..... when is the last time we went
fishing together or hung out at Frenchy's on
the beach or went to dinner? Never. Yes, Mr.
Mercedes I am your "friend" when
you want to sell me a car, or get your
daughter's wedding video done for what 2
bucks. Now I do value our business
relationship - but let's not confuse
the definition of "friend" I
have offered you 50% off which is in fact
the "buddy rate"
Please, call Alessi Video & Photography
they specialize only in weddings and are the
best in town. He will charge you a $1,500.00
minimum.....plus plus plus... and with that
I walked out.
Now for the less Classic Jerks..... I
call the Tourist Jerks
My
dive & video buddy Bela always brings
the underwater housing and camera whenever
we go diving in the Keys or elsewhere. Some
of the other patrons on the boat always ask
- can I get a copy? I politely explain that
I am not the dive tour operator's camera
person. Some will accept that answer and
others become indignant.
I
explain that we will have a limited window
of opportunity to shoot. I am not
interested in shooting them to be in my
video, because of course they'll expect that
their personal copy should include them.
Then the cute girl pouts her lip and whines
please.... so I give in. OK, for 50 bucks I
will take some footage of them put it on the
front with a custom title and the rest will
be the wreck or fish footage of whatever
happens to show up while were down. They
will have it in about a week and I will mail
it to them. This is about the time they
freak out and say, "But the tape
only costs you $2.00! - and you are
doing it for yourself anyway. Can't you just
make me a copy - I'll pay for the
tape."
This
is about the time I loose it. Okay you
stupid tourist - if I were the dive operator
camera person a video tape of you and your
once in a lifetime dive trip would cost at
least 100 bucks... $250 is not unreasonable.
So I am sorry, I am not authorized to sell
video tapes on this dive charter, just like
you, I came to enjoy myself. Yes, I have Pro
equipment and the tape will be
professionally edited. FOR ME
If
you want, hire your own personal underwater
dive video person on your next dive trip.
Then take and have the footage edited, next
tell them I offered to do it for 50 bucks ~
and that they should be willing to match my
price and see what they have to say. Bela
and I have learned the few people happy to
contribute the lousy 50 bucks, who realize
the value and their luck of getting a trip
with us, are not worth the aggravation of
the multitude of new found
"friends" that are simply sharing
a boat ride with us to the dive site. No,
whenever we get asked, our standard reply is
a short NO! It's not that we are not nice
people, we are just tired of going thru this
ritual on every trip.
I'll dedicate this last group of would be
freeloaders to distant relatives and
"family friends"... not your
friend but your aunt's friend. Everyone has
an aunt Linda we will call her. She never
sent you a Christmas card last year, but her
friends kids are also in the school play and
since you are going to see your little
cousin Timmy perform anyway why don't you
bring along your video camera - of course
aunt Linda wants a tape, and one of those
2.00 copies for her friend.
WARNING!
WARNING!!! DANGER WILL ROBINSON DANGER! You
will think aw what the heck it is just this
one time and after all she is family ( and
the friend's tape is really just a copy of
what you planned to do anyway.) Don't do
it!!! - find an excuse that prevents you
from being able to go to little Timmy's
school play, sporting event or graduation
ceremony.
Because
this is what happens - now your on call for
free or dirt cheap like 20 bucks for all of
Timmy's events and he is only in the sixth
grade. Next the friend isn't happy because
you didn't know exactly who her kids were
and there were 50 of them on stage running
around confused. Something in the edit is
now incorrect, or maybe you misspelled
Zidowlowski in the credits. No matter your
best intentions and the fact you did it
basically for free, now the
"friend" wants you to make a few
changes after seeing the tape. They paid you
20 bucks - so you are now obligated to
correct it and re edit it and make a
replacement tape..... for free of course.
Later Ms. Zidowluoosky will call and ask you
to hook up her VCR and new DVD player to her
TV since you know about these things - you
can just drop on by.
The point of my article is this. As a video
professional you deserve to be paid for your
time and expertise. Your cost is not 2.00
for the tape ~ when it comes to cheap people
that expect something for nothing -
"friends & favors" will keep
you working 24/7 for 2 bucks a tape. This
takes up your time and creates wear on your
equipment. It also prevents you from making
the money you deserve.
My
advice is to just blow off these kinds of
people. Why work for free, when you would
make more money doing nothing. You
should devote your time to running your
video business as a business. Understand
that in the past, you may have needed sample
tapes and references. You got to
get past the "I need the practice so
I'll do it cheap phase"
You
started your video business to make money -
not create favors for friends & family.
You are a Professional and this is your
livelihood. Understanding this is a key
element to a profitable video business. The
value of my service is in having the best
equipment for the job, plus my eye. Also
consider my editing skill and creativity to
blend your treasured home videos into a
custom authored DVD as a lifetime keepsake.
The cost is not 2.00 a tape!
