How Much Should You Charge for Video Production

There is no universal going rate

Think about something as ordinary as getting a haircut. Asking for the going rate would not be particularly useful. You could visit a local barber, a suburban hairdresser or a specialist salon and receive three very different prices. Each business is serving a different part of the market and providing a different experience.

Video production works the same way.

A business producing straightforward property tours for suburban real estate agencies might compete on efficiency, consistency and turnaround time. Its clients may want a professional result without a complicated production process or a large budget.

A company producing films for luxury properties or high-end holiday developments is operating in a different segment. Its clients may expect more creative development, a larger crew, carefully planned cinematography and a more involved post-production process. The price will naturally be higher because the expectations, delivery model and costs are different.

This does not mean market research is useless. It is worth speaking with other video producers, clients and prospects to understand the range of prices in your market and what buyers consider fair value. That research gives you context. It does not uncover a universal price that everyone is supposed to charge.

The more useful questions are: Which part of the market am I serving? What kind of service does that market expect? How do I want my business to be perceived?

Your positioning has to support your price

You cannot separate pricing from positioning. Your website, portfolio, proposals, sales process and client experience all contribute to what a prospective client believes your service is worth.

I once saw a guerrilla marketing campaign around Melbourne advertising low-cost websites. Paper advertisements had been stuck to traffic lights across the city. The headline was blunt and memorable: “Pay or piss off.” Underneath it was a fixed website price and a phone number.

It was crude, but everything about it was consistent. The advertising, language, price and transactional approach all supported a no-frills service. It made sense for the market the business appeared to be targeting.

A company selling complex websites to large corporate clients would need to present itself very differently. Those clients would want evidence that the company was credible, capable and safe to work with. They would expect a more considered sales process, stronger proof and a higher level of service.

The same applies to video production. If you want to charge premium prices, prospective clients need reasons to believe that you can deliver a premium result. That does not mean filling your website with unsupported claims about quality. It means providing credible proof through relevant work, case studies, testimonials, a clear process and a professional sales experience.

There can be an uncomfortable gap between what someone believes their work is worth and what the market appears willing to pay them. I sometimes see video producers blaming clients for failing to recognise their excellence while, at the same time, they have invested very little in presenting or marketing the business. Most of the money has gone into cameras and lenses, while the website, proposals and sales process have been treated as an afterthought.

It is a competitive market, and clients will not always appreciate the work involved. But blaming the market will not improve the situation. A more productive question is: what needs to change so that my business looks and behaves like one that deserves to charge the price I want?

Decide what kind of video business you are building

Pricing also depends on your business model.

You might build a high-volume business offering defined packages of social media content. With an efficient production system, repeatable formats and a controlled scope, you can keep your costs down and offer clients an accessible price.

Alternatively, you might concentrate on lower-volume, highly customised productions. These jobs may involve more creative development, more contact with the client, larger crews and a more complex approval process. The price needs to account for that additional time, expertise and responsibility.

Neither model is inherently better. They are simply different businesses.

Problems arise when the service and pricing model do not match. A customised production sold at a package price can quickly become unprofitable. A simple, repeatable service surrounded by an elaborate sales and production process may become too expensive for the clients it was designed to attract.

You also need to decide how you want to present the price. A package can make the buying decision easier because the client understands what is included and what it will cost. A customised proposal can demonstrate that you have considered the client’s particular situation, but it takes more time to prepare and can create more uncertainty at the beginning of the sales process.

The important thing is to make a deliberate choice rather than drifting into a model based on whatever the last client happened to request.

Know what the work really costs you

Positioning and market research help you decide what a client may be willing to pay. Your numbers tell you whether accepting that price makes commercial sense.

Start with your revenue, which is the amount you charge for the production before deducting any costs. Then identify the direct costs associated with delivering that particular job. These might include equipment hire, freelancers, travel, music licensing and other project-specific expenses.

You also need to place a realistic value on your own time. When you run the business yourself, it is easy to treat your filming, editing, producing, meetings, emails, revisions and project management as though they are free. They may not appear in your accounts in the same way as a freelancer’s invoice, but they consume your time and limit your capacity to take on other work.

Then there are your operating expenses: insurance, software, accounting, marketing, rent, equipment ownership and all the other costs you need to pay whether or not a particular project is underway.

The figures are only illustrative, but they give you something concrete to assess. Is $1,400 a healthy return for the work, responsibility and risk involved? What happens if the client requests another round of changes? What if the edit takes two days longer than expected? What if you have underestimated the time spent in meetings and project management?

Running these calculations can be confronting. You may discover that a job you considered profitable barely covered its costs. You may also find that a particular service is performing better than you realised. Either way, you are making decisions based on evidence rather than instinct.

Creative business owners sometimes resist this kind of analysis because they do not see themselves as numbers people. I understand that because I felt the same way when I started. But you do not need to become an accountant. You need enough financial awareness to understand what your work costs, what it earns and whether your pricing supports the business you want to build.

Price the service, not a collection of penalties

Once you understand your costs, think carefully about how those costs are presented to the client.

Not every internal expense needs to become a separate line in the proposal. If uploading and delivering the finished files is a core part of your service, adding an unexpected upload fee can feel like a restaurant charging extra to bring the food to your table. The client cannot reasonably receive the service without it, so the charge feels more like a penalty than an additional benefit.

The same principle applies to compulsory business expenses. A builder would not normally add a separate public liability insurance fee to a quote simply because insurance is necessary for operating the business. It is one of the costs that needs to be accounted for when establishing the overall price.

This does not mean you should perform extra work for free. Additional versions, extended travel, extra revision rounds, specialist hosting or unusually large delivery requirements may all justify separate charges. The distinction is whether the item provides an identifiable additional service or is simply part of delivering what the client already believed they were buying.

Your proposal should make the value of the service easy to understand. Include the core elements required for a successful production, account for their cost in your pricing and be clear about the circumstances that would create an additional fee.

Good pricing makes clients feel that the service has been thoughtfully designed. Poor pricing makes them feel as though they are being charged at every turn.

Use pricing as a strategic tool

Your price does not need to perform the same role in every situation.

You may offer a tightly defined introductory service that gives a new client a low-risk way to experience working with you. You might create a package for a particular market, establish an ongoing content arrangement or offer a paid strategy session before proposing a larger production.

This is different from discounting your work because you are afraid the client will say no. A strategic introductory offer has a clear purpose, controlled scope and pathway towards a larger relationship. Fear-based discounting simply reduces the price without changing the work.

It is also worth resisting the temptation to swing for the fences on every enquiry. Trying to extract the largest possible amount from each new client can make pricing inconsistent and turn every proposal into a gamble. A sustainable video business is usually built through sensible margins, strong client relationships and work that can be delivered successfully, not occasional wins surrounded by long periods of uncertainty.

The goal is not to find the highest number you can persuade someone to accept. It is to create a price that makes sense for the client, fits your position in the market and properly rewards the business for the work.

What needs to change before you can charge more?

Start with one recent job. Use it to check whether your price supports the business you want to build.

• Check the profit. Allow for project costs, your own time and a share of your operating expenses.
• Check your positioning. Do your website, portfolio and proposals support the price you want to charge?
• Check the scope. Be clear about what is included and what would cost extra.

If you would like help with your pricing, positioning or sales process, visit the coaching section of ryanspanger.com to learn more about working with me.