Multiple Streams of Videographer Income

In order for videographers to be truly successful, they need multiple streams of video business income. In other words, videographers need multiple sources of revenue to thrive in the great times and to survive in the down times.

What are the main sources of video business income?

Source #1 – The End Client

Whether you are a wedding and event videographer or a corporate video producer, your main source of revenue is the end client. The end client is the person that hires you to produce a video directly for them. Money flows out of their bank account and directly into yours. In my opinion, End Clients should make up about 50% of the revenues you generate for your video production business.

Source #2 – Creative Agencies

Although it can sometimes be a challenge to work with other creative agencies, try to stay on good terms with a handful of them because they can send you a steady stream of work.

In this scenario, the End Client hires the agency who then in turn, hires you to provide video services for a larger project. The money flows from the End Client’s pocket to the Creative Agency’s pocket and eventually, to your pocket.

Agency projects usually work to stretch your creative abilities and they pay a decent rate for your video production services.

In the wedding video arena, an agency might be a chapel or large wedding coordination company that provides turn-key services to brides and their families. In the corporate video arena, there are marketing, PR, advertising, interactive and website design agencies that develop projects for End Clients that will need to outsource professional video services.

Creative agencies should make up about 25% of the revenues you generate for your video production business. This will be a hard fought 25% and you’ll earn every penny…but you’ll want to have relationships with several agencies so you’ll have money coming in when End Clients aren’t spending any.

Source #3 – Other Videographers and/or Producers

One of the most overlooked sources of revenue are other videographers and video producers. Seriously! You should spend as much time meeting and networking with these people as you do trying to attract End Clients and Creative Agency clients. Become known as the go-to guy or gal in your market and other videographers and producers will be calling every week wanting to know if you’ll work on their crew. And at full freelance rates too!

Seriously, the easiest and quickest money comes from other people in our industry…even our competitors. Plus, when an End Client calls a videographer who is booked, they’ll most likely pass the lead on to you instead of leaving the client in a lurch. This gives you an opportunity to win a new End Client and it didn’t cost you anything to get them.

Also, in the years of running my video production business, there have been many times when I’ve had to rely on strategic partnerships with other videographers just to make ends meet. We’d both promote our services to the same clients while agreeing to give the other exclusive rights to be on the crew if and when a contract was signed.

This doubled my chances of winning work whether I won the contract or not! Pulling $300 to $500 in a day back then was WAY better than nothing…and in many cases it came just in time to put food on the table and to pay the rent.

Even now when most of my time is spent operating as the video producer/director, I still try to make sure 25% of my business revenues come from projects with other production companies.

If you diversify where your income is derived from, you’ll greatly improve your chances for video business success.

Videos for business

With 85% of consumer saying that they want to see more video content from brands, businesses are clamoring to get their hands on more video content. The problem? Not every business has (or needs) a full-time, in-house videographer.

I many cases, it makes sense for the business to outsource their video production needs to freelancers to get it done quickly.

The benefit for freelance videographers is huge. The average pricing for business videography is $1,000 per finished minute of video. If you’re signed on for a 3-minute video, you’ve got your summer trip paid for in one gig.

How to do it:

• Sign up for freelancer platforms like Fiverr and Upwork
• Upload your portfolio and description
• Wait for the gigs to come rolling in

Alternatively, you could also proactively approach businesses that you see have potential, but don’t have much video content available. Make sure to tell your family and friends that you offer these services, as word of mouth recommendations are one of the strongest trust-building factors there are.

4 Ways to Make Money as a Videographer Right Now

Weddings

Weddings are the easiest video job you can fall into. As soon as you buy your first camera, family members are going to ask you to shoot their weddings. That said, they are a ton of work. Be sure you are getting something out of it. If you aren’t getting paid, ask the couple to buy you some memory cards or batteries in exchange for your services.

Music Videos

If you are in the video world, you probably have friends in the music scene. If not, make some. The added benefit of making music videos is the friendships you make with musicians. It adds the future benefit of more collaborations. If you shoot a music video for a band, they may make you a deal when you have a project and want to use their music. You can also help them record their concerts, which leads into our next point.

Live Events

Concerts, corporate events, product releases, speakers, conferences. That’s just the starting list. Aim for events that are reoccurring. If an agency wants you to film their new product release party, make a video great enough that they call you back for the next product release. Same goes for yearly events or conferences. Companies will promote their next event with a video from the previous year. Then you’re setting yourself up for a yearly gig.

High School Sports and Highlight Reels

It’s easy to start doing this when you are in high school, but even after you graduate, you can always return to your alma mater. Most of these jobs are incredibly easy, especially if you are shooting footage for a coach. A coach just wants a wide shot of the field, that way they can analyze every player during each play. All you have to do is follow the ball.

Tips on How to Become a Videographer

There’s no one way to becoming a videographer. Many successful videographers have unique stories on how they followed similar steps differently before they got their big breaks.

Depending on where you are in your journey to becoming a professional videographer, you can start off with any of these tips and simply turn to your burning passion for videography to guide you to success.

Attend workshops

The usual first step to becoming a videographer is knowing how to operate a video camera properly. As a very lucrative career, videography obviously requires a whole lot of skill and technical knowledge that goes way beyond merely pressing the record button.You can start your education way before college, as many middle schools already offer basic classes in film, art, broadcasting, journalism, and other subjects that are related to videography. Your school might even have a news program or audio-visual club that you can join to help you learn and practice your skills.

Get a good video camera

As a beginner, you may find the DSLR or mirrorless camera to be easier to use than camcorders for your videography training. After attending several workshops, you will have probably gotten a good idea of the type of cinema camera that you prefer to work with.

Earn a related college degree

When you start applying for a videographer job, agencies and filmmaking companies will usually want to be assured of your education with a college degree that’s related to film or broadcasting. Fortunately, there are a handful of bachelor degrees that will provide you with valuable experiences and technical skills required in the field, such as the following:

• Communications
• Cinematography
• Broadcasting
• Video editing
• Film theory
• Screenwriting

Find a mentor

During your internships, find a mentor (fellow videographer or professional cinematographer) and cultivate friendships. Aside from gaining valuable knowledge from someone who’s currently in the industry, this person can be a source of inspiration. Even if you’ve already found yourself a mentor early on, having more than one can be very beneficial for your career.

If possible, assist your mentor in some of their projects. Observe how they work, how they plan and execute their shots, and how they address problems that arise. Apprenticeship opens up the possibility of working as a second-shooter or getting referrals for job opportunities later on.

3 MINUTE VIDEO COST

So, exactly, “How Much Does a 3 Minute Video Cost?” It’s hard to say but a good rule of thumb is to estimate $1500 to $10,000 per finished minute for an average production. If you average this rate out, it is safe to assume a rate of about $3,000 to $5000 on average per finished minute of video. Therefore, a 3 minute video will cost about $9,000 to $15,000. But remember, the cost will differ greatly based on each element listed above. Keep in mind, that the return that you receive on your video when properly produced will be far greater than the investment itself!

Video cost includes a breakdown of the three main steps of production: pre-production, production, and post-production. You can’t skimp on any of these as doing so would result in a lesser quality film. Therefore, when considering a video for your business, website, or project, be sure to choose a professional production team to support your creative vision.