I came across with Q&A with Henry Finn of Blueprint World Media, a top San Fransisco based video production company. In this Q&A, Henry responds to questions about how to charge more for video, and specifically how to get $10,000+ for every video that you make.
Note: I’ve edited the original Q&A for readability reasons. The answers are still Henry’s, but I’ve added punctuation, paragraph breaks and other grammar edits for readability. I’ve also included relevant additional links to help readers, as well as images and video throughout.
This is Part I of the Q&A. The rest of the Q&A will be released in two more parts, as it’s rather lengthy.
Without further ado, let’s get started!
Introduction
Hi all, I’ve been a videographer for over 15 years in the Bay Area. I started when I was 19 shooting weddings for years and eventually got into corporate and startup work which has been my bread and butter for 10+ years. I don’t do weddings anymore actually.
I have worked for major companies and taught at the Academy of Art University and now I am considering creating a course to teach people how to build their work and clientele up to charge minimum 10K per video.
I learned a lot of lessons the hard way but also was helped by the community, so I want to give back and also create the ultimate resource guide for the business. You can see some of our work at Blueprint World Media.
What questions and struggles do you have as professionals that you want to address?
What You Will Learn
Some of the topics that will be covered in this Q&A:
- Essential knowledge areas for creating professional work.
- How to prospect clients.
- How to build solid relationships.
- How to manage client expectations and educate them to justify charging more.
- Pitfalls to avoid in taking work/managing time/resources.
- How to manage billing.
- How to save your money and grow (don’t just dump it back into gear).
- How to creatively solve client needs under budget.
- Tips and tricks to increase profit margin.
- How to not burn out.
- Building a team and working with other freelancers.
- How to strategically reach out to build relationships in niches you want benefits from.
- And much more, this is just off the top of my head.
The Questions & Answers
1. What would you advise for a 16 year getting into video production?
Matt Crawford
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This is great! Thanks for such a well thought out piece!
Really like the video about overcoming price objections. I didn’t know about that stuff!
Any time, Stealthboy1807, any time.
Appreciate the comment.
Thanks,
Matt
This material is really helpful. I’ve been going through the answers and taking notes. Feel like I’ve answered quite a few of my questions about starting my video business and going forward.
Thanks for this – it’s a great service you do.
Hi Jonas,
Yeah, taking notes is a great idea.
Glad this article was helpful for you!
Thanks,
Matt
[…] https://filmlifestyle.com/charge-more-for-video/– Really great Q and A on becoming a videographer and the techniques that need to be used to build up your standing and continue to grow your profit. It is a Q and A with one Henry Finn whose company Blueprint World Media is one of the top in San Francisco. He answers questions from aspiring filmmakers, many in similar positions to myself, on the type of things one should be making to get started, the best way to spend funds and the equipment that’s most essential to be investing in, networking, approaching clients with the correct demeanour, when and how to begin charging for your work, how many projects you need to be taking on and how much to charge based on the profit you want to make and in relation to other practitioners in the field. Very applicable to me as he talks about the different ways to approach clients for that initial foot in the door and he also mentions that he has passion projects that are more artistic which he has to fund with corporate contracts, as such he has to calculate necessary profits and investments required, whilst also guaranteeing himself a good quality of life by not taking on too much. Below I’ve included one of the most interesting sections of the Q and A, where, according to his experience, he breaks down the stages of progression one is likely to go through in a freelancing career according to amount charged for each project. This outline is presuming you start with absolutely zero portfolio to speak of, which is something I won’t be doing thanks to work completed at uni, but nonetheless it was a really informative section in an incredibly useful article overall. […]
This is the pricing advice every filmmaker needs! It’s so easy to undercharge, but your tips on positioning and value-based pricing really make sense. Looking forward to Part II!
Thanks, Santilli.