Re: Training videos billing

I have been thinking about this a lot lately, as should everyone do if you take yourself seriously.

In every discussion about rates, most people don't talk about how much time it takes to complete something, neither do they talk about the creative talent. If you are a video magician who can do spectacular stuff that everyone loves in the blink of an eye, twice as fast as anyone else and you charge only by the hour - you would make only half as much as the regular ones with the same rate. That's no real reward for your talent.

The magician could double his rate, but as people mostly compare offers based on the hourly rate, this is not a very commercial approach.

So what can he do ?
He can get as many jobs as possible to fill his agenda, then he makes more money. But as you all know, it is not that easy to mentally switch between too many different creative jobs in a day.

He can make an estimation about how many hours it will take - this estimated amount of hours is about the same as his competitors, and charge by the project in stead of charging by the hour. In this case, he always has to check back how much he actually made (or lost) by the hour, to make more realistic quotations in the future.

It is a little bit dangerous, but he can build in safety nets in his offer for unexpected stuff.

Actually, a lot of thoughts, but I don't have a real answer. How do you guys deal with the amount of hours needed to complete something, as this is a significant factor in the price the customer has to pay?

On last thing ... it is a very different situation if you are not a freelancer, but work in a company with personnel. In that case there is a good knowledge in the company about how long it takes on average to complete a typical job. So an hourly rate with a good time registration will do. The boss can put the magician on jobs where he can make the most profit out of him. And the magician, he should negociate a good wage.

Sam

- I have read the entire internet, and I am feeling a little bit bored, so I started to reply to interesting forum topics.