I've got my first paying gig shooting a private school.  I'm not exactly sure what they want but they describe a virtual tour of their 50 acre campus.  We have not discussed details but I presume I will shoot about an hour of footage and edit down to a few minutes.  I am an experienced operator and editor.  I recently released a one minute compilation to Facebook that had an amazing 20,000 views in 4 days that is responsible for leading the client to me.

My question is how do I get paid?  I mean should a charge them a flat rate and if so what is reasonable?  What is a reasonable hourly rate for shooting?  Editing?  And also, is there a way I could charge them on a per view basis?  Is anyone doing that?

Thanks for any input.

Congrats!   Do you have your exemption in place so you can legally charge for your service?

I generally charge a flat rate for my total service.  It makes things simple and takes away false comparison with other operators.

For example, there is no point in saying "I'm $150 and hour" since your work may be better or not as good as someone else charging the same.   

Ultimately it comes down to the perceived value of the end result.   There are videos I would happily pay $10,000 to acquire and also those I wouldn't give $50 for.

Decide what yours is worth and charge that.   

I do real estate video and a charge a flat fee make things easier

I'm not sure how you got a paying gig if you did not negotiate price already. Of course you'll still have the job if the fee is low but if it is too high for them, you won't have it. As for "we have not discussed details, but I presume..." It is precisely those details that have to be fleshed out so that you can come up with a price for your services.  What would you have charged for the 4 day project you mentioned? I don't know what was involved to produce that but if this client is expecting similar quality keep in mind what time, skills and effort went into that project. Is it in the $5K-$10k range or higher?  An hour of shooting will require you to be on site a lot longer if you wish to capture various views in the best light considering the direction they face, weather, and time of day for the best mood.

I want us all to be on the same page as professionals when it comes to pricing. So I think sharing information is important. Let's not sell ourselves short. I hope everyone understands that our work has a high value to clients. Here is a lot of detail for you and others to consider. This is my proposal followed by what we finally agreed to a shoot list that did not include me doing the editing.  "W" is an abbreviation for the site.
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It was a pleasure going around W and discussing this project. Thanks so much for thinking of me.

Plan - low level aerial video of W to include the various amenities we discussed along with the farm stand with people, the farm and any other interesting takes I can get. This will take several trips but I am not charging based on number of trips or time. I also will use any footage that I produced on previous trips.

Product - approximately 5 minute video with a music track and possible title slides. No voice over or text inserts, stills or other requirements.  Music is to be agreed upon before final editing. I may make the rough edit to any music I choose if we haven't selected anything by then.

There is no discount if you decide to cut the video to a shorter length. There will be no extra charge if you decide to cut the video to a longer length up to 10 minutes... assuming this does not require me to shoot additional footage.

Process - after shooting the footage I will make a rough edit perhaps with some additional possible choices for scene additions or replacements. We will collaborate on a final product.  There will be an additional charge if we need to cut to several final versions... e.g. a one minute version and a 5 minute version or variations of any significant type.  You are free to have others edit this if you like.

Time frame - shooting will commence as soon as I can after approval... weather permitting.  I do have other projects so it might take two weeks to a month to complete all filming. I expect to be able to produce a rough edit within a few days of having most or all of the footage at hand.

Price $10,500 not including music rights.

Usage - by W only... for marketing purposes.  Alan XXX  Photography will hold the copyright to all footage and the final product.

Terms - Net due upon receipt. $3000 deposit required after approval.

Note - All of the takes and subjects will be based on what you have described and my best judgement. Any additional feedback will be appreciated. I will try my best to accommodate any changes or additions within reason. Footage and editing will be comparable to the quality I showed in the W video I produced 2 years ago. My goal is to make a beautiful video that you are totally pleased with.
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THE GREENS:

 Willow Lake

 The Boat House Information Center

 The Lodge (& pool area)

 Wheat Fields

THE GROVE:

 Pin Oak Park/Pavilion

 Streetscapes

THE GRANGE:

 Tenant House (& Amphitheater, pool area)

 Sycamore House & Gardens

 The Farm Stand

ACTIVATED SPACES:

 The Farm Stand

 Amphitheater

 Pools

Flat rate for sure, makes it much more simple and easier for them to accept as an hourly rate is variable and surely they have a budget they need to stay under.  Helping them helps you!  And as Jim said, I would make sure the 333 is ironclad and you have all your ducks in a row before accepting any funds.  If I were the FAA I would be monitoring these forums (if you are you guys rock!).  Just saying...

Brad

I'm assuming based on your questions that you don't have an FAA exemption to actually provide commercial service.

Charging $10k only helps other companies. Makes it  easy to undercut that price and clean up all the business. Aerial video isn't rocket science let's be real.

I wouldn't charge more than what i charge for typical video or photo. The tool changed nothing else. Your client isn't here to pay for your hobby. My regular canon cost more than the I1 if i include light meters, lights, glass, back up cam and so on. Just because you are going to do a video from a different angle shouldn't change anything with the price. And as for hiding behind editing costs, well I don' know I don;t usually give DNG stills to my clients... always editing your product.

Skylinewg Posted at 2015-10-3 14:13
Charging $10k only helps other companies. Makes it  easy to undercut that price and clean up all the ...

If you're talking about a "finished" project then I completely disagree.   

I do agree that it would be too much for aerial materials on their own.

A finished video is the same a piece of string, you don't know how long it is until you measure it.   If you were making a corporate video promoting the latest Trump tower to foreign investors they would probably invest $500,000 in getting it done to the highest standards.   

Go ahead and bid $5k, I guarantee you won't get it.   

The standards you work to will justify the price. If you can't work to higher standards, you can't get the higher prices. The other side is how much value this will be to the client. If they really need a high quality product and are going to spend money for air time and marketing, then they can justify investing more in a good product. But if their needs are minimal, they won't. You have to determine what kind of client you have. At the high end, consider that a single page in Cosmopolitan was about $237,000 in 2010. So the cost of the photography for an ad that would run many times in various magazines is trivial by comparison.  They are not going to hire a photographer who only charges them a few thousand for an ad that has millions of dollars in ad space.

The average cost of producing a national 30 second TV spot is $342,000. (Production only - not including the cost of any air time.) Of course that is not what you are doing but is an example of what it costs to produce what we are typically used to seeing. But what is the possible use this client has for your product? Are they doing on-line marketing with it? Are you considering all of the possble ways they may use your video when selling all rights or are you licensing for limited usage? (Maybe limited in this case but I'm making a general point here.) Even wedding videos can run up to $6500 or more and they are not being broadcast or used in kiosks, internet marketing or anything like that.

American Society of Media Photographers pricing guidelines.

http://weddings.costhelper.com/wedding-videography.html

http://www.ehow.com/info_10016643_average-cost-advertising-fashion-magazine.html

http://www.webpagefx.com/blog/business-advice/the-cost-of-advertising-nationally-broken-down-by-medium/

Don't leave money on the table either or undercut other professional shooters by not understanding the value of your product.  This happens in commercial photography all the time by people who don't understand the business. Are you planning to just make some pocket change or will this be a full time business?  

Why do you think plumbers and electricians have to charge so much? They are running a business and have assocated overhead. They wish to be able to pay for their family's needs, college for their kids, and retirement.  Why should it be different for photographers?

You also have to determine where you want to position yourself in the marketplace. We are not producing a commodity.  But if you are starting out, you can't charge as much... unless your work is very polished. But give yourself a place to aim for and a business plan. I get paid very well for ground level exterior work of homes and buildings too but a lot of potential clients won't pay for it. So? I don't need those kinds of clients but I did that work starting out.

Btw, you risk the cost of your Inspire each time you fly... in practice and on the job. That is not true with ground level shooting. I might spend two days efiting a 5 minute final product...especially when the client collaborates and makes changes. As for charging for raw conversions on still photos...many photographers charge post processing fees or factor that in to a fixed price that liimits the number of finished images.

alan@goldsteinp Posted at 2015-10-5 00:20
The standards you work to will justify the price. If you can't work to higher standards, you can't g ...

Well said Alan!

Thanks Jim. I'm fairly new at video but a long time advertising shooter. At one time I was very involved with ASMP and believe that photographers have to get on the same page regarding business practices, rights and usage.