She works hard for the money, so hard for it honey.

I just found this interesting video at provideocoalition.com. It seems to explain the problems that freelance videographers often face when it comes to getting paid:



This raises an interesting question - why do clients often feel in a position to barter with videographers when other services usually have a fixed fee or price list which noone would think to question?

Of course, videographers are not the only ones who have to deal with these kinds of negotiations. There are plenty of other professions that involve the same sort of thing.

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But videographers are providing a very tangible product in a specific period of time. The only answer I can come up with is that we, collectively, make our own lives difficult by not having adequate rate cards. In addition, I think that because so many people claim to be videographers and/or editors, there is so much competition that many feel unable to turn work down when a client offers an insufficient amount of money.

This is a problem of technology. Nowadays anyone with a camcorder and Mac can call themselves a videographer and set-up a production company. A lot of these companies are just terrible. As the video says, it's analogous to the difference between a swanky restaurant and a taco stand in terms of quality. But most people in PR or outside the video community do not generally understand what a good video production looks like. Therefore, they do not understand why some videographers charge more than the taco stand guy!

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I saw an abysmal promotional video last week, but the client who paid for it was clearly very happy with it. It's a frustrating part of life for those of us in this field.

She works hard for the money, so you better treat her right!