HELP! New commercial customer - need pricing ideas!

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HELP! New commercial customer - need pricing ideas!

Postby BridgetJ » Mon May 14, 2012 5:16 am

Hi! I have to do a proposal for a business that would like a slideshow to run on their closed circuit TV and one for their website. They want to put me on retainer - what suggestions for pricing to you all have?? Price for initial setup (would include both pics and video) and then the monthly retainer fee for updating the videos. I was going to suggest $200 for initial setup and $75 month for retainer fee...is that too low????

Thanks!
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Re: HELP! New commercial customer - need pricing ideas!

Postby HunnyB » Mon May 14, 2012 6:38 am

Look around here, I know I have seen pricing suggestions plenty of times. :D
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Re: HELP! New commercial customer - need pricing ideas!

Postby BridgetJ » Mon May 14, 2012 6:51 am

Hi! I have but nothing came up specific to what I am looking for. Ive done a lot of personal slideshows - but never a business one..so I want to make sure I price it right.
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Re: HELP! New commercial customer - need pricing ideas!

Postby texbrandt » Mon May 14, 2012 7:53 am

Will they provide the pictures and text? What about music and voice overs? What length will they be expecting for the closed circuit TV presentation? How extensive will the updates be? Depending on the answers to these questions the price for your services could vary from a few hundred to a few thousand.

Up until a few years ago I made and sold my wood sculpture at shows. The most frequently repeated question over the years was "how long did it take you to make this?" Most of the time I suspect the question was really "I want to know how much time went into this creation so I can place a value on it." My answer was usually "all my life up to the moment it was finished." They are not just paying you for your time on the project, they are paying you for all your experience and knowledge as well.

Robert
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Re: HELP! New commercial customer - need pricing ideas!

Postby BarbaraC » Tue May 15, 2012 8:28 am

One day, Picasso looked at a dismantled bicycle and had a vision. He placed the seat vertically with the narrow side down and attached the handlebars so they curved upward like horns. It's a beautiful sculpture that would never have come into existence had it not been for what Robert refers to in his post. Most people are used to being paid by the hour, not by results, and so it's difficult for them to understand how creative efforts need to be priced. It's quite possible, though, that if you're dealing with the business owners, they'll appreciate the difference.

I can't give you a dollar amount, but you should definitely first look at how much time this will involve and multiply it by how much per hour you think is reasonable. Then look at the total and ask yourself if it seems too much or too little. Don't undervalue yourself.

Barbara
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Re: HELP! New commercial customer - need pricing ideas!

Postby BridgetJ » Wed May 16, 2012 12:07 pm

Thank you guys so much. I sometimes underestimate how much to charge - and I keep forgetting - they are hiring me to create something that they are not able to do. Im getting ready to send a proposal...will let you know how I make out!

Thanks again!

Bridget :D :D
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Re: HELP! New commercial customer - need pricing ideas!

Postby greyhoundx » Sun Jul 08, 2012 2:44 pm

This is way too late for your opportunity in May, but going forward - and for others:

When you do something for a someone's personal use that's one price. It will be used for their limited personal enjoyment. When you do something for a business, it's so they can make more money, they are hoping to profit from your work. That's a whole different price, commercial use.

With photography, when you sell an image there are different licenses for each type of use - personal and commercial. And there should be different pricing levels for each. Pricing is one of the most vexing issues there is. I only do these things part-time but have attended many professional seminars, and I can tell you the most successful people have no problem asking for the money they need to make a living, some very profitable. Not all of us are so confident, but if you don't believe in yourself how can your customers?

The question of should "I charge less to try to get more business, or charge more and risk losing business" always comes up. There are many accounts I've read where people raise their prices, fearing they'll lose business and the opposite happens - they get more business. Their clients feel they're getting a better product since they're paying more. And the clients they get with the higher prices are less of the bargain shoppers, the Walmart crowd so to say. Now you can't charge $10,000 for a simple slideshow so you need to do some research to see what the market can bear, and go higher rather than lower for where your work fits. You can then bargain down, offer discounts, etc. if need be.

I have a hard time thinking I can charge $5.00+ for a 4x6 print because of how cheaply people can get the same print made. But I know pros that charge about $50.00 for a 4x6 print - and the reason is that it's not the size of the print that matters, it's the value of the image on it - which is worth a lot if you do good work, you're doing this because you're client can't. And you are allowed to charge over and above the actual cost of materials so you profit from that also. You're not being a bad person for paying your bills and charging a fair price for your time, materials, stock photos, royalty-free music, other overhead (which is really extensive!), experience, and talent - and adjusting the price based on whether it's for personal use or commercial use for a business to profit from.

I think all the principles here would apply equally for slideshows as well as for photography. As some have said, they'd rather go hungry from charging too much than too little...

Best wishes to everyone !

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