Low low prices

[Greg Patch]

I don't remember any trash talking going on in the thread. If I remember, most of it was in marvel of his pricing and business philosophies. Although, I commented that I thought that his pricing was kind of low, I thought that it applied to this thread. I meant no harm in reposting that over here.

[Clayton Zook]

I want to leave this topic alone too, but I will say one last thing here.

I wasn't directing my previous post to anyone in particular and I wasn't trying to falsely accuse anyone. Like I said, I never saw the thread, it was deleted before I saw it. It was my understanding that beyond the simple amusement with some FAQ's there were some things said that questioned character and judgment. I figured since a whole thread was deleted it was something not very professional, at very least.

I don't know who, I don't care who at this point, if anyone, and I didn't mean to be accusatory, but I did want to put out the truth for any who questioned it. That was all I wanted to do.

[Greg Patch]

Must have been one of those Video Yahoos from Atlanta..



just

kidding....

[Molly Ryan]

how much do you think is a reasonable amount to ask for to do weddings and other events, for a new business?

[Jason Robinson]

Originally Posted by Molly Ryan

how much do you think is a reasonable amount to ask for to do weddings and other events, for a new business?

Hit up the search feature to find out. I've already posted my complete history of all the weddings I shot & the prices I charged, so let your fingers do the walking.

OR hit the yellow pages & internet and ask around. You could do the time tested "call up a vendor and ask their prices" bit (for the record I never did that, even when I first started. I have never asked anyone for their prices, even Travis whom I've worked with, though I did tell him my price for the one project we worked together on).

You can do that one of two ways:

1) the honest way by telling them you are a start up and would like to take all the clients that think they are too expensive (some vendors would welcome the ability to shove off all the 1/2 hearted brides that are just bargain shopping). Other vendors will see that as a threat and not want to tell you.

2) The "Fake couple looking around" way. I don't encourage practicing deceit. Not a good way to get into business in what is still a very small industry.


If you don't want to ask anyone, like I did, then you can simply set your prices and let the market do its job. The only recommendation I have is to be up front with a client and tell them if you are just starting up. I show up to a clients house / coffee house with 6 previous wedding DVDs so the client can get a very in depth look at all the projects I have produced in the past.

[Robin Hall]

Dupliciate post

[Robin Hall]

AS previously mentioned , We all have to start somewhere. when I started
using just my high end consumer gear we charged about 400 to 600 for the full day. Yea I know :) . but as we got better and had more referals and I started renting equipment for the weekends then we increased the price moderately to reflect that added cost. Now at that point we were still an
under the table service as well referal only basically no advertising or promotion. Now over the past year
having gone legitamite registering the business Ect and having purchased all new equipment and attending trade shows web site design & redesign :). with all the added costs
we raised our prices again to reflect that added expense. Now I am still probably one of the cheaper wedding videographers in our respective market,
but I am also the newest kid on the block so to speak even though we have been doing this for about 5 years. Having talked with most of the other established videographers in our market at various shows and explaining to them that we are certainly not out to cut thier throuts and want to raise our pricing to industry standard levels as soon as we become more established, I have to say most have been more then understanding of the situation and very supportive . Right now we are running around just under the mid range in our market and about 40% below the well established top level crews, and nobody seems to be complaining. You have to do what is necessary to get started and get your business established, Most crews understand this ,but remember not to sell yourself short either, measure your product constantly against your competitions and when you are satisfied that your product is as good if not better then thier's then charge accordingly. Remember Word of mouth referals from previous customers are the best advertising money can NOT buy and satisfied customers will always direct more business your way, but you have to establish that client base to begin with and if that means having
to take a bit less then by all means do it. Even the best in the business probably had to do the same thing at some point in thier business careers.

That's my 2 Cents worth, probably 2Cents to much