I think that my rates are reasonable for professional production. I may lose some business because they "freak out" over the rate card - that's OK. In my limited experience, they are the clients who will drive you nuts with unanticipated demands and endless changes anyway.

Occasionally, I do offer discounts for not-for-profit organizations and start-up small businesses - especially if the project is interesting or I see a real opportunity to help someone launch their venture. That has paid dividends in referrals to other customers and loyality from the person I helped. It's not all about the $.

Other posters have mentioned communication - that's the key. Talk to the potential client with an honest and open attitude and flexible approach. It helps. I'm currently wrapping a short corporate piece - interview and supporting b-roll. On the initial price discussions, I gave them a fixed price with the "allowances" as I described above, which included 2 hours for 1 revision. They have asked for a total of 4 revisions, and one 30 sec. "spin off", not in the original proposal. Each time they ask for a revision, they include a statement to the effect of "We know this is beyond our original agreement - so bill us for the additional work"

I believe that many people have no idea of what goes into professional production - the more clearly you lay that out, the better your relationship with the client will be.

THUD (the sound of me falling off my soap box)!

this is a great article for anyone else who is dealing with this issue as I am.

thanks!