How to make money as a freelance videographer
This site was designed for modern browsers and tested with Internet Explorer version 10 and later. It can seem a little intimidating at first, because how are you going to convince someone to pay you to do this? How do you get more?
First I want to give a little background information on myself. My name is Remington McElhaney and I am a 19 year old freelance motion graphic designer. I live in Northern Idaho, so jobs working with After Effects are fairly hard to come by. I began working in restaurants when I was 14 and quickly worked my way up from dish washing to full time dinner cook.
I would work in the summer at a fine dining restaurant on the lake and in the winter at a local ski resort cooking. However my passion was always working with After Effects. I would come home after working 10 hour shifts and then play around in After Effects until 2 am in the morning.
I thought it was interesting and I might be ready to start getting paid for what I do so I sent out a few proposals. Long story short, within the first month I had 10 projects. I realized I either needed to quit my job freelancing, or quit cooking. Deciding to take the leap into freelancing can be terrifying. You can ease your way into it but eventually you are going to have to take the plunge and jump on it. Quitting your job and not knowing where your next pay check is coming can be very scary.
One of the most important things to do is to make sure you are prepared.
I made sure I could go three months without getting a single job and still be okay. I was awarded 10 jobs in December. For all I knew though, December could be the biggest month of the year for freelancers.
Maybe January was the worst…. A few or one negative feedback on a site such as Elance can sink your freelancing dreams very quickly in the early stages. Being prepared will help take some not all of the stress out of freelancing. I had some pretty good looking images from my personal work but nothing too crazy that was actually moving.
I wrote extremely long and in depth proposals. Clients appreciated the amount of time I would spend on a proposal and the level of detail I would include. Be Flexible When you are a new freelancer without much of a portfolio you are going to have to be flexible. This means taking on jobs that you might not find to be the most fun or exactly what you want to be doing, but it adds to your experience online for other clients to see. One of the largest clients I landed last year actually came by accident.
I did some HDR Photoshop work for them and one thing turned into another and now they send me all of their motion graphics work. So you never know what doors a job may open. Not only does being flexible on your choice of jobs help you get jobs, but it also gives you a good idea of what you like to do. As a new freelancer you need to be able to seize the opportunity a job may present. I once found a job for a great rate at 10 pm at night, submitted a proposal, and worked until 10 am the next morning.
The 1 thing that helped me land more jobs than anything else was my communication skills. Clients and potential clients love it when you respond quickly to their emails.
It does mean that you need to find a way to make yourself accessible and make communication a priority.
10 Key Tips To Becoming A Successful Video Freelancer
I made the upgrade to a smart phone at the beginning of this year and it was one of the most helpful things I could do. One of the greatest pieces of advice I could give you is goodbody stockbrokers corporate finance be confident in your work.
By exuding confidence in my proposals I was able how to make money as a freelance videographer win jobs over clients that had way bigger and better portfolios than my own. Make sure you can do it and if you can, then make sure your client realizes that. Remember your selling yourself as much as your work, so make sure you sound confident!
As a new freelancer it is extremely important to know your limits. This one sort of ties in with the last tip about being confident. I may have had some late and stressful nights but I have yet to miss a deadline or not be able to deliver something I promised.
I would be embarrassed now to show you work I did a year ago, not because it is such bad work but because I was so focused on improving my work that I was able to jump leaps and bounds throughout the year in my abilities.
Get up and climb that next hill! This is a piece of advice I wish I had paid attention too from the beginning. It becomes a snowball effect and I just wrote a rather large check to cover my entire year of taxes at once. I would have definitely preferred to pay a little with each job. Many people have said this but a good CPA will really pay for himself or herself.
Just one quick meeting with a CPA helped save me hundreds of dollars or even thousands and gave me the percentage of taxes that I needed to be taking out of each job.
So please take the time and the expense to sit down and discuss your individual situation with a professional. The final tip I have to give you is to constantly keep trying to bump your rates up. My why did the dow drops 300 points today advantage was absolutely price when I first started freelancing.
I was more concerned about finding jobs that I thought would be good portfolio pieces then what my hourly rate was going to be.
It simply means to be competitive early on and then once you build more experience keep on raising your rates. The last video I worked on I was charging 10x what I was just one year prior.
What to know the funny part? The client was happy to pay it! Because I had not only grown in my skills in the last year but I now had a solid portfolio to back up my proposal. Those sorts of things are going to be up to you to decide. I wish you all the best and I hope this encouraged a few of you that you really can take the plunge into the freelance world. Envato Elements Unlimited downloads. Unsupported browser This site was designed for modern browsers and tested with Internet Explorer version 10 and later.
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Introduction First I want to give a little background information on myself. Now one year later I work full time doing what I love, and I have clients all over the world.
Be Prepared Deciding to take the leap into freelancing can be terrifying. Seize the Opportunity As a new freelancer you need to be able to seize the opportunity a job may present. Communication is Key The 1 thing that helped me land more jobs than anything else was my communication skills. Be Confident One of the greatest pieces of advice I could give you is to be confident in your work. Know Your Limits As a new freelancer it is extremely important to know your limits.
Pay Your Taxes This is a piece of advice I wish I had paid attention too from the beginning. Raise Your Rates The final tip I have to give you is to constantly keep trying to bump your rates up. Start FREE day trial.
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12 Ways to Make Money With Your Video Camera, Smartphone or Tablet
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