We love filming, photography, and video editing (as you would hope). We love seeing the customers journey from a hesitant enquiry to a finished film that a customer literally can’t wait to get online and share as quickly as possible.
We also love getting paid for our efforts too.
Creative people often get quite sheepish when it comes to money and putting a price on what they enjoy doing, especially recent graduates who have little business experience. I’m aware of some fellow film makers who really get exploited when it comes to price, sometimes not even getting paid, and much of that is down to not being clear from the off what a customer has agreed to pay.
Editing is an expensive part of the video making process, the above is our brand new Avid editing system.
We always give 30 day terms on our invoices, and most customers pay on time. Some don’t, and we usually follow that up with a polite reminder.
There are however, some customers whose payments need a very special mention and stand out above everyone else… those who pay early! We won’t name names though.
Nothing fuels our eagerness to then go the extra mile than a customer that pays well before the due date of the invoice.
Previous blog: On the subject of money, how a cheap video is no good thing!
There is a lot of work to do after a video is complete and online, as you then may need to help get the film discovered. We do a lot of extra value work here in sharing the film and monitoring the results. We connect that customer with other people we have filmed where we see a synergy or where there is a need for their services.
Sometimes we even make another short film out of the unused footage at no extra cost.
An event being filmed for a customer. The films are often edited and delivered in around a week.
When we receive an invoice for work we tend to pay it early ourselves (we have to pay it eventually, so are more likely to get better service next time if we pay promptly). Also it’s no surprise to us we are being invoiced as we asked someone to do the work in the first place.
If you have come across this blog post whilst our invoice is in your inbox, you are one step away from making us very happy video makers indeed!
Now for something fun- the five weirdest things we’ve filmed.
Author: Jonathan Robinson is the Managing Director of Bellyflop.tv and responsible for making sure his hard working team get paid each month on time.
