If You Want A Discount, Read This First

From "Speaking for Yourself" by Merlin Mann (via Marco Arment):

Things cost money. People either pay for them, or they don’t.
We are gentlemen, and we can disagree on value, but it’s unseemly to tell another gentleman what he’s worth. Learn this fast fast fast.

Any creative professional knows what it is like to have someone ask for discounted or free work.

There are a lot of problems with working for a discount. Below are just a few that come to mind.

Everybody is less invested with the project. It's very simple when you think about it. Have you ever had a really nice pair of sunglasses? I used to go through pair after pair of cheap sunglasses worth $20 or less. I would drop them, break them, and lose them. I didn't care. I picked them off the shelf at the drug store, so I'd just replace them with another pair. Over the course of a few years, I couldn't tell you how much I spent on sunglasses. So when I bought my first "expensive" (over $100 but less than $200) pair of sunglasses, I suddenly cared. In three or four years of owning them, not once did I drop or scratch them.

I was invested. I knew the value of the product and that they couldn't be easily replaced by another cheap alternative.

Creative services can be similar. If you can't afford a videographer that wants to charge $3000 for a wedding, that's ok. But don't ask that same videographer to work for a fraction of the price. For any reason.

(Read: Why Video is Expensive)

It's ok to seek out someone that's in your price range. Just realize that a cheaper alternative may not be able to provide the quality, experience, or value you are looking for out of your project. So is the money or the quality more important? (It's totally fair if the answer is that the money is more important.)

I appreciate it when people realize my time is as valuable as their time. When someone does their best to figure out how we can make a project happen in a fair situation, I do everything I can to make it work. 

(Tip: Don't just ask what it would cost to create something. Explain what you want and send any relevant details. Then ask for a rough quote based on the information provided. I can just give you my "day rate," but that number may seem high unless you realize what I'm providing and what it will take for the project to be a success.)

Another issue, especially for video, is that it often takes a team of people to complete a project. So if you're asking me for a discount on a big project that requires multiple resources, that means you're also asking me to ask those people for discounts. I don't want to be someone who asks friends and colleagues for free or cheap work.

Regarding work for charity or non-profits... a lot of people assume this means you should want to work for free. I care about a lot of causes.

But if I want to donate my time to a project or a charity, I will offer it. Just because it is your charity doesn't mean I'll jump at the chance to donate my time.

If you think, for some reason, that you should be given a discount on your project, write me a five paragraph essay explaining why. I'll read it. But, if that sounds as ridiculous as I think it does, please reconsider before you ask me to work for free. Unfortunately, at the time of writing, a "great piece for my portfolio" is still not an accepted form of payment for my rent.

Jungle Jack Hanna

As part of OnScene Productions, I had the opportunity to cover Content Marketing World in Columbus last week.

"Jungle" Jack Hanna was the closing speaker for the conference and he brought along his animal buddies for a visit.

We had the chance to sit down with him for a brief interview, and he shared this valuable lesson: Be yourself.

Produced by OnScene Productions, Director Eric Leslie

Andy Newman, Camera – Zach Frankart, Camera & Audio – Dan Hoffman, Editor

Why Video Is Expensive

There are some great articles as to why photography isn't free or cheap.

Let me start by saying video isn't expensive. Including the companies that spend a million dollars on a thirty second commercial. It's all about value. If you don't consider value as your top priority (or as the producer can't communicate valu), the numbers really don't matter. Value can be had for $1,000 or $1,000,000 depending on your situation and perspective.

But to talk about some numbers for a minute, video production is very similar to photography. Especially in today's world where so many videographers (myself included) actually shoot video on a DSLR, a lot of the equipment and costs are the same.

Here are some things to consider when looking to schedule a video shoot:

The camera. That's the most important thing, right? good, professional (and current model) camera is going to cost at least $3,500. Many production companies and people with the money to afford it are moving to the Canon C300 or RED cameras. They cost the equivalent of a new Honda Civic (or more).

You can get by on less. I did for awhile. Eventually it will catch up to you, usually at the worst possible moment.

The lights. Lighting is the single most important thing in making a video look great. To get a professional kit, you're looking at another $2,000 or more. There are lights for photography that can cost over $10,000 a piece. Crazy, huh?

The audio. This is actually the most important thing to a great video. Wait, did I just say the camera, lights, and audio are all the most important things to a great video? (Yes.)

A basic audio setup ith a professional grade microphone and recorder is another $1,000. If you want to get wild, well, the sky is the limit.

The people. The people! They are the ones you've hired, after all. It's their years of experience that you're relying on, the mistakes they've made in the past that they won't make again, their efficiency, resources, quality, and creativity. They're the real secret sauce!

But before they can even walk in the door, they need that experience, and all the equipment listed above. And batteries, memory cards, enses... you get the idea.

The time. The big multiplier in the equation. A small production will usually take a half day, anywhere from 3-5 hours. Other productions may require much more time, and possibly travel.

After the production is complete, on to post-production. The editor can spend anywhere from a single day to weeks mporting, organizing, syncing, editing, color grading, adding graphics, exporting, revising, exporting, revising, and exporting again. All on a computer powerful enough to render high definition video and software ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars.

This isn't to say a good video needs to cost $20,000. Quite the contrary. The point is those budgets exist, and are often totally justified. The key is to recognize and respect all the components that go into a production to determine its true value.

If the goal is to attract new customers with your video or to remember your wedding day forever, consider the true value that represents to you.

Just don't be surprised if you contact someone and their rates are much higher than you expected. They probably wouldn't be asking that much f they weren't confident in their abilities and of the value they have provided previous clients. Chances are, if you want to hire them, a lot of other people do, too.

We also won't be offended if your budget just doesn't match our rates. Just don't ask us to sacrifice the quality of our work in order to get a discount. And never ask someone to work for free. We value our time as much as you value your own.

The point here isn't to talk down to anyone. It's also not about trying to nickel and dime a client. The point is that there is fair value for everything. What you can afford may not match up, so it's a matter of determining what is most important to you.

Connecting the Dots

One of my favorite Steve Jobs' quotes was from his Stanford Commencement speech:​

You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

It's amazing how accurate this is, how one experience leads to another. Often at just the right time in your life you'll see the dots connect. I always try to remember this quote when things don't go the way I hope they will. Looking back, it usually makes a lot more sense the way it turned out.​

​​I just read the blog post "Better Answers & How I Learned to Defrag My Brain." In it, Alex Hillman talks about the Spark File from Steven Johnson. He writes down any idea that comes to mind. It's saved to a file that amasses all the ideas he's had for years. 

He found that when he looks back – and this is the important part – some ideas will start to make more sense. An idea he had today may be the missing piece to an idea he had in 2009, and now he can act on it. He makes it a point to re-read the file in full every few months.​

As a creative, there are inevitably ruts where you feel like you can't create. ​Most of us probably write down ideas in one way or another. But rather than having notebooks, old emails, and the Notes app on my phone having a random collection of ideas, actually implementing a process as to how I curate those ideas makes so much sense.

I'm taking today to re-organize all my old ideas so they can live together. From this day forward, I'll be writing down every bad idea, too. You never know when the dots may connect.​

The Secret to Freelancing

There isn't one.​

The first thing a young freelancer needs to realize is that nothing is one-size fits all.​ Some projects (or budgets) won't fit you and what you're trying to do with your career. Maybe they're above your head, or a step backwards. That's OK. Likewise, not all advice will fit you. 

This is the best advice I can give to a fellow freelancer:

  • Read as much as you can.
  • Work harder and smarter than everyone else.

That's all.​ It's up to you to figure out what specifics fit you best. Whether you like charging hourly or per project, and what rates you charge. What services you want to offer and what type of projects are best suited for you. Whether you prefer to meet in person or collaborate in other ways.

There's a lot of information out there about what works and what doesn't work. Some of it is true. But it really is up to you on how to approach things. I can tell you how I do things, but that doesn't mean it will work for you. So take it all in, digest the information, and figure out your own plan.​ The important thing is this: don't waste time making mistakes other people have already made. That's where the advice comes in handy.

I recently wrote a post about my first year of freelancing. It seemed to resonate with a lot of people, and I appreciate the replies, mentions, and emails I received. My goal has always been to share as much information as I can with anyone who wants it. But just remember, only you can decide what works best for you.​

Linked in this article are some people that have inspired me recently. They're all worth a follow on Twitter: Kevin Rose, Variable, Sam Soffes, and Jared Erondu.​

Why I Prefer Email

A lot of people hate email. Understandably so. It can be a distraction and a never-ending pit of messages and requests. But I have a secret.

I love email. Let me explain.

In my profession, I'll often be out filming with a client, traveling by plane or by car, or sleeping at odd hours because I just spent 3 days straight filming on a bus. Because of this, phone calls can be a big disruption, or simply not possible at the time.

Email also allows me to keep things in order, something I've found especially useful when editing video projects or working on projects over many weeks. Countless times have I been saved by having the ability to go back and read someone's actual words.

When working in any creative field, collaboration is key. I like to think I take good notes, but if I'm honest, I got good grades in college because I pick things up quickly and I have a knack for figuring out correct answers. Not because I took good notes. I'd rather have the cheat sheet and have your notes on our project together.

I couldn't tell you how many emails I get a day, because I don't keep track. I respond to them as I get them, delete them if they're not needed, and aggressively unsubscribe from all mailing lists. In the end, this means I generally only get messages that matter, from people who are actually interested in having a dialogue with me. Isn't that the point?

And emails allow me to respond to, or at least read, all messages that come in, regardless of my location. Most emails take about as long to write as a couple text messages or tweets. I don't have to schedule a time, or make sure all parties are available, or worry about being in a good service area.

I know there's a huge importance to a phone call in certain situations, especially during the early stages of a project when discussing its scope, or to discuss a specific point that is difficult or lengthy to explain in writing.

But email can be done right. It doesn't have to be a burden.

Go ahead, email me. Let's chat about something interesting, share some ideas, talk about work, or just send me a funny YouTube video.

I'll respond.

Design Is A Job

​Design Is A Job is a book by Mike Monteiro that talks about many of the things people don't talk about in the creative field. A lot things you wish people would tell you early on in your career. From money, to contracts, to feedback, it's a straightforward look at what works when selling your creative talent for money.

Although the focus of the book is web design, it applies to every creative field. Just sub out the word design for film, photography, or writing and you'll see the dots connect. It's especially useful for new freelancers, but even seasoned professionals may find a new perspective in Mike's short and to-the-point book.​

​From the foreword, Erik Spiekermann:

"We ​thrive on constraints, but we hate compromise. If a design project is to be considered successful–and success is the true measure of quality–it must not only add an aesthetic dimension, but solve the problem at hand."

And from Mike:​

"At the beginning of every visual design presentation, particularly in the early stages, we give a little speech, some variation of, "Today, we are going to show you some things that may not be right. If you see something that isn't working, you need to point it out. If you don't tell us what you think isn't working, we will show you the same thing again and again until we are out of time and money and you are stuck with it."

​I highly recommend buying this book. It's worth its weight in gold.

Thoughts on the creative process

Or: Why I Learned to Love the Details

Everything I do is about connecting real people and real moments from the offline world to the online world. I am fascinated with the process of creative arts. But I believe that process should be demystified.

I'm making a documentary on photography that will break down the creative process, while giving you an all-access look into the life of three professional photographers.

Join me?

The documentary is a look into the question: "In the age of Instagram, what sets a professional photographer apart?"

I know that's a ridiculous question, but there are photographers and filmmakers that believe better equipment will make them better at what they do.

As I was sharing my project on Twitter, I connected with Francis Dierick, who replied:

"My two cents: what sets apart the artist from the instagrammer is a love for the *process* rather than the result."

He also has a blog post titled Preserve the Process that, at it's core, is really about what I aim to explore. With my video work, I'm simply capturing what's around me. But it's this way of looking at things, this perspective and process that I continue to devleop that allows me to notice things other people are too busy to see. And when I get to have these brief moments of connection with real people, sharing moments that they missed, or didn't get to experience, or experienced from a different perspective, that's why I do what I do.

With this documentary, if funding is successful and I get to make the film, I hope to capture that process. I want to break down what three successful and passionate photographers are doing that sets their work apart. And by placing a supreme value on this process, I believe we can all learn something together. If this is successful, I'm not stopping at photography. Who's with me?

Portrait is now funding on Kickstarter, but can only be made if the goal of $12,000 is reached by Friday, May 4 at 10pm. You should support Portrait on Kickstarter here.

My StartupBus Experience

I was sitting in a Pizza Hut in Marietta, OH with close friend Zach Frankart. We had just arrived to shoot at a manufacturing plant the next day for OnScene Productions. Then I get a call from Eric Leslie (of OnScene) asking if I'd be available to shoot for a company in San Francisco as they take a bus trip to Austin for the South by Southwest Interactive festival. I couldn't say yes fast enough.

Fast forward and after making it to San Francisco and the StartupHouse, we were set to leave at 6 am. A bus full of entrepreneurs trying to conceive and launch a startup in 72 hours. Buses were also launching from Stanford, New York City, Mexico City, Boston, Cincinnati and more.

On the bus from San Francisco to Mountain View, CA was Robert Scoble, and for the brief ride he oozed knowledge and was an all-around great guy. He hopped over to the Stanford bus and rode the rest of the way to our stop in Los Angeles. Also on the bus was TechCrunch video producer John Murillo, another nice guy to have the opportunity to chat with in a few brief moments of down time.

I watched as the teams formed and ideas came and went. Eventually, they settled into five ideas (technically six, but one team, HipType, defected to the Stanford bus because it had more open seats). The companies were: Cerealize, Expensieve, Gaggle, Kinetic.ly, and Beeliner.

I watched as the developer for Expensieve had an iPhone app ready to launch in three days. Gaggle and Cerealize had impressive webapps up and running by the time we hit Austin. I know how little sleep I got during the trip, so I can only imagine how hard these busepreneurs were working.

It was inspiring to see these ideas come to fruition in such a short period of time. I can relate to some degree, when developing an idea for a short film or video, and to see what they could do under the circumstances (long stretches of no WiFi, and the bus from Mexico City didn't even have power on the bus) was impressive to say the least.

I saw a lot of great sunrises and sunsets along the way - we were up by 6am every day and rode the bus until 9 or 10pm. 

Indio, California

Santa Monica, California

From the Santa Monica Pier

 Las Cruces, New Mexico 

Flight from Austin to Dallas on my trip back home

---

Things I took away from the trip:

It's actually not that bad riding a bus for 15 hours a day. Most of the time.

Sunrise is the best time of day.

It's insane to launch a product in 72 hours, but with the right team, it can be done.

Content is king. The apps with the most concrete set of deliverables all rose to the top.

Be prepared to sleep - A LOT - at the end of a trip like this.

In the end, there's one thing I'll remember from the trip more than anything else. One of the budding entrepreneurs was talking to me about my video work and what it was like to come up with a video, shooting and editing on a bus over the course of three days. Not unlike their companies, my project required a lot of fast thinking and long days. He made a comment to me that as great as the trip was, he didn't get to take any of it in. The people, the places. His head was always down in a computer, hard at work. While the experience was rewarding, he missed a lot of the small moments, the memories.

And it hit me. That's where my job lives. I live in that singular moment. I have to capture and produce it to share with others. So the ones on the bus, for the ones that weren't there, or couldn't be there, or may want to be there one day can experience it. A single moment in time like a sunrise or a good conversation will pass quickly, and it's my job to make sure it lives on forever.

The team that ended up winning the competition at SXSW was Cerealize from the Silicon Valley Bus. The final competition was judged by Dave McClure (500 Startups), Christine Herron (Intel Capital), Naval Ravikant (AngelList), David Cohen and Katie Rae (TechStars).

And that's it! In a week, by bus or by plane I traveled: Columbus, OH -> Dallas, TX -> San Francisco, CA -> Mountain View, CA -> Santa Monica, CA -> Indio, CA -> Phoenix, AZ -> Las Cruces, NM -> San Antonio, TX -> Austin, TX -> Dallas, TX -> Columbus, OH.

It's good to be home.  

Thank you, Steve

Resources for Beginner Filmmakers

If you're into DSLR filmmaking, there's no doubt you've heard of these filmmakers. If you're new to the scene, I wanted to collect a quick list of some of the best resources and people to follow. These guys will teach you quite a bit, and the best part is they all will take the time to interact with you online and on Twitter. I've learned about as much as I did in my four years of school as I have in the last year following these great talents.

Vincent Laforet - Director, Photographer, Director of Photography and more

website: http://laforetvisuals.com/ + http://blog.vincentlaforet.com/

twitter: http://twitter.com/vincentlaforet

about: Vincent's Wikipedia page says it better than I can.

Laforet shared the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography as a member of The New York Times staff's coverage of "the pain and the perseverance of people enduring protracted conflict in Afghanistan and Pakistan." In 2006, Laforet became the Times' s first national contract photographer. He has been sent on assignment by Vanity Fair, The New York Times Magazine, National Geographic, Sports Illustrated, Time, Newsweek, and Life.

And that's just talking about his photography. He has recently been busy shooting commercials and spending a lot of time sharing his HDDSLR work and experiences.

Starting with Reverie, the first 1080P footage from the Canon 5DMKII, Vincent has been breaking ground in many areas. One of his next stunning pieces was Nocturne, showing the unbelievable low-light capabilities of Canon's 1DMKIV.

If that wasn't enough, he was asked by Canon to kick off The Story Beyond the Still contest with Vimeo. It was a collaborative film effort, with the final product being premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. This was the moment that truly inspired me and led to me shooting video with a DSLR. I entered the contest twice, with my first short film Max, and a later entry, Switch.

If that wasn't enough, Vincent is active on Twitter and will actually reply to you many times you send him a tweet. How cool is that?

Shane Hurlbut, ASC - Cinematographer

website: http://hurlbutvisuals.com/ + http://hurlblog.com/

twitter: http://twitter.com/hurlbutvisuals

about: Shane is serious business, and it's important for DSLR filmmaking to have someone with his credibility fully on board. He shares some great insight on his blog, and I recommend taking a moment to check out some of his DSLR work, such as "The Last 3 Minutes" Directed by Po Chan.

Ryan Koo - Independent Filmmaker, Blogger

website: http://nofilmschool.com

twitter: http://twitter.com/ryanbkoo

about: Ryan has one of the best blogs on filmmaking. He's an award-winning blogger and filmmaker, and his free DSLR Cinematography Guide is a resource that can't be beat. Follow this guy now so you can say you knew him before he was a big deal.

Nino Leitner - Filmmaker, Director of Photography

website: http://ninofilm.net/

twitter: http://twitter.com/ninoleitner

about: From Vienna, Austria, Nino is an experienced filmmaker with a lot of work in documentaries and commercial work. He is currently running a great series of blogs on "How to Reach 1 Million Video Views" - Part 1 - Part 2

His short "February" is some of the first footage we saw from the Canon Rebel T2i/550D and was a big influence on me early on in my HDDSLR video shooting.

Caleb Pike - Blogger, Camera Operator, Editor

website: http://pikevisuals.com/ + http://dslrvideoshooter.com/

twitter: http://twitter.com/calebpike

about: Through his videos and blog posts, Caleb has probably taught me more about gear than anyone or anything. He really cares about connecting with others who are interested in shooting video with a DSLR and it shows in his work. I can't say enough good things about Caleb, and I'm going to leave it at that, if you aren't already off checking out his great reviews and blogs.

Sebastian Wiegaertner - Filmmaker, Cinematographer, Editor

website: http://wiegaertnerfilms.com/

twitter: http://twitter.com/wiegaertner

about: I'm pretty sure Sebastian never sleeps. This guy works non-stop, and squeezes some amazing images out of DSLRs. Take a minute and check out Bamberg, shot with the Canon 7D.

8 Tips on Using Twitter Hashtags

With more people joining Twitter every day, the number of people who simply don't understand how to tweet effectively is growing. One of the biggest offenses is the misuse of hashtags. I don't really have any pet peeves, but hashtags on Twitter are pushing it. Here are eight pieces of advice in regards to hashtags. Identities have been withheld to protect the ignorant.

1. Hashtags are meant as a way to categorize your tweets. A good example is during the National Hockey League Draft weekend, you'll see a hashtag like #NHLDraft, which allows hockey fans to search for other tweeting fans. Likewise, if you don't follow hockey and you're using a Twitter application like Tweetbot or Tweetdeck, you can filter out these tweets that are not relevant to your interests.

2. Rarely are your hashtags funny. Really.

3. If your tweets are private, no one can see your hashtags, so putting four in a single tweet is completely useless. It's also the quickest way for someone to skim over your tweet when catching up on their timeline. See number 6 for another tip on protected tweets.

4. There's not an instance I can think of that should require more than two hashtags in a tweet. If you have a legitimate tweet with more than two hashtags, it may be best served to separate it into two tweets.

5. There is no reason to hashtag something (with good intentions) that will never get searched for on Twitter. Save yourself the half second it takes to type command-3, I promise I will never search for related hashtags of a minor league hockey players last name.

6. If your tweets are private, and you legitimately want people to see your hashtags, re-evaluate why your tweets are protected. If you want Twitter to remain a small network of your personal friends, that's fine, just understand that no one is seeing your hashtags. If you're trying to promote your site or have a question, maybe making your tweets public and being conscious of presenting yourself in a favorable light is more beneficial.

7. I'm trying to think of a good example of a funny hashtag, and I can't. That should tell you something.

8. If you want to start using a hashtag for your business, project, or whatever else, make sure your followers understand what it is and why it matters. General hashtags are useless, they simply get used by too many unrelated people or organizations.

Hopefully that helps at least one person out there. While you're getting used to Twitter, you should go ahead and follow me here.