What should I charge to produce a landscaping commercial?

[MTsquared]

I have a buddy that has a landscaping business (So no actors, scripts, or sets to build). I recently got the GH2 and he is impressed with my talents and wants me to produce him a commercial. I'm not exactly sure of what he is going to want, but I'm guessing mostly slide shots of all of his work and maybe a few handy-cam glide shots. I already have the slider and a handy cam, so I don't need to purchase those with the budget. I will be doing everything from shooting, to sound, to editing, to color etc...

I've never charged for anything before, so if you guys could give me suggestions that would be awesome.
This will be shot in the Central Valley of California and will be shown on local television networks.

How much (a ballpark figure) should I charge for a 30 second commercial, a 1 minute, and a 2 minute commercial?

I'm not sure exactly what length he wants yet. We will be having our first meeting about it on Sunday.

Thanks for your time. -Mike T

 

[wheatgrinder]

I would not bid the job right out. I would bid Time and Materials\Expenses. Estimate your hours, maybe give a MAX since you ARE learning, and list expenses. Models, travel, rentals, VO. For VO you might try speadyspots. $30 for thirty seconds.

 

[WalterB]

If your client wants a voice over, advice him to use a professional VO.
It will enhance the commercial much more than the money you save by doing not so.

But, step 1 is indeed:
a plan.
Without a script talking about money, is like talking about living on Mars without the means to get there: pure speculation.

 

[MTsquared]

I went in to talk to them and they don't even know what they want yet......... But maybe a 30 second spot to use on the opening page of their new website showing off the three different specialties of his company. How much should that go? (Assuming no VO and just different shots of a single installation)

 

[wheatgrinder]

Them not knowing what they want inst necessarily a bad thing for you. You're supposed to be the creative one! lol Work up some cool ideas that fit inside a small budget. Once the ideas get flowing you will still want to get a CLEAR agreement in writing before you start.

Riffing ideas is the fun part! And this group excels as generating new ideas!

What are the three areas that he wants to highlight?

What makes his biz different from all the competitors?

Whats the web site? That will help us all get into the spirit of the thing!

 

[MTsquared]

They actually admire my creative ability, so I think want me to handle all of the creative stuff, and I am more than happy to do that! It's just that I need to know WHAT they want, not specifically HOW they want it. As in, do they want his pathway work shown first? Do they want to concentrate on his cement? etc... Once I know their general direction, I can let my creativity flow.

They want to highlight his landscaping, concrete work (Not just like sidewalk, this stuff is amazing), and his shotcrete work.

The difference is that he is very good and is willing to be honest with his customers so they know what they're getting into.

The website is still down and is being finished up by their site designer.

 

[WalterB]

Ask a preview of the site.
So you can see what they communicate and how.

Make a plan.
Content is king: so what is it all about?
Don't say 'concrete'
The big question in marketing is always 'why', not 'what'.
'What' is also important, but the 'literal what' doesn't make a company stand out from competitors.
Check the TEDx talk by Simon Sinek.

Once you have the key message, work out some visual possibilities.
(Think about style, technique, script, extras, VO or not.)
Is the landscaping done, so people can enjoy it? (Who is the targetaudience?)
Show at least 1 shot with people enjoying the work.
Go for the beautiful shots: dull shots are bad, atmospheric shots are good.
(30 seconds is short. Make every shot count.)

Pay me and I'll write a few scripts

 

[Cygnus]

I went in to talk to them and they don't even know what they want yet.........

I live the world where the client rarely knows what they want. While it seems like a good thing, the hours tend to be longer.

Time is money. You are spending time figuring out what to charge, what they want, how they want it, and how it's going to be used and by whom. It's this kind of client where you can easily spend 40 or more hours before the story board even gets started. That time needs to be accounted for in your fee.

directorik is right, the product is irrelevant. You're being paid for your time and your ability to deliver a product that meets or exceeds the needs of the client.

You really need to know your cost of doing business. That will dictate what your hourly, day, weekly rates are.

Charging $300 sounds all fine and dandy, but if you have 100 hours of time invested and $30 in gas, plus whatever your other expenses are, it doesn't sound like that great of deal.

 

[knightly]

How much do they charge for doing concrete work?

They understand the value of your time, they're business people.

Do a sit down interview with them (no camera, jsut pen and paper) and ask them a battery of leading questions, why thy do concrete rather than something else. What their favorite part of the job is... proudest projects that they've completed... extraordinary projects/clients... get some fodder for being creative.

That's development time and is free... Then charge them for the pre, prod, & post work.