PRICE DILEMA

Many times when speaking to clients, agency or industrial, we always end up bantering the same question back and forth.

Then my clients look at me as if I were a magician. They expect me to pull a budget out of the air, my sleeve, or from behind their ear.

The best response I've ever seen for this question is an analogy on the cost of a home. There are all types of homes, such as; cottages, houses, and mansions. They also have many different costs.

Every video and audio program we produce starts at the same point, a beginning with nothing but a need. I have never seen two needs that are the same. They may fall in similar realms like training, corporate identity, or sales promotion; entertainment, but they are never the same.

It stands to reason that if the needs are never the same, their solutions won't be either. They may be similar, but never the same. For this reason, I have redeveloped a matrix to design video programs and to estimate their costs. With the same reasoning you can ponder the audio productions too. A home has many factors, one or two car garage? How many stories? A full basement? Very much like a video program, live talent or a simple voice over, etc.? Graphics or real time video? Animation? Custom music? DVD? CDr?

There are seven basic criteria in a video program: budget, production time, production style, talent, music, graphics and editing. Each criteria has been broken down into five classes or columns.

Decide which class you want your program to have within each criteria and assign it a point value from the column it is in. Divide by the number of criteria used to define the category your program falls into. This will then tell you what your solution should be similar to.

But back to that original perplexing question, "How much does a video or audio production cost?"

If you choose something from every criteria except "budget" and divide by six, you will get a class level with a corresponding budget. A class II program about the average, should run between $5,000. and $10,000 typical. Estimate $2,500 per finished program minute for a level two professional production. Good people like to get paid for the enhancements they give your picture. You know that working with professional people determines the outcome of your product and is directly related to your success.

Now you have a valuable tool with which to pull a budget out of your hat. Click chart to download.


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