Why does content cost so much?
“My friend could do it for free”
I am going to do my best to explain what influences the costs of different types of content, but you need to cooperate with me on this.
Do not read this from the perspective of the customer.
Read this from the perspective of the individual or company selling the content. The idea is you spend a lot of money on high quality tools (whether that’s a camera with a nice lens and lighting equipment, editing software, or tools to help you write) and eventually these items pay for themselves and then start making pure profit. THINK OF THIS AS A BUSINESS.
Ready? Let’s go.
Photos
What you’re doing: Taking a photo on behalf of the client.
From cheapest to most expensive:
Lowest price — iPhone shot of product against a wall or floor
+$ iPhone has a tripod
+$ Plain white backdrop behind product
+$ DSLR, shot in jpeg, no editing of photo
+$ +$ Saving out multiple copies of the same image, optimised for different social platforms (square for Instagram, landscape for LinkedIn, etc)
+$ DSLR has a tripod
+$ DSLR has anything other than the lens it came with
+$ Free photo editing software
+$ Paid photo editing software (probably Adobe)
+$ DSLR, shot in RAW, with basic editing
+$ Props or stylised background
+$ High end camera/lenses
+$ Lighting equipment
+$ Outdoor photo requiring location scout
+$ Studio space
+$ Models (and additional hiring of makeup artist/stylist etc)
+$ Any editing more difficult than cropping a photo and fixing the white balance
Price increases with number of photos, price of equipment used (either owned or hired), price of editing software and proficiency using it, number of days, number of locations.
Blog post
What you’re doing: Writing a blog (purpose of blog is irrelevant)
From cheapest to most expensive:
Lowest price: no research, not edited, not proofread, probably 500 words or less
+$ Preliminary research or reading up on the topic
+$ Drafting and self editing
+$ Getting someone else to proof read
+$ Further or more in depth research
+$ SEO optimisation
+$ Adding backlinks/links to anything relevant
+$ Free stock images (charging for the time it takes you to find them)
+$ Paid stock images
+$ Custom images
+$ Custom banner(s)
+$ Custom animations to go alongside
+$ Versions of these images optimised for social sharing to promote the blog
+$ Copy to promote the blog post in social posts
+$ Interviews, or transcription of interviews
+$ Conducting that interview
+$ Chasing quotes from influential people
+$ Accessing and searching academic papers
Price increases with number of images, length of post, amount of research, whether or not you have to liaise with other people, and number of rewrites requested by client.
Video content
What you’re doing: Filming and editing a video
From cheapest to most expensive:
Lowest price: shot on a phone, in one take, no editing, no prep
+$ Storyboarding
+$ Scripting
+$ Practice run throughs
+$ Point and shoot camera
+$ DSLR
+$ Tripod
+$ External microphone
+$ Multiple microphones
+$ Shot in a soundproof studio
+$ Stylised background
+$ Multiple takes with serious attention to detail
+$ Free editing software
+$ Paid editing software
+$ Editing software for the audio specifically
+$ Free background music
+$ Paid background music
+$ Custom background music
+$ Animations
+$ Creating an opening or closing image on free software
+$ Creating an opening or closing image on paid software
+$ Voiceover
+$ More than one camera
+$ More than one tripod
+$ Lighting equipment
+$ Shot on location/outdoors
Costs increase with number of people involved in the video, whether or not you need to schedule everyone being there (e.g. special guests), the quality of your tech, the quality of your editing, whether or not you need to hire assistants for the day, the hours it takes to shoot the video, etc.
Illustrations (including logos)
What you’re doing: Drawing/painting/etc an original image
From cheapest to most expensive:
Lowest price: one rough sketch, unfinished, maybe on a napkin, outline only
+$ A scanned digital version of a sketch
+$ Colour
+$ Free software, done with a mouse or iPad
+$ Paid software
+$ Graphics tablet
+$ Image converted into a vector file
+$ Changes to the first draft
+$ Multiple concepts
+$ Planning/storyboarding with client
+$ Multiple revisions of concept
+$ Workshopping the concept with the client
+$ Artwork is done physically (paint etc) and then scanned
Costs increase with number of revisions, external factors like brand restrictions, whether or not it’s part of a series, if there is collaboration with other people, whether you’re creating the style or replicating one that already exists, complexity of design etc.
Other factors on price, regardless of the type of content you’re creating
Skill
Proficiency
Speed
Accuracy
Experience
Critical thinking
Conceptual thinking
Ability to understand a brief
Amount of equipment needed
Quality of equipment used
If you need to outsource anything
Time spent creating + time spent brainstorming (on the toilet, in the shower)
And please, please, please understand this one last thing.
EDITING A PHOTO/BLOG/VIDEO/ILLUSTRATION TAKES LONGER THAN CREATING THE DAMN THING.
How much did this blog post cost me to create?
Initial draft: 1.5 hours writing
Proofreading: 2 people other than myself
Brainstorming: 30 minutes with 1 other person
Free stock photos: 10 minutes
Laptop used to write this: $1.5k AUD
Hourly rate: $75–100/hour
Total cost: Honestly I wouldn’t write a blog for any less than $300–400 dollars, minimum.
I won’t make that much off this blog post but hopefully people read it and understand what us content creators do with “all our time”, and it saves me $400+ worth of time explaining it to people in the future.
