7 Brutal Mistakes I Made for Video Clients as a Freelancer

And what I would do if I started my career over

Photo by Wes Hicks on Unsplash

I’ve made over $225,000 producing video content.

Here are 7 things I’d do differently if I were starting again.

1. I’d charge per project. Not hourly.

An hourly wage puts you in a box

You’re paid for the time you work, not the value of your work. I charged $45/hr for my time, but it backfired because I was efficient.

Instead, I’d charge per project:

• Charge by perceived time and effort
• Understand your hourly rate
• Trust your skills

You’ll make more money this way.

2. I’d pay more attention to the speaker

Video and audio quality matter.

But if the talent on camera is low-energy and doesn’t want to be there, it will reflect on camera.

I’ve experienced this in ad shoots. We spent three days on a shoot once just to scrap the whole thing because the acting was off. This matters because trust is everything.