Quote:
Originally Posted by ggegan 
I used to do a fair amount of pro bono mixing for student film makers until I realized that they never came back when they had a budget, yet my professional clients were very loyal. That's when I clued into the fact that I had devalued myself in their eyes by giving them something for nothing.
|
not to get too off topic here, but i totally agree with this statement.. When i started out in my market (for tv/corporate music) I was at the low end of the scale. That was fine for a while, but quickly realized that as long as i could offer something most of my competitors weren't, then i needed to raise my fees. At first some people didn't like it, but the professional clients, who actually came to me because they liked what i gave them, and not just because they needed "30 sec. of some background music", are still with me 7 years later. Now I'm happily (knock on wood) in the upper scale of my market, and tend to attract the type of client that although demanding, knows what they want and are willing to pay for it. I've seen too many fellow musician's/composer's fall into the trap of low balling their fees, just in the hope of gaining favor with the client and "building a name" for themselves. But if you do that too long, the only name you'll build for yourself is "cheap". Maybe I've lost jobs for my pricing, but honestly, like someone mentioned earlier here, the cheapo jobs tend the MOST headache. Would i still take a job Pro-bono or at a reduced fee?? sure, if i really believed in it, and thought it would open up new avenues for me. And i think that may be the case for neverfeather. Although he has experience with TV, film is a new area, and even for someone established in one genre, it doesn't automatically qualify you (at least in the eyes of the client) to jump into another. So if you believe you can gain something, whether financial, emotional, experiential, or in pure future potential, then do it.. just don't do it for too long, and never devalue yourself.