A lot of clients and potential clients ask us, “why is video so expensive?”
In today’s “Let’s Talk Video!” blog post, we’re going to answer this common – and great – question.
Is video really expensive?
First, we like to say that video is only REALLY expensive if you do it wrong the first time, and therefore you have to pay to have it redone. If you do video right the first time, then it should be making you money. After all, the whole point of using video is to grow your business. So each video you create should be contributing towards that goal in some way.
What’s really going on?
That being said, if you are already doing videos on your own, or you’ve made a significant investment to hire professionals to create your videos for you, but the videos are not generating a return on your investment, then something is definitely going wrong. It may be that you don’t know what you’re doing because you haven’t got the proper training. Maybe your message is unclear. It’s possible that you’re not speaking to the right target audience for your products & services. Perhaps you’re not properly promoting your videos online, so no one is actually seeing them. Or perhaps the quality of your videos doesn’t match up with the quality of your products and services you offer. In this case, people aren’t paying enough attention to you, or taking you and your company seriously.
It could be any one of these reasons, or a combination of some or all of them. In any case, if you want help with any of this, or you want to learn more about having us produce, film and edit videos for you, then feel free to reach out to us, so we can schedule a consultation to learn more about your business, and guide you in the right direction.
One of our favorite concepts
In the meantime, we want to share with you one of our favorite concepts that we’ve learned over the years. It perfectly illustrates how pricing and product/service delivery really works. We have found this example to be true in every single aspect of business when it comes to hiring the right company or service provider to help you with your projects.
It’s called the CHEAP, FAST, GOOD scenario. You may have heard this before, and if so this will be a great reminder for you. And if you’ve never heard of this before, then prepare to have your mind blown!
Cheap. Fast. Good.
The cheap, fast, good scenario is basically the idea that when hiring a service provider, you have to pick 2 of the following 3 adjectives, and decide what is most important to you. We never say never, but in most cases, you can’t have all 3! You can only have 2.
So you need to prioritize the 2 things that you want most, and accept and be okay with that fact.
So the scenarios are as follows:
When it comes to getting your product or service delivered to you…
A) It can be CHEAP and FAST, but not good.
B) It can be CHEAP and GOOD, but not fast.
C) It can be FAST and GOOD, but not cheap.
Again, you need to choose what is most important to you!
Let’s look at each example individually.
Option A: CHEAP and FAST
Yes, it is possible to find someone who works quickly (FAST) and for a very little bit of money (CHEAP). But more than likely, that person is not going to provide a very high quality of service. Here’s why:
If they’re cheap, then that typically means that either they don’t have a lot of experience, or they don’t value quality. Both of these are not positive scenarios for you.
And if they are also fast, then they typically either don’t take their time to provide you with the quality you need, or they don’t have a lot of business, which is why they can get your project done so quickly. More often than not, people who don’t take their time, aren’t busy with incoming business, and don’t charge very much money, are not going to deliver a very high-quality of work to you.
And if you have a business where quality and attention to detail is important (or you just don’t like wasting money), then this is not going to be very helpful for you. You’re probably going to need to hire someone else later on to fix the problem this service provider created. Or you may just have to start from scratch and do it all over again. And in all honesty, it’s probably going to end up costing you more money in the long run. So if at all possible, we recommend you skip this scenario altogether!
Option B: CHEAP and GOOD
Sometimes you can find someone whose prices are inexpensive (CHEAP), and they do a great job (GOOD). But in this case, they are more than likely not at all quick to deliver. Here’s why this is the case:
If they’re inexpensive, but also highly-skilled, then most typically they are young and hungry. Perhaps they are very talented, but haven’t been doing their service for very long. And most likely, they haven’t figured out what the right price is to charge for their services. That means they are currently undervaluing themselves, or not realizing the quality of the work they do. Or maybe they just don’t have the confidence to raise their prices to the level they need to be at, to allow them to continue to deliver the quality of work that you are looking for.
So what’s the problem with that?
The problem with this scenario is that often times, if someone falls into this category, then they are not doing the work you are requesting of them as a full-time profession. They may not even have a real, legitimate business set up as of yet. And the issues with that are twofold. First, as soon at that person figures out what they are really worth, then they are likely to raise their prices, and start charging more ASAP, which takes them out of this category altogether.
OR another very common scenario is that the person is doing this work only temporarily, as a stepping stone to something else. The problem here is that they may also have other responsibilities, or perhaps another full-time job to do that allows them to pay their bills, so they can’t spend a lot of time on your project, which is why they can’t deliver quickly.
Because you’re not taking care of them by paying them enough money to support themselves for the time it takes them to complete your project, OR the fact that they don’t have any other clients paying them (because you’re their first, and possibly their only client), this does not allow the person to get your project completed in a reasonable period of time, which is obviously not good for you.
Or the absolute worst case scenario is that this person starts working on your project, and then gets the opportunity to do the work they really want to be doing, and then they drop your project like a hot potato in order to take advantage of a better opportunity that comes their way.
And you really can’t blame them, because people are always going to do what’s best for them, and take care of themselves first. It’s human nature. So either you take care of them (by paying them a fair amount for the project you hired them to do), or they will have to look for other ways to take care of themselves, and your project naturally becomes less of a priority, which means it typically does not get done quickly. You’ll be lucky if it ever gets completed, and you’ll need to cross your fingers and pray that it does.
If you can find a way to motivate and inspire the person to complete your project for you, then more power to you. But recognize that you are usually taking advantage of a young, inexperienced, possibly desperate person who really needs the job (and your money), and you’re probably just thinking of your own selfish needs, and not making their needs a priority. If you do this knowingly, then it may be hard for you to feel good about yourself, especially if you have the means to pay them well, but just choose not to. Plus, karma!
Option C: FAST and GOOD
This is the best case scenario in terms of delivery of what you really want, but it’s also the most expensive. You want to hire a service provider who does a great job (GOOD) and does it quickly (FAST). But more than likely, it’s going to cost you a pretty penny! These people are typically great at what they do, they’ve been in business for a while, so they’ve had time to work out all the kinks, and develop an effective system for delivering quality services to clients in a timely manner. And because of that, they often have more overhead.
They are usually running a legitimate business, and they know what their costs are. They know what they need in order to deliver the quality you want. And they also typically charge based on the value they deliver, and what they know the service is actually worth to you. Therefore, you are paying a premium for the fact that they have been in business for several years, they are fully aware of their own value and worth, and they’re not going to let you get away with paying less than what they need to take care of their responsibilities, and continue to maintain and grow their business.
This is the category that our video production services fall into. We are confident in the fact that we are really good at what we do. We deliver our projects in an agreed upon, reasonable amount of time. But it’s not necessarily cheap to work with us. And it may not be right for everyone.
That being said, if you invest in a service like ours, our goal is to make you a happy client. You’ll be very well taken care of. And you’ll end up with a high-quality product and service that gets you results. And that is, after all, what you’re after. That is what is going to deliver a return on your investment. And yes, it’s going to be an investment, but it’s also going to be well worth your time and money.
So to answer the original question, THAT is why online video (especially good video) is expensive. Any questions?
If you enjoyed this blog post, please leave a comment below. We’d love to know what you think of this concept!
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