Pricing Motion Design

[@somon90]

If you have been freelancing for ten years, why not include some real examples from your experience? I don't get why people are so secretive about their own pricing. Or I get it on one level, but it seems somewhat egotistical not to share. I don't think new designers would undervalue their work as much if other designers were more transparent about their own earnings. More transparency would make it harder for clients to underpay designers and might even led to a general rise in the valuation of design work. The lack of transparency only benefits clients and employers in the end. Why are people so afraid of discussing their actual earnings?

[@CEtro569]

Hey man, some people aren't comfortable discussing the money they make working and I think that's absolutely fair, whether it be for cultural or personal reasons. Also, the fact that he has been doing this for 10+ years and is literally Even Abrams means that it's gonna be hard to compare yourself to him, he's definitely going to be pricing himself much higher then anyone who's only been in the game for a year or two.

[@edgarramirez6504]

Hey Simon, this is a great question and I think it deserves a better answer than "none of your business". No offense to the other repliers. You do make a valid point about the advantage the employer or client has when a new designer hasn't been taught how to price their work. However, the question is somewhat hard to answer because there are so many variables involved and (as Abrams points out in a reply to another question) the rate one charges can vary greatly compared to someone else. But you're asking for numbers, so I'll give you some as they pertain to me and my experience. I'm on staff currently but I have freelanced for the majority of my 15 year career. Starting at Chicago in the mid 2000's, I charged 25-35 per hour. That could go up to 50 if I was doing 3d, political ads, or broadcast network content. 5 years later and working in Austin, I was charging 40-50 per hour. A few years after that, I found myself working for clients in NYC directly or through overflow and able to charge 55-65. And I'm no "rockstar" mograph designer, in fact I'm fairly average and some days quite mediocre. These are some of the variables I contended with when figuring out my rate- my talent, my experience, the complexity of the project, who I knew (yep, it's true), the health of the local economy and the resources the client has allocated for a given project. I always had to keep in mind the flexibility of my rate when negotiating with a small local company versus a large multinational corporation. So, my advice to you would be to speak with members of your mograph community and get a feel for the going rates. Go ahead and ask for numbers but also don't be surprised if you can't get a straight answer because everyone's situation will be different. Finally, don't be afraid to ask the client for what you're worth. I hope this helps.

[@ECAbrams]

I agree with a lot of what you're saying, Simon. For this video, however, I ended up cutting most examples out. My goal was to show the principals so viewers can derive their own prices and find their own value. Adding my own subjective data actually got in the way of that goal on a few levels. If I were to take a different angle, perhaps a video that was only about my subjective personal rate card and how I derived it, that might be something. But, I'm not sure how evergreen, transferrable, or universal it would be. Such a video would require a lot more context to be useful, and I'm not comfortable making a video that is only about me. I will always be my least favourite subject to share with the world. I prefer to provide methods and techniques so viewers can do for themselves, think critically, and find their own way. That's been the ethos of the channel for a while now, and will continue to be. If anyone wants to have a meaningful dialogue about rates or other topics I'm on twitter @ECAbrams and my DMs are usually open, my email is posted on this channel, I'm on the MDA slack, and sometimes I even have time for a quick Skype. But, my preferred method is an in person hang at a meetup, conference or event in the real world when possible.

[@somon90]

Thanks for the great answers Edgar and Evan.

[@edgarramirez6504]

@@somon90 Hey man, you're welcome. Let me just tack on one more thought that I should have mentioned. Whatever rate I was charging, I wasn't necessarily working 52 weeks out of the year. The downtime you will experience as a freelancer (unless you are exceedingly in demand, lucky you!) will be a variable you should factor into your rate. As Mr.Abrams points out early in the video when speaking about billable hours. This is very true. The hustle is real. It wasn't unusual for me to go a couple weeks or more between projects without billable hours- sometimes as long as 2 months. So, my rate also had to take that downtime into consideration. Freelancing is a very liberating experience but can also be quite challenging. Keep this in mind and best of luck to you.

[@julialincoln-stefan1066]

Inspiring stuff as usual. For 2020 I've had to rethink our budget situation. My business grew out my freelancing and since last year I've had a full-time employee, currently looking at hiring another part-time video person and maybe someone for management/assistance tasks too. The last few years were basically just about getting us in a good situation for projects and money, make sure we make a profit, get our office, etc. Now it's about stabilising and making sure we continue to offer good services, good prices while being able to comfortably afford everything we need and making sure everyone in the team gets a good wage (or good rates for other partners). Complex stuff. I appreciate your insights. Thanks!

[@ECAbrams]

It is so good to hear of businesses on the grow in this industry. Especially in a time when some established shops close down or large teams fragment. That is fantastic news and amazing work you're doing to keep it going and growing!

[@julialincoln-stefan1066]

@@ECAbrams Thanks man :) Your content keeps influencing what we do. Always excited to see where you're taking it all too.

[@iamYork_]

Your voice soothes my soul a bunch...

[@ECAbrams]

If the channel doesn't succeed at teaching motion design I can always pivot to ironical asmr.

[@iamYork_]

@@ECAbrams jajajajaja... I would be your number two fan until the end...

[@michaeluraih]

I so love the playfully serious way you explain stuff. I hope you realize you are changing lives with your videos. Thank you so much.

[@ECAbrams]

I'm always happy to hear people find them useful. I don't often talk about business stuff so I'm glad this has been generally well received.

[@slingshotstudio6826]

This is a complex topic which is quite subjective and involves a lot of variables. I've been doing this for twenty years and still have difficulty with pricing (although I'm getting much better). I saw a meme recently that said, "If I do a job in 30 minutes, it because I spent 10 years learning how to do that in 30 minutes. You owe me for the years, not the minutes." Although I truly believe that, it's an ideal that not all clients consider. Also, as Evan pointed out so succinctly, things are only worth what people are willing to pay for them. What this means is that some clients are just looking for best price while other more savvy clients look beyond price at a bigger picture. I'd rather work with savvy clients who understand the value in what I bring to the table as a motion designer as well as someone who's easy to work with and dependable among many other intangible characteristics. This is client relationship building, and pricing is just a part of it. When a client asks me how much a 1 minute animation will cost, my immediate thought is "How much does a car cost?" Do you want (and can afford) a Mercedes Benz or a Toyota Corolla - both are designed to to the same basic thing but are very different. I also feel that as motion designers, we should strive to be problem solvers - meaning there are many ways to approach a project and many ways to get from point A to point B and still stay within budget. Creative collaboration and suggesting alternatives go a long way to building trust and at the same time keeping project costs in check. Sometimes this isn't possible and you find yourself not being a good fit for that project and/or client. That's okay. Scope of work and clear communication has to be clearly spelled out so you don't get locked into doing more work than agreed upon. One more thing, don't do introductory or "first-time" client prices. It usually backfires as many times the client expects the same price for the next job which then gets awkward having to remind them that the last project was an intro price. It usually just sets a bad precedent. Unless you're doing a favor for a client with a long term solid relationship - or as someone else pointed out, you've got nothing else going on - it might be worth taking the project but clearly explaining that the price and extra time you need to spend is not typical. The best thing about being independent/freelance is that you can pick and choose who you want to work with so find clients that value your talents and (I can't stress this enough) - your personality. People like working with people they like. This industry is stressful enough without having to deal with assholes. Now, there's a meme!

[@ArnoldPranks]

You are the best KZbinr in this industry.

[@savannahwakefield308]

I'm just getting out of college, and your content has helped me grow in my skills over the years. The timing of this video could not be better as I'm starting to try and part time freelance. Thank you so much!

[@ECAbrams]

You're very welcome. I'm very curious, did your college not have business and entrepreneurship classes as part of your program? I feel like that's a gap in formal education I'm seeing more and more.

[@savannahwakefield308]

@@ECAbrams I was just talking to someone about that today! I graduated with a film and media studies degree. We had one class that was a 'professional development' course, but it was oriented towards the setup of the film industry specifically, making production resumes, creating a reel, etc. There weren't options in the program for video business or career paths outside of that. All of the mograph and freelance wisdom I've learned has been self taught through valuable resources like you and other graphic designers.

[@ECAbrams]

@@savannahwakefield308 very interesting. Well if you're into more business minded things, check out the Motion Hatch podcast, a personal favourite of mine for a regular dose of business talk specific to motion design.

[@savannahwakefield308]

@@ECAbrams thank you so much!!

[@yesthisisdonut]

Thank you! I think this applies to way more than just Mograph, a lot of what you're saying is also applicable to general creative work. Great to see a "real life" tutorial by my favorite youtube teacher :)

[@MrCervantesent]

Just started out. Been working in the field for 7 years for a small company. The company is slowly starting to die out, and want to get into doing freelance work. Thanks for this video.

[@JeremySeiner]

Great video! Thank you! This is a topic I’m currently learning about. Pricing my work, time, and effort on projects seems to be one of the most difficult aspects of working freelance. It really helps to have videos like these and people like you who are willing to share their knowledge. Thanks again!

[@moboxgraphics]

Are you flipping kidding me. I'm literally rendering a video where I also reccomending Thomas Franks course. Literally everything I do, you do better and a day earlier! GAHHH I give up.

[@fedor3000]

noooo! mobox rules too :) you got really nice tutorials, keep up the good work :)

[@ECAbrams]

It just confirms that we are both excellent and have great taste.

[@JesseMoffett]

I love you both!

[@GPerlin]

In my experience, and I have a lot and I've dealt with a lot of clients, people are typically shocked when they find out how much it's going to cost to make a 1-minute animation. What they don't realize is that 1 minute of complex animation can take anywhere from 10 - 16 hours, or even more. Times that by your hourly rate-mine happens to be 100hr-and you get $1,600 for that 1 minute. I always have to explain that there's a huge difference between animation/motion graphics and video production. These days, I don't even bother with clients whose expectations are to spend $100 or $200 for a project like that. Move on and don't waste your time. A lot of people just don't get it. Quadruple what is working, and stop doing what isn't.

[@justGoscha]

I agree, but this is where educating the customers comes in. I have the experience that 1min animation can actually take 1-2 months (from script to final animation). Because it involves so many steps and variables. Which is 20-40 days of work With a daily rate between $600-1000 this means: $12,000 - $40,000 And from a high-end studio when super talents are involved this would cost maybe $200,000 - $1,000,000

[@aaronsugar7228]

Thanks as always for another great video. Over the last year or so, myself and a colleague have been doing animated music videos and trying to find a price point for when new clients ask. We know we're probably under market rates for what we've done, but a lot of our clients fall into the starving artist/friends and family category. It's good to know what we need to do as we expand beyond this circle.

[@ECAbrams]

I wonder if you could benefit from a more "productized" pricing system in this case? Are we talking lyric videos mostly? More abstract? More visualization? If you ever want to kick some ideas around jump into my DMs or shoot me an email. I struggled with a similar quandary in the lyric video space in my early days and maybe there are some insights that could help.

[@aaronsugar7228]

@@ECAbrams DM sent via Facebook Messenger - Thank you!!

[@one.ofmillions]

Absolutely LOVED how straight forward this was 🙏 really useful and informative stuff, I've definitely learned some new things. Like talking through the steps that determine my price to the prospect. I don't often do that enough and haven't considered that it would make negotiating easier that way. Thank you so much 🙏 there needs to be more videos like this that are actually informative instead of talking around the topic like how so many other videos are. Thank you

[@weremiuk]

Nice video. There are a lot of "get into motion design" videos, but very little of how to handle career paths.

[@dansteindesign]

Interesting as always! The value over time thing would really be interesting to cover up as it definitely is a nebulous par of the pricing in our industry. Thanks @ECAbrams !

[@juanmonge5937]

you're so amazing, you took a topic anyone wanna talk, thanks for sharing your experiences

[@slackdave]

Great stuff! I've been working longer than you, but this is still a mystery to me. Guess I felt lucky to work with this stuff to begin with... but I can't live on luck alone these days!!

[@jurgenanimation]

Sound advice Evan! Thanks for sharing.

[@fathoneylover]

Thanks so much for sharing these tips!

[@michaelkukula5926]

Great video! Very informative. Could you please do one on how you find new clients? Thanks :)

[@ECAbrams]

Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it. I think I can work that into the schedule. How I specifically find new clients is mostly word of mouth these days. BUT I think a video on client prospecting in general with some broader strategies is definitely something we can get into.

[@nijatIbrahimli]

Thanks :)

[@ronnykhalil]

Immensely helpful. Thanks!

[@ECAbrams]

Glad to hear it!

[@Santon-Motho]

I don't know why I initially subscribed to your channel but hey, this video just reminded me that I made a good choice :)

[@jasoncorey]

What does your workflow look like for a tutorial? Do you start in Premiere render then add motion design elements after or do you use dynamic link? Things seem to go so slow when using dynamic link...granted I need a upgraded PC.

[@SThompsonRAMM_1203]

Jason Corey , hi Jason, for me personally, my workflow depends on the type of project I’m working on. However, if I’m editing in Premiere and find a part in my video that requires me to use After Effects, I’ll cut the video with the razor tool to the portion I need and open up a new comp in AE using Dynamic link. That’s as much as I use Dynamic link. When my clip is edited to my liking, I will render it out as a separate file in after Effects. From there, I’ll jump back into Premiere, Undo the Dynamic Link and insert/replace the original file with the edited clip. There is no bog down as you’ve described and I have an amazing workstation with 64 Gb of RAM .

[@bobbylasers]

Thanks Evan! i've been working in VP for 11 years and freelancing for 4 of those and still struggle balancing clients with "budget problems" and whether or not it's worth taking it because it might lead to more work and more clients or damaging the prospects of pushing for a higher price on future projects. (hope that makes sense)

[@ECAbrams]

Certainly. You're wondering if taking a hit now will pay dividends later, correct? It's the same calculation any company makes when considering a loss leading sale. To do labour for below the regular rate now, in the hopes that this work will somehow net enough future work at regular price to make up for the loss. Is that the situation?

[@adeyefrem9488]

This is super helpful! Thank you!

[@jherome5523]

Thank you so much for this vid, been struggling to price my self for a while

[@JosiahDouglas]

This was very helpful. I didn't know you did more than AE tutorials.

[@ECAbrams]

It's true, I typically stick to talking about the technical end of my knowledge base. But, people have been asking about this particular set of troubles a lot. There may be more of these down the line if there is enough interest.

[@JosiahDouglas]

@@ECAbrams I took a lot from it. I'm a freelance video editor that only dabbles in motion design, but this was all good universal information.

[@TheNewton]

"How much revenue do you expect this to generate?" "Okay how does 10% of that sound" 😲

[@jiro4559]

Thanks, Bruce.

[@still.rendering]

This video is fantastic. Thank you!

[@ECAbrams]

Thank you so much. I'm really glad people find it useful. I might do more videos like this on the business end of the spectrum if there is interest.

[@bcrbdb]

Great video! Thank you!

[@Dayta]

me personaly i dont bill the hours im actualy working on something. i bill the time it took me to learn how it is beeing done. how fast i am is on me and honstly its non of the customers buisness. he wants something he gets what he wants. i learned that work ethic as a dj in the past when you dont pay for the 6 hours you play at a club but for the time during the week you as a artist spend to visit alot of record stores listen to thousands of tracks you wont be buying or playing not to mention the time of practice and training after the aquisition of work material. the actualy performance is kinda fun like having 3d font lightsource traced on a rounded car glass as reflection and have the computer not have to go through a 3d transformation but knowin how some back in the old days amiga demo scene programmer used formular tricks to make it look like it and have the effect in real time in after effects instead of fancy 3d transformation which take along time to scroll through while working on them .. stuff like that ... actualy using the knowledge is fun and the better you are the faster you get ... the result stays the same its what the customer wants anyway ,., long story short i let them pay for the time it took me to learn what is required to solve the prolbem. the rest is beeing done for fun :) oh and dont assume this is the right way .. everyone has to figure out his own right way. my personal tip for everyone tho would be ... dont be embarrised to get payed it is ok to take money for something you do even tho you love doing it.

[@miguelzamora2011]

Is there a video you can upload talking about the legal side of things. Like sole proprietorships or LLC, registering for state tax, sales tax etc etc... Basically all the boring office stuff no one talks about...

[@ECAbrams]

Perhaps. I don't have a lot of experience with that stuff outside of Canada though, so I might have to actually bring in a subject matter expert on that one. BUT the Motion Hatch podcast is a great resource for that kind of thing if you're looking for business minded content specific to Motion Design.

[@cedricadougba324]

Thanks 👍🏿

[@LoganPinney]

Thanks for this Evan!! Lookong forward to more Motion Hotlines 👊🙏😎

[@ECAbrams]

Me too! Kyle and I are getting some meetings this week to figure our next moves and pick a start date for season 2!

[@LoganPinney]

@@ECAbrams wicked🥳 ! Some of my fav KZbin moments from last year were on those friday afternoons!

[@IsionIndustries]

This is exactly the type of information Ive been needing to learn as of recently. Thanks for reading my mind lol

[@imiy]

I wonder why you didn't mention that a freelancer doesn't work on projects all the time and searching for work and negotiation is also work, so there most be some compensation for that in a freelancer's rate

[@ECAbrams]

I think this "not working all the time" is mentioned in the section about rate calculation, no? Perhaps it could have benefitted from an explicit callout. But, since we are only using "Billable Hours" as a factor in this model we purposefully exclude prospecting, negotiating, attending conferences, networking, health and wellness breaks, lunches, everything that is not-billable is not put into that number. BUT we do get compensation for those activities in the final total. By excluding these non-billable hours from the calculation the billable rate is goes up, since we're dividing by a smaller number. Does that make sense in this pricing model?

[@imiy]

@@ECAbrams yes, that makes sense. Another question, how to predict how many billable hours you will have? :)

[@ECAbrams]

​@@imiy Well, you need to use a combination of experience, research, and maybe some forecasting. But, we are not trying to predict the future. We are only setting goals for what we intend to do. We don't need to know how many hours WILL be billed in a year. But we must decide how many hours we reasonably intend to bill. Then you can see over a fiscal year if you're hitting that target and adjust your marketing mix accordingly. Certainly, these goals should be informed by some data. But, we choose where we want to be and actively work to be there.

[@ThePaddlefoot]

I would be interested to know how long it took (months, years) for you to reach a stable income as a freelancer. Did you start freelancing part-time job or jump in full-time?

[@ECAbrams]

I started out part-time. Filling hours after and around an existing job in ad sales. I made the jump to full time in a very fortunate turn of events that allowed me to live at a greatly reduced cost of living and dedicate my time to design clients full time. Even so, it took about 3 years to stabilize once I was full time. In truth, freelancing never feels stable for me. But, I have become more comfortable in an unstable situation.

[@LoganPinney]

Evan knows the power of TFSA so he has his investments working 247 - 😎 hope you got this years top up in. Remember when it was 10k for a year?!

[@ECAbrams]

​@@LoganPinney I do! What a time to be alive.

[@craigshields8806]

I itemize certain categories like editing, motion graphics etc., but don't break it down much from there. It seems like it creates too many questions.

[@areasiete9724]

Thank you for this

[@alemieux3]

Thanks for doing this one Evan. I tend to work quickly and efficiently, which means I can turn things around quickly. Since I bill hourly, I feel like I'm shooting myself in the foot sometimes. I've heard of shops who charge for video by the minute. What do you think?

[@ECAbrams]

We're talking minutes of labour I assume? When billing hourly I recommend doing it like lawyers, as in "Per hour or part of an hour". So if you use 2.25 hours that's billed as 3 hours, not 2. It's a fairly common practice that builds in an added benefit: discouraging the use of small chunks of time that result in sub-optimal task switching. It's especially good at causing revisions beyond the scope of a project to get lumped rater than dripped out. BUT so long as your pricing and billing practices are clearly communicated and agreed upon, either method should be fine.

[@kulpik9644]

so what would help is either raising your hourly rate or use project rates

[@momengaber6012]

How you are not famous?? you made me comfortable so much .

[@ECAbrams]

I would guess it's down to my lack of self promotion? Some day I'll get around to running some ads or something :)

[@momengaber6012]

@@ECAbrams You also have a good voice narrating skills .. Nice quality content too .. Wish you luck .❤️

[@afnanalrefaie476]

Thank you Evan 🤩

[@ECAbrams]

You are very welcome.

[@fedor3000]

So? ... How much then for that 1 minute video? jk... really good and to the point. i think we understand all that quite soon into our careers but the client.. oh the client 😩

[@ECAbrams]

How much? Eleventy!

[@brandon.fretwell]

quality information

[@macoger]

Hi Jason, from a producer's perspective how does the process play out? Say I'm doing a 30-sec web commerical and it requires 10-secs of motion graphics at the begining of the video. Would the producer discuss the details with you first to see how long and the cost it would take to do before giving the client an estimate for the project?

[@ECAbrams]

I'm not a Jason but I've worked with many a producer. A good producer will provide accurate and realistic estimates. Maybe that means actually checking down the pipeline. Some have the experience to already know accurate and reasonable estimates. Does that make sense?

[@pratikkhara5167]

Hi guys. If you have any video on your YT channel of which you'd like to share the pricing of - for better insight and some more transparency - please do so. I'll start with mine. There's a video named 'Mondelez sales AV' (internal presentation for Mondelez India for the sales team, to motivate them) I made. I'm sure the agency that outsourced the work to me made anything between a 200-300% of what I made, but I guess that's how this game works. Nonetheless, I charged them roughly 1390$ for 4 days of work.

[@stevensarts5984]

So how much is average?😞🤲

[@learnmotion4984]

Awesome Video, I'm looking to start a youtube channel too! What microphone did you use in this video?

[@ECAbrams]

in this video we're hearing the Rode Procaster going through a focusrite scarlett, and then post processed in Audition a little. But there are perfectly great USB mic options i would recommend when just starting out like the Blue Yeti, which I used and loved a lot. Or the Rode Podcaster which is very similar to this one but USB. However! This year at CES Samson may have blown all mics in this price range out of the water with the Q9U. Definitely try a few out at your local audio/music store to hear what is best for your voice. I thought a shure sm7b would be the best cause so many people use it... but it was not.

[@learnmotion4984]

ECAbrams awesome! I’ll check the blue yeti out for a start. Thanks a lot.

[@ECAbrams]

@@learnmotion4984 No worries! It has a pretty chonky form factor with the included stand, so I would highly recommend budgeting for a strong boom arm if you are leaning that direction. It can really help get the most out of the mic.

[@lunaticamitica]

....looking forward for the video about "licensing and different form of creative services" ;-) ......Please ! :-)

[@ECAbrams]

I can put it on the list for sure! It's definitely an interesting avenue to go down.

[@lunaticamitica]

@@ECAbrams Thanks ! I am a passionate fan of Chris Do and the Futur and they provide great contents in this direction, but ... I miss a "guiding star" with competence in this specific field with its own peculiarities and challenges .... and who else, if not you Master Jedi ?!? ;-)

[@ECAbrams]

@@lunaticamitica Isn't Chris Do a Motion Designer? Or was his agency more general?

[@lunaticamitica]

@@ECAbrams Yes indeed and a GREAT one ! BUT he found his IKIGAI and felt the call to impact creative people lives teaching the "business of design" on a large scale using the web. So he made a drastic change, and switched his own carrier and agency goal. Have a look at thefutur.com/

[@lunaticamitica]

They have a lot of good content ...but I was hoping for some dive into details of motion graphic "skills-niche" pricing... i.e. how to price certain combination of technical skills ....

[@rafaellewis1263]

Is it the labor we're selling or a product?

[@ECAbrams]

The model presented here is service pricing. But, there are definitely firms that price motion design as a product. It's likely a subject for a different video like "Motion Design as Product" since it comes with unique considerations. The lack of inventory, COGS, or other elements that traditionally go into product pricing models can make the concept less applicable to bespoke design services. I've found that a product concept usually applies more to an agency where the cost is in labour and material and the profit needs to be extracted between those costs and the actual billing for end products or campaigns as a whole. But, there are varied and disruptive ways to consider any business structure.

[@theodale1710]

Hey ECAbrams, do you mind if I share this video on Facebook?

[@ECAbrams]

Post the link to anywhere that will have it!

[@megacaviagek]

I'm a student and spend usuallly around 140 hours on a 3 to 5min animation. I don't think that would be renable for anyone. I can cut down on time, then I would still make things the client likes, but I'm not proud of any of my work and actually don't like making them. Help(?)

[@ECAbrams]

There's a bit to unpack there. Are you unable to convince clients of the value you're placing on pieces? Or is it hard educating them about the need to spend time to achieve their goals? Or is this a miss match between client goals / expectations vs your own goals / expectations of a piece?

[@RobCartwright]

If you don't like it, stop doing it.

[@simplysurfing]

Yeah when u say it depends the client will also say...it depends when u expect them to confirm. Or they will say give me a ball park....its a very legitimate question for them to wanna know what cost range they are talking, instead of discussing for 4 weeks on possibilities which your mulling to price at $300 and finally the client expected this to cost within about $100. Also the IT DEPENDS answer is more suited when the client approaches you. In todays world thats very less, its we who go searching for clients and telling them how they might consider using motion graphics videos.

[@MGuzmanx]

Guys, never forget to add taxes to your total Income! or depending on your country you will earn a lot less than you were expecting!

[@ECAbrams]

Taxes! Taxes! Taxes! I can't believe it's January and I didn't have a whole rant about taxes, the thing I'm slogging through at this very moment! BUT I think in a video about different the forms of business a freelancer might be it would definitely be a big segment. S-corp v sole proprietorship v LLC and so on.

[@mrjuicejar_yvk]

Hey. If anyone can help me. I've done some good work for 1 or 2 companies before and recently a friend asked me if I could check out their friend's company animations because she knew I could do better than what they. I'm essentially going to be selectively recreating a few of their ads and pitching those revisited animations to them so I can possibly get paid for them depending on whether they like my animations better. I mostly want to know if I should watermark the animations since this is a pitch and I don't want my work stolen but I'm welcome to hear any advice on how to approach this situation as I am still working out my freelance process.

[@MaDmanex100]

Good day! I have been tasked with animating a simple flat animation 1 minute for a company. Im currently accessing cost but im thinking somewhere around 400 dollars since im not that experienced yet. I can do consistent simple animations but it might be too low. What do you think?

[@evanabrams2735]

Let's take it to the calculation from the video. How many hours do you think it'll take you to do this 1 minute of finished product? If it takes you 10 hours you're working for 40/hr. That sounds okay. But if it will take you 40 hours after all the revisions, drafts, changes etc, you're working for 10/hr in the end. Does it still feel fair when we apply this kind of calculation to the quote?

[@MaDmanex100]

@@evanabrams2735 not quite i think as i will have to illustrate it aswell. i will have a meeting with him and see his scope as you mentioned. there is a high chance i will devalue my work.

[@MaDmanex100]

@@evanabrams2735 Thanks for your time Evan.

[@ECAbrams]

No worries. I hope the negotiations go well :)

[@danielzana818]

Appreciated this video, but would be much more helpful with real numbers.

[@ECAbrams]

I can appreciate that. There was a version with a heap of numbers. I had to remove them for a few reasons. They would be out of date within a year if I were using my current pricing schedule, and they would provide only the pricing of a single person in a specific marketplace, at a certain moment in time. While it worked great on paper, I had to cut them out for time. If there were a follow-up video called "Evan's 2020 pricing schedule" that might be more appropriate. But, in the end, I had to put out something that could be more universally applicable and long-lasting.

[@AndyEngelkemier]

@@ECAbrams I was thinking the same thing. I always think people are crazy for working with groups in California because of the Insane price hike. The same work found in Chicago at 125 or 150 per hour is found for 300 or 400 in LA. Not in all cases, of course, but just because you do something in LA, doesn't mean you're getting top talent. But when you think about their rates, the cost of living and cost of business is just a lot more in some places than others. So for clients, look in the midwest if you can. Of course, one big selling point is convenience. Most of the clients I work with are next door. This mirrors most every business in the US. Cities have formed around one successful business for that reason.

[@imiy]

@@AndyEngelkemier or they could hire an artist from any place in the world. could you show some work worth $120/hr in Chicago?

[@AndyEngelkemier]

@@imiy Sure they could hire someone anywhere. But historically, they prefer to work with someone they can see. Towns have literally grown to cities based on that relationship. And when a business leaves a city like that, it's Devastated. I'm not saying it is right. I'm just saying that's what happens, so locate yourself near clients that need it if you can. And chicago? The only rate I'm currently familiar with isn't quite motion graphics, but it's in the ballpark, and they do good work. Check out Blaque. They're on the North side. I used to work in Chicago also, and based on watching prices generally rise, and knowing what it was when I was there, unless you're in the loop, you'll be finding motion graphics for between 100 and 200 per hour. If you want to hire the daily planet, yes that's their name, or armstrong and white, sure, their rates might be higher. But they won't even take a job that only has a 2 week budget. That's where freelance makes sense.

[@erikthered7422]

I’m ok to walk away from work if someone doesn’t agree to my rate.

[@artpunk6140]

Pro Tip: What is the current market willing to pay for your talent / product? Try and figure that out before you fall into a delusion of totally unrealistic salaries. In Los Angeles there are established day rates for mograph. $800-$1200 for god level talent. $400-$700 above avg. $200-350 grunt worker.

[@RobCartwright]

Where are you getting these numbers? I've worked professionally in the space for twelve years and I've never seen pricing in LA anywhere close to that. The current top end yearly salary for a motion designer in LA is around $100K, and that's if they're working all the time. That translates to maybe $400/hr, if they're lucky.

[@oussamalouat8554]

Looking to make $200/day with Motion Graphic Videos. Any tips or mentors? Please comment! 🙏🙏🙏

[@ECAbrams]

I guess get a job that pay at least a 200$ day rate and then remain employed? Honestly if a shop is paying 35/hour you're pulling 200$ days and go home at 5. I'm guessing that's not what you're asking though?

[@mcphilthy]

9:15 Sub-contact: drawing talent from your channel subscribers? :)

[@ECAbrams]

It's an amazing resource I am lucky to have at hand!

[@ryanrockers]

50 cents, right? Man I wish my shit was worth more to the world.

[@SarmadMustafa]

haha. I just made it to 1k likes complete, ah, that unknown satisfaction. haha.

[@Phoenix-gz9xb]

Video dont start until damn near 3 minutes.

[@PedroSantos-fv1no]

No

[@gargara123456]

How is it possible to make a 15min. video about a topic and not tell anything concrete? You should consider political career instead of youtubing. How much do you charge? What do you think about Indians in Fiver, that charge 5$ for a week of work? Show us some examples with prices that you consider fair. Tell us anything useful instead of this bull sh*t cliché - "Value your time" or "Know your price..." . Bla-bla-bla-bla..... What a waste of air!