There are many ways to make money as a videographer, whether you decide to work for an established company or go freelance. You can make money as a videographer by shooting wedding videos, music videos or even through passive income.
Figuring out how to make money as a videographer is as simple as finding clients and creating a quality product worth paying for. You can start with small projects, like wedding videos or social media shorts, then eventually move to longer-form productions with bigger paydays.
Building experience is key to success as a videographer. Over time, you’ll focus on creating a solid portfolio and steady stream of clients. As your reputation builds, so will your opportunities and income.
There are many ways to make money as a videographer. You can learn from others to start before going out on your own and selecting jobs. Make sure to cover your financial and legal responsibilities when you work for yourself.
This post will discuss the many aspects you need to consider to find out how to make money as a videographer. We’ll cover everything you need to get started on your new career.
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Working for an Established Company
Working for someone else can be an excellent first step when you don’t have much experience and lack a large client base. It’s a fantastic way to figure out how to make money as a videographer.
Many jobs provide ways to make money as a videographer. Cinematography roles are likely the most ideal. They’re also a challenge to obtain without significant experience.
Supportive roles, including photography, video editing, sound design, and graphic design can be a worthwhile step to building knowledge and contacts.
Benefits of Working as a Videographer for a Larger Company
By taking a job for another company, you focus on building experience that is specific to your role and can learn from your peers. You might even find someone who acts as a mentor in the video industry.
Another benefit of working for a company is access to tools and equipment for making and editing videos.
On top of that, as you work for a company and create projects that are visible to the public, you can begin to build your portfolio and make contacts in the industry. You can also use their video editing software to gain knowledge. Both of these can be useful down the road for finding work and getting top videographer jobs.
Pitfalls of Working for Others
Working for someone else comes with some negative implications too. Creative control usually is not provided to new hires, and instead, you’ll have to perform the tasks assigned.
You’ll also only receive the agreed-to salary, rather than being able to receive the entire revenue from jobs on your own.
Going Off on Your Own: Freelance Videographer
One of the best things about pursuing a creative career is the ability to work on your own. This is why many people choose freelance work when choosing how to make money as a videographer. There are various pros and cons to freelance jobs.
By being your boss, you get to choose the projects you want to work on and have a lot of creative control. You get to decide when to work, where to work, and how to work. It’s a lot of freedom. You can even make money editing videos for others as a freelance video editor.
But that freedom comes with significant responsibility. It’s up to you to find clients, perform all the work, and obtain an income to support your lifestyle. You’ll have to pay for and know how to use all the videographer equipment and video editing software.
Working for yourself also means covering the business aspects of learning how to make money as a videographer. Getting clients through advertising is the starting point, performing the work is the heart of working as a videographer, and following up with billing, accounting, and tax responsibilities is part of the deal.
Whether you decide to focus 100% on freelancing or do it as a side hustle, there are many ways to figure out how to make money as a videographer. Learning to pitch your services leads to building a client base. Once you start working, building a portfolio is key to success.
Learn to Pitch
Almost any business in the world has to sell itself, especially starting. Videography is no different. Understanding how to make money as a videographer starts with a clear ability to pitch your service.
Successful salespeople understand that sales are not about the service provider. It’s all about the customer.
Identify what problem or need your potential customers face, then talk to them about how you can solve that problem or fill their needs. By focusing on them and what they need, they’ll be able to see how your services are worthwhile.
Build Client Base
As you pitch new clients, eventually you’ll begin to build a client base. This is a vital part of making money as a videographer and can lead to ongoing success.
Through successful jobs, your clients refer your videographer services to their contacts. Gaining a positive reputation will help you obtain future jobs and can build your videographer portfolio.
It’s not easy to keep people happy. You have to produce a high-quality video result and be reliable. Maintaining professionalism throughout the experience is part of freelance work as a videographer, no matter how difficult the client may be.
Your Storefront Is Your Portfolio
For most videographers, their portfolio is one of the most important things about their work. If you can show off high-quality work and your video editing skills, you’re more likely to find success and future jobs.
That’s why having a solid portfolio is a vital aspect of making money as a videographer.
When you consider what to add to your portfolio, keep in mind what the prospective clients are looking for. If you’re pitching to someone who desires a more practical video for advertising purposes, it’s probably not the best time to show off your abstract art.
Become a Professional Business
Once you have a portfolio and some clients going, eventually you’ll want to make sure you can make money as a videographer by becoming a more professional business. This is true even for those who want to stick to a freelance video editing business.
At some point, you’re going to want to get your website. There you can host your portfolio and provide some basics about your videographer business for others to see.
Social media is an excellent way to make money as a videographer. Having a solid presence with video evidence can help get videographer jobs.
As with any business, generating income comes with financial responsibilities. You’ll need to either figure out how to do your accounting and tax services or hire a professional to take care of these needs.
If you want to make your own postcards, then you might want to check our post about Touchnote.
How to Make Money as a Videographer
Now that you have an idea of what it will take to run a videography business, let’s turn to specific jobs you can shoot for. It’s not easy starting on your own, but if you keep an open mind and perform well, you can make money as a videographer.
Shoot Wedding Videos
Weddings are a great place to start working as a videographer. They’re important events that many people want to document thoroughly so they can look back on them.
If you’re just getting started, weddings can help build your portfolio. You might have to charge low rates at first, or even offer free services, to get started. You can build your freelance video editing experience too.
But once you have evidence of your ability to capture a fond memory, people might be willing to spend significant amounts of money on videos of their special day. Experienced video editors are worth their weight in gold.
Posting to Facebook wedding groups, wedding forums, or contacting wedding venues directly are all ways to get your foot in the door and start making money as a videographer.
Social Media Loves Video
If you’ve been paying attention to social media, then you’ve probably noticed the trend toward videos. While some people share still photos, the role of videos has been steadily increasing and is likely to continue that trend.
By offering your skills, you can leverage this trend and use it to make money as a videographer. Whether you edit videos for a local influencer, a teen who wants to be famous, or a professional model, all of these gigs can bring in money.
Staying on top of the trends is important for social media videos.
Music Videos
Music videos have been a standard part of the music industry for decades. Plenty of video-hosting services showcase the power of visuals matched with music.
If you’re starting off trying to find out how to make money as a videographer, turning to music videos can be a great way to make it happen. You’ll need to have video editing experience and a solid portfolio to get contracts from top brands, but there are other options on the table.
Check out the musical lineups at local music venues. Reach out to the bands and see if they would like to create music videos. Because they’re often fairly short, making music videos can be a quick way to make money as a videographer. You can also build a portfolio quite rapidly.
Real Estate
Real estate is another industry that needs business videos regularly. By contacting local realtors to create business videos which represent the houses they sell in a positive light, you can make money as a videographer.
Once you make a few videos showcasing houses and build relationships with realtors and real estate agencies, this can be an excellent revenue stream that provides income as a videographer.
As house sales happen rapidly, you’ll want to make sure you can meet tight deadlines before heading off into the world of making videos for real estate.
Passive Income and Stock Videos
Stock videos can be a nice way to get into the world of making money as a videographer. You can shoot simple background shots, aerial views, and other useful b-roll shots for other people to use.
If you’re an experienced videographer, then you probably already know the importance of B-roll footage. It breaks up the monotony of the main footage and can be used to create a much more dramatic impact.
Best of all, once you post stock videos, you can sit back and collect revenue from them. They can be used in business videos and YouTube videos. When people use your footage, you’ll get paid specific licensing fees (which are up to you to determine) and can generate ongoing profits.
Self-Publish on Amazon and YouTube
Are you ready to create your movie or TV show? Of course, you can set up a YoutTube channel and create YouTube videos, which will share your media with millions of viewers at the click of a button. The downfall is that collecting revenue can be a challenge.
But if you want to find a slightly more curated audience, check out self-publishing on Amazon Prime Video Direct. This video streaming service allows you to upload your videos to share with millions of viewers.
While being somewhat similar to YouTube, it’s a more curated audience that might allow for a different type of following. Before publication, you’ll need to make sure your video meets the requirements of Amazon Prime Direct and that you have the proper tax files in place based on your location.
Rent Out Videography Gear
It might be a bit scary to lend out high-price video equipment. But it can provide a secondary stream of income. It’s not directly making money as a videographer, but renting you video camera will help cover the costs and keep you afloat.
The rates you can charge to rent out your videography gear depend on what you own, what the local video industry can pay, and the length of the rental.
Before you do this, you should be sure to draft up a dependable contract to make sure that any renter pays for damage they might cause. Requiring a significant security deposit could be useful as well.
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How to Make Money as a Videographer Wrap Up
Finding out how to make money as a videographer is not an easy task, but it can be done. Choose between working for other people or going out on your own.
There are a wide variety of jobs you can pick up to make money as a videographer. Wedding videos and social media shots are two simple ways to start. Turn to the music and real estate industries to get regular jobs that can come with big paydays. Even simple YouTube videos might do the trick.
Regardless of the route you take, there are many ways to discover how to make money as a videographer. Focus on building a solid portfolio and earning reputable clients, and with enough perseverance, the money will come.
Do you have what it takes to make it as a videographer? We’d love to hear what other questions you have, so make sure to leave a comment below.
