Working with a talented freelance videographer can dramatically change your video marketing strategy. A freelance videographer will script, storyboard, shoot, and edit business video content and deliver a complete, finished product, with room for revisions.
How to find a freelance videographer: Consider soliciting referrals by posting to community boards for a specific industry, like group pages on LinkedIn. Utilizing a recruiter who specializes in short-term contracts with creative professionals is a fantastic way to pre-vet a potential match. You can also try solutions like 90seconds which make it easy to find videographers in your neighborhood. A variety of freelance job boards like this exist where videographers routinely accept work. These freelancers are vetted by the company representing them and are committed to reasonably high standards.
How to evaluate a freelance videographer: Double check the videographer’s abilities align with video marketing goal, here are a few questions to ask:
- How long have you been producing corporate video?
- How do you manage creative collaboration between you and your clients?
- Do you have experience working with companies in my industry?
- Which visual styles (or types of video) are you most comfortable creating?
- Can I see your portfolio?
- What is your communication style? How easily can I reach you?
- Will you be available to all members of our team? How will we collaborate?
- Do you have marketing experience?
- How do you plan to bring my vision to life?
- When will you be able to provide me a detailed project sheet?
- How many revisions do you provide in your price?
Determining your budget with a freelance videographer: Freelancers want to deliver on satisfaction and ensure repeat collaborations. At the same time, their ability to sustain means turning around projects within an agreed to timeframe, giving them the ability to accept work from additional clients.
Consider asking for a quote of cost per minute, which means you’ll only pay for the final product. If a timeline falls behind, this is better than hiring a freelancer by the hour. It also doesn’t punish the freelancer for being mighty effective. Request proposals from multiple videographers. Another option to control costs is to shoot footage independently, then hire a freelance editor to piece the clips together.
When to use a freelance videographer: A consistent, professional freelancer will be able to offer high-quality content as they learn more about the brand. Expertise in a corporate business area will allow the freelance videographer to get up and running quickly.
How to work with a freelance videographer: Working with a professional freelancer will require little oversight, but communication is still key. From the onset, be as precise as possible so the potential videographer can better estimate the time necessary and cost. Come to the initial meeting prepared, draft a rough storyboard and script. Throughout exploratory meetings around video creation, provide details around expectations.
How will working with a freelance videographer affect content creation? Hiring a videographer allows you to focus on strategy and let someone else execute the vision. Save on the costs of video equipment.
