If you’re a freelance graphic designer who makes a living from your highly specialized skill, then it is imperative to have a graphic design price list for all of the different services that you offer. In fact, whatever field of freelance work you’re involved with, you should always have an established rate for everything you do. That way, both your existing and potential clients will clearly know upfront exactly how much you charge for each particular thing you create. [Read more…]
Motion Graphics & Videography Contract Template
For those who freelance in the field of video production, a videography contract can prove to be invaluable when dealing with clients. Providing professional services in the creative arts is serious business, so it must be treated that way. Being properly protected on paper is the best way to ensure you’re covered, from getting paid and beyond.
A videographer contract is basically a formal services agreement and bounds legally the producer and the client; even though some people may find it intimidating, most will appreciate the professionalism as well as the protection that it provides for them, whether they’re hiring you for filming footage in the field or creating animation on a computer in an office.
One simply can’t convey the importance of a formal document for any video project that you are taking on as a professional and a contract should even be implemented for ‘casual’ work. If this offends friends and family, emphasize that a having a legal coverage will only improve the experience for everyone; a legally binding agreement usually lets everybody involved rest a little easier and in some cases could even inspire the artist to do even better work.
Considering all this – below is a quick list containing some of the main points that artists and producers should put into a standard video production agreement.
Points for Your Videography Contract
A Start and Completion Date/Exit Time
This information is absolutely mandatory in your agreement. You must clearly state the amount of time you intend to spend on a project. If not, you never know when you’ll finally be finished, especially with an irrational client that cannot be pleased.
Deliverables
This is where you specify precisely what you’ll be doing for the client. Every contract should clearly state what you, the artist, will ultimately provide to the client. Then they’ll know exactly what to expect in the end. Giving them your guarantee in writing.
Price
This is perhaps the most important part of any agreement. Even if you have a set price list for all your services, you still want to enter the exact amounts and total in the contract. Also, be sure to put the prices on the same page as the ‘signature’ section.
More Details
Beyond the basics, if there are any special stipulations, write them somewhere in the contract. When things are clearly stated, there’ll be no confusion for you or the client. This way, the project will go as smoothly as possible.
Additional Info
Signing the contract by both parties is the last step. But before you sign, double check to make sure your document contains every little detail. Keep in mind that a good agreement contains considerations for all parties. This only makes sense, since it is supposed to be a “deal” that you’re both making.
Remember, these are simply some of the points that should always be addressed. There are of course many other considerations and clauses that could be included. That’s why it’s smart to use a video production contract template. In doing so, you’ll have a lot more control over the creative process. Plus you’ll feel much better about every project you undertake, and so will your clients!
Have you ever found yourself in a situation where having a contract actually made a difference?
How to Make a Full-Time Freelance Income with Part-Time Hours
There are a lot of different things that hold freelancers back from making the kind of money that they’ve always wanted to.
But it’s not the kinds of things that most people (most freelancers) think are weighing them down.
Most freelancers out there have the skills they need, the expertise they need, and even the experience that they need to command a six-figure salary right out of the gate – even if they’ve only been working in a particular niche or industry for six months (or less).
The reason that they aren’t making a full-time freelance income has nothing to do with the fact that they aren’t putting in 40 hours (or more) every single week – it’s that they think that’s what they have to do.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Armed with the inside information below, you are going to be able to make a full-time freelance income working part-time hours.
Here’s how!
Streamline your operation
You are going to need to cut out as much fat and waste from your freelance operation as you possibly can, really streamlining things more than you thought possible.
You are going to have to figure out EXACTLY what you want to offer, and then you need to stick to that and ONLY that. Don’t add a bunch of stuff to the menu just because you think you’ll be able to pull in a bunch of different customers.
Speaking of customers, you really need to get crystal-clear about WHO your ideal customer is – and then only accept them as your customers from here on out. There’s a world of difference between working for people that you cannot stand for pennies on the dollar and working with people that you enjoy for a boatload of money.
Which side of the fence do you want to end up on?
Fall in love with “fill in the blank” resources
Secondly, you need to fall in love with “fill in the blank” resources so that you can cut down on the amount of paper pushing that you have to do just to keep your operation running.
There is no reason whatsoever to have to create contracts, proposals, marketing or advertising pieces, or even pieces of work product that you produce for all clients from scratch over and over and over again.
This is busy work at its worst, and will tack on hundreds of hours each year – hundreds of hours that you could have spent doing absolutely anything else (golfing, the beach, spending time with friends and family, etc.) if you had fill in the blank resources on hand.
Crank out a quick proposal template, a business contract template, a marketing and advertising template, and any other template you can think of right now to get the ball rolling and then add to your collection as you move forward.
In a month or two you’ll have all the resources you need and hours and hours of free time.
Delegate absolutely EVERYTHING outside of your core competency
Finally, you’ll be able to do a lot better work (and be happier at the same time) if you make a serious effort to delegate absolutely everything that is outside of your core competency.
If you are a marketing freelancer that writes advertisements, that’s exactly what you should spend the overwhelming majority of your time doing – writing advertisements. You shouldn’t be fooling around with web design, you shouldn’t be answering customer service emails, and you shouldn’t be trying to come up with a new logo or troubleshooting your web issues.
Hire other people to do that kind of stuff for you and you’ll find you have more free time AND more money – and of course, you’ll enjoy it a lot more!
How to Structure a Freelance Work Contract
Freelancing is hard work. But it’s much harder if you don’t get paid for the work you perform and that’s why you need a Freelance Work Contract. Most disputes between freelancers and customers are the result of contracts that are ambiguous about important details. Many freelancers make the mistake of avoiding written contracts altogether, and rely only on verbal agreements. Freelancers are often afraid that if they spell out all the terms of an agreement in writing, they’ll lose the deal they made by doing so.
If you’re afraid of writing down the facts of a deal and presenting it to the customer, you are relying solely on ambiguity to save you. It’s useful to remember that the other party might be doing the same, and they’ll conveniently remember the facts in their favor when any disputes arise. Therefore, the time to avoid misunderstandings is before you begin. Here is a short list of the details you should include in any freelancing work contract.
Pricing
Don’t ever verbally quote a low price with the hopes that you can charge more for extras as the job goes on. The other party will only hear the price, and they’ll likely be thinking of all the things they’d like to add to it without paying extra. Customers usually consider a price you tell them as a flat-rate, and they’ll often perceive any attempt to collect more as bait and switch. You’ll do the opposite, and assume that anything that wasn’t mentioned yet, isn’t part of the deal. Consequently, you’ll both be wrong about what the other party is ready and willing to do.
You’re always better off if you write down exactly what you are going to do, and exactly how much you’re going to charge for it. Present it to the other party as the way you understand the deal you’ve agreed to during negotiations. Never give a range of prices for anything unless you’re prepared to settle for the lowest number, because that’s what everyone will typically assume applies to them. Also stipulate the hourly rate for extras, and clearly define what an extra is.
Payment Schedule
You should stipulate both how much you’ll be paid, and when that payment is due. If you’re working on a large job, you should break it into manageable pieces and bill as the job is completed. Never ask for too much up front, but always get something as a show of good faith. If the customer has a billing procedure, you should know about it in advance and add it to your deal in writing. In today’s world, it’s very important to mention acceptable methods of payment. If you can’t accept particular forms of payment, say so before it becomes a problem.
Kill Fees
Clients sometimes stop projects after you’ve started working on them. Your contracts should have some mention of what happens if the job is cancelled after it begins. Don’t make it punitive. Jobs get cancelled all the time, and you simply need to make sure you’re properly compensated for any work that you’ve already performed.
Single Point of Contact
If you can manage it, write a single point of contact into your contract. If you’re working for a large business, you might start getting conflicting input from multiple people. Specifying that you’d prefer to deal with only one person for a contract can avoid endless revisions that you don’t get compensated for. You’d be surprised how many clients jump at the chance to sign a contract that specifies them as the single point of contact. They hate losing control of the process as much as you do, and the contract will give them the authority to exclude others from dealing with you directly.
Limit Revisions Somehow
Most freelancers are proud of their work and eager to accommodate their clients to achieve the best outcome. However, beware of offering unlimited revisions. You’ll never get paid for revisions as if they were contract changes. Set a limited number of revisions in your Freelance Work Contract. This prompts the customer to notify you of everything they want changed in one or two requests, and primes them to pay you for additional changes after that.
Graphic Designer Salary: Find Out How Much People Earn in Your Location
There are many factors which contribute as to how a graphic designer salary is come up with. Usually for people working in companies, this is pre-determined by the employer and discussed with the designer before they start the job. Freelancers, on the other hand, have an entirely different landscape when coming to terms with how much they get paid.
A graphic designer usually earns €29,611 every year on average. Most of the self-employed people in this line of business do not have more than twenty years of experience with their craft. Unlike other fields of services in freelance, graphic design in terms of salary does not change much even as people earn more experience. This is evident because designers with higher seniority in years and experience only earn a little more compared to their junior counterparts.
What are the Different Factors Affecting Graphic Designer Salary?
In order to better understand how the salary of a graphic designer is determined, it is important to breakdown the different factors affecting it. These contributing influences depict why some people are paid with higher salaries than others. Contrary to what you may think, it is not always about someone’s talent or marketing capability that decides why one designer earns a much enviable compensation than others.
Here are the different key points that weigh in on how much a graphic design artist’s salary is calculated:
- Location
- Gender
- Years or Variety of Experience
- Seniority in Terms of Years of Experience
Pay Difference in Terms of Location
Taking graphic design specialists living in the Netherlands as example, the difference in pay is highlighted in this visual presentation:
On average, people who are in the business of graphic designing earn €30,359.
In Rotterdam, designers get a total median pay of €39,400. This is higher than the national average by €9,041 to be exact.
People who live in the capital city Amsterdam only earn an average of €30,021 which is €338 below the national average.
Annually, graphic designers based in Amsterdam only earn €29,384. The salary of people in this field does show any significant increase even if they earn more experience and years of practice. The average designer only stay within the realms of graphic design within twenty years. Most of them move on to other positions after this duration.
Pay Difference in Terms of Gender
In the Netherlands, male graphic designers outnumber their female counterparts. In terms of salary, it has also been found that male designers earn more than the female ones.
This difference of salary in terms of gender is outlined in the display below:
Pay Difference in Terms of Variety of Experience
A graphic designer can be classified into three groups when differentiating how tenure they are in the business:
- Entry Level
- Mid-Career
- Experienced
Because most people in this business only stay in this position for twenty years tops, it is easy and fast to move up one’s level.
The graph below showcases the difference of salary among designers in the different levels:
Pay Difference in Terms of Years of Experience
One’s seniority in business is mostly determined through the years of experience a person has rendered. This is also evident among freelance graphic design artists as shown in the graph below:
Aside from location, gender, experience, and length of years in the business, skills also weigh in on how the salary of a designer is calculated.
The top three most popular skills in graphic designing are:
- Adobe InDesign
- Adobe Photoshop
- Adobe Illustrator
Below is a chart which highlights how these skills influence the landscape of a designer’s salary:
Knowing the different factors affecting the computation of graphic design salary makes you better understand how much people are paid wherever you are based. If you are moving to a different location or if you want to know where your present rate fare in the national average, use a salary calculator to help you figure out the numbers.
With these learnings in mind, can you say you are satisfied with your current graphic designer salary?
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