Let’s Talk About Money
As a creative agency, we definitely hear the occasional “no.” And that’s ok.
Often times our clients come to us in need of serious help with their video advertising or video marketing strategy and they don’t really know where to begin? Obviously they are looking to hire us because they are not video experts, but for some strange reason, they already have a price in mind of what the solution should cost.
IS IT RUDE TO TALK ABOUT MONEY?
Many of us were brought up thinking it was rude to talk about money. There has always been a quiet discomfort around it. Why is that? When we go to the store or shop online we see the item we want to purchase, we see the price, and we decide right then and there whether or not we want to buy it.
No hard feelings. No awkwardness.
As a client or even as a service provider our goal should be to get to a “yes” or “no” as quickly as possible. Sometimes we’re not the right fit. Most of the time this decision comes down to money and whether the potential client simply doesn’t have the budget for proper marketing. And likely in some instances, we didn’t do our best job at communicating the power of video or the value that we bring as experts in this field?
The important thing is to tackle those subjects early on, so that we both can move forward.
TALKING ABOUT MONEY IS ACTUALLY A GOOD THING
I’m reminded of an experience I had many years ago when I was working in a completely different industry, but had decided that I wanted to make my way back into the creative world. I was newly married with a couple kids and working for a company that paid me quite well, but I was miserable.
Every time I’d think about quitting I would receive a good raise or a bonus and think, “I guess it’s not so bad here.” And then a month or two later, I’d feel the same despair. This went on for several years.
One day, I was told about a position at a local university where I would be doing video production. I had worked in video production prior to my current job and really missed it. I remember doing a phone interview and making it to the next round, the in-person interview.
The day came to complete the in-person interview and I nailed it. I left feeling like the job was mine. They had basically said as much. It sounded like a great job and I figured I’d be running the place in the next couple years. They told me to expect a phone call from the university’s HR department to finalize everything.
Then came the call. A woman from HR was talking about all the paperwork and processes needed to happen in order to get started and I thought to myself, how much are they paying me? In all the excitement, I guess I never really asked. Or maybe I thought it was rude to ask and then it never came up organically? I assumed it was going to be a decent amount, plus I would be getting government benefits which were superior to what my current employer was able to offer.
I interrupted the lady, “This is really weird, but what is the salary for this position?”
She then told me.
“That’s less than half of what I am making at my current job,” I said, completely deflated.
Obviously, I had to decline the position, but I learned a valuable lesson that day.
Don’t be afraid to talk about money early on in the process.
This formative experience inspired me to eventually create my own video production company.
Years later, that same university hired my production company to create a commercial that cost as much as the annual salary I was offered on that phone call.
