you have a lot of cheap competition on Fiverr already from people who only charge $5 for a watered down version of what you offer... hard to compete with that

that's what I was afraid of.

question: how do those people do what they do on fiver? it's the "I'll weave 1,000 placemats for one bowl of rice" mentality. Adopting that mindset is one thing, but in any case, HOW does that biz model result in the ability to LIVE off that "wage?" It would seem to defy the laws of physics. No?

That's why I put I want an "in the trenches" price.

I don't know why, but there seems to be a disconnect between what *IS* (in this economy), and what some are claiming they make. I *WANT* to believe the latter (the "What recession?!?!?!" + "I walked out with a check for $1,750.00" types) -- but then you run into fiverr, etc. (aka reality???)

I was thinking $177 -- then I psyched myself out (happens a lot) down to $77.

I just have this image of all small biz owners putting their checkbook under 200-pound cinder blocks, which requires a double-triple-quadruple no-brainer price to get them to even CONSIDER breaking out the crow bar.

But maybe I'm all wrong. I know, I know -- TRY IT + see what happens.

I just wanna get some INKLING of possible pricing before I hit the cyber-pavement. Kind of like seeing the REAL dealers invoice when buying a car. That way I can kinda "call their bluff" when the give the standard knee-jerk "CAN'T AFFORD IT!" initial reaction.

Anyone else out there already offering this?

I havent found 1 business owner that knows about fiverr. So that is not problem.

I would charge between $200-$400 at least. Maybe offer a free 30 sec lower rez video. That way you get your foot in the door. Once they say ok, just make HD and show them both, offer the upgrade at a $200-$400 saying you are giving them 50% off your normal pricing and you will upload it to youtube for free or something like that.

Your offline business competition for that type of service is not Fiverr, imo.
Most local businesses know little of what resources are available online...and have little idea how to use them, or what results to expect.

Pricing ought to be tested. If you have existing clients go to them first. They already trust you, so offer say, a custom video, and give them a special price:
$149 or even try $199. You need to make it worth your time. ...and if you're too low, it make indicate to them there's not much value there.
_____
Bruce

Whoa, timothy!!! You're selling yourself short and that is the problem.

A cheaply made, windows movie maker, 1 minute long video, I charge about 600-1,200. No questions asked. Sometimes I might even outsource that to fiverr.

The question you're asking, the answer isn't based on your competition or how much other people can spend and get it done. If what you can offer, is going to benefit a company, and is valuable to that company or individual, then that is all that matters!

How much can a video help? One of my clients has a 20% increase in conversions because of a video. What does that mean to him? A few thousand extra dollars to spend every month.

Now the question is, do you believe the video can help a business? Of course you do. So how much do you think your client can make, even indirectly from having a video? Are you okay charging $77 if they are making an extra thousand a month off that? I'm not.

Raise your prices... Get paid for providing value. It doesn't matter who offers what, and who offers this and that for this much, all that matters is the value you're providing and you will be successful.

To me, if someone offers a cheap price like that, they are unprofessional.

Today, my lawn mower was broke. My grass is getting long, so I put an ad up for someone to come by and cut it. I had about 30 calls, most didn't act professional so it was an instant no. I believe in using services by individuals who act professionally. I had a guy calling and quoted me for $12... $12, gas is 4.09 a gallon... that is bad business sense, he came across as desperate and not knowing his worth. Next guy quoted me for $35... offered blowing, trimming, and an application for the yard. I went with the guy charging nearly 3X the amount. Why? Because of the value, he conducted himself professionally, and knew his worth. Granted, 35 is still cheap, but you get the concept.

Once again, it doesn't matter how much of a deal you can cut with a client, it just matters what the value is and how it will help them!

As others have said, do not set your price based on Fiverr! Beyond the video, you are also selling a service. You are going to be accountable for fixing any issues, following up, etc.

Others have already stated this quite well, but to reiterate: set your price based on your value to the business and what you feel your time is worth. If you can not get those to line up favorably for you, then move on to something else.

Also, have an upsell and a downsell ready. If someone balks at your price, offer them something similar with some features stripped out. If they are fine with the price, have another package that adds extra value. For ideas, just look through the forum - there are plenty of related services you can resell. Even if you don't put a markup on it (and you should, though, since you are managing the work), identifying customers who are interested in the additional services is valuable in the long run.

Wow ! Thanks guys! I needed a PEP TALK like the ones you've given me here.

I needed something to COMABT the mental ping pong game that's been RAVAGING my brain. Charge what it's WORTH vs. charge "what the market will bear."

I was driving myself right over the "law of diminishing returns" CLIFF! -- into "FIVERRLAND."

I'm not even gonna THINK about fiverr -- I'm gonna STOP even WONDERING *HOW* people at fiverr do what they do (doesn't seem POSSIBLE, due to LAWS of PHYSICS!!!).

I'm gonna start with $147 + see how far I get. (with a goal of upping it to $177 or $197).

Ok, I can't resist........ Can anyone please EXPLAIN how it is even POSSIBLE for those fiverr people to do what they do (at those prices)??? It's just morbid curiosity -- I have to know! Please. HOW/WHY does someone willingly say, "Ok, I'll weave your 1,000 placemats for one bowl of rice." ???

Something that you need to think of... (I think IAmNameLess began to point it out above), how is the video going to help your client?

So, maybe the reason you're battling with yourself is that you haven't figured out the "worth" in relationship to the increase in business to your clients (and that's what marketing is all about).

YP.com charges $150+ per month for quality videos so, in a year's time, that video costs about $1800.00. However, it's not worth a dime because no one can find the thing. It's on YP.com and YouTube. BUT, when was the last time you went to YouTube looking for a plumber? (What a racket!)

How about placing some "worth" to your video and get it ranked on Google, Yahoo, etc.? Then it's worth TONS (plus, can you imagine the "resume" you would have when you go to new clients and say, "look at these front page videos I did for them... Want one?").

Here's a sample of the videos I want to make --

http://youtu.be/Bwt6RTepKh8

So... how much could I realistically sell these for?

Keep in mind -- I will be soliciting the biz's (out of the blue - cold call) to hire me - they will not be approaching me.

Note: Believe it or not, they take me about 3-4 hours to make each one (but my time is getting better as I go along + make them more template driven) I know that makes no difference to the clients -- But it does have a bearing on how low I can go, price-wise.

Convincing business owners they need a video would be your hardest part. I create custom slide show videos for my clients but it is part of a $1,500 or more per month package that covers Social Media, Google Places, Search Marketing etc....
These business owners are looking for a one stop shop my friends. It normally takes me 4 to 6 weeks to land these clients because you need to build a relationship and trust with them first.

Any other opinions on this?

Let me know.

Thanks!

As everyone is saying, believe in yourself and the quality of the product you are offering. The product/service you offer is whatever you believe it is worth.

Hi Steve -- I'll definitely look into those other video-making methods! I don't really like animoto.

As for my own site -- I didn't even know that domain name was (still) redirected to the site-in-progress (!) -- I'll remove that, pronto.

I'm just trying to see how I can quickly drum up some starter customers -- so I am calling (cold calls on phone -- aka the SLOGGING method), just to get an idea of what's out there, demand-wise. And to see what "the market will bear," price-wise + in general.

Some know what I'm offering (instinctively) + some have no clue.

My overall goal right now is to do market research WHILE, AT THE SAME TIME, get 10-15 clients -- hopefully QUICKLY!

So far I made 60 calls today + actually talked to a good % of the right people -- and 8 of them want to (at least) see the video, so they gave me their email addresses to send them the link.

Any video outsourcers you'd recommend? PM me.

My vids leave something to be desired, I know. On the other hand, I've seen soooo many other vids that are totally TERRIBLE -- computer-generated voiceovers -- or no voiceovers at all (just music) -- vids that have no rhyme or reason to them at all (no logic or thought behind them, just a montage of random things w/music -- just AWFUL stuff, made by 20 year olds, for 20 year olds) JUNK!