We all decided to get into this business for our creativity – at least that was my intention. Somewhere along the way, however, I became more of a salesman and less of a creative person. This happened officially when I formed my own company, but the damage was done much earlier than that. This post applies to you whether you have your own business – or you freelance for a living. You always have someone that you have to answer to when you’re on set. This might help make that process a bit easier.

Everyone has an opinion

When I was working at a television station in Orlando as a commercial producer/director, I found that most of my projects ended up looking less like the vision that I had in my head and more like the vision of the client. This was a hard concept to understand at first – I mean, who the heck do these people think they are to mess with my creativity?

Then one very important account executive explained it to me; “they are paying the bills, so you have to do what they say. Just be professional and help mold their ideas into something that will be creative and effective.” I had a hard time trying to understand why this would happen.  Why would you hire me to be a creative professional, then disregard everything that I say?

You see, this business is a little silly. Everyone out there – no matter what they do for a living – has an opinion about how you are going to do your job. They feel that because they own a television, they understand how to make commercials, television shows and videos. Somehow owning a television (and God forbid, a camera) makes them experts at video production.

Your response here should be something like, “Can they be serious? These people who have never spent a day editing a video or shooting a commercial are going to tell me how to do my job?” The sad truth is . . . yes, they will.  They are serious and they will always tell you how to do your job. The trick is to use it to your advantage and make the client happy.

This is your work now, not your art

You left your art back in college. I hate to say it but it’s true.  As much as you would like to think that you’re an artist, you are now getting paid to bring another person’s idea to life. You can do your best to try to “sell” them on your vision, but 9 times out of 10 you will have to compromise your vision for their vision.

I’m not saying that you can’t be creative. You have to still be as creative as possible. I’m just saying that now you have to listen to others – no matter how dumb their ideas may be. Your job is to take those dumb ideas and “…and help mold their ideas into something that will be creative and effective.” So how do you do this without going insane? Here are some tips to help.

1. Ask questions at the beginning. Get to know the client and the client’s product. Ask them about their business. Ask them about their customers. Ask them what they are hoping to accomplish with this project. Don’t forget to ask them about their target audience – the ideal person they intend to attract with this project.
2. Come up with some concepts. Here’s your chance to get creative with the project. Take the answers from the questions above and mold them into creative ideas. Use as much of the client’s own words in the script as possible.  After all, they are the expert at their own business.
3. Share your ideas with the client and brainstorm together. This is your chance to work with your client. Share your concepts and work together to create something special. This is also your chance to push them in the direction that you think the project should go. If you allow them to be a part of the process, they will be more inclined to listen to your ideas throughout the rest of the process.
4. Explain the process from beginning to end. This is the most important step! Explain how long the project will take based on the script or idea that you come up with.  Explain that once the script or idea is approved you can start shooting – but ONLY start shooting once the script or idea is approved.  This will save you from re-shooting and save your client money in the end.
5. Manage expectations. Always reference the budget when the client is throwing out wild ideas. If they want those really cool shots that look like the camera is floating through the air, explain to them it will cost extra money.  Manage their expectations early on – it will save you some headaches later.
6. Document everything. Keep track of all email messages and telephone conversations. In fact, always follow up a phone call with an email just to cover yourself. Document every single hour spent editing, doing graphics or making changes. This will save you in the end – trust me!
7. Don’t share your video until you are happy with it. Rough cuts are always a problem with clients. Remember, they aren’t as creative as you are so they can’t see the final vision that you have. Before you share anything with the client make sure that you are happy with everything. That means cover your jump cuts, normalize your audio, add the right graphics and make it look good before you present it to them. They might think they are video-savvy, but they are never as savvy as they think. They won’t understand jump cuts, they won’t understand temporary graphics and they won’t be happy.
8. Expect changes. There are always changes. There will always be changes. Build a few hours of changes into your budget from Step 4 above and explain your process of how you handle changes with your client.
9. People will come out of the woodwork to comment. The client will almost always say something like, “my wife doesn’t like the color of the backgrounds,” or “my neighbor thinks that the talent is talking too fast,” or my favorite . . . “my mother thinks it’s too loud.” Use your target demographic as your guide here – if the spot is intended for younger adults, an older person may not like it.  Try to explain that concept in a calm and professional manner – then go home and bang your head against the wall for a few hours.
10. If there are a ton of changes, invite the client in for a supervised session. This is a good chance to keep the changing process to a minimum. This also gives the client a chance to see how long and tedious editing can be. That “simple” change that they concocted with a few relatives over dinner, might not be as simple as they thought. This is a good chance to also remind them that they are on the clock.
11. Make suggestions for next time. When the project is finally complete, don’t just stand there with your hand out expecting a check. Try to engage in a conversation about how to make the next one better. Offer suggestions about different ways to shoot something or a different style for editing.  Get them thinking about future projects and they will come back for more.

These tips should help in most situations but there will always be obstacles. Just remember that kindness, sincerity and professionalism go a long way when dealing with people in any capacity – especially when it comes to creative projects.

Photo: davef3138