How to Create a Video Production Proposal and Scope of Work
As a videographer, you know how important it is to wow an audience and communicate your story. You only have one chance to make a first impression, and that same notion can be applied to the proposal process.
If you want to wow your clients and make a professional, memorable impression, you need to know how to create a video production proposal that will win them over.
Below, let’s go over what goes into video production, how you can pursue your own video production business, and how to create a video production proposal to win new clients.
What is Video Production?
Video production is the process of ideating, planning, and developing a video. Video production can be implemented for any type of video project, whether that’s a brand marketing video, an animated short, or even a music video. Video production and editing have also become an in-demand skill for social media marketing like TikTok or YouTube videos.
The steps typically involved in video production include any of the following:
Storyboarding
Scriptwriting
Casting
Recording voiceovers
Planning
Video editing
Video production can be done by a company’s in-house team or it can be outsourced to video experts at a production agency. If you’re interested in developing videos independently, video production can also be pursued on a freelance basis.
As a videographer, you can focus on the entire production process or hone in on a specific skill set such as video editing or storyboarding. Let’s say you’re a freelance video editor or creative shop, for example. You could team up with a video producer to help out on a project — we’ll dive more into how to do that below.
How to Create a Video Production Proposal
When running your own business, having a proposal to send to clients is essential to secure work. Your proposal sets the tone for the entire project — it lets clients know what your expertise is, the types of services you offer, and how much you charge.
A good video production proposal helps you pitch your project with confidence and get to “yes” much faster. Here’s how to create a winning video production proposal.
1. Determine your services
Video production is an umbrella term that encompasses every part of the production process from start to finish. If you’re a video producer, you typically take the lead on a project. This means you take a client’s vision or goal and plan the entire video around that.
However, you may want to specialize in a specific skill set or even a niche (e.g., brand marketing videos, music videos, or commercials). As an independent video producer, the services you offer are completely up to you. You can choose to be involved in the ideating and planning stage with the client to help lead the direction of the project. Or, you can choose to hand off certain elements such as editing.
Interested in focusing on specific video services? Check out these video scope of work templates:
2. Build a team
Video production is no small undertaking. With so many steps involved — everything from creative development to casting to producing to editing — it makes sense to partner with other video production freelancers.
You may find that you have more interest in expertise in one phase of the production process over others. If that’s the case, then it’s a good idea to team up with other freelancers who specialize in the other elements of the process.
Join a network to connect with like-minded peers, check out others’ work, and find the best partners for your project. And if you find someone you want to work with, don’t be afraid to send a quick DM letting them know you think they’d be a good fit for your video production project.
3. Figure out your pricing
There’s no beating around the bush: figuring out your pricing is one of the trickiest parts of pitching new work. And with a project as massive as video production, it’s even more of a challenge to land on a price that communicates your value without scaring clients away.
One of the best ways to figure out how much you should be charging is to find out what other freelancers charge for similar work. If you know other video producers — or if you’re part of a freelance community that shares advice with one another — ask how much they charge for video production or what they include in their scope of work. You may learn that you’re undercharging or that you’re missing out on valuable services that should be outlined in your scope.
You can also check out our Video Production Scope of Work Template. The community-sourced proposal template includes a detailed breakdown of services and deliverables that other freelancers use for their proposals. Best of all, the template outlines recommended pricing for individual services and the overall project so there’s no more second-guessing how much you should be charging.
A video production proposal should clearly outline everything you do, communicate the value of your services, and help clients understand what goes into the process and why they should work with you. Use our Video Production Scope of Work Template to help kickstart your proposal process and win your next client project.