I’m gonna say something here that’s gonna hurt some Wedding Videographers’ feelings. The length of time it takes you to deliver your videos is hurting your business. The industry standard when I started in wedding videography was 6-9 months and I’m not sure that’s changed much. That means that in some cases it’s 9 months before the couple sees any video from their wedding. I’ve always heard from others in the wedding video business that quality takes time, and in some rare cases it does. It takes about 8 weeks to get a custom Lamborghini from Italy, I don’t think it should take 9 months for a wedding video.
Erin & Jordan – Wedding | January 28 – Delivered | February 9
The reason I know so much about this particular subject is because I was there. In 2014, we took about 7 months to deliver. What I found in that time was that most people were ok with the time it took and only a few got very upset. For me, it was torture. I would lie awake at night worried about how things were going to turn out. It was no way to live.
Sol & German – Wedding | October 13 – Delivered | October 31
Does this happen to all wedding videographers?
Why does this happen you ask? Well. Here is what happened in our case. The basics are that we booked more work than we could handle. I had one editor at the time and he was swamped and also wasn’t doing it as his full time job. We just got buried. There is work we could have turned down in that time but didn’t. As we got farther and farther behind, I got more and more stressed and then finally had enough.
I made the commitment in 2015 to get caught up. I hired an additional editor and slowed down bookings from October to March. By March of 2015, we were finally current. I went to the team and expressed that this should never happen again. 1 month turnaround at the absolute most was the new policy. That change has made a huge difference in my business and my peace of mind. How do you keep delivery to one month you ask? Here’s the simple solution. I have one editor whose only job is to edit weddings. If that editor gets behind, I have a second one that can step in a pick up the excess, but in the 3 years since we got caught up we’ve maintained that 1 month delivery time.
Why Get Caught Up?
- The primary reason to get caught up is peace of mind. Business runs so much smoother when you’re confident and strong. I know going into a wedding weekend that everything we have on the table is delivered and it gives me strength to tackle new projects.
- The second reason to stay caught up is that if you have any issues with audio or footage you can recognize it right away and fix it. If I have a microphone or cable that’s shorting out, I know by Monday because we’re already working on it. I can have that mic replaced by the following Saturday and we never miss a step.
- The last reason to shorten your delivery time is really the most important. Couples and families get so much more excited about the film when you deliver it quickly. I have been amazed over the last few years at the difference in reaction of people. They get so much more excited about their videos and then they tell more people, and then it spreads like wildfire.
Honestly, if you’re doing great and you still have a 6 month to 1 year delivery cycle, then fine. However, if you’re not doing great, if you’re laying awake at night worried about it. I will tell you that it’s worth every bit of money and effort you put into getting caught up. Your peace of mind is valuable and so are happy clients!
Book us as your wedding videographers for your big day!
Yes. I’ve made a huge push this year to shorten my delivery time. I was always a one man band, and any other projects I would take through out the year would be impacting my turn around time. Although I always rationalized it out by saying that I was on par with the rest of the industry at 4-6 months. Then I cut it down to about 4 months at max. But still never felt good about it. Once I stopped looking at it from the viewpoint of my business, and started looking at it like a client would, it changed how I approached that structure. I would never want to wait 3-4 months to see my wedding again. Although my clients had placed their trust in me and didn’t want me to rush their product, I wanted to have that clarity of mind in business and in how I took approached my client care. Hired an editor, put a better plan in place. This year I’m at a 4-5 week delivery for my wedding films. A teaser for them is put out normally 2-3 after the wedding. Overall I feel way more in control of my business and feel like I’m much more valuable to my clients that I ever have before.