Tag: freelancer

Commonly Overlooked Elements That Make Videos Look Professional And Pleasing To Watch
There are many elements that makes up a video. While each one of them is important, there are those that are basic. Basic elements are the ones that makes a video presentation look professional and pleasing to watch.

In todays fast paced world, one must be able to match the industry production standards in order to compete. If you learn to include the elements I am going to discuss on this blogpost on your videos, they are going to stand out.

Before I begin sharing with you what these elements are, I will like point out why people create videos today.

When you scroll through different content on Youtube you will notice that many people create videos for different reasons e.g as a hobby, selling, marketing, teaching, entertainment, e.t.c.

If you are a beginner, it is important to know the kind of video elements to use for different type of videos.

With this said, let’s now get right into the elements that will make your videos pleasing to watch. I will put them in two categories namely;
- Reusable Elements
- Non-reusable Elements
Watch Video- 8 Things To Add To Your Video And Make It Pleasing To Watch

Reusable Elements

Reusable elements are designs that you create once and can later be modified and reused again and again.

Animated Intro/Outro

This is your brand identity or that of your business. For companies, animated intro video is usually a logo and a tagline. The impact of it depends on the way animation is done. Simple animation still works well today.

When working on animated intros and outros, consider including your address and contact information in it. For example, in my vlogs intro, I have a logo with my domain. This is because I want people to visit my blog. The intro is only 3 seconds.

Lower Thirds Templates

If you are a seasoned video editor, you know what lower thirds is. The latest versions of video editing software’s come with ready made collection of lower thirds.

Lower thirds is the title design that appears below the video and has the name and tittle of the person appearing. You can include social media handles of that person.

Quotes And Long Form Text Templates

If you are a vlogger like me and produces videos on a regular basis, you will need to have a reusable template for quotes and long form text. For instance, if you are quoting something or someone in your videos, you can use this tittle template. You only change the text and maybe the color if necessary.

Also, if there is something that you are emphasizing on your videos, you can use this template.

Animated List Template

Animated list template comes in handy when you are sharing a number of things in form of a list. It’s good when the items appear one by one.

When you have a template for it, things will be easy for you. You will be only changing text and adjusting time.

Title Templates

Premade tittle templates work in many areas of a video. Mostly, title template are used when talking about a subtopic in a video. Create one that reflects the theme of your brand.

When you have a collection of tittle templates, your editing will easy and seamless as you will only be changing the text each time you use it.

Non-Reusable Elements

Video Subtitles .

Video subtitles are very relevant today. For example, if you are posting your content on YouTube, that video will be watched by different people including the deaf. Having subtitles will help them follow and understand what you are saying.

Also, some people who find it hard to grasp what you are saying because of the accent, can follow your videos using subtitles. Having subtitles is a professional way of presenting your content today.

Video Thumbnail

For a video to attract attention of online users and make them click, video thumbnail is necessary.

While you can have a thumbnail template that can be re-used, a new thumbnail design for every new video is good.

Video Credits

Professionally, its necessary to have credits on your videos. Credits are the list of names of people and brands who played different major roles in your entire production. It can appear anywhere in the video.

Many vloggers don’t have this on their videos-me included😃- because they think that no one will notice or care to go through the list of credits. But credits are very important.

It make your content rich and professional.

If someone considers hiring you, they can do that confidently knowing that you have a team behind.

And that is it from me here.

I know there are many more.

Which ones did I miss to mention? Let me know by sharing your thoughts in the comments section below.

And if you need professional video production services, do not hesitate to contact us.

You can request a free quote here.

Until next time, bye bye and take care.

Follow me on twitter @cheptiony.
March 10, 2022
Lessons Drawn From The UK Modern Slavery Act 2015 For Freelancers And Entrepreneurs
Let’s face it, slavery in the online freelancing industry is real. Today, if you open google and search for ‘how to make money online‘ you will be bombarded with several websites that offer opportunities to make money. 5 years ago, many of these sites were not there.

For me, any legit opportunity to make money online will either make you a freelancer, a Freelance business owner or both. It’s also important to mention that some of the platforms will make you broke and in debt.

Video: Lessons Drawn From The UK Modern Slavery Act 2015

How Safe is the Online Marketplace?

When you find a legit platform to earn money online you are good. The next question you should ask yourself is; how safe am I on this platform from preying clients who’s intent is to misuse my time and pay me peanuts or not pay me at all?

That is why I think the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015 has come at a good time. Although it is limited to the UK only, its a good legislation that you can draw inspiration from as a freelancer or a freelance business owner.

In order to make the online marketplace a safe haven for doing business; we as users must rally for best practices to protect ourselves and the future generations.

I have reviewed the act and found very helpful pointers that I think it will be helpful to you as a freelancer or an online business owner. That is what I am going to share with you on this blogpost.

What does Modern Slavery Act 2015 Entail?

The act make provisions about slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labor and about human trafficking, including provision for the protection of victims.

When it was implemented, it then followed that;

Any commercial organization in any sector that supplies goods or services, carries on a business or part of a business in the United Kingdom, and is above a specified total turnover must produce a slavery and human trafficking transparency statement for each financial year of the organization.’

This blogpost is inspired by Modern Slavery Act Transparency Statements’ on some payment processors and international freelancing marketplaces serving people in UK.

What is in The Statement?

Businesses are expected to confirm their commitment in ensuring that their operations has no involvement in modern slavery or human trafficking in any of it’s supply chains, and in any part of it’s own business.

Secondly, the statement must be published on their website and links to the statement easily accessible.

Here is a summary of the common steps taken by each of my referenced companies to protect freelancers and businesses who use their services from abuse.

Compliance and Measures

To remain compliant to modern slavery act 2015, they have;
1. Drafted and implemented Employees Code of Business Conduct and Ethics.
2. Trained their employees as part of the onboarding process.
3. Whistleblower Policy .
4. Standardized contracting forms or a standard set of purchase order terms (for the payment processor).
5. A requirement for suppliers to complete a detailed due diligence questionnaire.
6. Supply agreements made on the supplier’s terms are duly reviewed by the Procurement and Legal teams.
7. A requirement for suppliers to accept the terms of provider Partner Code.
These are 7 among the many measures in place. Its important to note that it varies based on the line of business each one of them is in.

Actions Taken on Reported Cases

Both have a very common approach when dealing with reported cases. When a case is reported;
1. Reasonable investigation on the matter and appropriate action is taken.
2. There is full cooperation with the appropriate authorities.
Why is Modern Slavery Act 2015 A Good Idea?

To Freelancers

The act is good to freelancers for two reasons. First, by going through this act, you increases your level of vigilance in the remote workplace. Secondly, you become an ambassador of online security and safety.

To Online Entrepreneurs

UK Modern Slavery Act 2015 is a good guide for entrepreneurs planning to serve clients residing in the UK. When you have knowledge about the legislation, drafting a statement based on the business that you run will be easy.

At the end, your will have high chances of being accepted in the UK marketplace.

Conclusion

At the early stages of working online, most people make losses in the process. The loses arise from being cheated to do work and end up not getting paid, being asked to work on a project aimed at defrauding people, getting hired by scammers who end up stealing your data e.t.c.

Laws like Modern Slavery Act 2015 is an opener. One is able to understand that slavery acts can also be undertaken online and is illegal. This way, whenever one notices anything unusual online, they can report it to the respective authorities for action.

What do you think of Modern Slavery Act 2015? Have you skimmed through the act? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below here.

And if you need help with professional screencast video services, you can request a free quote here.

Until next time by bye and take care.

Follow me on twitter @cheptiony.
November 18, 2021
Top Tips To Subcontracting Work

As freelancers and entrepreneurs, we find ourselves in situations where there is a need to subcontract work due to growing demand. It’s not that we lack the skills to do the work, but its because we have a lot at hand and need help from other Freelancers.

So, in what occasions should you sub-contract and not to sub-contract a project?

Well, in this blogpost, I will cover when to sub-contract work and when not sub-contract work.

What’s Subcontracting?

Subcontracting Work. Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

Subcontracting in the online marketplace or any other marketplace means bringing in an outside company or a contractor, to help you complete certain work or a project that you are unable to do. To help you understand this better, I will use Videography as an example. Let’s say, I get invited to shoot video by 3 clients on the same day.

Based on our work history together, each of the clients individually insists that I take the job. As an entrepreneur or freelancer, I have to find a solution. The solution will be recruiting other professionals with good skills in videography to help me out. I will then give them instructions on what to shoot.

This in a nutshell, is subcontracting. I am the one who is assigned the contract and I have other guys or agencies doing the actual job.

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When To Subcontract

When You Have More Than You Can Handle

As detailed above, when you have a lot of work at hand, its wise and healthy to subcontract. It will seem a bit difficult when subcontracting for the first time. When you have done it once, repeating the same will be easy. Take advantage of such subcontracting opportunities to make more money and build a network of like minded professionals.

When You Don’t Have the Skills Needed

Online Copywriter at work. Photo by Startup Stock Photos on Pexels.com

In the online marketplace, sometimes the skills you have can’t help you. For example, if you are a direct response copywriter and a client wants you to write a copy on a new Cryptocurrency Token- a product you are not familiar with; what will you do if the job needs to be completed urgently?

In order for you to deliver the best copy, you will need take time and learn about the cryptocurrency token in question by comparing it with other related services.

With the abundance of freelance direct response copy writers in very specific niches online, it will be worth your time to hire a professional cryptocurrency copywriter to help you out.

When You Are Ill

Sick Freelancer. Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

Good health is the key to success. If you are not feeling well at the time you are awarded the contract, the only you can make that money is by getting someone else to do the work for you as you recover. In other words, you need to subcontract.

When You are Away on Vacation

Even when on vacation, freelancers and entrepreneurs still get excited when they are awarded contracts or asked to send a proposal. If the job is coming from a client you have worked with in the past, you will not want to lose that contract owing to the relationship you have with them.

By subcontracting, you will still be able to enjoy your vacation while the job is getting done.

When Not To Subcontract

When In The Middle of Contract

Any contract that you have initiated work on is not worth subcontracting. There are many reasons to this. One is the cost that comes with sub-contracting. You may lose time and money in the process. Its therefore important to factor in time and cost when planning to subcontract.

If there is a need to sub-contract, do your evaluation first and see if its possible to complete the work internally without seeking services of an external contractor. Secondly, the training that you have to give to the new contractor is time consuming and exhausting. You have to show them how far you are, your workflow process, the iterations made already so there is no repeat e.t.c.

At the end you will realize that you would have rather assigned them the project as a new contract rather than let them pick from where you left.

When Your Past Experience With a Client Wasn’t Good

Freelancer working at home. Photo by Anthony Shkraba on Pexels.com

If you have worked with a difficult client in the past, you know what I mean. If the same client returns and you previously had a difficult time working on their project, you might tempted to accept the work, and sub-contract. This might be prompted by the fact you will be able transfer the stress to the immediate contractor. While this might be a witty idea, you may end up making losses in process.

The best thing to do is not to accept the contract all together. Tell them you are fully occupied. This way, you will be able to take on work with people you enjoy working with.

If The Client is Nosey

Some clients are nosey. After you are done interviewing and they have awarded you the contract, they still follow you around to find out if it’s you who is really doing the job. This in my opinion is disgusting. A normal clients’ concern should be to get the work completed on time. Otherwise, why would someone waste their time making unscrupulous investigations on whether I am the person actually doing the job?

This is unless subcontracting conditions was stated clearly on the contract that there is no subcontracting. Otherwise, taking work from nosey clients is not worth.

If the prospect sounds nosey at the verge of hiring, reconsider accepting the contract. They will keep asking you things that are not in anyway related to the contract at hand.

Conclusion

Success comes with vigilance. I know you need money, and good money comes from making the right decisions when it comes to subcontracting. If you don’t take for granted any of the above instances, you are sure to reap most from subcontracting work.

I hope the information I have shared here on subcontracting was helpful to you.

In what instances do you reconsider subcontracting a job or a contract?

Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

And if you need help with screen-cast video production or videography, you can request a free quote here.

Until next time, bye bye and take care.

Follow me on twitter @cheptiony.

September 23, 2021
How Freelancing is Changing The Traditional Approach to Entrepreneurship

For the past few years, Freelancing has gotten the attention it deserved. As a result, it has shaped the way people approach business and entrepreneurship. Take for instance business man Elon Musk. When you hear his name, the first things that comes to your mind is TESLA, SpaceX, DOGECOIN just to name a few.

Businessman Elon Musk

He is an entrepreneur who has built great brands around his name. People trust anything that is associated with this entrepreneur. That is the direction in which most gifted entrepreneurs take today. They first try different things in order to identify what they love doing. When they find their passion, they then build great brands around it.

Watch Video

In this blogpost, I will share ways in which Freelancing can help someone Find their passion and business idea they can run with.

The Effect of Freelancing

What freelancing does to someone’s mindset is it enable them to find their niche while making money in the process. In Kenya, most people start Freelance work as content writers. Once they understand how the online system works, they then slowly identify a niche that they love. e.g Video Editing.

Like any other activity, its not easy to start a business around your passion online. Its therefore important to never stop taking jobs on the freelancing sites like Upwork and Fiverr at your early stages. The income from the small contracts will keep you going as you build traction around your idea.

Once you have built a good client base around your idea, you can then stop taking small freelance contracts and commit to running your business full time.

10 Things A Video Production Agency Will Do To Save Clients Time And Headache

Using Youtube As Marketing Avenue

Generally, Google products are designed for productivity including YouTube. Many YouTubers with great content that viewers love to watch have built brands around their names. The first step they took was to build trust from the viewers in their specific niche.

YouTube Market Place

Once they had gained trust from thousands of viewers, they launched their brands around what they share. In a nutshell, a Youtuber is a creative Freelancer when they start. They have freedom to create what they want.

It gets even better, the moment they launch their brands. Here, they transform into business owners.

Rank Better on YouTube with Captions or Subtitles in 2021

Freelancing is Open to All

This includes freelancing in websites like Upwork, Freelancer, Fiverr, PeoplePerHour, Guru just to name a few. These are good places to start from if you are new to online marketplace and don’t know exactly which niche will work well for you.

If you are a video editor, you can choose a category on Creative Design and Animation. Within time, you will be able identify a niche for yourself besides understanding the terms of working with clients online. e.g payment methods to propose when working directly with the client e.t.c.

That’s how I was able to identify and invest on Screencast Video production agency.

When I identified this niche, the first thing I did was to register a business and a website domain. From then, we have been able to get clients who directly contact us from the site and gives us contracts on a regular basis.

Among the services we offer include scripting, providing professional voice over and producing high quality easy to follow screencast videos. If you need help with screencast video production, you can request a free quote on our site at www.techtubestudio.com

5 Tips to Start and Grow a Screen-casting Video Business Remotely

Conclusion

Online service market place stands independent today as we speak. You can get most of the services online instantly. There are many freelancers online ready to handle any type of service that you are looking for at an affordable price.

If you want to establish a business that allows you to work anywhere offering services and the comfort of your laptop, then you can start that journey today as an online freelancer. Remember you have to put a lot of hours and investment to get this started.

And that is it from me here.

Do you think freelancing is shaping the path to entrepreneurship? Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.

If you need help to create and produce professional screencast videos, request a free quote here. If you have any other questions or concerns regarding to this blogpost, let me know via e-mail on connect@cheptiony.com

Until next time, bye bye and take care.

Follow me on twitter @cheptiony.

July 27, 2021
Two Ways To Upload A New WordPress Theme

There are two sure ways to upload a theme to WordPress for use on your blog or website. In this weeks Freelancing tip, I will show you two ways to upload a WordPress theme to your webhosting control panel in order customize it to suite your needs.

Two Ways to Upload a WordPress Theme

Its always important to know different ways to upload a WordPress theme incase one of them fails to work. This way, you will be able to pinpoint and troubleshoot any errors. e.g missing stylesheet.

Looking for Professional Screencast Video Production Services? Click here to request a Free Quote Today!

Upload Theme Directly from Your WordPress Dashboard

This is a very common way that you might be well versed with. On your WordPress dashboard, hover your mouse to Appearance and select Themes.

Select Appearance>Themes

Select Add New>Upload Theme>Choose File. Choose the zipped theme file on your computer to start uploading.

Select Add New>Upload Theme>Choose File.

Scared of Starting to Freelance because of you heard people get Scammed? Here are typical Cases of Scams in The Freelancing World

Via Your Hosting Control Panel Panel

Sometimes uploading a theme via the WordPress dashboard fails to work. I have experienced this a couple times when trying to upload a theme purchased from theme forest. If you encounter the same issue like I did, then try uploading the theme via the webhost cPanel.

To do this, login to your hosting account. On your hosting account cPanel dashboard, select File Manager.

Select File manager from your hosting cPanel Dashboard.

On the new window. Select the domain you want to upload the theme on your left. Your domain folder will expand. Select public_html>wp-content>themes.

Select domain>wp-content>themes

Using the icons on top (which varies depending on your hosting provider), click upload files. Select the theme you want to install and click upload.

Click Upload.

When done uploading, select the uploaded folder and click extract the files.

Go back to your WordPress themes page and you will see the new theme display. From there you can start customizing it to suite your needs.

And that is it from me today on Freelance tips. If you have any questions regarding to this video, let me know in the comments section below. Alternatively, you can send me an e-mail to connect@cheptiony.com

Follow me on twitter @cheptiony.

Until next time, bye bye and take care.

Looking for Professional Screencast Video Production Services? Click here to request a Free Quote Today!

May 26, 2021
How to Work With Talented Freelancers With Poor Communication

We are all wired to look for the best in everything- so long we can afford to pay for it. We feel bad when we fail to find the best or when we are tricked to believe its best when it isn’t.

Video Summary of the Blogpost

For instance, let’s say you are shopping on Ebay or Amazon for a good lapel microphone for your DSLR camera with some specific features and you find one within you price range. The packaging and pictures of the product looks good and you are convinced to buy it. The product is shipped to you.

When you un-box and try it out, the sound it captures is horrible and has some hissing and pops. Alternatively, it may be perfect but not compatible with your DSLR camera as seller claimed online. What do you do?

Photo by Negative Space on Pexels.com

The only option you will have in this case is shipping the product back to the seller. While you are guaranteed to get your money back, you will have wasted your time and lost money in the process.

Such experiences are very common In the Freelancing world but in a different way. A huge percentage of the Freelancing business -is service driven- and relies much on communication. If one of the parties involved in a project fails to communicate, the whole process is delayed and may result in many inconveniences especially when you are working on a deadline.

In this blog-post, I share how to handle Freelancers with poor communication. If you are a freelancer and is dealing with a client with poor communication, please go and read this blog-post.

So, how do you deal with good freelancers with poor communication? Well it depends. If you have posted a job and haven’t already hired, here is what I suggest you do in order to hire someone who will not let you down at the middle of the project with poor communication;

Set your expectations

In your post, be very clear on what you expect from the freelancer. What will help you catch a freelancer with poor communication is their response to your expectations when bidding. Put the following as your most important expectations from applicants; timeline, cost, revisions and working hours. i.e You can say you are looking for someone who works in your time zone for easy flow of communication.

Remove applications which does not address the questions on your expectations

If your offer is good and resonates with most freelancers, you will receive many applications. You will realize that most applications are generic. Sift through them and remove/decline applications which does not address your request. This alone will leave you with 10% of the applicants.

Test their communication promptness

Send them a message and ask them simple questions. See how fast they respond. Also, if they only answer your questions but does not ask any questions or clarification on your project, it means that the freelancer is after money than your project.

Hire the freelancer who convinces you by show of their honest communication

Many freelancers will pretend to work on weekends if you ask them only to just to please you. But a honest freelancer will tell you they don’t work on weekends and it will be up to you to hire them or not.

Now, if you have already hired the best freelancer, and now you are finding it difficult to work with them because they are now responding late to your comments or request, here are the steps I recommend you follow to resolve it.

Give yourself sometime to analyze why they are not responding on time

Some freelancers will promptly communicate at the beginning of a project but relaxes after working with them for sometime. Their reasons maybe genuine while others are not. For example, a genuine reason maybe sickness or travelling. Them communicating upfront is professional.

Pressure them to deliver within a timeline

If the freelancer is swamped up with work, they will honestly tell you they will not. This means that their priority on your project is no longer their concern. This way, you can decide to hire someone else who will work on your terms.

Analyze how you feel when they delay to communicate

This is very important. The essence of starting any business endeavor is to get more work done and have freedom and happiness. If you are not feeling good, hire someone else immediately. Make sure you mutually end the contract with the freelancer and give them credit where they deserve.

Use the experience to hire your next freelancer

When scouting for your next freelancer, put in practice your experience while sifting through the many applicants. This way, you will be in a position to find the best freelancer.

And that’s it from me today. And as they say, experience is the best teacher. Use your experience to hire the best freelancer who meets your demand. Don’t forget be kind and reasonable to each other. Let’s make internet safe and reliable market place to do business.

And if you need help to create and produce professional screen-cast video tutorials for mobile apps, websites and software’s let me know here.

Until next time, bye and take care.

Follow me on twitter @cheptiony

September 21, 2019
4 Temptations You Should Avoid At All Cost When You Hire a Freelancer

Like the Lord’s prayer ‘...lead us not into temptations, but deliver us from evil..\’ the following temptations that comes along with sub-contracting or hiring a freelancer to work on your projects (or some of your projects) should be avoided at all costs if you find yourself falling into them.

If you are someone enterprising, and you deliver great work, then satisfied clients will refer you to their fellow businessmen. At the end of the day, you will have a lot of fulfilling projects to work on.

Obviously, as a client or an enterprising freelancer with deep knowledge in video production, you will be determined to find a fellow freelancer with the right skills to help you out.

Here are 3 common temptations that may cost you time and reputation. Each time you notice them, remember the Lord’s prayer and take action.

Everyone loves to pay less for more. Now, bargains comes with a price in the freelancing world. On the other hand, experience will teach you a lot. For example, you will know the best bargain for a certain service. New freelancers may qu o te lower prices promising to deliver the best.

Others will use other peoples video examples to convince you. You will know this during the interview. Don\’t ever be tempted to hire someone cheaper hoping to make 10X profit out of the project. 90% of them will surprise you with lower quality work. That\’s the last thing you will want to hear.

Freelance entrepreneurship can be very demanding. You are after making more sales and profits. Focusing on making more profits within a set period of time can cause you to push whoever you hire to speed up the production. This is dangerous. Creativity and inspiration to create compelling videos requires time. Give them time to utilize their creativity in order to produce quality work.

First, this is unprofessional. In the project you hired for, you are the team leader. For this case, you should take your time to thoroughly review the video and request for changes where necessary. Usually, the first draft require many revisions. Ask the contractor to make these changes. When you are happy and confident enough to share your work with the client, do so. This will save you a lot of heartache. Besides, the clients will view you as someone professional.

A bad review by a freelancer can hurt you chances of attracting high quality freelancers in future. Set your standards through your communications with them when you hire. Don\’t let them drag you to their problems. E.g some freelancers have a tendency of complaining about one thing or another after you have hired them. Don\’t let this get into you. Remind them of what your initial contract with them says. Be very stern. This will make them respect you as a client and deliver extraordinary service.

And that is it from me today.

There are many other temptations you should avoid at all cost when sub-contracting work to a freelancer. Do you know of any? Share it with me in the comments section below.

If you need help to create and produce professional screen-cast video tutorials, let me know h ere.

Till next time, bye bye and take care.

You can follow me on twitter @cheptionymutai

March 13, 2019
Increase Your Chances of Getting Freelance Video Jobs with Storyboard

Any seasoned video producer will tell you they don\’t need a storyboard in order to create a video- and that script is enough. Well, me being one of them, I agree that it is possible to work on a video without a storyboard. But how do you make yourself stand out from others in this competitive industry and command a bigger pay-especially when proposing? Well you have to be creative enough to show your prospect that you are organized. Having in mind that not every editor/producer breaks down the process they use when working on their videos, you need to utilize this as your strength and make yourself stand out in the market. And Storyboard can be your savior. Here are reasons why storyboard will help you stand out.

Storyboard works best for clients who have never worked on a video before

Most new clients who have never worked on a video with someone before; are clueless on how to go about it. And for them to trust you, you need to take them step by step on the process. If they are willing to provide the script, then you can introduce them to \’storyboarding\’ where they will have a clear picture on how the video will come out. This way, they will view you as an expert; besides, they will feel a sense of ownership as they will get a chance to contribute to it.

Storyboard is good for videos that require royalty free videos

Now, sometimes as a video producer, your royalty free video choices for different parts of a video may not be what your client wants. This thus means that if you had purchased the footage, you will have to dig deeper to your pockets and purchase an alternative footage to replace it. To avoid this, creating a storyboard and sharing links to videos you propose to use is very crucial as you will have advance client approval before purchasing them.

Storyboard will help you stop guessing

If you are working on a technical video, sometimes, in some sections, you need to consult the client to clarify some terms and thus help you create a scene to reflect the meaning. Storyboard will be the best medium to raise such questions. Clients love this as they get also to contribute towards the production of the video. You only need to a good listener here.

Storyboard is the avenue to win the heart of your client

Now, the first thing to do when your client agrees on a storyboard, is to propose to them that you can use online collaboration tools where changes can be reviewed in real time. In this case, the best tool to use for story board is Google slides. Even if you have worn the contract, don\’t stop showing to your client how professional and experienced you are by action. This way, he/she will trust you opinion on matters that are not even related to your line of expertise. Be that guy that can be trusted to not only deliver, but deliver to satisfaction.

And this will in turn lead to repeat business and before you know, you will have more work and less stressful marketing.

That\’s all from me here today. Till next time, bye and take care:-)

If you need professional help on video, let me know by sending me an e-mail on connect@cheptiony.com

Don\’t forget to give me a thumbs up and leave a comment below.

Also, follow me on twitter @cheptiony

July 31, 2018
Top Client Tips to Hiring a Professional Video Editing Freelancer

Before hiring a freelancer to help you edit your video, have this in mind – Effective and impactful videos are simple and clean. A bunch of animations and VFX will not help anything if the video content is not clearly structured. This requires that the producer or writer spends a lot of time working on the video idea before proceeding to produce the video.

If you are a newbie client with no idea on the video production process- and intend to hire a professional video editor-hang on. With 7 years of experience in the video production industry, here are my top tips to help you identify the right video editor for your project.

Have in Handy Video Assets

Video assets is everything when it comes to video editing. It will vary depending on the kind of video you want the freelancer to work on. It ranges from logo, videos, images, music and audio recordings. This will help the editor understand the kind of message you want to pass on. If it’s screen-cast videos, they will ask for access to the app or software.

Prepare Video Script or Hire A scriptwriter to help

Script is very important as it gives a clear direction on how the video will come out. Script can be in text or storyboard format with images/video screenshots added on it. This can be created on PowerPoint with text inserted on the notes section of the presentation. If it’s footage being edited, you will need to supply the instructions in writing of time-codes you want cut out as well as sections you want retained. This will not only save the editor time, but it will save you time that you could have spent in back a forth revision requests with the editor.

Set Delivery Timelines

When planning to hire a video editor, you obviously have a timeline in mind. Professional freelance editors will advise you otherwise if your timeline request is not reasonable or is not fitting to their schedule. Anyone who is committed to delivering quality will rather forfeit the job than take it and deliver trash. It’s therefore important to check if the editor is requesting to know delivery expectation before accepting to proceed and edit.

Pay in Milestones

Don’t be scared if the freelancer asks that you make a milestone deposit before he/she starts working. Milestones motivates them to focus on your project besides strengthening the trust that they have for you as a client. Once you are happy to go with a particular freelancer, hire them and deposit funds on escrow. You can release them when you are happy with the final video delivery.

A professional video editor is someone who has produced videos similar to what you are looking for in the past. If you are looking for a particular style of videos, he will be in a position to provide links to related videos he/she has done in the past. This will not only speed up your hiring process as a client, but you will know how much you can ask for from the editor.

Leave a Positive Review For The Good Job

And finally, he will ask for a review when job is completed and your are happy:-).

Don\’t hesitate to give him/her 5 stars for the good job. This way, you will help him attract more awesome clients just like you! Let’s continue making internet safe haven to do business.

If you need professional help on video, you can chat and request a free quote here.

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Till next time, bye bye and take care.

May 15, 2018