A negotiation is not won by defending your price. It is won by knowing, before you answer, the figure the other side is already entitled to.
Answer with two questions
Before any figure, two questions and nothing else.
Where will the video run, and for how long? A video posted once on a brand account and a video pushed as paid advertising for a year do not have the same price, and that difference is not negotiable: it is a difference in kind.
How many videos and variants, delivered when? The second question sets the real work, which is almost always bigger than what was said.
Answering with a price before those two answers is guessing. And when people guess, they guess low.
The structure that works
Three lines, never a single price.
Production: shoot, edit, number of videos, one round of revisions included. Rights: duration, territory, channels, priced separately. Options: extra variants, additional formats, urgency.
That structure does the work for you. When you are asked to come down, you do not have to defend an overall figure: you show three lines and ask which one to remove.
When a discount is requested
Say neither yes nor no. Ask what is being removed.
One video fewer, one variant fewer, a shorter rights duration, a longer deadline: all of that can be priced and removed cleanly. The price comes down, the work comes down, and your rate stays intact.
That point matters beyond the current job: in an agency the accepted amount is recorded and comes back out at the next quote. A one-off gesture therefore becomes a permanent rate if you make it on the price rather than on the scope.
The four answers that protect the price
They are written once and reused always.
"Here is what I can remove to reach that amount." "This rate covers that use; for this other use, here is the price." "I can hold that date, or that price, not both." And finally: "I understand, it is not within my working budget this time."
The fourth is the most useful and the least used. A creator who can refuse once gets better terms next time, because they become a supplier rather than an adjustment variable.
What gets negotiated, by weight
| Rank | Line | Effect on price |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Duration and territories of rights | Very strong |
| 2 | Paid advertising | Strong |
| 3 | Number of formats delivered | Proportional |
What is asked before naming a figure
The intended use, the channels, the duration, the countries and the release date.
What can be conceded without losing money
A longer deadline, a staggered delivery, a shoot grouped with another order.
Raising your rates
Without justification, on new clients first.
An increase is not announced, it is applied. Only warn regular clients, once a year, a month in advance, in one sentence and without apology.
The right moment is when you turn work down for lack of time. If you have never turned anything down, your price is still too low.
