How to make six figures as a motion designer

John Filipkowski (00:00): So I sent them the first rough cut and they're like, what's this? And I'm like, well, this is like, you know, we talked about the rough pass and they're like, have you done this before? I was like, what do you mean? They're like, do you actually know how to do motion graphics? And I'm like, are you serious? Like seriously, like, and they just kept digging in and digging in about how horrible I was and how horrible this piece was and how embarrassed they were. And they couldn't show it to the client. And so like, I felt so defeated.

Hayley Akins (00:28): Hey, hatchings welcome to the motion hatch podcast. I'm your host, Hayley Akins.

Hayley Akins (00:38): Hatchings welcome to episode 97 of the Motion Hatch podcast today on the show, I wanted to do something a little bit different. So on the 21st of October, we are finally going to be launching our YouTube channel. It's actually a little bit scary saying that because I know that I'm drawing a line in the sand and I'm, I'm making a commitment to you now that we are going to launch this channel on the 21st of October. So mark that date in your diaries, because I'm sure we're going to have some awesome lives and different things going on there over on that day, we will be launching three videos as well. So do go over and make sure you subscribe. We have a channel up there already, which you've probably seen in the past. We've played around with adding the podcast to YouTube. We've also done a few live streams over there, but now we're going all in on YouTube and we're going to be releasing weekly videos around the business side of motion design.

Hayley Akins (01:31): Since we're almost at a hundred episodes of this podcast, which seems pretty crazy. I never thought that I would get here, but you know, I've, I've just been continuing to put this podcast out and it's been awesome. This doesn't mean that we're going to stop doing the podcast. We're going to take a little break for sure, but I'm pretty sure the podcast we'll be back up and running in 2022. So if you want more motion hatch content, then do go over to the YouTube channel. So we're going to start creating weekly videos over there to help you grow your motion design business and career. We want to help as many motion designers in the industry as possible. And obviously not all motion designers listen to podcasts, but most people do use YouTube. So this is why we want to start focusing on that as well.

Hayley Akins (02:19): Our mission is to impact a hundred thousand motion designers and help them to grow their motion, design businesses and careers. So this is why we've decided to set a pretty big goal for next year that we want to get a hundred thousand subs next year. So please, please help me do that. Please help me spread the word of motion hatch on YouTube, go over there and subscribe, I promise there is going to be some really great videos for you. You're going to get a lot out of it. We've been working very, very hard as team to create these videos for you, and I'm really excited about it. So please go over there and subscribe. And I guess like, why am I telling you this on this podcast episode today? Well, today's podcast episode is actually a behind the scenes interview that I did for our new channel.

Hayley Akins (03:08): So I've been interviewing motion designers for a number of videos, and this interview was so great that I wanted to share it in full with you today. So I guess it's sort of a sneak peek at the kind of topics that we'll be discussing on our channel. So make sure you subscribe right now. I mean, literally take your phone out of your pocket right now. Go to YouTube app search motion, hatch, and click that subscribe button. Because if you like this podcast, I know that you're going to love what we have coming up on the channel for you. So thanks everybody for listening and let's get into the episode. Hey John, thanks so much for being here. Do you want to introduce yourself?

John Filipkowski (03:48): I'm John Filipkowski I'm a motion designer out of the Chicago land area and I've been a motion designer for over 10 years.

Hayley Akins (03:58): Awesome. So like, I mean, tell me a bit about how you get your clients.

John Filipkowski (04:03): So how I get my clients, it's a mix of two things. One is just networking my network and the people, other freelancers that I've, I've talked to and met with and reached out to they refer me as well as other clients have referred me as well. And then also a big one recently it was just kind of cold, cold emailing, reaching out finding companies either on websites or like through Instagram and just straight up getting in their DMS or just going on, you know, online and finding the, the EPS and producers and and just reaching out and saying, Hey, I love, you know, this project or this project is exactly what I was looking for for reference for something else. And just like, say, Hey, it's awesome. I'd love to connect. If not like that's cool, but either way, you're doing some amazing stuff and just wanting to let you know, and I've gotten a lot of great responses and going and, and like this connection that I start with that tends to build, help me build a network and work.

John Filipkowski (05:14): So even though some companies that I've reached out to and never came back with me, but they may have passed my name onto someone else unbeknownst to me and that's how I got work. So it's kind of a two twofold thing. So I try and always stay on top of the outreach, but also just trying to stay connected to people, you know and kind of get overflow from other people's works or, or, or reach out or people just refer me. Cause I just love it. What I love about our industries. Well, 90% of us are just cool people, so we all just want to help each other out. And it's like, I don't know. I find it interesting every, all these other industries who are slogging through and most motion designers in like, yeh pretty, pretty cool people so.

Hayley Akins (06:03): Yeah. Tell me a bit about how so when you're initially reaching out to people, your not going straight in with the, like, here's my work, here's, you know, that kind of thing. Tell me a little bit about that. And do you have sort of different stages? So I know that we've spoken about this a bit in the past, so

John Filipkowski (06:23): Yeah. So the first outreach, if it's on social media, I mean they could link back to my work. And so if I'm going in there instead of DMS, like they can find my work and I'll just reach out and say, Hey, this looks awesome. Sometimes more than just like a smiley face and a fire emoji. Like something like, Hey, this is amazing. Like either asking a question or like telling them, like, you know, you guys are like the top at this, some of the best and say like just something genuine and a little more than that, like, you know, oh, sweet. And then as far as the emails, I could go a little deeper. And I try and be a little more specific as to what I liked or why I'm reaching out. A lot of times it's when I'm going through their Pinterest or something like doing research for another project, I'll reach out or I'll find some work.

John Filipkowski (07:17): And I'm like, who did that? I'll find a studio. And I'll just be like, Hey, I'm doing another project that this thing is like crazy awesome. Like your team is amazing. I'd love to, to be able to collaborate sometime, but you know, otherwise, like, I just want to say you guys rock so, and just leave it at that. Like, don't have to say, like, I try not to push, I'll leave the, Hey, if you, if you have any questions about my work, you know, feel free to reach out, but try and leave it more so as much about them as possible and then just step away. That's, that's been good. Most people I'd say cause I do a little bit of testing between that and trying to say like, Hey, here's my work, here's this. And I get better results with just confidence. At least people say, thanks. You know? And then if they say, thanks, then it's kinda like a door open, Hey, I can reach out again.

Hayley Akins (08:15): Yeah. That's awesome. I really like that. You experiment. And I think that's really important, like seeing what works, you know, having the two different ways and see what works best. So tell me how you first made six figures.

John Filipkowski (08:29): I first made six figures at a full-time position. So I was in the company for a while and kind of build my way up up until that position. And it was kinda like this, I don't know, it was weird. It was like I joined a club, six figure club and it, it felt pretty cool. I was like, yeah, I'm there. Sweet. Now what,

Hayley Akins (08:55): So you were full full-time. So what happened? Did you go freelance after that? Cause I feel like if you made six figures full time, it must be really difficult to go from. Okay. Now I'm like making six figures, so that's pretty sweet. And then if you want to go out on your own, that feels like more scary to me than if you weren't making six figures and then you're like, okay, I'm going to go freelance or something like that.

John Filipkowski (09:19): You know, thinking about it now, it probably looks scarier than I thought, but I broke it down. I tend to think it is as kind of rationally as possible. So I break it down into like, okay, what kind of rate do I need to make or ask for per job in order to get this? Now that I'm going to be on my own, I need to be making a certain amount per day or a certain amount per month and break it down like that. And then it becomes less scary to feel like you know, can I match what I make full-time cause everyone was like, oh, if you make full time, I know you get all these benefits and all this, but they don't account a lot of people don't take an account how much they're taking out for insurance and all this other stuff, at least in the U S for insurance and all this other taxes and whatnot.

John Filipkowski (10:11): So it really wasn't that scary once I did that and I started talking to a bunch of other motion designers about what they charge full-timers who were not as accepting to talk about salaries as much as freelancers. You know, I understand. But so I got kind of a broad range of where I could go with what I wanted and after breaking it out, I've I feel like I realized I could make six figures and more going freelance. So it wasn't too scary. I was, I was just like, all right, here's my plan. Here's my goal. That's what I need to do. And I just had to do it, like there was no other choice. So I had just moved into a new house and with a new baby and I had two kids. So I'm like, I have to get food on the table, do it. There's no turning around and saying like, that's not going to work.

Hayley Akins (11:12): That sounds scary and crazy to me because I feel like, you know, you sounded like you had more pressure than a lot of people. Like, how did you deal with that? You said you broke it down. What do you mean specifically? How did you do that?

John Filipkowski (11:29): Well, as far as the, as far as the money goes, like I broke it down and say, okay, a hundred grand a year. Like how many in my mind, like you still got to take account into vacations. Cause I don't want to work 52 weeks a year, every single week. I mean, and offices aren't open on a lot of holidays too. So you break it down into like, what is that? Like 11 months, 10 months out of the year. Okay. Let's just say, how many days are those? Like Monday through Friday, you break that down. So here's a chunk of days now where there's 200, 300 days and then divide that by a hundred thousand or whatever you want your salary be. It'd be like, okay, daily, I need to make X amount of money. And so, okay. So daily you could break it down and say, well there's average 30 days in a month.

John Filipkowski (12:16): Here's how much I need to make in a month. And so that way I can take multiple jobs and say like, okay, so let's say each month I need to make $2,000. You know, then I know that that's, that's my goal. I don't have to think hourly anymore. I don't have to think daily. I just think here's my jobs. Here's what I need to do. And then you can break it down further saying like, what if I had a great month and I make like 10,001 month then do I say like, oh sweet. If I only needed 2000 a month, like, could I take four months off? Like sure. If you want to, and then just take that, you know, spaced it out or I could continue and make more money, hopefully. So that's how I broke that down. And then as far as the stress from having two kids and a new house I put all my stress into outreach.

John Filipkowski (13:12): So I turned into an email writing sheet. I hated writing emails, hated writing. I hated saying anything. Like I felt so self-conscious about it. And after you write the first 50, 60 emails, like you're fine with it. And he starts a great a template to, in a sense, you know, which is very helpful. But that's where I kind of channeled it. And I put a lot of that stress into outreach and, and even just accepting that I wasn't going to get a lot of returned emails and just the one or two, I just took those people. And I was like, yes. And it helped me release the stress. And I'm like, you're the one out of that 30 emails I just sent out last week. Thank you. That was just like trying to accept it for what it is. And it's, it's tough.

Hayley Akins (14:05): So you said like one hour 30, is that typical for you? Because I've heard this before, that kind of one in 30 is sort of coming up again and again, and I'm just trying to dig into that a little bit because I want to give people a gauge.

John Filipkowski (14:20): I I'd say on average, like sometimes I have a great month or there's like multiple people reach out. And I think it has to do with timing of whether they're busy or not, or whether I, you know, reached out to some people that like specifics about my work. But I'd say if I took the year and I had all the emails I wrote for the year, it was probably about one out of 30, which, which sucks. But like I said, it gives you practice. I'm writing emails, which is always a good thing to have like sloppy emails and poor. Like, this is your speaking. Like, this is like what people read. So imagine them reading this back to you in the voice that they hear you with. And if it's all like, I don't know, sloppy, it's just, yeah. So practice makes perfect. So I'm trying to get at,

Hayley Akins (15:10): If you had one piece of advice for freelances looking to make six figures, what would that be? Okay.

John Filipkowski (15:17): I do. What I think is don't be afraid to charge more. I think you're worth more than you think you are. And you're the only one holding you back from earning more money. So go out there and, and go big. What's the worst that could happen. And they say no. And then you say, okay, what is your budget? And then they give you a lower number. And you're like, okay, yes or no. Go for the, I had passed on a lot of quality work and go for work that made more money. So don't be afraid to like, be that corporate guy for a bit. If you gotta pay the bills, you gotta pay his bills. Not everyone could be like superstar motion designer every day. Know, maybe you can go ahead. If you need to pay the bills, don't be ashamed.

John Filipkowski (16:10): Like we're all doing it. There's a dirty little secret of all studios. They have a whole plethora of corporate work that they don't want to show that pays the bills and the stuff you see on their website that pays nothing. So just a little, little fun tip. And then also outreach. It's like, just keep, keep reaching out. Whether it's internal network or new people. Like I can't stress it enough. How many times? It just in the past year that I reached out even two years ago that I haven't like talked to again, they reach out to me randomly, cause I'm on some list somewhere and they need help. So get your name out there and just, just keep feeling Gary Vaynerchuk, just hustle, just hustle. But that's what it is. It's like, just keep going. I had this motivation of like, I got to put food on the table and I'm going to out hustle all these motion designers. Like, no, one's gonna write more emails than me. I'm going to outright all of you Mo graphers and you're not going to stop me and I'm going to keep doing it and I'm going to keep going. And then you're going to see me everywhere and you're gonna be like, how does that guy have time for his kids? And you're gonna say, no, what I did, I charge him more than you do too. So I got time for everything

Hayley Akins (17:34): I'm laughing, but I'm, I'm totally on board. I live you know, the consistent outreach and all of that kind of stuff. You know, I'm all about that. Tell me what your goal is now that you've reached six figures.

John Filipkowski (17:49): My goal now after I've reached six figures is, is more balanced in life. Like I've seen that I've, couldn't reach a certain level that I wanted to monetarily and that's great. And I, I use that as a confidence booster to know that I can continue to push that, but the real balance now is just trying to balance work and life. And I know there's no perfect work-life balance. I think everyone's striving for this. Perfect. But there isn't, but at least somewhere in between there that's really what I'm going for. So like I, right now I walk my kids to school in the morning. I have coffee with my life and then I do some work and then I changed some diapers. I take a meeting and then I do some work and then I pick my kids up from school and then I like eat dinner with them.

John Filipkowski (18:44): And then I do some work later and I'm like, I can do all that. Knowing that the relationships I've built, trust me to get the work done and get the job done. And they will pay me for it. So I don't have to worry about pain, like money to pay bills and I feel comfortable and just try and keep that lifestyle because that to me is more important than like working on some crazy superstar, amazing movie. How do you build that trust in the first place to build trust with your client? I feel like you just need to it's, it's under promise over deliver every single time and always be looking out for your client's best interests. I try my best to help them out whenever I can, whether that's, if they're just like, oh, Hey, you know, I, I need to throw this in like a little added, let's say they want a 32nd video.

John Filipkowski (19:47): And they're like, oh, is there any way I could just get like a five second snippet for social media? And I'm like, yeah. And they're like, oh, wait a second. I don't have a real budget for it. You're fine. Just, just tack it on. Well, you know, just little things or like, you know, you're working with them and they're having struggling with some other part of it. Maybe you can, you know, give them some tips on, you know, how to work with editors or how to handle something else. And it's just like trying to build trust in a way that's like, they can give you a job and don't have to worry about you taking any stress off of their plate is, is just going to a lot of time to come back to because, you know, there are people there, there are people like us, we all have our stresses, we'd go home and we're all like, ah, that guy sucked, you know? And then who knows what, like boss is horrible and it's, you know, just having someone to work with and talk to, and just being able to take away a little bit of that stress from your daily is someone that they're going to come back to.

Hayley Akins (20:53): Yeah, definitely. I agree with that. I feel like I've, that's why I've done well in my past jobs as a motion designer and stuff like that is, you know, try and I guess, like be indispensable in a way that you're sort of helping them and, and taking the stress away from them. Like you said, I think that's a really, I think it's like the wise thing to do. And maybe some times people don't realize that and they think it's more about the work and how good your work is, but it isn't really always about

John Filipkowski (21:25): A hundred percent. And I feel like some people are so focused on getting this certain style or like being the best of this. And they don't focus on their soft skills. The people skills that they miss out because I forgot where I read it, but like, you know, the deals don't get made in the office. The deals get made, you know, on the course, I think it was like on the golf course. And it's like the people who have the social skills and the know how to like talk and really understand other people. I feel like are going to get further, faster than those who necessarily have these specific technical skills. Now I, it can't be some schlub will tell you that much, you know, but you gotta, you gotta be able to talk, walk the walk if you talk the talk, but at least like you can get to start.

Hayley Akins (22:16): What do you say when a client says that you are too expensive?

John Filipkowski (22:19): So if a client says I'm too expensive, usually I can tell, I try with especially new clients to get on the phone with them as soon as possible, just to kind of get a feeling for them. And a lot of times they'll say like, well, we did this on Fiverr or some other place, or they had multiple other people and they just charged too much and I can tell them, and I see where this is going. And, you know I, if someone says I charged too much, I just try and ask them, like, what are you looking for then? Do you want just something slapped together? Do you want a quality piece that is going to get you results? And are you willing to pay for that?

Hayley Akins (22:56): So do you have any horror stories about client communication?

John Filipkowski (23:01): Yeah. So I've got a horror story. So I was starting a job I had, this was the first job with a new client. And I talked with them about kind of my method of how I work from like starting out kind of rough, rough drafts and kind of like you know, like just, just getting them a first pass if you will, and it's rough and stuff. And, and then we continue to move on and flush stuff out. And the story goes, as the story goes on. And so I sat on the first rough cut and they're like, what's this? And I'm like, well, this is like, you know, we talked about the rough pass and they're like, have you done this before? I was like, what do you mean? They're like, do you actually know how to do motion graphics? And I'm like, are you serious?

John Filipkowski (23:47): Like seriously, like, and they just kept digging in and digging in about how horrible I was and how horrible this piece was and how embarrassed they were. And they couldn't show it to the client. I'm just like, but we like talked. And so like, I felt so defeated. Yeah. So after after he tells us, told me, hated it, and then we got off the phone and I wrote up an email and I was just like, you know, I think there's a miscommunication. My idea of a rough cut is, is this and your is yours. And he's like, yeah, I was a little harsh. But you know, we need something that is more than that in order for us to show this client. And, you know, it was a bit, it was a bit tough because they had meetings too. And so I needed to get something better, looking out quickly.

John Filipkowski (24:34): So it was rough and I like still felt horrible. Like I am the worst motion designer ever. And like, I'm creating this and I'm like, this is, I'm just the worst. This is horrible. This is worse. And the whole time I'm creating this and slogging, it was a long night and I got out the next day and they're super appreciative. It was, but you know, the relationship there will always be like, this person thinks I'm an amateur and that I had just started and I was a liar. So the communication, I just try and get it out there and to be as descriptive as possible. And what a rough cut means, rough. Like we're not talking like almost we're saying like stuff is going to look like busted. So I've also had people we get to the very end, close to the very end of the job. And like, you know what, I don't like this anymore. And they just want to change it, the whole thing. And I don't, I, they caught me off guard. I don't know what to say. You're just like, okay, like, great, get on that. And then they hang up and I'm

Hayley Akins (25:40): Like, so what do you do in that situation?

John Filipkowski (25:43): I write emails saying, Hey, here's I can write I'll first write an angry email, like getting out all my frustrations and the horrible they are, and then I'll delete it. And then I'll write with a real email and saying what my concerns are about that and what we talked about and going back to, you know, previous emails and discussions, and always have a paper trail, kids always have a paper trail, you have conversations, you write that sucker up in the email and send it and be like, here's what we talked about today. We'll summary. And then you can always go back and you're like, see, see this right here.

Hayley Akins (26:21): So how can motion designers raise their rates?

John Filipkowski (26:25): How can motion designer raise their rates? I, one way that I found is if you are in a good position to not be very desperate for work, just do it. Whether it's a new client or new clients is easier, you could say like, here's my, here's my rate. And they don't know any difference. Or if it's an older client just been the case, you know, it's moving forward, I'm on a new, a new rate. And if they're in a position where they really need someone, they're probably gonna pay it. So my thing is, if you see it, and this goes back to what I always tell people is like network, continue to network and be open about your rates. Okay? Like we all, we're all charging cell phones, so let's be open and let's all make more money. Why not? So be open to find other people in your wavelength, what they're charging and just keep slowly up. And whether it's 5,000, $10 more, whatever it is, just keep inching, keep going.

Hayley Akins (27:28): What's the biggest mistake that you see freelancers

John Filipkowski (27:31): Make? I think there's a couple, I think one is being taking the rate that you are not charging more. One big mistake. I see freelancers making is not charging enough, not charging more. We can all continue to push these rates up and go higher. I mean, this is called inflation people let's raise it up. But also I also feel that freelancers need to think about, you know, what else can you help out the client with? It's not just the work, but is there other aspects, you know, that you can be of service to them with whether that's, you know, just giving them advice or like little, like, you know, sometimes they give you a job and they're like, okay, here's, you know, here's, here's what we need. If you've got a better way, you know, that might look better or sell the product better, or just, you know, some sort of, you know, tidbit that could help like B it's okay to speak up, like, speak about it and don't hold that. Cause I've seen a lot of people like have great ideas and they're just like, no, I don't want to push any buttons. It's like, no, if they're gonna love you, if you dislike either saves us time, saves us money or looks way cooler and in the same budget, like saying,

Hayley Akins (28:55): So what business ideas are you excited about that you don't see other freelancers taking advantage of?

John Filipkowski (29:02): You know, I think you've touched on it in a podcast. It's just like taking assets and stuff you've made before and turning it into elements and stuff that you can sell on the side and not even have to think about, like, I know VideoHive and bottle, like those marketplaces are overloaded, but there's always new stuff. And who says you can't sell it on your own site and market it differently? You know, you've got clients, you've got people like sell them templates, some, you know, assets, like you've made a whole bunch of rain come on a shot. And suddenly you've got all these different rain elements that you could just hand off to sell to your editor, friends or something like, and they could pass it on and like, just figuring out like what you've created in the past. And like, just throw it out there. You know, you know, it can't hurt.

John Filipkowski (29:52): It's otherwise it's just sitting on your hard drive. Like that excites me. I hadn't started thinking about that until you started bringing it up and you had the guy on there and talking about final cut pro stuff. And I was just like, oh man, like I've got stuff I've made for other programs that I'm like, I'll never use that. And I'm like, I can dig that up and just sell it. Like, why not? Like, what's it going to hurt? You put it together. You take some time upfront and then you see what works. So I like that. I don't see many people doing it. I don't like there's people who, whose businesses are solely that, but like in my circle of friends of my motion designers, like I rarely see that. So that's something that feels new.

Hayley Akins (30:34): Thanks to John again for coming on the show and sharing all of his knowledge and being so open and honest with us today. So remember if you want more content like this and do make sure you hop over to our YouTube channel and you subscribe, we'll put all the links as usual, at motionhatch.com/97. Thank you so much to everybody for listening and I'll see you next time.