Recurring revenue
One line on the invoice, every month.
A project is a sale you have to make again. A retainer line is the same work with none of the selling.
Add a fixed number of short videos to each monthly retainer at a fixed price. Because production takes minutes and your cost is a flat plan, the line item is almost entirely margin and the delivery burden is small enough to actually honour every month.
Three package shapes that work
| Package | What they get monthly | Typical price |
|---|---|---|
| Presence | 2 short videos for social or email | £400 – £700 a month |
| Pipeline | 4 videos, one per service or campaign | £800 – £1,600 a month |
| Always-on | 8 videos plus language versions | £1,800 – £3,000 a month |
Worked example (illustration). Six clients on a £900 Pipeline package is £5,400 a month of recurring revenue against a £499 plan, before your time on scripts and approvals.
What to include, and what to keep chargeable
- Include: the agreed number of videos, one round of changes each, and the formats they need.
- Include: language versions, since these cost you minutes rather than effort and read as generous.
- Keep chargeable: extra videos beyond the package, at a published rate.
- Keep chargeable: further rounds of changes after the included one.
- Keep chargeable: anything that needs new filming, new photography or a new brand asset.
A delivery rhythm you can keep
- Week one: agree the month's topics in a fifteen-minute call or a short message.
- Week two: produce and send for review through a branded link.
- Week three: apply the included round of changes and deliver the finals.
- Week four: report what was viewed and agree next month's topics.
The rhythm matters more than the volume. A client who receives two videos on the same date every month renews without a conversation.
Introducing it to an existing client
Do not open with a price rise. Produce one video for them first, unasked, in their brand, about something they already care about. Send it as part of the current month's work, then propose the line item. You are then negotiating about more of something they have already seen, which is a far shorter conversation.
Two ways to start
Make a real video on the free allowance first: three minutes of finished video, no card. Then read how the cold-lead sale works end to end.