People love your work, until they have to pay for it.
I can’t possibly imagine that this is true for every profession. Correct me if I’m wrong, but do you go to a mechanic and ask him to fix your car for, “the great exposure”?
People are constantly trying to beat me down in price. Here’s an example, I make custom buttons, each button can have a totally different design, personalized names, graphics; the works, and they are usually a big hit, everyone loves them, but they can’t spend the $12 or $2US for a button.
A generic “birthday girl” button is $24 or $4US, but you fuss to spend half that, to have one saying “Birthday Girl Amber” with a custom picture. I don’t get it.
Maybe they don’t understand what goes into creating art. I would never understand why people would spend hundreds of dollars on a print of a picture to hang on their wall, but not an original painting for the same price?
Originality, uniqueness and one-of-a-kinds have lost their value. No one values art anymore. They would rather buy a print of Van Gogh’s starry night, for $40US on amazon, than to buy an original piece of art from a local artist. Most of the time people want something they have seen before, they want something that someone else has, they want what’s popular, trending or well-known, over what’s original and undiscovered. People want it all and want it all for nothing, this is why prints (the sell-out of the artists world) are so popular.
A colleague of mine recommended me to a woman who was trying to start her own business. A virtual assistant business, basically she does what Siri does, hopefully better. She needed a logo in a few days, so I quoted a price to her.. She responded with an email asking to see some of my previous work. Sure that’s fair, cause I bet you would ask your mechanic for samples of work he has completed to.
10 Days went by, she never responded to my emails, or calls.
When she finally responded, this is what she wrote,
Hmmm…
This was my response,
What I wrote: Great to hear from you,
What I actually meant: (Who are you again?),
What I wrote: I was unavailable this weekend, please pardon my late response.
What I actually meant: (I’m the kinda girl that if you don’t update me in 10 days for a matter that you said you needed in 3 days, you are dead to me.)
What I wrote: Sorry to hear about your troubles with finding a designer to effectively create a logo that represents your company.
What I actually meant: (Duh! Cuz I’m better than most, I could have told you that ten days ago and saved us both the hassle…)
What I wrote: In terms of payment, you can mail or direct deposit the payment, the information will be on the invoice, which I will send shortly, I may also be able to collect payment, which we can organize.
What I actually meant: (I haven’t heard from you in ten days, you best believe I’m asking for the whole thing upfront)
…
I haven’t heard from her since. Thank God. Nothing like asking for all of it upfront to scare away a client, amiright?
It’s funny how much potential clients compliment your work, until they have to pay for it, and trust me, it never ends. I went to an interview, for a Graphic Design position a couple months ago, a nice job, products, short commute. But, their offer was so low, it was offensive, and it wasn’t a small company either. What a huge disappointment that was. It takes a lot of patience to be an artist, and a lot of the time, you feel like you’re gonna run out of it at any second.
I haven’t figured out any tricks to dealing with people who want diamonds for the price of silver, and I can’t say you get used to it, because every time you have to negotiate with a client, it’s always ugly. But, after a little while of doing it, you can kind of tell the clients who are going to be shitty.
When she finally responded, this is what she wrote,
"After painful screening, I have decided to hire you to design the logo for my business. Your portfolio is most impressive and you seem to be an out of the box thinker - which I appreciate. I did not expect it but many graphic designers (who I spoke with) are not very imaginative. It’s painful I tell you."
Hmmm…
This was my response,
What I wrote: Great to hear from you,
What I actually meant: (Who are you again?),
What I wrote: I was unavailable this weekend, please pardon my late response.
What I actually meant: (I’m the kinda girl that if you don’t update me in 10 days for a matter that you said you needed in 3 days, you are dead to me.)
What I wrote: Sorry to hear about your troubles with finding a designer to effectively create a logo that represents your company.
What I actually meant: (Duh! Cuz I’m better than most, I could have told you that ten days ago and saved us both the hassle…)
What I wrote: In terms of payment, you can mail or direct deposit the payment, the information will be on the invoice, which I will send shortly, I may also be able to collect payment, which we can organize.
What I actually meant: (I haven’t heard from you in ten days, you best believe I’m asking for the whole thing upfront)
…
I haven’t heard from her since. Thank God. Nothing like asking for all of it upfront to scare away a client, amiright?
It’s funny how much potential clients compliment your work, until they have to pay for it, and trust me, it never ends. I went to an interview, for a Graphic Design position a couple months ago, a nice job, products, short commute. But, their offer was so low, it was offensive, and it wasn’t a small company either. What a huge disappointment that was. It takes a lot of patience to be an artist, and a lot of the time, you feel like you’re gonna run out of it at any second.
I haven’t figured out any tricks to dealing with people who want diamonds for the price of silver, and I can’t say you get used to it, because every time you have to negotiate with a client, it’s always ugly. But, after a little while of doing it, you can kind of tell the clients who are going to be shitty.
Here are some rules to live by…
Rule # 1 – Don’t bad talk annoying clients, they might turn out to be your boyfriends ex-girlfriend, which makes her doubly annoying and you’re going to stab him in the neck when he picks up for her… save everyone the headache and just zip it.
Rule #2 – Worried your client isn’t going to pay? Ask for payment upfront, or half at least. If they have a problem paying in the pre-design phase, they probably won’t pay in the post-design phase.
Rule #3 – Whether it be a WhatsApp chat or an email, have evidence that your client agreed to pay you, even though you probably won’t take someone to court for a flyer, it’s good to have evidence to threaten them with. (like a crazy ex with explicit photos, you have the power).
I know you must be thinking, how do I even have clients when I’m such a jerk. Truthfully, I myself don’t really know, but what I do know is that it isn’t because I’m more creative, or more skilled, or I know more. What it is, is that I’m confident about my work, I’m available to my clients, I meet deadlines, and I am fair with my pricing.
Rule # 1 – Don’t bad talk annoying clients, they might turn out to be your boyfriends ex-girlfriend, which makes her doubly annoying and you’re going to stab him in the neck when he picks up for her… save everyone the headache and just zip it.
Rule #2 – Worried your client isn’t going to pay? Ask for payment upfront, or half at least. If they have a problem paying in the pre-design phase, they probably won’t pay in the post-design phase.
Rule #3 – Whether it be a WhatsApp chat or an email, have evidence that your client agreed to pay you, even though you probably won’t take someone to court for a flyer, it’s good to have evidence to threaten them with. (like a crazy ex with explicit photos, you have the power).
I know you must be thinking, how do I even have clients when I’m such a jerk. Truthfully, I myself don’t really know, but what I do know is that it isn’t because I’m more creative, or more skilled, or I know more. What it is, is that I’m confident about my work, I’m available to my clients, I meet deadlines, and I am fair with my pricing.
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