Grinders and Clients

I had dinner last night with some good friends. At one point the discussion turned to business and specifically some of our dealings with clients. 

My pal Carl who has years of experience with sales said to me "Rob, in this world we have grinders and we have clients".

Carl continued... "For a client we do anything they want... they respect what we do and they pay their bills without a complaint. Then we have the grinders. They are never happy with any quote, make changes and changes over and over again. Then they try to reduce the bill down even more."

I have clients that I will jump off a roof for. They pay their bills on time, and are reasonable with their demands. 

I have run into a grinder or two (or three) on occasion and at the end  of the day you can be real busy but not make any money trying to please folks like this.

What can you do when you run into a grinder?

This is what I do:

 I deliver my project on time and on budget. But I remind my "grinder" if you give me a brief and I do the work, then you change the brief... it's a different assignment. There will be an additional fee.

Sometimes I lose the account. 

But I suspect that the "grinders" are used to that. They go from person to person always trying to get more work done at a lower and lower cost. 

What they don't realize is that if they had a good working relationship with a designer, they could SAVE money in the long run because sometimes elements can be picked up from previous assignments or they don't have to "re-invent" the wheel every time they have a new assignment.

To be a successful freelancer, sometimes you have to say no to an account if the amount of time you are spending on them is more than what they are paying.

Bottom line... work with your clients. Deliver more than what you promise and they will always come back to work with you. And if a client turns out to be a "grinder" run for the hills... they won't be happy and neither will you.

a $350 web site?... a rant

I just got a call from a woman who wanted me to design a web site for her.

She's starting an online clothing company. Here's her brief:

500 photos of her products.

The photos all need "minor" retouching... remove backgrounds, clean up.

Needs a shopping cart.

Wants an e-mail to go to the shopper confirming the order.

E-mail to her with the specifics.

Budget:

$350

Now, I'm the first person to try to help someone out... especially if they are just starting out. But $350 doesn't even start to cover the retouching.

I've done large projects for clients at a discounted rate, because I know that when they have the budget, they let me know. Sometimes my clients will say... "hey Rob, throw another $500 on that project to cover that last job you did for us where we didn't have much money."

Now that's how I like to work... it doesn't matter how much I make on a single job with my clients, it's how much I earn over the year with them that counts.

Bottom line.. if you want to be a successful freelancer... be fair with your clients. They will be fair with you. 

Generating new business- 2

Use the power of the web to generate new business. There are many free sites that allow you to post your resume, bid for projects and sites designed for freelancers to promote their talents and portfolios.

Every day, I spend about 15 minutes posting ads on various sites. 

Just this week, I got 2 assignments in.  A post card mailing piece and a logo design. These two projects brought in a little over $1,000. Not bad for not leaving my home.

Most of the work I get now is through the internet. Years ago I knocked on doors and I still have some of those clients... but the bulk of my work now is through promoting through the web. 

Another way of generating business is through the "Red Book of Advertising Agencies". Many agencies use freelancers to cover themselves when they are overloaded or if they think their people can't handle the assignment.

Go to the library to look at the Red Book of Advertising Agencies... it's a reference book. You can't take it out. So bring a pad and pencil or your laptop. Inside this reference book you will learn:

The agencies in your home town.

The name of the creative director and art directors.

The names of their accounts.

The address and phone numbers.

This is info is greatly important because if you have experience with package goods and they have a roster of package goods in your portfolio, then when you contact them you can play this up... Call the creative director up... "I've done work on similar accounts, Mr. Smith, can I come in and show you my portfolio this week?" The benefit of selling your serices to an agency is that they are professionals and will do all the "running around" for you... giving you the info and direction. They in turn will add a fee on top of your costs and sell it to the end user for a higher price.

Another way to generate business is to promote yourself to the end user... the company itself and not through the ad agency or graphic design studio. The benefit of doing it this way is that there are more companies out there that can use your help and you can come in a little less than "agency" prices and still make a reasonable profit. But be prepared to "hold hands" a lot because sometimes you will have to educate your client. Done properly, you will have a client that trust you and will be a client for life.

Bottom line... everyday you have to promote yourself... get on the web and to the library and do research.

Juggling assignments

Over the past few days, I worked on a promotional post card, a home page for a tech company and a home page for a home improvement company, took care of my bills, and had a couple of conference calls on current and future (I hope) assignments.

To be a successful freelancer it's important to know how and when to juggle assignments. But more importantly you have to know when to say "NO" to an assignment. 

I knew that my delivery dates for these 3 assignments are well spaced out, but they all needed to see something to get the ball rolling. If I run into an assignment that has a due date that would be difficult to hit because of my current assignments, I would turn it down.

Now don't get me wrong... I hate turning down work, but I would hate to miss a deadline even more. I don't mind working late at night or on the weekends... that's the life style of a freelancer, but as a successful freelancer you have to protect your reputation. Delivering an assignment late is one of the worst things you can do. Miss a date you will lose a client.

Bottom line: Don't take an assignment if you feel you can't juggle your workload to make the date it's due. You are not doing anyone any favors if you miss a deadline. Successful freelancers are on time all the time.

Generating new business. Part 1

How do you get new business?

There are many strategies for getting new business... let's start with what I call the "sharpshooter".

You can design a fantastic mailing piece and mail it out to thousands of companies... this is what I call "buckshot". It means that you aim at your audience and hope a few hit the target.

I prefer the "sharpshooter" approach. By this, I mean I do a little research and send out a SMALL mailing to just a few people a week (via e-mail or snail mail). The beauty of doing a sharpshooter approach is that your letter to your target is very specific (because you did your homework.. you know you can help them and you can detail how and why). 

And here's the most important thing about the sharpshooter approach... you can do extensive followup. Think about it, if you send out a mailing to 1,000 people, how are you going to follow up on them? But if you send out 2 or 3 a week, it's easy! Plus it's very personal.

Bottom line: Put together a mailing piece for print and e-blast. Research who you feel you can really help... and send it out... then Follow Up!

How to negotiate higher design fees

In 1987 when I went into freelancing full time. I received as a gift a book called 'How to Negotiate Higher Design Fees".

Now I firmly believe that when you quote a price, you stick with it. But what happens when a client asks for more?

The answer is simple... re-negotiate your fee. It's fair and reasonable to do this and as long as you are up-front there will be no surprises or ill will.

To be a successful freelancer your job is made easier by return customers. Say goodbye to recurring customers if you take advantage of your client. But you don't want to be taken advantage of too.. so speak up.

I have found that my clients understand that if they are asking for more or if they have changed the scope of the project, that an adjustment of the costs is appropriate.

Bottom line: Be fair to yourself and your client. Get more if they ask for more.. but don't surprise your client.. work it out ahead of the time.

Playing games...

I just finished a web e-blast. Started it yesterday, it was approved this morning. Now why did I deliver it so fast when other designers play the "time game"?

What's the "time game" you ask? 

It's when you finish a job but you hold onto the job for a day or two before you show it to your client.

Now why would a designer do that? 

Some designers (who work by the hour.. not me, I work on a project basis) hold the project to "fudge" the numbers so they can bill more.

Some designers want their clients to think that they have spent a lot of time "thinking about and designing" their project.

And some designers hold onto the job because they don't want their clients to expect that kind of service all the time.

WRONG.

If you're like me, you have lots of experience, you're very creative and you know what you are doing... be proud of the fact that you can create and deliver fast... it makes you more valuable.

It's like this joke I heard:

A repair man with 20 years experience  is asked to fix a machine. He walks in, pulls out a hammer, stands there for 2 minutes, then hits the machine with the hammer. The machine immediately starts running. Then he hands the owner the bill for $1000. "What!!!!???" says the owner... 2 minutes, $1,000.. "I want an itemized bill" he says. The guy takes back the bill, scribbles on it and hands it back.

The owner reads it.

Hitting machine with hammer: $1.00

Knowing where to hit the machine with a hammer: $999.00

This guy was not billing by the hour.. he was billing what the project was worth... and his 20 years of experience is what the owner was buying. The owner was back in business!

As a successful freelancer you should be proud that you know what you are doing.. is it fair that someone who doesn't know what they are doing and spends a week doing the job would be paid more just because they are incompetent? You should be payed NOT for just for your time... but for your experience.

Also, who are they going to call again when they are in a real time crunch... you, the reliable freelancer or the person that takes forever? 

Bottom line: Educate your clients that they are purchasing your knowledge and experience.. not just design... you will be more valuable to them and they will call you again and again.. making you too a successful freelancer.