I can’t believe we are half way through the year already. I never believed my grandparents when they said “don’t wish your life away it goes by fast.” It wasn’t until I had a child that I realized time does fly by and the older you get the faster it goes.
So, recently I had an opportunity to bid on a marketing project and was fortunate to see one of the proposals I was up against. The proposal was a video proposal, which I thought was unique. Perhaps because I have never seen a video proposal before. Also, because it was for a non-profit that currently isn’t very tech savvy.
After viewing the proposal, I found it, cold, un-personable, and wondered if they had even asked the organization what, specifically, they were wanting done. After viewing the comments from the Board of Directors, my concerns were validated by their impression of this proposal. One of the biggest things that stuck out to me about the proposal was they wanted payment up front, in full, stating that would be most convenient for both parties. Really? Convenient for who?
A practice I am noticing that comes up quite often , and find quite alarming , is when working with clients, is the graphic designers who hold hostage their work to the clients they did the work for. I have mentioned this before, I know, but it irritates me. Why should a business have to ask for a file of their logo that they have paid for? Then when they do ask for it, it is almost next to impossible to get it, or they are questioned why they need it. I have heard of several instances where a business has had to have their logo recreated because they could never get the file from the original designer. That is just wrong! If you paid for a logo design you should have all rights to that logo, in my opinion. The client should also get it in various formats and in black and white.
If you are good at what you do, fair, and personable, you don’t need to hold your work hostage, or require full payment upfront before you have produced anything. To me, if you do a good job and provide the client what is rightly theirs at a reasonable price, your clients will come back to you.
So, don’t get taken to the cleaners by anyone, much less someone who is doing your marketing. There are many of us out there that will give you a fair price, do what we said we would do and listen to your needs. What a concept! If you’ve been “taken to the cleaners” tell me your story, I’d love to hear it.
Geoff Cummings is President | Founder of On the Level Marketing & Consulting, LLC. Successfully helping businesses with all their marketing needs by branding their businesses and keeping marketing simple and straightforward.
On the Level Marketing & Consulting, LLC…Marketing Built For you!
Creative|Trustworthy|Hassle-Free.
All Rights Reserved 2017
