Patrick Ortman
2
COW Coins
Forum Replies Created
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Of course, in a low end way, you could forgo the capture/output card for now and use firewire for ingest. I did that for my first couple of HVX projects and it was OK for them. Now, we’re all Kona 3 and such. But even still, all I use the Kona for is monitoring and then outputting to digibeta or whatever the client wants. I use a card reader for ingest.
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That’s the thing, isn’t it? Sometimes it’s hard to convince lower end clients or clients who haven’t done this sort of thing before that a lot of the point of doing a commercial is to stand out from everyone else. Using generic stock footage really doesn’t help on that front. At the very least it crimps one’s ability to create something interesting and impactful (is that a word? It’s late…).
If they really think spotrunner serves their needs, then they’re not the kind of client you probably want to work with. Those are also the kind of clients who use premade templates for their business cards and websites. And who wear one-size-fits-all clothing.
At the same time, I’ll readily admit that about a third of the stuff we do uses stock footage to some degree. Occasionally it makes me wince a bit, but we do everything superhumanly possible to make it interesting.
But my main point is this- don’t worry if they say you’re twice the cost of someone else. There will always be cheaper people willing to cut corners or merely reuse the same visuals over and over. I used to get concerned about clients who’d say we were expensive when we only did websites, but over time I found that absolutely none of the bottom feeder clients ever did anything worthwhile. Most of them went out of business. We’re still here. Stand your ground, unless you think you made a calculation mistake in your quote 🙂
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http://www.geniusmonkeys.com
(818) 653-9144 -
Wow, I have never even thought about this as a possibility. I wonder why my accountant never gave us that option.
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http://www.geniusmonkeys.com
(818) 653-9144 -
> Get rid of any client that is not a positive asset to your company.
I have to second, third, and fourth this sentiment. This year was a decent year for our new little company, and we got to convert a couple of clients we used to work with when we only did web design & development. Initially, that was a huge boon to our business. But then, one of those clients went through a sweeping staff change and turned into what we all know here as a “Grinder”.
This Grinder did all the typical things a Grinder does, including not paying their bills. And they wanted a ton of free work, as Grinders do. In the end, we settled with them without going to court. Yes, we only got about half what they owed us. But the mental anguish and day to day frustration my poor editor and I were going through is now over. And I have to emphasize- how this Grinder was treating us rubbed off on how I was beginning to treat people. That’s really not good, and I’m thankful I nipped that in the bud.
The very next day, we got a new client.
Funny how that works, isn’t it?
Also, please listen to the guy who said revise your contracts: this year we added a simple clause to ours, where a client owes us 2% more than the invoice amount if it’s +30 days, and 5% if it’s +60 days late. You’d be shocked at how fast formerly slow-paying clients pay you! Throw in a 1% discount if they pay within 2 weeks, and blammo, instant improvement in cash flow.
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http://www.geniusmonkeys.com
(818) 653-9144 -
ps: Raymond, I know you were being a bit sarcastic. :-)))))
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http://www.geniusmonkeys.com
(818) 653-9144 -
LOL, you know what’s funny? That’s basically what we’re doing- reusing a lot of old stuff and diving into After Effects and Shake (with help from Imagineer Systems too) to do some nifty repurposing. It’s not gonna be awesome, but it’ll be good- and the client is thrilled (“What, you can extract an actor from this old commercial and put him in a new one?”).
The trick now is converting this client into someone who works WITH us, rather than someone who springs crazy on us at the last minute. Any tips for that? 🙂
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http://www.geniusmonkeys.com
(818) 653-9144 -
🙂 That’s EXACTLY what I did- we met, and cut storyboards, simplified things quite a lot, and generally reduced expectations. Now it’ll get done, before my much-needed vacation, and it’ll be good- not an award winner, but good. And given the mess they’re in, they client’s pretty happy.
Now the big trick- how does one turn a client like this into an informed, educated partner?
You know, the kind of client who doesn’t freak you out on a regular basis :-).
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http://www.geniusmonkeys.com
(818) 653-9144 -
Yep, not only cuts into vacation (pretty much kills it actually) but also causes tremendous year-end stress. By the way, Walter- your Color DVD is awesome.
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http://www.geniusmonkeys.com
(818) 653-9144