Ron Lindeboom
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COW Coins
Forum Replies Created
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One of the only comments that I would add to this thread is that there is little chance to make any money on this kind of work, unless you come up with a predetermined templated design into which you plug in snippets and clips for the audience. Anything else is going to be a total loss of money and time. Few realtors are going to spend any real money and so you must make things as fast and painless as possible. If anyone wants anything outside the template (anything “original”)’ they need to book that under contract and for far more money.
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If it’s the one I am thinking of, I turned it off as it was 16 minutes long of a demo reel and I wrote the user saying that I have never seen one of the demo reels longer than 5 minutes ever finished. I asked to have them edit down a 3 minute or less version.
Again, this may not be the one I am recalling but if it is, the advice still stands.
Best regards,
Ron Lindeboom
PS: I looked you up, Preston, and I sent you a note explaining that your video was branded as an AOL upload and we do NOT republish videos watermarked to other sites as our lawyers have told us that will eventually bite us. If you dig through the server logs, Abraham, I am sure you can find the note I sent.
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Sorry to have missed this question, Rod.
Good suggestion, I think I’ll add it now.
Best,
Ron Lindeboom
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Once again, Abraham, I have to reach to my box of “The Man” buttons, and pin another on your nearly covered shirt.
Best,
Ron Lindeboom
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Boy, that audio enhancement really adds to that scene, Fernando. There is no way that bullet wouldn’t rip through concrete and steel.
;o)
Ron Lindeboom
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Yes, human beings need to trust their “spiritual instincts” more. MOST (not all) times over the years, the ones that I thought were trustworthy, were just that. Oh there have been some nasty exceptions but I’d rather not let the idiots color my worldview to the point that I no longer trust people.
One of my earliest accounts was a bottled water company for whom I did all their TV ads, print, brochures, design work, etc., etc.
I took them over when their old agency couldn’t think of a successful way to address a “marketing black eye” that the company had gotten by (what the newspapers reported as) some contaminated water being delivered to a college. The old agency said “Ignore it and it will go away.”
Their business dropped and dropped because no one trusted them. The competition’s drivers were having no trouble converting the company’s customers to their customers instead.
Things weren’t blowing over.
I told the company’s president: “Let’s put a face on the company by addressing the matter, remind them of the many years you have been around, and let’s address the fact that the issue was traced back to a janitor at the school (who worked for them) who would finish cleaning restrooms, classes, etc., and without washing his hands would refill the empty dispensers.” He would reach down and grab the bottles by the mouth and lift the bottle to the stand and as he turned it to mount on the stand, one of the investigators that the company hired had photos of the man with his hands on the mouth and water running through his fingers. (A picture truly is worth a thousand words — and sometimes many many thousands of dollars, too.)
I ended it all by telling him that he’d have to apologize, no one else could do it and while recognizing that the issue was not directly due to their company, he’d have to “own it” and talk about educating customers in schools, offices, etc., about the need for safe handling of bottled water.
He liked it and did it.
I kept that company as an account for many many years, through thick and thin. I always got paid even when it was tough times and they were not doing well. We respected one another and they were one of the best accounts that I ever had. Sometimes when things were tight, I’d let them slide and they always made things right for me in the end.
Thankfully, grinders only make up the bottom 15% of the market — that leaves an 85% chance that the person you are looking at will not cheat you.
Put yourself in their shoes and sell them the keenest thought you can muster that serves and addresses their need — if you get the chance to pitch it. Otherwise, be “Dumbo” and have the biggest ears you can muster as you serve them.
Those are a couple of lessons that I have learned over the years when dealing in these kinds of “rough waters” that have been discussed in the last few threads.
Best regards,
Ron Lindeboom
CEO, CreativeCOW.netCreativity is a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.
Graveyards are full of people the world couldn’t do without.
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[Patrick Ortman] “yes- the best clients do feel much more like friends!”
That is one of the reasons that over the years, Kathlyn and I have continued working with some of the companies that we believed in that were in dire straits and we had to carry them for a while. Most all of them — oh, there were rare exceptions — stayed with us once they recovered and once again had money to spend.
Some of our most loyal companies are companies that were once in some precarious situations that we weathered with them and helped them get back on their feet.
The ones who were disingenuous and were working us, can no longer stand us (guilt maybe?) but the majority whom we’ve helped wouldn’t trade us for anyone else. They know that we cared about them as people and with that kind of relationship in place, it’s tough for anyone trying to break that relationship and take that client.
This requires that you REALLY know who is being real with you and who is just trying to work you. Most all of the companies with whom we’ve had to do this are still with us. And as to the others? They are far less onerous when I look away from them and keep my eyes on the ones whom we’ve helped who couldn’t be dislodged from us with dynamite.
Most people are pretty decent sorts, and in learning to deal with the rest I simply remember the words of the sergeant from Hill Street Blues: “Be careful out there!”
Best regards,
Ron Lindeboom
CEO, CreativeCOW.netCreativity is a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.
Graveyards are full of people the world couldn’t do without.
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Great report, Patrick.
But be careful and never add another client named Ron.
Why?
As they always say, “Remember, two Rons do not make a right.”
Best,
Ron Lindeboom
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[Craig Seeman] “We’ve all know about grinders but the “new” paradigm to look out for is that clients who weren’t grinders may become such and each of us may need to draw a line to demark when that happens.”
As you said, Craig, your usual “billing thirds” were met by this erstwhile client — but when they departed from that rule, I think it safe to say that is when they crossed the line into being a grinder.
They confirmed their new status when they ignored your bills for a paltry amount.
They locked their new grinder status into concrete when they used one of the oldest tricks in the book — the ever predictable “we need it now, it’s an emergency” crapola — and refused to pay before delivery.
When people try that one on me, I tell them straight out: “I have an emergency too, I have bills that are coming due.”
I also point them to my article “Clients or Grinders: The Choice Is Yours” and tell them to read it. They get the point.
Best regards,
Ron Lindeboom
CEO, CreativeCOW.netCreativity is a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.
Graveyards are full of people the world couldn’t do without.