Ron Lindeboom
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COW Coins
Forum Replies Created
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[johnsabbath d'urzo] “In my experience customers want it on there time. If I tell her that I can do it on my own time with a cheaper rate, what if she walks. Do I let her walk?”
<JOKE>
No, do not let her walk at any and all cost. Instead, throw yourself at her feet. Grovel. Beg her for the chance to be her whippin’ boy — and let her know that she can fund her company’s operations on your wallet while she is pushing you around. Beg her for her repeat business, again and again. Do not let your pride or self-respect stand in the way. Snivel.
Oh, and do it all while playing that old song “Baby come back! You can blame it all on me, I was wrong and I just can’t live without you!” (She’ll love that!)
</JOKE>
No, let her walk. She’s proven what cloth she’s cut from and there is little to nothing you can do to change that dyed-in-the-wool human nature.
Put your family and yourself first.
Ron Lindeboom
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[grinner hester] “If GM would do that, they’d be 750 billion dollars poorer in failout money.”
At least GM paid it back. The banks took the money and ran, didn’t do with it what was supposed to happen, took their big management bonus checks because they preen and pose so well that we owe it to them — and so I have far more mercy for GM than I do for AIG or the mega-banks.
[grinner hester] “Do what you’ve always done and ya just aint gonna be doing it much longer.”
This is a mantra for business in the new world order. In fact, we have a slogan here at the COW that we use regularly and which all the team members know quite well, it is: If you are succeeding in business, then you better do everything in your power to kill and replace your company and your product…before someone else does.
THAT is the reality of business in the new world order and nearly all the people I know using and relying on MBA concepts they earned in the 80s and after are flailing and floundering and failing to understand the insane pace and change of protocols in business today.
I have had a few ask me how we do what we do and why it works so well, I tell them that in everything we do we build it around people, listen to our market, serve them, and in the end we keep listening and changing it all the time as the market changes and shifts.
Most of the time, they scratch their heads in befuddlement and confusion and keep trying to ask, “Yeah, but where’s the formula?” Many just don’t get what it means to build a business in today’s world. They use words like “social media” and “the interconnected world” but they don’t mean it and they don’t get it.
In the end, it comes down to what my pal Nick Griffin espouses regularly over the last decade or more, things like: there is no substitute for relationships and getting your head into your client’s mind-space; look at things from their point of view, get to know the company you are working with; think about their problems and their issues; think about what they do that excels and sets them apart from their competitors. Help them communicate that message when you work with them. Make yourself an extension of their business.
I have learned a lot of things from Nick over the years, and I am honored to have my picture up there alongside his. Oh, and Mark Suszko. And you, Grinner. And Mike Cohen. And… (insert your name here)
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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[Bob Cole] “Oddly, clients sometimes seem to treat the gougers with more respect.”
I remember back in the 80s I read a report that looked at the cost per mile and the standings and ranking of all of the cars then sold in America.
At the top in cost per mile, as I recall, was Mercedes Benz, whose oil changes alone can run you into hundreds of dollars. They also showed how often a Mercedes would be in the shop, on average. It is definitely one costly ride, comparatively speaking.
The report showed that in the 80s, the Toyotas and the Hondas were the most reliable cars with the lowest overall operating costs per mile.
At the bottom of the reliability standings were the Renault Alliance, which seemed to be a vehicle made to drive between shops on its way from one fix-it to the next.
Ah, but here’s the interesting part: the difference between the best cars on the road and the worst? About $600 a year.
But the cost difference in buying one initially? Huge.
I used to chuckle at the thought that humanity is so caught up on the symbols that we’ll drive metal, plastic, fabric/leather and wood with one sticker on it — which costs three- to four-times what the other pile of metal, plastic, fabric/leather and wood costs — and one is an “automobile” and gets huge respect, while the other is just a “car.”
As someone once said long ago: “What’s the difference between an ‘automobile’ and a ‘car'”? About $40,000.
I see this same kind of phenomenon happening in our industry, as well. The guys that command big money do so not just because of their expertise — sometimes, they actually have even less than the guys they are competing against — but it’s sometimes because they know how to ask for the deal, keep a straight face, look you eye to eye while doing it, and have an air of confidence that makes the other guy think he’d be stupid not to do business with them.
Things like trust and confidence are intangibles that humans seem to place high value on, and the pricetag for them adds an “abstract value premium” that drives people to pull out the wallet and reach for the big bills.
No one I knew back in the 80s wanted to drive the Renault, even though its $600 a year in maintenance costs equated to $3,000 if you owned the car for 5 years — but it sold for a lot less than $3000 difference many of the cars that were “better” and more reliable.
Man, I love a good story — especially one with a happy ending. Oh wait, Renault pulled out of America and ceased operations here for the third time following the Alliance, didn’t they? Never mind.
Meanwhile, people are still lining up and pulling out their wallets to pay hundreds of dollars for an oil change. Go figure…
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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[David Roth Weiss] “Some give a 1.5% discount if the bill is paid within the term as stated.”
We quit doing this as the ones who ALWAYS deduct the 1.5% are the ones who are 120 days late.
We quit giving that in the 90s. In the 70s and 80s, it worked. In the 90s it began getting abused. Today, I wouldn’t offer it even as an option.
What has your experience been, David? Does it work for you?
Ron Lindeboom
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[David Roth Weiss] “I agree with much of the advice here as well, especially with much of Ron has said, though I would not be as concerned as he seems to be about an exclusive deal NOT being in your best interest. If it’s the RIGHT deal, it could well be in your BEST interest.”
I think that if it’s the RIGHT deal, David, then of course it would be in his best interest. Unfortunately, you and I both know the odds of that happening for anyone.
;o)
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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Hi Robert,
Like the others commenting, I am very impressed by the level of natural enthusiasm and knowledge that comes across in your productions.
It is easy to see why someone would want to “lock you down” in an agreement that protects their interests and guarantees your content is under their control for the foreseeable future.
But as Bob Tompkins warns, this is quite likely NOT in your best interests. Here are a few of the thoughts that came to my mind…
You have not yet built enough of a name to get The Big Money.
You stand to lose everything that you might get were you to sign an exclusive deal at this point.
Developing organically over time is often a business’s best friend. It has sure been that way with Creative COW.
In these kinds of situations, it is often a case of “He who talks first, loses.” They are counting on you wanting the deal and the more that they can get you to “take mental ownership” of the possibility, the easier for them and the less you will likely get out of it.
There is no way that it is in your best interests to sign anything without taking it to a GOOD lawyer first. This is a critical step in the process.Best regards,
Ron Lindeboom
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Hello Diana,
Duplicate a copy of the layer one on top of the other, and on the upper layer version use Blend Modes, to see how it affects your image, season with a bit of opacity control on that layer and if you balance the proper Blend Mode with the right amount of opacity, it will look right.
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes and serve hot. I like mine ala mode, thank you.
Ron Lindeboom
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Just put them under the catch-all of “Demo Reels,” that is what everyone else does.
Ron
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[Quentin Block] “Would it be OK to post a bunch of different short clips, rather than an edited reel? I’d like to post several individual pieces and also link to/embed the clips on my website that I’m working on. Don’t want to do anything that violates the COW.”
You can post whatever you like, it doesn’t have to be editor or cinematographer reels. We have plenty of clips, animations, etc.
Best,
Ron Lindeboom