[Ron Lindeboom]

And might I suggest that you get to knowing and reading Creative COW Magazine. Every issue is filled with stories about companies in this arena and how they do what they do — often, with a business-side twist included as a bonus, free of charge.

http://www.creativecowmagazine.net

Best regards,

Ron Lindeboom

Creativity is a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.
– Antoine de Saint Exupéry

[Ron Lindeboom]

[Nick Griffin] “From my perspective meeting face to face is almost a no-brainer. I’m not selling a product or one time transaction, but rather a long-term relationship. OF COURSE I want to meet with them even, on occasion, at my own travel expense. And of course this is after I’ve pre-qualified them. Then again it’s seldom that someone calls me who I don’t already know about — the nature of working within a niche market.”

Once again, as always, I am in agreement with Nick. (Now why am I and the others present not surprised at this?) ;o)

You are selling yourself ultimately. When boxes of software are a dime a dozen and advanced techniques of every size and description are free on the net, it isn’t technique nor ability that you are selling — it is your ability to come through for the client and solve their issues while providing the unique value that you bring to their situation.

That gets communicated one-on-one, not in an email.

Thanks Nick for getting it down to the real nitty gritty.

Ron Lindeboom

[Ron Lindeboom]

[Tim Wilson] “If you haven’t told ’em up front that you’ll charge them if they hold you up, and they haven’t agreed to it in advance, in writing, you’re stuck.”

In a recent recording session that I had booked at a friend’s studio, the artist I was going to work with called me a couple of days before the date and canceled due to illness. I then called the studio and told him that I was going to cancel the date and that I knew it was late enough that I doubted he could reschedule anyone at so close a time, that I would send him $200 for the cancellation. He thanked me and I kept the goodwill that I have earned with him over the years.

He would have likely let me go without a charge but it is important to be to be one of his good clients, not one of the ones that he can’t rely on.

Ron Lindeboom

[Ron Lindeboom]

This is also the way I handle discounts, if any are given. I write the invoice at full amount and then add a line item that specifies the discount, the reason why, and then I deduct that amount from the total.

That way, they know that this is not the price but that I am acknowledging a reason for a discount, one that they cannot try to impose every time they do business with us.

Using the invoice as a “smoke signal” to send up a notice that they have committed a Bozo No-No and it will cost them if they do it again, is a nice way to let them know that you are indeed a business and not their patsy.

Best regards,

Ron Lindeboom

Creativity is a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.
– Antoine de Saint Exupéry

[Ron Lindeboom]

I couldn’t agree more, Nick. Certain clients that I work with get the “No Clock” policy.

But in the long run, they pay for it.

Don’t they?

;o)

Ron

[Ron Lindeboom]

[Mike Cohen] “Sometimes “good enough” if great to the end user. Which is not to say you should not strive for “better than good enough” but sometimes in reality those extra 20 hours you spend may make the project better, in your opinion, but won’t necessarily make or break the project. Is this to say you should not go above and beyond every time? No, but be your own best judge of how great is appropriate for the client.”

This is one of the points that I like to make to people that feel that everything has to be great.

You are serving the client more than you are serving yourself. At least you should be. And some clients wouldn’t know a great job if it bit them on the hiney. They are not paying for the Greatest Show On Earth, they are paying for production work.

I have worked like an idiot on some jobs, working to the point of collapse and so proud of the level that I got the work to, only to find that the client couldn’t have cared less — nor did they recognize the extra effort.

While I do indeed strive for what Nick cites as always working to make the work better and better, I also balance that with the logic of a businessman that realizes that I am not going to make art for the ages and that I am not da Vinci or Michelangelo. I am nothing more than a commercial artist making “art for the moment,” at best.

So, I push myself hard and I try to do the best work that I can. But I also realize that if that causes me to work so many hours that I am making $20 an hour, that is not a practical outlook.

The outcome has got to be a practical one, based on the monies and the hours involved.

But on my own projects, I throw the clock out the window. ;o)

Best regards,

Ron Lindeboom

Creativity is a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.
– Antoine de Saint Exupéry

[Ron Lindeboom]

[Nick Griffin] “Those just churning out the same thing day after day must have the most boring, mundane, mind-numbing of jobs.”

Yes, Kathlyn and I call that kind of thing, DMN.

:o)

Sorry, I couldn’t pass that one up, Nick.

[Ron Lindeboom]

[Thomas Hughes] “when we got internet to our office, AT&T DSL was the only provider available. Currently our internet speed is 5 mbps down/.7 mbps up, and we pay $70/mo. I had AT&T out yesterday to see if we can speed things up.”

DSL is best described as the “illusion” of having high-speed.

For years, we had DSL as our back-up access for the rare times that our cable failed. On the rare times when we would have to use it, it felt like we climbed into an old Ford Model T and took it out on the freeway. It is nowhere near the kinds of speeds that you need to use the internet today. (We do not build the Cow for dial-up modems or for DSL customers, if we did, we would have to leave out much of what’s here. So we, as the site developers, have elected to not consider them when we build this site. We had to make that decision because it would limit us too much to build this site with DSL users factoring into our decisions.)

AT&T would come in bragging and full of crap about their “DSL speeds” until we mentioned to them that their service was merely a back-up to our real access which was a commercial cable modem. That said, and they just quietly finished their work and would get out of there.

DSL beats the heck out of a dial-up modem but it’s a far cry from the cable company’s cable modem service.

The T1 is overkill for what you want to do. You do NOT need it.

We build the COW and do all of the video uploads and tutorials, podcasts, etc., etc., all with a cable modem access.

We wanted to get a T1 but they don’t offer it in our area. (Man, the choices you get, we’re drooling! We pay three-times the money for 20 down 2 up, than the money that you would have to pay to get your 22 down 5 up.)

With all the problems that we have had with AT&T over the years, I would NEVER sign a service agreement with them. Ever. If I had to use them, I would only do so on a month-to-month. There’s no way I’d sign a contract again. The cable company may suck but in our experience, AT&T is many times worse — at least in our area.

Best regards,

Ron Lindeboom
creativecow.net

[Ron Lindeboom]

Mike,

We have a wonderful patent attorney that works alongside our trademarks and intellectual property attorney, if you wish to patent this amazing idea.

Bessie may want to work with you to market it, should you get a patent pending on this.

Mike, as always, you are ever the genius.

Ron Lindeboom

[Ron Lindeboom]

[Mandy Mastromanico] “The clients are in the Far East, and I am their only connection to the US therefore they are coming to me. I have no prior experience in this field.”

Not to be cruel, but this reads almost like the deposed-and-then-deceased warlord’s son that wrote me yesterday while I was sipping my morning coffee, and who contacted me — me, out of all the people in the United States (I mean, who would have thunk it, you know?*#@!?) — because I was his only contact to the USA.

I knew that I must really be special to him as he began the letter, “My Dear One…”

He will be sending me 20% of his father’s oil money that I can then invest in a project with you, just as soon as the promised wire transfer to my bank account is made. (He assures me that it will be soon and I know it will because it is coming from a respected company, Hotmail.)

I, too, would like to have you look into researching a show for me: one that would deal with people getting contacted across the internet to do things they have no experience in, because former warlords and major corporations with vast funds want to assist people in starting new ventures. In fact, it’s become one of the ways that new start-up ventures are being created around the globe.

The new show, tentatively titled “Rubbing the Rube,” will be hosted by Donald Trump — well, once his current show is canceled, and he’s again looking for work.

I’ll be emailing him today from my Hotmail account, because he too, is a Dear One, and I will let you know what he says.

I think there’s a market for this one on the Game Show Network.

Best regards,

Ron Lindeboom

Creativity is a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.
– Antoine de Saint Exupéry