Ron Lindeboom
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COW Coins
Forum Replies Created
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[David Roth Weiss] “Call me overly optimistic, but I figure that if a person is smart enough to come to the Creative Cow Business & Marketing Forum seeking advice, they are at least smart enough to know when an a few hours in court will be worth their while.”
Ah, ever the optimist, David. 😉
[David Roth Weiss] “I’d be willing to bet that everyone of us has at least one client we’d sue for just 2-cents, if only to make a point. Ring a bell with anyone???”
Having just finished a nearly-two-year legal battle, me I would not spend a nickel for anything of a legal nature that didn’t make me money.
Yes, I have a company we once worked with that I would like to sue into oblivion, but having had to spend nearly $150,000 to protect the COW trademark, I have had my fill of judges and lawyers.
Final score? Lawyers, 10 – Client, 0 — even though we won the case.
Ron Lindeboom
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[David Roth Weiss] “…and no one should ever be made to feel badly if they decide to exercise their legal rights.”
Only when they haven’t done their mental arithmetic to figure out that they may be one of the people that are costing themselves far more than they will ever make back.
If they are one of those, I would like to mail Bob Zelin to their home or place of business.
They need a severe case of Zelination to bring them to their senses.
Ron Lindeboom
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[Chuck Green] “in your initial discussions you say the possible price range will be $ 4,000 to $ 7,000, they will likely be holding $ 4,000 in their minds from that moment on, while you might be thinking $ 7,000, whether the scope of work stays the same or expands.”
THIS is one of the best points in this whole discussion.
Burn it onto the inside of your eyelids so you do not forget it in your next negotiation with a new client, DeAnna.
DeAnna: Some of the people telling you all this great advice about going to court and legal rights, yada, yada, yada, are well, I hate to say it, not giving you practical business advice. In fact, if I were to qualify some of it, I’d place it in the category of cow manure: yes, it’s warm to the touch when your eyes are closed but to those whose eyes are open, they are less apt to touch it — not to mention that it has a not-so-subtle and less-than-piquant aromasity (I love to make up words) all its own.
Why do I say that? Because some very smart people on this forum have been telling you that you are about to trade $450 for A LOT MORE COSTS in wasted time, filing fees, travel, time taken away from your business that you could be working on productive work, etc., etc., — and these costs are far more than you ever stand to make.
THAT is bad business. Repeat those words after me: Bad business.
The Legendary Bob Zelinâ„¢ hasn’t logged in to this thread to give his own Zelinizedâ„¢ bit of advice to you, so I will do my humble best to fill in for him during his absence: Only a rotten businessperson trades a few hundred bucks for destructive behavior that is quite likely to cost them far more than they will ever get out of what they are doing. Get out of business now, he’d say. So I am saying it to you: if you can’t see that the real value of $450 is far less than the cost of pursuing that $450 (especially in light of what it’s already cost you so far), then you need to quit now. Your business will fail. You cannot run a business because your judgment is not sound.
Yes, Brendan Coots C&D order is tempting and if left there, it is not a bad play. Use it, there is indeed some power in it — and most importantly, if left there, it won’t take you a lot of time. But all this court crap is senseless and anyone here who would recommend that you fight a small claims court case for money like this is chasing chump-change and isn’t really in business anyway and their advise is not something I’d follow across the street.
There, Bob Zelin will hopefully be proud of me.
Ron Lindeboom
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We mail them and if we were to guess, the post office likely loses somewhere between 2% to 5% of any single issue’s mailed-to database of addresses.
We have put in complaints with the post office. They smile and say “Thanks,” when next we hand them a check.
Ron Lindeboom
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[Mark Suszko] “Before I lapse into the lyrics of some country and western song about old time values, I’ll stop there.”
I’d prefer it if you fell into an art-rock progressive mood and did something about the beauty of creativity along the lines of early King Crimson or Renaissance, perhaps.
Even in my pick-up truck I listen to pretty much everything except my two least favorite kinds of music, country and western.
😉
Ron Lindeboom
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Regarding Douglas Spotted Eagle: Douglas is healing up and has had major injuries that required doctors to use incredible skill to put the poor guy back into working shape. From what we hear, he is recovering nicely and hopefully will soon have as much mobility and normalcy as can be expected considering the enormous stress and injury his ankles, hips/pelvis and spine incurred in his skydiving accident. Douglas is a strong guy and that is likely his saving grace here. I don’t think that many would have survived the degree of injury that he has passed through.
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.
РAntoine de Saint Exup̩ry -
We call them interstitial ads. I am not sure if that is the real name or not. It is what we call them here at the COW.
It is done by two things: one, is the IP; the other, is tied to your account number. Using both, we hit you only once and if you are logging in from a company with its own IP, the company only gets hit once, even if 10 people come here to the COW.
As I said, we have tried to be respectful and do not hide the “bypass this ad” link up in the righthand corner hidden in tiny type as they do at Yahoo and others. We make it front and center, top and bottom of the ad.
We have to pay for all this free stuff somehow and when the cost of everything just keeps going up and up and up, we have to find a way to pay for it all. Since you get it all for free, your dues do not cover much of these costs. ;o)
I hope that explains it to your satisfaction. If not, oh well…think what you want.
Ron Lindeboom
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Bill,
They are set to bother you ONCE in 30 days. Once.
If that is too much for you, then go elsewhere where they don’t have such things.
Oh, and in case you didn’t see it, there is a link above and below the ad that you can click to avoid it and skip through it.
How do you think we pay for all of these free services? From your membership dues? 🙂
There IS no such thing as a free lunch, even when it’s free. Someone has to pay for it and when it isn’t you, then guess what…
Best,
Ron Lindeboom
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[Bruce Bennett] “I have found that some people say “You’re welcome” to deal with anxiety.”
While I have little doubt that this may in some cases be true, most people say “thank you” and “you’re welcome” in an attempt at courtesy — I have linked the word for your convenience.
The root of the word comes from the meaning of “courtly manner or bearing.” You did not come into the court of a great monarch without “courtly manner” — that is, a gracious disposition and bearing that acknowledged the courtesy they were extending you (and so it was returned).
But in a world (to quote Don LaFontaine) where self-esteem has gone rampant and people think that they are far greater than everyone else around them, how can courtly manner survive?
I like the world of Disney’s Chip and Dale, thank you. Now they had it right. 😉
Here at Creative COW, all of the people that work here exchange civility on an ongoing basis. We use please, thank you and congratulatory phrases regularly. All of us treat one another with a lot of courtesy and courtly bearing and it helps us to forge a team that out competes billion dollar publishers with a handful of people. We are constantly cheering one another along. It fuels a strong loyalty and comradery and maximizes our productivity because of the unity it produces. Why? Because we are huge fans of one another and we acknowledge that quite regularly. Everyone around here has said many times over the years that this is the best place they have ever worked.
Courtesy. Courtly manner. It goes a lot further and produces far more than this modern pseudo-equality that is little more than the gimme-mine-before-I-give-you-yours (but not a penny more) mindset.
Ron Lindeboom
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[Bob Zelin] “And I also say “and if anything goes wrong, make sure to call me right away” (because I can’t wait to give you another bill).”
Bob, don’t forget the Golden Word: “Please…I can’t wait to give you another bill, please.”
😉