employer vs. advertiser
I have very interesting case in my practice. I have sold a special format banner to a clinet in a dating site, which is unknown and very young. Even it is very dynamicly developing, there is not much advertisers willing to buy spaces there and I am kind of "entering markt".
The format of the banner supports two sizes (leatherboard and the rectangle) and make connection between each other with some other graphics. The problem is that in the site I am selling there is only one banner space available - rectangle.
The client booked first page of the site, which is a kind of face of it.
Now I have a problem in realization of that banner in the site with my employer, who commits that the amoun of money I will earn from the deal is not enough to change the desig of the site so drastically.
Instead, my employer is offering me a brand new page in the site, that is just deeloped pretending there will be a huge traffic. However, I cant predict this traffic, my client never know about the new page... even how is it looks like... but, as it is inner page... there is a deographic targeting available;
How whould you behave in this case:
1. Agree that I was wrong by not negotiating well with the employer and refuse the client;
2. Agree with the employer and provide the client with the alternative space (with or without compensation);
2. Refuse working with the employer, who does not stand behind me in the eyes of the client;
3. maybe sth else?
Please, comment
The format of the banner supports two sizes (leatherboard and the rectangle) and make connection between each other with some other graphics. The problem is that in the site I am selling there is only one banner space available - rectangle.
The client booked first page of the site, which is a kind of face of it.
Now I have a problem in realization of that banner in the site with my employer, who commits that the amoun of money I will earn from the deal is not enough to change the desig of the site so drastically.
Instead, my employer is offering me a brand new page in the site, that is just deeloped pretending there will be a huge traffic. However, I cant predict this traffic, my client never know about the new page... even how is it looks like... but, as it is inner page... there is a deographic targeting available;
How whould you behave in this case:
1. Agree that I was wrong by not negotiating well with the employer and refuse the client;
2. Agree with the employer and provide the client with the alternative space (with or without compensation);
2. Refuse working with the employer, who does not stand behind me in the eyes of the client;
3. maybe sth else?
Please, comment
Tags: beginner, career, conflict, employer, moneymaker, problem
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Dave Bricker on -
It's really unclear who is who here. You have your own practice and then you have an employer. Then there's a client. Who's client is it?
If it's your client, you own the risk. If the client belongs to the "employer," then it's their job to make good on promises, fix errors or provide refunds - even if you messed up. On a ship, everything that goes wrong is the Captain's fault. There's one Captain on the ship. That's who needs to fix the problem , regardless of who actually caused it. If that's not you, it doesn't hurt to help out in any way you can but it would be unprofessional for either party to put you in the middle.
As for the "special page," when someone offers you a promotional opportunity instead of money, they're asking you to assume risk they won't back up with cash. Whenever I've had those offers, I've always responded by offering to charge a fair rate up front and then pay back a generous commission on any new business that comes from the "opportunity." Nobody has ever taken me up on it.
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Permalink Reply by Elena Lazarova on -
hi Dave, I thank you very much for your concerned advice.
but... in the case of entering market logically in order to succeed your company has to provide more services than the competitors do for the same price... no?
What abou the seller's personal professional success?
thank you... el.
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Permalink Reply by Dave Bricker on
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I spend a lot of time working with college design students on portfolio websites. We spend time looking at random advertising and design firm websites from the first ten pages of a Google search.
It appears that most people do feel that more services (or the appearance thereof) is the formula for success but I disagree.
First of all, everyone already knows what designers and marketers do as far as the products they deliver. You can list one of your services as "print design" or you can list "brochures, posters, flyers, business cards, letterhead, etc." but they mean the same thing and the second approach clutters a site. Does one design shop really offer more services than another? In most cases, I don't think so unless the firm happens to operate their own printing equipment where they may have invested in a technology that their competitors don't have. The printing companies also offer design services, and they're happy to give them away in order to get the print business. When it comes to competition for products and services, the big printers can buy all of us little people out of business.
This brings me to the second reason that the "more services at lower prices" approach doesn't work—it treats design as a commodity.
I've had my own studio since 1995 and have worked mostly alone by choice. I do mostly web work and I charge fair rates, but there are a lot of people who are cheaper than me and I'm happy to see "cheap business" go to them. I don't sell brochures. I don't sell sites by the page. I don't sell business cards for a markup on the printing. I sell solutions.
As a seller of products, you enter a very competitive market place. But design—good design—is a very powerful business tool. It can make the difference in whether a perfectly functional website gets any traffic. It can build credibility for companies with innovative new products that people would otherwise be skeptical about. My business is about meeting with clients, figuring out what their goals are and then creating design, technology and strategies that will take them there. While you're at it, you can create images and messages that make people, think, act and change. That's design - and good design is good business (from Paul Rand). Otherwise, you're just pushing pixels.
There will be an endless stream of clients who need a flyer or a post card or a banner ad and there will be an endless stream of people who know Photoshop and Quark who will step on each other for the chance to build that stuff the cheapest. If you want to succeed, don't even think of these people as competition.
Position yourself as a design and marketing consultant who solves important business problems. I still work with a lot of artists and small businesses but I was talking with another designer I worked with on a $14 million project (total for the project - not the amount of my bill) for a Fortune 500 company. I created the look and feel for their site and they flew me up weekly from Miami to Philadelphia to work with them on it for about six months. Certainly, there were excellent local designers and consultants who would have cost them much less money - including the artist I was talking with, but they wanted more than someone who knew how to build "web stuff." While their idea had met with very low enthusiasm in early market surveys, when their customers saw the final design, we had 999/1000 viewers tell us they loved it and would use it. Design turned the project around. What's that worth?
The company made a billion dollars last year so while 14 million bucks is an incomprehensible figure to mere mortals like you and me, they're only risking a fraction of 1% of one year's income. If the site is marginally successful, they'll recoup their costs and make money.
The point is that it's not about being cheapest or about offering the most services. It's about being able to design excellent work that gets excellent results. You'll find very little competition there.
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Permalink Reply by Elena Lazarova on
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Ha again Dave, your story sounds like from a book :)
I thank you very much of helping me understand what is more important in the end. I whoud be very happy if you accept friendship with me ...
Have a good day,
El.
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