Tuesday, June 16, 2009

The Vendor Client Relationship - In Real World Situations

I promise not to make a habit of posting videos unless they are directly related to my work, but this one was too good to pass up. I cannot tell you how many times I have had variations of these conversations over the years.

10 comments:

Lan Pitts said...

On what end have you had those conversations?

Gene Gonzales said...

As the vendor. The "can't pay your rates this time but on the next time around I will make it up to you". Or the "I'm not making any money on this so maybe you can help me out". Or "we can't pay for the work until we make some money on the published product". The last one is a common one in comics. Funny how the printer, the distributor and the employees in house get their pay though. By far, my clients have an understanding that my product and time has a value and treat me with respect. But these types of conversations do come up from time to time with new clients.

Gene Gonzales said...

One I got recently is "I can't pay you for your work but you will have the privilege of being published in... "fill in your favorite country here".

Lan Pitts said...

That's just...absurd.

Gene Gonzales said...

At some point you just start laughing at it. For years I would use the analogy of asking a plumber or an electrician to do some work on your house and in lieu of payment, you will tell people how good a job they do. Oh yeah, that will work. :)

BTW, I will be removing this video when I post artwork later today as it doesn't fit with the regularly scheduled program. :)

LUD! said...

BTW, have you heard about what Google is trying to do by asking noted illustrators and designers to create wallpapers and skins for them for FREE? Hee, hee, they so crazy...

Lud

Royce Thrower said...

Gene,

I didn't want to bring this up but since you opened the subject...

I am going to need you to do a few free sketches at Heroes. As I never sell the art I acquire, there really is no commercial incentive for me on our transactions. I can in lieu of payment, give you some local recognition by spreading your name around town to various venders in, mainly by signing your name to some rubbery checks. You will be a very famous and sought after man as a result!

What say ye? Deal?

Gene Gonzales said...

I did hear about that LUD! I won't be surprised if they just put it into their User Agreement sometime in the future.

Royce, you are too good to me. Always looking out for my interests! ;)

Anonymous said...

That's fantastic, I'm going to show that to my team (to get some relief it's not just us) and maybe accidentally have it running in the background for a few meetings.

Gawds.

Gary M. Peiffer said...

I can see how this can be the "not so fun" part of your job!

Gary