Love your work and get paid for doing it.
- WOW, a client contacts you and asks you to supply an identity for a Health Club.
- You go see them (or do this via email)
- You spend 3 days doing research, 4 days doing initial sketches and send to client.
- You wait a week for feedback...
- 8pm on Friday evening you get an email saying that the ideas are good, but can they have new concepts on Monday?
- Sunday afternoon, you get an email saying that the original concepts were better, develop these and they can’t wait to see things on Monday morning...
- You work until 2am to get the revisions done and you send off at 8am on Monday morning...
- The following Friday they get back to you and say that the style needs changing and send you some internet downloads for reference. Can they have them first thing Monday.
- Over the weekend, they add two more ideas and you get a couple of phone calls to make further 'tweeks'.
- Monday morning you send off the concepts.
- Thursday they agree and ask you for individual fles in CYMK and RGB in High Res PDF, jpeg, tiff and png formats…and could you send a courier with these, including the original ideas.
- You send everything off…finished
- WHOOOPEEEEE
- Two weeks later they ask for your invoice
- You add up all of the hours and costs incurred and you get a price of £3000.00, so you put an invoice together and send it off.
- They get back to you and ask you to itemise the invoice.
- You break down the costs in all stages and resend.
- You then wait 3 weeks.
- Nothing back?
- You call and the person you dealt with is on holiday and will be back in a couple of weeks, unfortunately no one else knows anything about this?
- 3 weeks later you get a call and are told the person you dealt with has left the company.
- You send a duplicate invoice.
- A few days later, you get a call...
- The work was never used and they had no budget to do this, and was unauthorised?
- However, they are sorry and will send you a complimentary cheque for £100 for your inconvenience.
- They request a new invoice, to keep the accounts people ‘happy’
- You send a new invoice for £100, £2900 less?
- 30 days later you get a cheque for £100, they have put the wrong name on the cheque.
- You let them know and they are apologetic and will correct this and re issue a cheque and will be in the next cheque run at the end of the next month.
- So, nearly 4 months later, you have cheque for £100 and it takes another 7 days to clear.
- 3 months later you see your work in print.
- NICE
- Client Interest/contact
- Take a view of The Client
- Brief
- Discussion with client to clarify brief and required content/outcomes (List)
- Evaluation and estimation of timeframe and content expected at a rate per hour or project
- Remember to add any on costs (materials that may be purchased for project)
- Itemise and estimate all content needed and timings
- CHECK
- Advise client on email (see example)
- On agreement start project (Not before)
Before you start, make sure you have received the 50% deposit, if not re advise your client that you need this and the Purchase Order number.
Your email estimate is the basis to work your invoice to and make sure you include the date, Their order number your reference number, your banking details and reiterate your terms as a base rider...this is because you send this to The Accounts department and NOT the person who issued the project
Love your work … and get paid for doing it.
