{Caveat: This rant in no way includes every author or business I've worked with. There are some really terrific authors and business owners who are so appreciative of what I can do for them, I can never do enough for them. This rant goes to the egomaniacs who are never satisfied, even if blood spills to fulfill a last-minute request. You know who you are!}
In recent months I've dealt with some of the snarkiest, rudest, most obnoxious clients who demand everything they want - for free or at least a ridiculously reduced rate, of course.
Oh, they are willing to pay something - just not your asking price. After all, they are the client and should be able to negotiate you down until you only make $1.21 per hour to produce a video, create a Web site with dynamic SEO, set up social network pages, write and send press releases, be a spokesperson and heck, why not throw in some free editing in there as well? I don't have a life.
Of course, if I cannot drop my fee to what they want - no matter how far below market value it is - then I can at least tell them how I do what I do so they can do it themselves. I'm such a nice person, I should be more than willing to give away my trade secrets, right?
No matter how much free stuff I throw in, it is never enough. One client - a nonprofit - took the model myself and a coworker designed specifically for them, lifted the art and created their own template, using similar language and format - and the same platform. This contract was through a company I frequently contract with. Three times this client asked me to basically steal the work from the company and do it myself - for a helluva lot less than I was making. Oh, and they wanted a ton of extra stuff added. No way could that be done in the time frame they wanted. I would not have broke even - and I certainly would have felt like a sleaze for stealing work right out from under this company's nose.
This falls into the "Unprofessional Behavior" category. No, it doesn't fall under "Contract Negotiations." Why? Because these examples are of people and companies behaving very badly when it comes to finances. You can get the best bang for your buck without screwing the professional you are working with by refusing to pay them, or needling down the fee by reducing the hourly rate or demanding a set of unrealistic freebies.
Someone forwarded a link to this fantastic video called "The Vendor Client relationship." It perfectly depicts what it is like to be a freelancer, and just how far people will go to get what they want for the price they want - never mind the REAL market value. Before you set out to negotiate a contract with a virtual book tour company, publicist or branding expert, make sure you are not acting like the people in this video.
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