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Friday, July 03, 2009

Our Business Model is You're Wrong

Thanks to Sid Prince for sending me a link to a Wall Street Journal article that's a mirror image to my ongoing eFax problem. In the article, Jason Zweig relates his story about a defunct AOL account that had somehow incurred charges. When he received a call from a collection agency, Jason decided to call AOL. It went downhill from there. In an almost identical way, the company argued that he, not they, made the mistake/ordered the service/is in big trouble. Reading his story, I became frustrated all over again. And I couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of it.

What's upsetting me most is that this is becoming the new business model. Some companies - big ones like AOL even - are adopting a "customer is wrong even when we are" attitude. For some unknown reason, these companies are operating under the premise that squeezing unnecessary charges out of new customers, former customers, or existing customers is somehow going to help them reach their profit margins.

What's funny about this is we talk to each other. In fact, social networking is so ingrained in our psyches that we not only blog about it, we Twitter it, Facebook it, Link it In, and send our upset out in multiple ways to multiple thousands, who then pass the word down the consumer food chain. In both these examples, neither AOL or eFax will be getting business anytime soon from readers of Jason's publication or this blog. If someone posts the link to his blog or mine on Twitter, it's doubtful those readers will want to spend quality time with these merchants. So exactly where is this hard line with customers going to take them? Is that flushing I hear?

So, you guilty companies, hiring cheap help from another country to man your customer "service" lines and argue endlessly with your customers - how is that saving you money? Creating an unwelcome, unruly atmosphere around your products and, more to the point, your services is already starting to bite you in the backside. Who wants to deal with people who are building a reputation of bullying, hiding charges, and doing all they can to help their customers part with their money unnecessarily?

Readers - what are your horror stories?

Thursday, July 02, 2009

It's Raining, It's Pouring

So I took Devon's advice and decided I'd spend yesterday getting busy on one of my books (actually couldn't decide which one at first). When I opened the document and started typing, the emails started coming in. First the request from a regular client for more work. Cool. Easy job, quick cash, fast payment. A few minutes later, here came another email from the same client. He asked a question and asked for a price on a different project. Within three emails I had another job. Really cool. And the book editing contract I've been waiting for the last three weeks? There it was in the next email. Really, really cool.

I went over to my other email to "clean out" and see if anyone from any of my groups or Twitter got in touch. Wouldn't you know it? There was an email from a long-ago PR contact. Would I be interested in working with them on various corporate client projects? Would I? Darn right I would. Best is I'd befriended this particular contact ages ago and we remembered each other well. She'd moved to a new place and another PR person from her old place passed my name over to her - I'd befriended that person, as well. Amen. I love it when being genuine with someone is remembered! And at the end of the day, my girlfriend came over and shared a little wine, then handed me a project of hers. She's going on vacation for a week and needs someone to cover for one of her regular clients. What a nice way to end the work day!

It's because I decided to go on a vacation. Did you ever notice the minute you get your mind in that vacation mode and decide "Maybe next week is the week I'll get in the car and go", they sense it and hunt you down. Amen, too. I'd much rather take a vacation with some cash in my pocket!

But it's pretty tough to get back out of that vacation mindset. Still, if I really must get away, I'll look at every opportunity and work it out on the schedule. I've been idle for a short while. I'm itching for something productive to do. And one project I know I can take with me - and I won't mind at all. That's a first for me.

Still, not all of these projects will come through. They rarely do. Some of them will disappear before contracts or prices come about. I had a month of that last month. Three projects vanished in one day, and two looked like sealed deals. You just never know. That's why we keep marketing, isn't it?

Is your Murphy's Law identical? Do you have work pile up just before you head out the door for some R&R? Have you ever lost a gig because of your time off?

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Branching Out

Even though some months are painful to review, I'm glad I do monthly assessments. It's so much easier to pull myself back on track monthly rather than trying to recoup tons of lost dollars and clients 8 months or so out.

So now to the recouping part. My usual methods have fallen flat with just a little success here and there. Obviously, we have that "R" word hanging over the world. I don't acknowledge it as I think it's poisonous to one's psyche and career, but the clients do. So I must adjust. After a private pep talk from Devon (thank you, hon), I decided to refocus on the fiction side. I've got the story written in my head and about 14K of it on paper. Time to go back to it. I still have three regular gigs - one that pays the majority of my current income, though it's about to become our slow season. I won't starve entirely. But this belt's pretty tight right now.

Devon said it; the minute I start focusing on my fiction, work will come. I opened the file yesterday to start writing and an email came in before I could put one thought down. One of the regulars wanted some more work done. Also, I'll be putting a sales letter together today offering a discounted rate to my regular clients. I know which clients need bigger discounts, so I'll try to accommodate where I can.

I know this slump is part of the cycle. It's also a reminder that nothing is guaranteed, that even the most aggressive marketing can net very little in the tough times, and that patience and perspective can get you through it.

Have you noticed work coming when you busy yourself elsewhere? Also, what is your most successful marketing approach?

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Monthly Assessment - June

Oh yes it is that time again. Time for all of us to let the mothballs out of the Excel program and share how the month has been. Want me to start?

Where to start? How about at the beginning?

Queries -
I burned up the bandwidth this month. I put out at least 5 new queries a week, mostly to magazines. To date, I have one inquiry and it's a shaky one - I have no idea what they're paying. Sure, I hate those types of blind ads, but the subject matter interested me and the poster indicated competitive wages. We shall see. I'm tempted to avoid magazines, but honestly, someone is writing for them or they'd be empty or defunct, right?

Job postings -
I picked up the pace on these. Despite my ultra-picky ways (I examine those ads for any hint of nonpayment), I managed to find a number of acceptable possibilities. I've completely foregone Craig's List. I opt for Anne Wayman's hand-selected list instead, and that of Angie Hoy at Writer's Weekly. A few finds from my regular "rounds", but no work came of any of it. Time wasted.

Existing clients -
Two current clients handed me small projects. The good part is one of those is ongoing, so I've upped my income a smidgen for the remainder of this year. My regular gig is still going, though we're about to see the usual drop in business for the next two months. It rarely dries up completely, but it makes a huge dent in the income until September. I did get one referral that went belly up and I had a few potential collaborations that are still on hold waiting for buyers. I have one project that as of Friday is awaiting the completion of the contract. I'm eager to get going on that one.

Earnings -
Seriously? Aren't we supposed to earn something? I did, though only slightly over what I made last month. I'm nowhere near my monthly goal - sitting at about half of it - and naturally, the gigs I had that would cushion that blow disappeared early this month. It's been a month of catch-up trying to find more ongoing work.

Bottom line -
I'll be marketing in different areas. I won't abandon publications yet, but I'll be moving into networking face-to-face where I can. I made the brochures, but here they sit. I can't seem to get moving on that, mostly because of the time it consumes to make them, compile a mailing list, mail them, and follow up. I have to break this up into smaller tasks if I ever expect to get them out the door.

Time to locate new clients, and that means Lori has to go to marketing events and conferences. People relate to faces rather than emails. Time to give them a face to go with the name.

Please tell me your June was better than this. How'd it go? What's your July looking like?

Monday, June 29, 2009

New Week, New Perspective

If I could bottle last week, I'd secure it in indestructible plastic lined with asbestos, wrap it in material fit to withstand nuclear blasts, label it poisonous, and wail it off the tail end of a fast-moving jet from 30,000 feet. Yea, that bad. It seems the conflicts were everywhere. Home life was a lesson in readjustment after the once-empty house fills back up. Work life was full of stresses, unnecessary hassles, and projects dangling then disappearing like ghosts on the Sci-Fi channel. Between low-ballers, changed project parameters and scummy companies, I was dancing with the migraine threat all week.

This week is new. It can be better. It will be better. It only takes a turn in perspective and a new approach each morning to bring things around. Time to refocus and renew. Today is my New Year's Day - that time when things are full of promise, full of something other than the latest load of, well, dung.

As I sat writing this at the end of that nasty week (yes, sometimes I write these posts ahead), my mindset had already begun to shift. And almost simultaneously, new work came in. I'd think it's coincidence, but it's not the first time that's happened. I've visualized a better situation and there it is - projects and work coming in.

It's easy to get sidetracked when things are building to high-stress levels or when money isn't in your foreseeable future. But nothing is ever hopeless. With a little mental muscle flexing and some changes in your approach, things will improve.

Have you ever done that? Have you ever stood back and reaffirmed your beginning? Try it. Sometimes when the dung is raining down on you like it's monsoon season, stepping back, breathing, and walking in a different direction is a great way to put your mindset - and your work day - back on track.

Friday, June 26, 2009

The Return of the Low-ballers

A Twitter acquaintance got in touch with me recently to get some suggestions/feedback/potential help on a project. He and I hit it off and we were both excited about this potential new project. Then we gave the client the price, which was more than fair and probably a bit on the low side, gauging the amount of work that needed to be done.

The response is one we're all getting tired of hearing - your price is too high and here are sixteen justifications why you can't charge me that much. None of the justifications this client gave included information relevant to my acquaintance and me - the amount of work being less than we anticipated, the existence of pre-approved content, etc. No, the justifications were more of the why-is-that-my-problem-exactly variety - he can't see paying it because he'd have to sell his product X number of times to make up the cost of producing the product. He'd also have to pay us MORE for MORE content (imagine that!), and that would blow his business model out of the water. And since he's charging his customers a paltry sum, that won't work for him.

Nowhere in that argument did he even consider charging more for an obviously extensive amount of content, researched material, and required material for his audience. Nowhere did he show any concern for the fact that his business model wasn't fit for any type of collaboration except of the pay-for-slave-labor type. What he doesn't realize is that I know his sales figures are much higher than he's presenting - he's selling a required product, one he won't revise for at least five years. The low number of sales he quotes (three figures? Really?) didn't convince me at all. I've done this sort of work before. I know what these people rake in. We weren't asking for a large share in that - we were simply quoting a fair market rate.

He ended with a line that still has me seething - "We were hoping to hire people who already had this type of material in hand." Did you just say that? Did you just say if it's already written, my time spent writing it is less valuable than my time spent making the same damned product for you instead of for someone else? How does that make sense? And if it's not new material you want, why are you advertising for new material?

He actually wrote this - "In short your fee structure will not work."

No, in short, yours won't. You don't justify not paying a fair price with that kind of nonsense. And you don't end with "We're looking for someone who can put this together and charge a reasonable dollar." You were presented with reasonable. What you were looking for, in all honesty, was a free ride on the backs of some hard-working, knowledgeable people.

I think what makes this interaction a bit more disturbing is it is nearly identical to one I had about four months ago. The same type of project, a different story, but the same outcome. Can't afford to pay you what you're charging; I can only pay you a "fair" rate that's one-third that. Is it the same person? I can't say for sure. It's getting so that these offers are mimicking each other and these posters are learning how to creatively low-ball.

What's your low-ball story of the week?

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Free? Right.

On a client project recently I received a file that had to be opened via a program called eFax viewer. How to get this? Simple. Go to the eFax website and download it for free. Okay, I started to, got sidetracked and forgot. Wait! There came an email from the company reminding me to complete my info for their "free trial." Great! I clicked the link. It took me to a page asking for my credit card. Mind you, I don't just agree right away, so I poked around, located a street address, a local phone number, and was satisfied. Besides, a friend told me about it.

I typed in my card number, having that little box at the top of the page telling me that they collect that in case you decide to continue beyond the 30 days (or forget, right?). Fine. I downloaded the free viewer, then canceled the account.

Or at least I tried. See, you can't just push a button to cancel. Well, you do, but you have to push the "Chat" button and go through a rep. Fine. Whatever. After some delay and one disconnection (really? And you're based online?), my account was canceled. I mentioned that I'd seen they charged me $26.95 for the "free" service and that I would like that charge removed from my card.

Removed? Was I serious? No, that was the charge for your monthly service. A charge? For a free service? That I've had for a minute and a half? How's that again? No, I was told. You don't get that refunded because you didn't sign up for the free trial; you signed up for the plus package.

You who already know me know where it went from here. I'm a copier, a printer, and a filer. I already had all the evidence I needed. I sent them the link to the free offer. I showed them their own damned web page stating the free offer. I insisted the charges be removed. Eventually, they were - all but ten bucks.

Again, you know me. That's not going to wash. I signed up for a FREE trial, not a free trial, oh, except for this-we-didn't-tell-you-about-but-buried-on-page-30-of-our-customer-agreement stuff. So when the chat rep was tired of volleying my insistent shots, he/she referred me to their customer service number. Fine. Little did the chat folks know that I copied and pasted the entire conversation onto a Word document, just in case.

That just-in-case will come in handy. I got on the phone with a non-English speaker, who thought his insistence would stall my efforts. He quickly realized this one wasn't going away. His first response to my asking for a refund - "You didn't sign up for the correct service."

Yes I did. Would you like to see your company's email and the page I have printed for my records? He hesitated (evidence? he may have thought) and said to please send him the link, which he never received, he said (and I'm supposed to be shocked - BOTH my email addresses just stopped working simultaneously! Isn't that unfortunate?).

Then I heard this: "No ma'am. You signed up for the regular package."

No, dude. I signed up for the free one. Here it is. Oh wait! You don't have it there. How convenient.

"There is a nonrefundable charge of $10."

Yes, and where on the signup page does it say that?

"It's in the customer agreement, and the link is right under the signup button."

Yes it is. But why isn't that information on the signup page right beside the information that insists my card won't be charged until the 30-day trial is over? Why did you charge my card right there?

"Because you signed up for the wrong package."

No, no I didn't. I signed up for a FREE TRIAL from YOUR COMPANY'S email link.

"You cannot use another website's link or anything from Google, ma'am. That takes you to the premium services page."

I read the email to him. It's from YOUR company - EFAX.COM. I clicked on YOUR COMPANY'S LINK. I went to YOUR COMPANY'S SITE. I'm reading everything you're asking me to at the SAME SITE. The mistake, sir, is not mine.

Then he grew weary of my insistence. "Ma'am, what if I send you a response once I receive the link in email? Will that work?"

Fine, I said, for it was obvious he wasn't going to do anything beyond repeating the same tired arguments. I hung up, surfed the Internet, looked up the California Attorney General's office, and I sent them my complaint. I'll be damned. It's ten bucks, but it's called deceptive business practices. If you're going to charge me, tell me so at the outset. Don't bury it in some massive tome and then lean on customers and keep insisting they screwed up. And don't think you'll wear me down. Honey, when it's my cash, I have plenty of energy. The question is - do you?

Nice company, huh?