About a month ago, I had a client sign up for a blog and she arrived with an amazingly diverse selection of potential “logos” to use on her site. At the same time, I had another client who was struggling trying to find an artist who “got” his business and could create a logo which “fit” with the other marketing pieces he had already had developed.
I asked the incoming client for the name of her graphic designer… and she promptly gave me a URL for him. This domain name redirected to a Myspace profile page. Fortunately, I have a Myspace page so I could send him a “friends” request… because there was NO other way given to contact him on the profile.
In my Myspace friend’s request, I gave my gmail address and asked for him to contact me there. This request was made almost 2 weeks ago and today, I finally got a reply.
I admit, I didn’t say “I have a possible job for you” in the initial contact which may or may not have inspired him to respond in a more timely manner. However, it did remind me of the wise words of a former client who runs a small publishing company. She said, “I’d rather have a graphic artist of moderate talent who can deliver on deadline than an incredibly gifted one who doesn’t know what the word deadline means.”
Her words come back frequently when I try to work with graphic artists.
Liz Strauss writes about a friend of hers who is a graphic artist and is struggling. In her post When Is Being Good Not Good for Business? where she wonders why he’s not getting jobs. I wonder if it’s the same guy?
Meanwhile we found another graphic artist for my client who needed one. Our second choice returned my client’s contact immediately. Earlier this week, my client send me the first round of logos from the graphic artist whom I’ve dubbed “local talent”.
So in the time it took for the the first graphic artist to respond, we already were evaluating the first round of designs from the second.
I was really impressed with the work done by the first guy. It was great… but I’m running a business. If I recommend him to a client and he takes 2 weeks to respond, it makes ME look bad!
Customers can’t measure quality, especially when it comes to logo design and development.
In hindsight, the first clue I had that this guy wasn’t serious about his business was the fact that he’s using his Myspace profile as his online presence. It’s a shame. He’s got a gift.
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