As I have mentioned several times on the blog, Elizabeth Warren was my law professor while I was at the University Of Pennsylvania. She taught me contracts and bankruptcy law. She is remarkable and beyond the best teacher I have ever experienced. Professor Warren, to this day, is one of the country’s foremost experts on bankruptcy law.
She made understanding the Automatic Stay in bankruptcy really relevant to me. If the noble goal of bankruptcy is to give a chance for anyone (person or corporation) to either start over, reorganize or wind things down, then there has to be a mechanism to freeze everything to give everyone a chance to figure things out. Enter the automatic stay. When a bankruptcy petition is filed, the automatic stay kicks in and everything stops — lawsuits, bill collection, etc. Now, you can petition the court to lift the stay as it may not apply to you (matters of family law for instance), but you cannot just ignore the filing, you have to petition the court to waive the stay.
So why oh why does this matter to creative business? Because regardless of what you believe the world to be and regardless of what might be written in a contract, the reality is different from what you understand. And you have to act accordingly. It will make for different decisions and different thought patterns.
Enter repeat clients. Everyone loves them and you should. So why should you give them a discount? If anything you should charge more. Better clients should pay more not less. Say what? Yes, the reality of the world is not as you understand it to be only as you perceive it to be.
On the one side, you, the artist, have a benefit of knowing your client’s preferences and idiosyncrasies. You have a head start on the next project and so, theoretically, the next project will be easier. Theoretically. I will give you that.
Equally true though is that your client knows you, your art and your creative business. Oh, and the ONLY real reason they are coming back is because you are really, really good at what you do. Not because you are nice, not because you are offering a discount, or any reason other than you can create the transformation they seek. Simply, they want to see what you can do next for them.
Which then leads to the next point. Better clients should pay more not less. Presuming the more a client pays the more they will receive from you and your firm, the opportunity to invest ever deeper in you would be welcome. Your desire to debase yourself by way of compromise serves no one. The aim is not to try to accomplish the project with one hand behind your back, it is to have all that you need to go further.
Finally, let us talk about celebrity and recommendations. If a particular client offers you exposure because of who they are, perhaps that helps you get on the stage. Fine. But if you are already on the stage? You are an equal debasing yourself for the sake of exposure. Yeah, not so much. And if your client is a sneezer, how exactly will a discount inspire them to recommend you? The reason they are recommending you is because you are awesome. If you make it about the discount, that is what you will get back. How about you not do that.
The axiom will always be true. Great work will beget great work. The value you offer is it own reward if only you can point to the value offered and earned. Hold the cards you actually have and understand that you are an equal at base to your client, if not the leader. The only thing you owe is your best work and the fairness and integrity of what it will take to get it. The rest will take care of itself.
