RustyBug
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 Re: First Time - Totally lost - Help | |
Ask them for a free guitar in exchange ... tell them they too can put the name of their store and phone number on it. Surely they\'ll value the exposure the same as they would cash. Of course, they\'ll decry that the guitar cost them money and they need to recoup that. So, ask them for music lessons (i.e. a service) or rental ... they\'re not losing any capital then, just missing out on an opportunity for compensation ... same as they are asking of you.
If someone is willing to barter with me ... I\'ll be glad to barter with them. But, if they are going to expect/demand cash for their form of compensation... then that\'s the most appropriate form of compensation they should use to compensate me. If they think you are being unreasonable for wanting cash (or store credit, etc. if that appeals to you) ... remember you\'ve already got the product they want in your inventory. If they don\'t like your asking price/form of compensation (not suggesting to gouge), they are free to pass on it and go elsewhere to find such a product.
I\'ve been a jerk trying to lowball someone before ... only to lose out on what was a REALLY GOOD deal ... I was just too foolish to realize how good of a deal it was, lesson learned. Trust me, it cost me much more when I finally found it again elsewhere, and I regret not jumping on the asking price of the REALLY GOOD deal. You likely represent a REALLY GOOD deal, compared to a commercial photographer ... and they should jump on it ... they just don\'t understand that yet, thinking they can get it for free ... if they can find someone to do so.
In the end, it will be an exchange that both sides are mutually agreeable to. It\'s not intended to sound bitter or trite ... but it\'ll likely take some negotiation and education on your part to get them to see things differently. You might also consider (in your hip pocket) referring them to a commercial photographer for comparison. Be patient & professional, and don\'t expose your \'eagerness\' to get exposure / credit ... it may take some time for them to \'come around\'.
Once someone has it in their head that \'exposure\' & \'credit\' are sufficient compensation for your time, effort, skill, talent, equipment investment, training, vision, artistry, etc. ... it\'s often times not an easy thing to change them. It can be done, but anticipate that it won\'t be as simple as saying that you\'d prefer cash. It\'s a fine line between being defensive & argumentative vs. educating & negotiating.
Good Luck
Perspective:
A student goes to college to receive his education & training. He does \'internships\' where he practices working in the real world and receives \'credit\' for his practice work. Then, there comes a time when he expects to receive CASH for his hard earned studies & practice as a student (i.e. read amateur) that he is now applying to the business world.
The amount of time, practice and study, etc. that you (we) put into our craft as amateurs (i.e. students) does not LOCK us into a perpetual/eternal state of working for credit. There comes a time, i.e. when applying it to the business world, that \"credit\" is no longer the appropriate form of compensation ... whether as a fledgling college grad that now needs to start paying for his student loans, or as photographer that needs to offset his capital investments.
Sometime / somewhere, the conversion to cash is appropriate. Don\'t let the \"I\'ve only been an amateur\" deter such thinking. After all, the fledgling grad may have \"only been a student\" ... but he still expects cash for his work in the business world.
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