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Overcome the starving artist within: Duane Jones of Art Pays Me

You have to suffer for your art. If you truly care about something, you'd do it for free. Great artists aren't recognized in their lifetimes.

We've all heard these ideas, and internalized them to some extent. Duane Jones fights back against them with his clothing and lifestyle brand, Art Pays Me, reminding everyone that what you do, and who you are, has value. It takes courage to turn creativity into a business, and he talks with Kyle Carpenter about why the world will be a better place if more people can get paid for their art.

It's a great and illuminating talk about how to change your mindset towards being the kind of artist who gets paid. Tune in for the REAL difference between art and craft (and believe us - it's the best definition you've ever heard). 

Today's links: 

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Client: Can you make that a color better? Or maybe use a cooler font?

Me: That’s really not helpful feedback.

Client: Okay. Make it nicer then.

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I’m a web designer. This particular client has a massive website, consisting of tens of thousands of pages.

Client: I want to take out this sentence.

Me: Thanks, I can do that right away. Can you send me the URL?

He sends a screenshot of the offending sentence, circled in red, no URL.

Me: This is great, thank you. Can you tell me what page this is on?

Client: It’s on the [company name] website.

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Client: The router you installed isn’t working!

Me: What exactly is the issue?

Client: The internet was down two hours ago, when we called.

Me: You also have IPTV set up, right? Was the TV working, or did it display an error?

Client: I don’t know. The power was down in the whole building.

Me: And you expected your internet connection to work… why exactly?

Client: Why wouldn’t it work if it’s wireless?

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Client: I saw your portfolio on Behance and really like it… can you come to our office in [nearby town] to discuss a project?

Me: That’s actually pretty far from where I live. Can you send me a brief so I can decide if I want to make the trek?  

Client: It’s a very confidential project… You come here and I’ll explain it to you.

Me: At least tell me the something: medium, budget, direction, anything. Budget, anything… It will take my whole day to come there, meet you and return and if I don’t want to take the job then that’s a big waste for me.

Client: We want a 5 minute 3D animation like Toy story from you.

Me: …But i don’t do 3D animation. I do 2d animation and illustrations.

Client: Why don’t you come here… I will explain it you.

At this point, I don’t know if it was really a job or if someone wanted to kill me.

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> Check out the deal here. 

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We worked on a big website for a client who kept changing their mind, requirements and design. After confronting them with what they approved in the beginning:

Client: Yes, I approved it... But I didn’t know what I was approving.

The project is still dragging and going nowhere.

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Client: What's the address of your print shop?

Me: I'm on [street] at [number].

Client: Can you give me a landmark?

Me: Sure. We're near [bank].

Later:

Client: I'm just in front of [bank] and I don't see your store.

Me: I gave you the building number. Have you looked for that?

Client: Yes, but I don't see it. The bank is right on the corner, there's nothing after.

Me: Oh, I guess there are two [bank] locations on this street. We're by the other one.

Client: Why didn't you tell me it was near the other bank?

Me: I gave you our street address.

Client: Okay, see you soon.

Later, the client showed up, smiling like nothing had happened.

Client: I would like to print some business cards.

Me: OK, do you already have the art for it?

Client: Yes. Here.

They gave me somebody else's business card with the name scratched out and their information scrawled in blue ink. 

Me: ... 

Client: (smiling)

Do you ever feel like someone is filming a movie of your life and not telling you? Because everything this person did felt like an elaborate prank.

I told them I would have to create art assets to duplicate the card and charge them for it. They refused and said they'd go to the "other shop."

I wonder if it was by the "other bank."

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I am a web designer that offers SEO services to clients once I have built their site. 

A client wanted me to build a site and then do SEO services for 3 months to get the business going. We settled on a price, I built the site and the client was happy with it. I started the SEO; the site started getting well above average traffic, even though he was catering to a very select customer base. The client was thrilled. 

Until a few months later, when he phoned me:

Client: I demand you take down my website and give me a full refund. 

Me: I am sorry but the site is getting really great traffic. Why aren't you happy with it? 

Client: Yes it is, but i have yet to get anyone to buy anything. I can't pay for something that doesn't give business results.

I knew my SEO wasn't at fault, so I looked into it. Turns out he was selling products you could get elsewhere, except at a 3000% markup. No wonder he wasn't getting any business. 

 

 

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Technically, this was my boss, not the client. When I started working full-time, I worked for a corporate communications company running the duplication department (videos, CDs, etc). We’d gotten a large CD order that, frankly, we were completely unequipped to handle. 

Me: We can run 12 copies at a time, which it looks like will take about 8 minutes to run. So for 8,000 copies, we’re looking at about two years. We need to get a large-capacity bulk duplicator or else outsource this. 

After some back and forth, we ultimately decided to outsource the order. Since it was a purchasing issue, the boss assured me he’d take care of it.

Two weeks went by, and I didn’t hear anything.

Me: Are we still outsourcing that large order? Do I need to send the originals anywhere?

Boss: I’ll let you know. Why don’t you just give me the originals?

A month later…

Boss: Hey, the client’s asking about the CD order. Did you get it done?

Me: Uh, well… no…?

He then reamed me out for dropping the ball.

Me: … 

I quit shortly after that, and the company lasted another couple years before closing their doors. Turns out I was the first rat to notice the ship was sinking, and the others quickly followed suit.

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