But, then again, all of you are so much better than grinner and I so you don't have anything to worry about, right? So why are you bitching and complaining.
Good point! Grinner Hester is an absolute idiot. I can't wait until the production group "sharing an office with him" starts stealing his clients. Of everyone on this forum, you picked a complete moron with which to associate your rationale.
As for my "Good Advice", it doesn't matter how good you are, if you're just starting out, potential clients aren't going to know you or how good you are so the only way to get business to prove yourself is to lure clients away from the people they've been doing business with by offering a lower rate.
Wrong. Like I said before (and many have said before me):
networking.
The major, major, major downside to undercutting is burning networking bridges. If you want to undercut another member of the business, that's fine. Ding! You get a client.
How will you fill out the ranks? How will you make other clients? Do you
honestly think you're going to keep getting clients by undercutting everyone else?
You're dead wrong if you think so.
Word spreads
much more quickly in the freelance community than it does in the business community. Your clients don't give a rat's ass if you don't have more clients. As long as their needs are met, they don't care what you do. To them, you're a means to an end.
The freelance community keeps very close tabs on people who constantly undercut their own. None of them will use you as their back-up if they know you're just going to stab them in the back and undercut them. The freelance community is your
number once source for new clients and new work.
But, hey: if you want to impress a few suits on saving them a few bucks, you go right ahead. Nobody's stopping you. Just don't be surprised when they're the
only people calling you for anything.
Have you ever stopped to think of the repercussions of undercutting others? Let me break it down for you:
What happens when another guy comes along and undercuts
you? You lose the client. The best part? You have no networking contacts to go to. You've pissed them all off with your undercutting tactics. Nobody in their right mind would offer you help; they don't want to lose
their clients because of your inability to properly carry yourself in the freelance world.
When I (or anyone else in good standing with other freelancers, for that matter) lose a client, we start making calls. The guys I know would happily throw some work my way. Maybe they need an extra camera? Maybe they accidentally double-booked themselves? Regardless of the reason, they're not worried about me pulling the client behind a closed-door and saying, "Hey -- I can save you a hundred bucks on this shoot right now!"
The fact that I watch out for my freelance friends trumps losing a client to some idiot who thinks undercutting is "just business."
Trust me: I'm not worried about you, Grinner, or how either of you decide to pull stupid stunts. I simply can't sit by and watch you give such stupid "business" advice to a newbie asking a valid question.
Frankly, I don't care who it pi$$es off.
Yeah, well -- good luck with that business plan. Undercutting and badmouthing go hand-in-hand, just like shovels and grave sites. Dig your own!
EVERYTHING is changing in this business and I know you old timers don't like us youngsters but, frankly, some of you are starting to sound like my grandfather who bitches about EVERYTHING.
That's the most ridiculous thing I've seen you type in this forum.
Undercutting has
always existed. Claiming "everything is changing in this business" has nothing to do with the fact that the freelance world has misled folks like you claiming undercutting is the best business tactic. I'm not an old-timer, and
I don't even like you. You're bad for
everyone's business.
I've quoted this sentence again because it's the most important sentence in the thread. Think about it's meaning. Really -- sit down and ponder it. Try to get it through your thick head:
Baltimore Shooter said:
Those who undercut are stabbing every cameraman in the back, including themselves.
For a guy who talks so much about "Business 101," you sure as hell don't understand why Baltimore Shooter's quote rings such truth.
Let me give you some friendly advice: get a back-up plan. You're not going to last long in your city if you're known as the guy who undercuts everyone else. Like it or not (or "bitch all you want," as you so eloquently put it), most freelance work happens through
networking.