Shocking, right? We all have programmed to think that whatever the client says – the client is always right. Right? Well…I am not that sure anymore. I start to feel a bit like Martin Luther. How about a project that should easily be completed in 3 weeks keeps on dragging for a long time. How does 4 years sound? Is the client still right or are you just plainly too nice (queue “stupid”, “sucker” and other self demeaning words) to accept the fact that the client is not Alpha & Omega?

Here are some pointers that can help you spot a client who can drag you down into the deeps of a perpetual “Ground Hog’s Day”:

• I want it all for nothing:
  If the client asks for everything under the sun, including the moon, the stars and their light and points out that he or she has a minuscule budget to deal with then run as fast and far as you can. Do not try to serve champagne to folks with beer money. They will drag you into a downward spiral of requests, amendments to the initial requests, changes, payment withholding and other “fun” stuff, not to mention the fact that the whole project will take forever.
• They know what they want but have no idea what they are asking for
  Stay away from those who do not have a plan. It’s funny how many times I hear:”I just need a website. Can you do it and how much does it cost?”. I usually just say: “Have a nice day”.
• A Signed Contract keeps you out of courts
  If everything goes well during the “discovery” process, make sure you put together a contract. Outline the communication procedure, dead-lines, payment schedule and sign off terms for each milestone. Most importantly have a signed copy dropped off with the client and keep the original in your designated folder for that client. You will return to it several times. If it’s more than 3 times, start discussing the transition of the project to someone else. Be nice about it but firm.
• Time is of the essence. Especially yours.
  If the project’s completion period did not include several birthday parties of your own, or your client’s for that matter, it’s time to fire the client. Of course, this is true only when the client is the one not sending you the information to complete the project even when you pointed it out at least 3 times. If the time drags on because of you, well – you are just lazy and you should be ashamed of yourself.

I am sure there are more – but for now, these should be sufficient to help you deal with some damaging clients and if I helped in any way through these bullet points, it would be nice to hear from you.

Thank you everybody for all the nice words and I hope the next 12 months will be better than the past 12.

Celebrating with a big chocolate cake with 35 candles and a bottle of champagne…um…ok – more candles and more champagne – who’s counting anyway? I know I can’t at this time…

Happy Birthday to me! (insert off key song here)

This marks my 100^th article in this Defacto Mind blog and fulfills my pledge to post exactly 100 by the end of the year 2009. It all started on September 16^th, 2009 and in 3 months period I was able to publish this hundred articles. 

Defacto Mind Celebrates 100 Articles and a New Year

Next year I will start slowly because I am working on a monster project that will probable take at least 6 months to finish. I will share with you all once it is finished and marketing commences. 

I already have some New Year resolutions; among other things I want to start a new trend (or so I think although it seems PSDtuts.com is already working on it) and publish a new design every day. Instead of surfing the web, I will try to dedicate 10-20 minutes each day and publish a design (either, Photoshop, Illustrator or CorelDraw) and maybe some other designer(s) out there would want to join me. The stage is set and I welcome everyone.

That will not onlt enhance my design skills but will increase the number of works for my Design by Satori portfolio.

In the meantime, I wish everyone a Happy New Year and hope that 2010 will be better and more successful for all of you.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

This is my first Christmas in California and it feels a little weird. The weather outside is not freightful (although the tunes blasting from the CD player claim that). The almost 8 Ft. tree brings our entire family in the spirit of Christmas and the kids are ready to open the presents.

Lots have changed since my last Christmas in Michigan and now it’s a new beggining. I am looking forward to a great New Year. We will spend it in Las Vegas (shhh…that’s a suprise). I know the kids don’t read the blog so it won’t be a spoiler.

Well – again Merry Christmas everyone! I’m going back to my scotch & egg-nog now…

Oh – one more thing – did you kow that (according to the latest scietific discoveries) Jesus was born in spring, so technically we are kinda 8 months late? Apparently we got the year wrong too so now we should be around 2002 or 2003. Well – the economy feels like 1990 – so what’s the difference…

Another blog project on Defacto Mind; there are only 18 days left until New Year and I decided to schedule 2 more activities and write about in the Defacto Mind blog.

For the next 3 weeks I will write a book review every Tuesday and I’ll call it “Cool Blue Tuesday Book Review”. There is really no reason why Tuesdays would be blue or cool for that matter but I just thought it sounds catchy. So, every Tuesday, after reading a book about SEO, marketing, design or social media, I’ll share with you my impressions about a particular book and recommend it (or not) to you – the reader.

On the same token, every Thursday will be reserved for a small summary of a blog with information covering the same items mentioned above. I will call this “Thursday Blog Talk”.

At this point, I don’t know which blog or book I will review so I guess it will be a surprise for everyone. If all works well, I might continue this practice throughout 2010.

In the same time, I’ll continue with “Creative Friday” with articles about design resources for everyone who wants to improve their skills and craft.
In summary, my blogging schedule for the next 18 days will as follows:

Tuesday – Cool Blue Tuesday Book Review – December 15th, 22nd and 29th
Thursday – Blog Talk Thursday – December 17th, 24th and 31st
Friday – Creative Friday – December 18th and 25th

…and the madness continues…

Blog Allegiance

In order to speed up indexing for this Blog, I have decided that starting Nov.1st, 2009 I will write 3 posts each day, including weekends. After 30 days, the number of posts for the month of November should be exactly 90.

In fact, to make it more of a round number, I will add another 10 for the month and bring the total to 100. I will check stats on Google every day and report back to the blog on December 1st, 2009 with my findings.

I have decided on this experiment after reading an article about a fellow blogger who wrote 8 articles per day for 30 days straight. Although I consider myself a creative individual,  I don’t want to purely write stuff just for the sake of writting, but to really educate and bring new information to the table.

These posts will include more in depth analysis of design as well as marketing. I will try to cover subjects that pertain to all areas of the categories listed in defactomind.com

I will see you all on the other side. This should be interesting…

A Day in the Life of a Fanatical Marketer

“What should I do next…” – do you catch asking yourself this? Do you stop and wonder if you are doing all that you need to be doing to grow your customer base?

Do you follow a regimented schedule? If not – here’s some of the stuff I am doing during a “normal” marketing day. I am writing this as I am waiting my turn in line to wash my car.

This is September 25th, 2009 – a Friday I might add.

Make a note to check podcasts and software for video blogging

I am not saying you should do this everyday but…I am. The result will be (according to my calculations) that by this time next year I will have at least 200 articles written. Beat that – marketers wannabe.