A while back I did a job for a musician friend of mine. Rapidly I learned that unless an artist is backed by a major studio or label they are usually short on cash. Before starting the work I sent three rounds of proposals for the same project, each one reduced by a fraction of the original, until the cost of the project was within my friend’s budget. Sadly for me, with all the adjustments, the financial compensation for my work wasn’t motivating me at all. But in the name of advancing culture I decided to help nonetheless, and soon I found myself thinking “what did I get myself into?” In the end I made very little money and throughout the whole process I was constantly pestered by my friend, who is a compulsive artist and wanted creative control as most artists do. Now I look back and extract three important lessons from this experience.
I learned that the real value in this kind of business relationship doesn’t come from the monetary rewards. There are other things at play here. The first value is exposure. Artists usually have a loyal following, and this means more people will learn about my business through the them. For that same reason I displayed backlinks to my studio in all the work I produced for my friend. This is the oldest form of avertising also known as piggy-back promotion. This includes websites, flyers, and even attending events to get the word out about my studio. This helps boost traffic and eventually new profitable opportunities emerge from the relationship.
The second thing to consider here are the perks. Artists by nature produce art, which in most cases can be consumed by me, the designer. I get free music, dvds, tickets to events, etc. And being associated with an artist adds a certain creative flair to any businesses’ image, which is an added bonus of working with artists: the cool factor.
But perhaps the most important thing I learned had to do with prioritizing. Since the payment didn’t come in bulk, I could not afford to bend over backwards for the cash strapped artist. I needed to pay the bills. This simply means that artists don’t get VIP treatment. If there’s another project that’s making me more money, I’ll simply give my friend’s site secondary priority, and spend my most productive time where there’s actual money to be made. Conclusion: not all business relationships produce immediate financial gain. And after knowing what I was getting into I learned to enjoy working for my artist friend.
A very well presented article, and you’re right! I think people with creative abilities have always been called upon by their friends, and you need to strike a balance between helping them and receiving a financial reward for doing so, it looks like you managed both