Knowing the Difference of Friendly Clients or Clients as Friends in Tech and Graphic Design Fields

 Business is Time and Time is Money! Friends Require More Time and Money in the End.

       Why is it that some friends give you that awkward feeling with doing a job for or providing a business services and jobs for them. Sometimes nicest people in the world, do this as well.  Others can be quite nasty about it and well it's probably been worse since the years of Facebook compared to years back when people messaged my businesses via IM's or emails , or called us then continues with one service or another via emails , or IM's <maybe back then not everyone had a message service so you had to really make a connection attempts to contact and get services in such a way. > .   But this brings up the not mixing business with pleasure or should that old saying mention friendships not pleasure and in fact that may be the meaning to seeing that most derive pleasure from our friendships as that is part of what a friendship is about.


When people see friends have a business on Facebook as well as business websites  with pricing guides, product and service packages etc. … as well other friends, acquaintances and customers post thanks on jobs etc. … then that friend posts asking about the services or even a specific job to be done, you ask a few questions because that is needed to come up with what they expect, need and want, and you come up with getting to the point where you are going to give them a quote and they tell you well it's really not a big deal or no rush or hurry …  It is at that point normally you have to escape, because they are either not wanting to pay, and I am not saying all people mean it that way, but in sales that is the point with the customer which is as well a friend really should be  considered a window shopper. Again this is great, whether they want your service or not (maybe they had not seen the price list or are seeing if you will offer a deal which often I will whether they realize what I am charging for my time is another issue < especially when it comes to computers and one issue relates back to others they have and those issues need to be resolved in solving the original issues>

 

 How do you decide that friends are asking for more then a friendship?

So  that friend that asked you about your service needs and answer now and they keep up with it throwing more questions at you , as you explain what is needed to complete the task, and they go ahead with it calling you on the phone sending emails and since some services of my businesses are information based so the information is part of the solution they keep asking questions telling you the problems still there. Now if I have to log in to your computer remotely one of the service's I use charges me, so if you are telling me you do not have much money I will try and save you via giving you solutions via tele or emails or other method … yet they still cannot fix it on  their own, so you question them thoroughly going down the list of as is needed in tech support, which is exactly how it works via Microsoft, or even a garbage company seeing you have a template that you need to go over, a literal checklist, and as well scans may need to be done, software installed uninstalled, or if it is a website scripts configured as tech support is always similar in many more ways than one no matter what your you are supporting.

Whether it is creating this graphic or actually searching through files after file to find the Trojans in a computer both take time, tools, money, and education. It honestly takes more time and money for friends then a normal customer.

    When all is either said and done one of two things happens , you get to the price that is on the website and there is that awkward point where you get the feeling they expected it free. Or you have given them quite a bit of the consultation and they all of a sudden l tell you they have another call …  or ask you now well just log in and do it for me … at this point you explain well this is consulting as a service on the site points out ..   Yet again they may just disappear for a  few days until you message them asking what is up did you finish what I told you needs to be done  ? Did it fix it ?  Then they  tell you well someone else did it for me … of course following your instructions second hand.   Especially seeing these are friends, and yet all of a sudden you feel they project that awkwardness upon you as if almost how dare you charge me. Yet you spent quite a few hours and maybe right before they disappear all of a sudden you get some sort of a revelation that they really did not feel they should pay or there is more going on than you are being told such as multiple antivirus software's installed and running… again in many cases due to the person telling you they do not have much cash so something's you have to skip like remote log ins if it will make the rates go up beyond their means and yet  this is even after they ask how do people pay for your service etc.. Which is normally asked at the start of the conversation or email correspondence,  so did they think while you were helping them that this whole process was just a bonus to friendship , did they  really not look at your website, I mean if you spend quite a few hours of the back and forth in regards to their issue just think you spend that kind of time with every person that contacts you ? Do they think Microsoft or someone else is footing the bill? Many times people do not have all updates installed,  outdated operating systems, antivirus that has not been paid for in two years so it is useless, at least some sort of malware fake antivirus or ransom ware installed which if they told you about it or could afford remote log in service then the problem could have been solved right away, but the problem actually was due to all of these issues added together.

    So it really comes back to the mixing business with pleasure adage. There are only a few ways to stop this before you lose a friend, yet really are they very good friends in the first place you want to ask yourself? Many people do not run businesses, they are employees, they may not be clients to high tech which is everything in computer graphics, web development, computer repair, application wizardry and so on.  No matter if I am designing a logo, building an app, creating code for a site development issue or even being hired to do the design of your next marketing genius campaign the time take to do these things is consuming not to mention the tools and endless education, skill set, theoretical reasoning learned, process identifications and bigger even yet the software purchased to complete the tasks seeing that besides just needing the tools you need years of experience with said tools needed not to only complete their task but many others.

Friends are not mountains to conquer and business is not a friendship in Information Tech and Graphics Design Technology.

     

        So I have written this as a way to present the reality of the situation, friends are great, yet they rarely mix well with business.   I have written this not to tell people how to do business, but to save friendships and help people deal with the new phenomena of Facebook and other social media. When people overstep the bounds of friendships not even getting that people did not build a business with sweat and tears just to serve the personal needs of others under the guise of friendship and personal gains. I often work at discount rates for friends, being a professional in numerous fields my hourly prices vary by the sort of work that I am doing. Computer repair I charge more than I do per hour for graphics design, and 3d graphics design I charge more than plain old 2d graphics. Yet to get more specific, I charge more to do 2d print work advertising design then a few simple site graphics due to the fact that a single one page print ad that would be on glossy paper in magazines. A single print ad I may work anywhere from a few days to weeks, and if it is a campaign project similar to say the release of a new Xbox I may spend months. For a simple website graphic that going on as a simple Facebook header picture I would normally spend a few hours on at most unless the client has money and is a larger company that needs this, yet I still look at the Facebook header as important it is not the same and the costs and time I spend on said item getting it perfect, searching for image stock and buying the best or having it shot for the picture is again a major difference. Often for FB headers people get this idea I can grab a picture off of Google and that it is now free since someone posted it is  completely wrong and illegal and if a client asks me for this … I have to refuse, I am in the end responsible and this could be devastating to my company as well the clients costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. But this is a question or discussion for my Photoshop Hangout blog. Yes I can look at pictures for reference that I see on Google, but I cannot use part of it nor copy it exactly in order to save money. Reference pictures are a business in its own right even.
 

Daily Life and Upgrading from XP Operating Systems ... to Windows 9 and Adobe Creative Cloud

   Hello and welcome again to Freelance IT and Graphics Design of Lansing, Michigan. To start I want to tell you all that even though we are in the Lansing area and located near the campus of Michigan State University, we can do most projects and work off site. Otherwise we do the work from my office and studio. There are a few things where you may either have to drop off the computer for repairs or we have to visit your location and do on site work in a business situation. But utilizing tech and computers in personal and home situations we often require computers to be dropped off, this is in the case of computer repairs such as virus removals, upgrades, software and application installations etc.  But some of these situations can also be done via the net using messaging, screen sharing and remote access. To start remote access and control for a repair a retainer payment is required up front before we even begin and this is $50.00 non refundable plus a per hour fee of $20 regardless of outcome. I am stating this as people tend to forget the costs of doing business in a high tech world. As for business repairs and work we do this a bit different, and we more often then not do these jobs starting with and on site visit. But if you are using Windows XP or earlier we will inform you of updates necessary to bring your systems up to the standards of today's tech and security standards and again that is a $50 dollar fee just for looking at the computer seeing that XP is no longer under support via  Microsoft. We will not be able to fix or repair a Windows XP system due to the fact that it is not being patched for security and most software will continue to run on them that way written before 2013, but there is no way to secure the operating systems, software or applications otherwise making your privacy as well any public and private network access useless in a security point of view. So if you are running computers on any network that uses XP, it is first off dangerous seeing it can be compromised and the only way to stop this is via updating your systems and refraining from any sort of network access. All wireless access points and cables need to be immediately removed or disabled.

Updates and Upgrades from Adobe to Windows 9

    Now I may sound redundant in this speech I give often, but the use of XP is no longer and option for any business computer that has any sort of network access. Use of XP operating systems via a business is beyond irresponsible and,  as well clients and customers deserve the peace of mind in knowing that any communications or business you do with them is protected with modern security measures no longer available in the XP or earlier windows operating systems. All of the operating systems we use in our business whether it is graphics design, development, or just day to day business contact is done via Windows 7 Pro, Windows 8 Pro or a viable updated Linux based operating system, with no if's, and or buts about it. If your computer is so old that you cannot update your operating system then you should get a new or used system that is less then 5 years old. Moore's law states that computer systems will double every other year and this includes the processors, the memory (RAM), as well even the pixels in digital input devices such as still and video cameras. This was realized and made apparent by Gordon Moore the co-founder of Intel Corporation, and at times has been even a shorter period then 2 years.  Even storage capacities have doubled in as little as 3 years on average. Seeing that a new computer now days can be so much faster, have so much more storage and as well have dropped in overall price, then it makes sense that and upgrade ever 5 years is really letting the tech crunch get ahead of you. Just be glad you are not having to learn and keep up with each and every little update. With Graphics design there are plethora of software's we use and can be evident in the advertising medias, web design, video game worlds and the movies and film special effects (VFX) fields that show you this daily. Just staying up to date with the adobe creative suite applications uses and abilities will need both computer and operating systems updates and upgrades every other year. The Adobe Creative Suite is now know as the Adobe Creative Cloud 2014 and this will continue to require upgrades and updates for the best possible design and creative abilities. Let alone keeping up with new upcoming programming languages and scripting tools from Java and Ruby on Rails to HTML5 and CSS3. As I write this I have seen on the PC Advisers UK website, that the Windows 9 release date is scheduled for a Reveal on September 30th 2014. Windows 9 may or may not be quite a bit like Windows 8, only time will tell.