HOW DO YOU PUT A PRICE TAG ON YOUR ARTWORK
As Daarken (Mike Lim) very eloquently illustrated, this is often a topic that frightens artists, not only because it's a difficult thing to define numerically, but because very few of us (including myself), ever delve into the financial/business side of our work. After a very long and interesting conversation on the topic, I wanted to share a few things I've experienced and learned to help out artists when they're face-to-face with a potential employer who's asking you the intimate question of payment. No, not everything I'll be mentioning below are my own brilliant realizations...some of this I've read, some I've discussed with others.
HOW TO:
Here's a very interesting and helpful exercise that I recently learned...try this...let's have an imaginary conversation with a BAWS asking you how much you charge for your work:
BOSS: How much do you charge?
YOU: (think of a figure that you'd be comfortable asking)...emmm... 40 dollars/hour
BOSS: ok, now would you be comfortable asking for 80 dollars?
YOU: oh...em..yeah sure!
BOSS: How about 160 dollars?
YOU: Wow, sure yeah!
BOSS: How about 320 dollars?
YOU: Holy smokes..yeah!
BOSS: So you're comfortable asking for 320 dollars?
YOU: Sure!
BOSS: Then why did you originally ask me for 40 dollars?
YOU: ....well..because I wanted to offer you a price that wouldn't scare you away
BOSS: So in order to not scare me away, you cut yourself down by 280 bucks?
YOU: em...rrr...yeah?
BOSS: You aren't very good at negotiating are you?
YOU: I...guess not?
What many artists do, because they're shy about the subject of payment, is demean and belittle their worth. This happens every day, all the time.
You see, you were comfortable asking for 320 dollars/hour, but for whatever reason (you didn't think you were good enough, you were afraid to scare the potential employer away etc..) you cut yourself down to your MINIMUM. This is a big mistake.
In order to really figure out (in your head) a REASONABLE amount to charge, you need to run yourself through the process of NEGOTIATING a price before you speak to the boss. Now, what's important here is the word "reasonable". Yes, logically speaking, asking for $1500/hour will get you laughed at and the door slammed in your face..but rest assured that you aren't foolish enough to ask for a ridiculous amount. (unless of course you really are a king-pin artist that everyone wants to hire..which WILL come by the way in time)
Do that "doubling the price" exercise in your head...then reverse it. Once you've come up with a number that you feel "comfortable" with, in your mind, look at the boss and quote the amount to him/her. Does that amount come out of your mouth comfortably, or are you realizing that you're asking for too much/little? If it's too much, knock 20 bucks off...maybe 20 bucks more...but in your mind..find your comfort zone.
It's a 2-minute exercise that can really help you find your place and give you more confidence when discussing pricing with your potential employer.
NEGOTIATING IS NORMAL
The second thing I "realized" after years of negotiating is that "bosses" deal with negotiation all the time! This is nothing new to them, they're often pro's at it, and are all-too aware that you're young, unexperienced and afraid of negotiation n- and will play the "you're crazy" game to lower your confidence, because they're to save money!. So, put the shoe on the other foot...act LIKE A BAWS!
You're the boss, you represent a large/small company and are well-aware of their financial situation. You're also well-aware that 320 dollars/hour isn't very worrisome for the company when they just invested $470,000 into upgrading the computers in the studio. Yes, 320 isn't scary at all. If Adam sits down with me in a conference room and asks me for 320 dollars an hour (and he doesn't suck at art), then in my head, the number won't freak me out. Not being a jerk, if Adam asks me for 320/hour, then I'll kindly let him know that I'm not willing to pay that amount, and perhaps offer him a counter-offer..maybe 250/hour. If I'm really stingy, then I might try to bark him down 100/hour. If Adam knows anything about "negotiating" then he'll counter my offer and ask for 280/hour, and let me know that he's not willing to go below that amount, because he knows what he's worth, and knows what's reasonable in terms of demand.
This process can go on for a little while (or a long while if we're talking big numbers), but money is what this company is all about, so of course I'm willing to invest a bit of time on it.
Like Daarken stated in his post, employers come in different shapes and sizes. Large companies often relieve the annoying task of negotiation by doing their research and setting the amount at a fixed number, take it or leave it. If you like it take it, if you don't, leave it. Otherwise, get to know yourself and your worth mentally, and prepare yourself for such conversations.
INTERVIEWS ARE A TWO-SIDED COIN
Another important thing to realize is that YOU are the artist. YOUR product is the one that's being sold. YOU have your own standards and YOU need to decide who the best employer is for YOU! GOT THAT?!
A job interview goes two ways, not just one. A job interview is intended not only for the employer to check out your goods, but for you to also check out theirs!
Have you ever gone in for a job interview and felt that "something was off". You walked out with an unsure feeling..maybe the guy seems bully-ish, maybe he seems cheap, maybe he's a bit too passive and unclear etc...Trust that feeling. Remember that this guy might one day end up your boss..maybe tomorrow, and you have to decide if there's a good enough chemistry with that employer. If your gut is telling you that you're insecure about the way this guy's doing business, trust that instinct, because that's your mind's way of telling you that you probably won't be happy or satisfied working for that guy. If you're unhappy working for that guy, chances are your work will suffer for it, and/or payment will be a struggle for you. Working as a freelance artist, it's not hard to come across employers that cop-out on paying you after weeks/months of work...so make sure to size him/her up during the interview.
I repeat - YOU are interviewing THEM as well.
I'm saying this because I have myself been "dazzled" by job offers (and employment) by fancy-shmancy companies with fancy names etc...and accepted offers despite my not-so-pleasant gut feeling, and my gut ultimately got the last word, because I ended up regretting accepting the offer. Had I been honest with myself and respected my discomfort, I would have avoided employment situations that caused me unhappiness. I have worked for companies making considerably less money, but I was comfortable with the amount, LOVED my job and LOVED my colleagues and LOVED my employers and went home every day with a smile on my face.
When you're happy, you produce MUCH better work and dedicate MUCH more time to the quality of your art.
Now, let's go back to the employer and your relationship with them.
BOSSES ARE BAD PEOPLE
Here's a very common misconception (sometimes). Bosses on TV are very often portrayed as evil, money-grubbing, aggressive, cold and heartless creatures that are only there to make you miserable.
It wasn't until I became one myself that I realized that they're only human, and the quality of your boss depends on the quality of who they are as individuals. A giving and helpful person will be that way with you in business. A jerk with selfish and power-hungry desires will be that kind of a boss to you..that's how it works. If you take a moment to think about it, you can probably already decide what kind of a boss you would be...not hard at all.
Being an artist who's been bullied, ripped-off and belittled at times, I learned very well once I was given the same responsibility, that my employees were my friends, and I took care of my friends. If they had been working at the company without a raise in 3 years, then I immediately took that to my boss and made sure he got the pay increase that he deserved. If I had an artist that was going through extremely difficult times at home (within reason of course), then I would tell him to take a few days off (or even a week if necessary) to veg-out and get his head back together. If he needed to call me and vent for a bit, I was there to listen to him.
I had some crappy, but some AWESOME bosses in my time, and I remembered how good bosses really cared and got the best damn work out of me as a result. So I followed their example and avoided the ones that hurt me.
A BOSS'S JOB IS TO ALSO LOOK AFTER THE COMPANY
What is a company? A company is a business started up by someone (or several people), to sell a product the best they can to make money and grow!
OK, this is nothing new...but scroll back up one sentence and re-read that. A company has a product to sell. A boss can't do that alone, he needs help...he needs a team..people he can trust..people that will help him/her achieve that goal, make it grow, make it flourish, make it popular etc...right?
So if he's going to hire you, he has to feel that you're on the same boat as him right? I mean, if he interviews you, he's hoping to hear the words "I want to help this company grow", otherwise, like most bosses (including you), he'll jump to the conclusion that "I'm here to pay my bills, gimme work, I'll work, pay me kk tks bye!" right?
And that's NOT an unreasonable thing to ask. A boss is a person, who has worked tooth-and-nail to make this BIG company grow, but he can't do it alone, he needs YOUR passion, YOUR talent, YOUR drive, YOUR ambition to make it go somewhere...in ways that he can't, because he's only one person.
This takes us back to the "gut feeling" issue. If your gut HATES the product and the boss representing this product - then DON'T accept the JOB! But if you DO, and the boss is a cool guy that you like the idea of helping, then there's a good connection. When you look him/her in the eyes and say "I want to do everything in my power to help your company succeed", then they will believe you and like you for it. People, including artist, including bosses, are intuitive by nature. If you're full of crap and you're saying what the boss wants to hear, even if they buy your story the first time, after a few months of working there, the truth will come out.
Be honest with yourself...and them!
RESPECT THE LAW OF ATTRACTION
You are what you want. You are what you tell yourself you are. You are the words that you speak.
If you tell yourself that you're worth 40 bucks an hour, then that's exactly what you'll get, and nobody else is responsible for your own feelings of worth, you and only you can decide that.
People set limits on their potential every minute of every day.
- I would love to be a pixar animator/professional concept artist/write a book about art that everyone will love / be rich, but chances are that won't happen.
- I would love to ask an employer for 500 bucks/hour, but I probably won't get away with it. My work isn't good enough to ask for that much
- My work situation sucks. I'm just can't compete with these awesome artists applying for the same position. I'll probably have to live with unemployment a lot.
etc...
in every one of those sentences, you've set your own limits. And as such, ASK AND YOU SHALL RECEIVE!
Let's try a less fatalistic way of saying the same thing:
- NO MATTER WHAT I have in my way, I WILL be a pixar animator/professional concept artist
- I REALLY want to make 500 / hour in the next few years, so I'll make sure that my work provides me with the means to ask for that. 10 years is a reasonable deadline to expect TRIPLE that
- I CAN'T WAIT to work with those fantastic artists that I idolize, like Mike Lim or Bobby Chiu or Michael Kutsche etc...
Like I said, our limits are our own making. Has what I said above seem unrealistic? Not at all, if you REALLY want something, then GET IT! Right now, close your eyes, and REALLY imagine the end result of your success. Not the long, arduous, difficult, stressful, painful trip TRYING to get there...but the actual success. Forget about the trip, the trip makes itself, just FOCUS on your end result.
Picture yourself...REALLY picture yourself standing at a podium, looking out at hundreds of faces, making a presentation of your best-selling book on concept art, talking about your adventures at Pixar (or whatever you love), and getting a standing ovation for it. FEEL the success, the pleasure, the realization that you've succeeded, you've reached your goals.
And keep doing that every time you think about it. The moment you start to ying-yang with self-limiting thoughts, bring yourself back to the happy ending. I assure you that you'll ATTRACT the positive outcomes in a very surprising way. However, if you keep bitching and complaining that bad luck comes your way, then I assure you that that's the best you'll ever achieve.
Celebrities, rich people, famous people etc...always preach "Always believe in your dreams", and like most of us, you probably sit there and say "ah, thanks for that!, now where did I put the remote?"
No, they're right. They WANTED great things, so they ATTRACTED great things. They tunnel-vision focused on the end-result of their success and made a bee-line straight for it.
A huge thanks to Mike Lim (Daarken) for inspiring this topic for discussion - the floor is open for anyone and everyone's feedback.
Adam Duff
www.adamationstation.com
