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• I hear you Peter! Great reminder of what to avoid with the quickie. A quickie experience of mine - a new international skin care product on the market in Australia wanted a 'quick' brochure "thrown together" in 24 hours with "great punchy copy" and "snappy headings" - as they said. So I was 'quick' to knock the work back. The company rep just didn't sound right and the job as a whole didn't feel right, let alone the request for such an important marketing tool to be produced so quickly. I felt relief saying no to it and I was able to devote appropriate time to other clients and other projects. I recently saw the company struggling in the marketplace with cheap promotions and poor marketing tactics. It would have certainly been a painful project and I bet they would have argued about the price too! Lynne Cazaly from Melbourne

• Hi Peter - my experiences are that the more urgent the request, the less genuine the prospect - I find that the best response is (if it's someone you haven't dealt with) require a significant upfront payment or if it's a loyal client, just grin and do the best job possible, even if they have to wait a little. Grant Hyman from Sydney | Read my articles

• Yes, couldn't agree with you more. Many of my urgent requests happen because my clients aren't organised and want me to skip all my processes (and my organised clients) in order to get their job done quickly. And becuase they're in a hurry we have to go back to them many times to get information, and a half hour job takes half a day (or more). And when we rush things, what happens - quality slips and mistakes are made. When I say "NO, this is how we work around here, you can have your job in two days time" things usually go much more smoothly and usually, the rush isn't as rushed as made out to be.
  And who likes doing a rush job and then finding out later (via email read receipts or questions on your job) that they then didn't look at the job for a further few days or a week? Anthony Dohrman from Gisborne, NZ

• My favourite "quickie" story is to do with writing resumes. It's amazing the number of people who ring up and say that they already have a resume and they just want a few changes made. Having fallen for this line a few times in the past, I know where it often leads - you can end up almost re-writing the resume, and, having quoted a lesser rate to do the job, out of pocket as well. Resumes are a valuable marketing tool and, as such, require time, care and consideration spent in their compilation, to give job seekers the best possible chance of success in today's competitive marketplace. Tina Blackmur from Melbourne Australia

• I'm always amazed at clients that request work to be delivered faster than normal but then I receive the email "read receipt" a week later than the deadline date that the work was sent. There must be a reason? Rich from Sydney

• This experience for designers and alike, is common. We all like to do favours for clients and friends, we like to give or be generous in some way. I share all the experiences you touch on in your 'lure of a quickie'.
  There is NO lure for me now, with 30 years experience, either working for someone who says, oh before you go.. the client would like this 'little job' done, won't take you long, just throw something together - A familiar request when you are a youngish designer - it leads to trouble and you have little control.
  NOW with control firmly in my hands, I never, ever do anything for cheap or favours that involve any money for friends. It has always leads to resentment on my part for spending SO much of my precious free time AND they come back with more changes, demands etc.
  SO... make a decision not to get involved, offer names of other designer consultants rather than try to help or be generous. This is not to give someone else a problem but letting the 'friend' or 'client' see you are professional and serious about yourself, your business and the industry. They can't rock up to someone they don't know and ask favours.
  A friend asked me to look over a huge and fantastic brief, could be a nice project, however the clients were calling for unpaid creative. Warning signs, the answer is NO. Many reasons;
  1) You bring down the industry for every working designer and others ie., what dentist does free work ? Does Chanel let you wear all the suits for a week before buying?etc.
  2) Human nature values what you pay for...
  So clients sit in a presentation with all this top notch, slaved over pitch documents , all competitive, and looking amazing. Then pick the eyes out of it all, then give the job to their favourite anyway and then give them suggestions and directions they have gleaned as being their own.
  3) Golden rule in business; Don't get involved in free pitching, under priced work, and free ideas.
  4) There are no friends in business but professional associates, don't mix the two up however 'nice' they are. I have met hundreds of nice professionals but much as I may lunch with them, the are work associates.
  5) Designers argue their own dialogue on the value of free pitching and say things like;
  a) "if we win this there's a whole heap of work afterwards" - perhaps but at what rate? You GAVE away the intellectual property, it's a gamble, business is not about gambling
  b) "well we're not busy anyway" - you should be! Updating your folio, painting that reception, chasing new ways to get new clients! Not a moment to loose!
  c) "everyone else is doing pitches for free" - this is bringing down the professional manner of the industry and the consequences of this should be considered long term, not the quick hit.
  Nice to hear there are designers and associates who take industry ethics seriously. AND actually doesn't this mean they value their training, experience and ideas AND their good clients too? Isobelle Vivi Pover from Sydney

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