Friday 21 August 2009

You're Rich, Gimme Some Of It !!!

As we seem to be hung up on the question of money in this Blog of late I thought I'd give vent to something which consistently annoys me...

And that is the way that prices automatically go UP when someone perceives you to be rich and famous. I get this ALL THE TIME - whether it's with handymen who come and do work at my house, freelancers who submit humongous bills for simple jobs or people who give me quotes on projects, to name but a few.

The thought process is 'She's rich so I deserve some of it' - and I can tell you there is no quicker way for you to lose business and/or clients with anyone you perceive to be loaded.

Doesn't just apply to people of course, it applies to corporates (although it's much easier to get away with when you're dealing with executives spending someone else's money).

The entrepreneurs who TRULY benefit from 'high profile clients' are the ones who recognise that, if anything, we are far more stingy than the average customer (most rich people got there in the first place by being ruthless with money, and habits stick) - but that the PR/publicity/referral benefit of dealing with us will yield £££ for you in the long term.

So next time you want to get a 'celebrity' client on your books, it's a smart move to offer it FOR FREE !!!

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

You are so right. It's all about added value, is that the right phrase?

Sort of like keep it as low cost as you can, and inevitably you get much returning custom.

Stephen said...

I am not sure what the Rich expect?

It is the bourgeosie who largely create the world we live in.

It is the bourgeosie who lead us into world recession.

It is the bourgeosie who have the inside line and the means to bail out when the going gets tough.

What do they expect when the dogs are at howling at their doors trying to get in and plunder them?

It is their self-fullfilling world in which we live.

This sounds to me like "bad karma".

Mr C said...

I feel particularly well qualified to contribute to this debate as most of my clients are the rich and famous. Do we charge more? No. Do we do work for free? Yes occasionally. Do we seek endorsements? Never.

We charge the going rate for work and never seek to benefit from the 'celebrity' of our clients. Discretion is the name of the game.

C

Stephen said...

"Discretion is the name of the game"

Interesting comment in today's climate of financial incompetance and irregularity.

Kind of gives the impression that the true meaning of "discretion" is really "Accessory to De-Fraud".

Mr A Dragon said...

Hmmmm...

Surely Rachel, all you are doing here is taking the opposite view - "I am a celebrity, so I dont want to pay for it - give it to me free!"

As a supporter of small business you should want to pay a fair price for the job and then if a business wants you to endorse a product, thats a seperate business transaction..

Rachel Elnaugh said...

All I'm saying is that it is about value.

The small business wants to be paid more because his client is rich yet has added no extra value into the equation. That = a rip off.

However a celebrity client can add HUGE value to the small business, think of what the Beckhams did for Gucci, or Jennifer Aniston for Ugg Boots.

I am not saying I don't want to pay - I just hate that feeling of being ripped off!

R

Stephen said...

I fear "leveraging the celebrity" is a long term game. It seems to me that most small businesses don't have that long, so they're grabhing all they can whilst they can.

But like i say. The rich and famous only have themselves to blame for this.

I am sure Rachel you understand just how business is changing in the nuclear financial holocaust constucted by the bourgoesie.

Mr Robot said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Stephen said...

I say this all in light of the intuition i have that the social fabric of humanity is being steered away from liberty and justice.

When "justice" means letting someone home who has been convicted of mass murder; who can say what the bourgeosie will have us do next?

Watch the subtlies. Not the obvious.

Anonymous said...

I'd just like to say that I have done lots of work for a well known celebrity, and have to admit that I did do the jobs a bit cheaper than I would have normally charged, and gave extra value, I believe.
Why should the 'celebrity' be ripped off, they are a customer, just like any other, and of course when others realise that you have a celebrity on your books as a customer, they to want to give you work, so to do work a little cheaper for the celeb, will and quite often does generate more new custom.

Anonymous said...

quite often depends on who the celebrity is. Not everyone is impressed or even knows some of these people.

Mr A Dragon said...

"When "justice" means letting someone home who has been convicted of mass murder; who can say what the bourgeosie will have us do next?"

Oh dear, lets take the populist easy view. And stop using words like "bourgeosie", you sound like an ass..

I think Mr MacAskills decision was very brave and very right.

It shows that we arent like the perpetrators of that crime, and we hold justice and compassion to be equally as important.

It also shows that we can stand up to America and seperate ourselves from them - never so important as it is now.

Of course the families of those killed will be angry and upset, they have every right to be. But in our society, they dont get to make these sort of decisions otherwise we may as well return to the justice of the lynch mob.

So what if he got a "heroes" welcome - he will be dead in a few months.

And is he actually guilty? We may never really know..

Peace

Bob

Stephen said...

I know these Bourgeosie.

There are plans to undermine the UK justice system and to utterly detroy any sense of social cohesion.

This is accomplished by taking positions which go against the grain of common decency and are entirely inconsistent with decisions made in the past.

These positions are considered actions of transformation. But what they are, are simply more ways of undermining public unity.

So we have bombers being let out of prison without trial, Americans breaking the Geneva convention in Guntanamo bay, going to war illegally and globalisation at the expense of our national security.

Don't be under any illusion Mr Dragon.

MacAskills decision was all part of the macro political game in play.

It was nothing to do with peace, love, compassion or justice.

This is one of their sick little games.

Stephen said...

Rachel is no bourgeosie.

She's a blimen 21st century Joan of Arc.

She'll be with us on the front line facing those bourgeosie who are as unnatural to our race as the devil itself.

The illuminated ones are definitely going down.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m27qo-i0Vhk

Mr C said...

Oh dear it appears that once again, a valid observation from Rachel has descended into another paranoid conspiracy theory.

Stephen, I agree with Mr A Dragon. The release was a compassionate gesture and I applaud it as such.

As for the use of the word discretion in my previous post I was merely pointing out that I don't seek to exploit the fame or celebrity of my clients.

C

Stephen said...

Oh dear it appears that once again, a valid observation from Rachel has descended into another paranoid conspiracy theory.

There is no theory. There is simply observation and knowing how the bourgesie like to play games.

Stephen, I agree with Mr A Dragon. The release was a compassionate gesture and I applaud it as such.

Yes, of course you do. But then again, your own children were not on (or underneath) that plane.
Justice and compassion are not devices exclusive to convicted criminals.

What this judgement says is. If we hurt you; then you will roll over, accept your punishment and let the abuser go.

As for the use of the word discretion in my previous post I was merely pointing out that I don't seek to exploit the fame or celebrity of my clients.

Yes, i expect you reserve exploitation for the less priviledged. But truth is, you are always looking for a way of leveraging your relationship with the celebrity. That's just how entrepreneurs operate.

Mr C said...

Stephen

Surely compassion is something to commend whenever it occurs. It is a sign of strength not weakness.

As for exploitation, I do not seek to exploit anyone in business. I believe that my businesses are only sustainable if all the people they come into contact with gain some value from the experience. Most of the entrepreneurs I know have a similar outlook on life. We all want to make a positive contribution because life is too short.

C

Stephen said...

Surely compassion is something to commend whenever it occurs. It is a sign of strength not weakness.

Yes, of course Mr C, but where there are multiple injured parties involved, decision makers must weigh the balance of compassion.

Whoever weighed the balance and made this decision has a very sick mind indeed, or a very dangerous one.

This kind of decision sets very dangerous precidents.

It says the "One" is more important than the "Many".

This is consistent global political perspective which expects to reduce the worlds population down to 1 Billion within the 21st Century.

The bourgeosie believe that this planet cannot survive otherwise.

Stephen said...

Mr C.
On the point of exploitation, i have yet to see an entrepreneur who wasn't trying to exploit a relationship in one way or another.

Entrepreneurs tend to be highly charged, highly manipulative individuals exhibiting autistic, yet competitive behaviour.

It may be that you are a rare case.

I can certainly accept that.

Mr C said...

Stephen

Exploitation is only a short term endeavour as sooner or later you run out of people to exploit. To build a sustainable business you need to add value for everyone involved. Its a harder track to follow at first but its the only way to go if you want to create something worthwhile.

C

Anonymous said...

Thought for the Day: "The real measure of your wealth is how much you would be worth if you lost all your money." Anon

Anonymous said...

Have to say, I agree with both Mr C & Anon

Stephen said...

Yes, i agree Mr C.

Its a shame that most others don't.

Short termism is definately the name of the game everywhere i've been.

There are no long term players.

So i leave it to them to play there insincere games.