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That Smell isn’t Rotten Fish
Only two more days remain in the ‘What I Want to Be’ contest sponsored by B5 Media. My odd little rant about cowgirls and rodeos and nurses fainting was added as a finalist, and the post with the most comments by April 30th wins. So if you haven’t commented already, or if you want to share your own story, hop over to Biz Chicks Rule where my brain dump is posted and leave a comment. You could win too, for there’s a winner chosen among all the commenters, as well. Thanks to all who have left their comments for me. I appreciate it!
On to other things – how do you know a good deal from a bad deal? Sometimes it’s easy, such as with “opportunities” that pay squat or job offers that sound more like legalized slavery than actual jobs (such as writing 500 articles a month for $20 or something equally depressing). But then there are those “deals” where you can’t shake the feeling it’s just a load of…. well, you know. I’m facing one such deal right now. My gut is telling me it’s more work and more hassle than I’m willing to put into it, and frankly I think it’s a stall tactic, for this client hasn’t paid me yet. And that, dear friends, ticks me off. But again, payment was promised to have been sent Friday. I will bide my time until Thursday before I attach the next late fee and bring in the lawyer. This is a business, not a game.
I read the agreement for this new, exciting offer. First off, spell check for gawd’s sake. It’s a legally binding contract that states I get paid (I quote here) “… fifty percent of the gross profits (40%)…” Now I’m not a mathematically adept person to begin with, but how did we lose 10 percent in translation? That’s not the only place this particular error occurs, either. It goes on to say I get “forty percent of ad revenue (30%)…” Uh, hello? Anyone home?
What’s upsetting me is the fact that there is too much vagueness to this deal. Much talk about my being expected to promote this venture as part of the deal, but nowhere is it spelled out exactly how much promoting I’m expected to do. I smell more than one loophole to deny payment here, and that’s enough for me.
I’d already decided this wasn’t a path I’d go down when I came to mention of other arrangements. One was that I would resell some of my other work to this company so they could produce a longer project from that work. Suddenly, that offer’s turned into them developing this project for me to buy for my site. What, you mean my site that I told you was no longer an active site? I don’t know what’s in the Kool-Aid over there, but I’ll pass.
In this case the decision has been made quite easy thanks to vague terms, changing criteria and a missing paycheck. But my gut was telling me run like hell. That’s your barometer, too. I don’t care how fantastic it all sounds on the surface – if your gut tells you something’s wrong, don’t do it. Better to be safe than to risk nonpayment or worse, to owe someone a ton of money for a lousy deal. Had I listened to my gut about the guy who had the Foundation (who is now in jail), I’d not have been embarrassed nor would I have received the hate mail for helping the jerk.
Your instincts are usually right. Listen up each time you’re faced with one of those “fabulous” offers.
Yup, go with your gut.
That and vague contract terms are usually enough to get me running; however, occasionally I’ll counter the contract terms with my own rider and see if that can work.
Usually, though, it’s not worth the hassle.
In this case, I suspect a stall tactic or some other such nonsense to call off my legal beagle.
I learned to follow my gut many years ago when I had this vague feeling that something wasn’t quite right with the chiropractor I was going to. I told myself it was just that I liked my previous chirorpractor (who had moved out of town) so much that anyone else would suffer by comparison. I had absolutely no legitimate reason to be concerned … but then he twisted my neck and caused a Wallenberg syndrome that almost turned me into a vegetable. Any time I get that feeling now – I run as fast as I can to get away.
I continue to struggle trusting my instincts. At some point I must have gotten out of the habit and these days it can be hard to listen and appreciate that wise inner voice. Perhaps it’s because for so long I’ve been under the influence of the little hater inside. Learning to trust your instincts and follow your gut is a huge lesson. Forgive yourself when you forget to follow and celebrate when you do. 🙂