Is a Day Rate the Answer?

I've been asked by fellow freelancer Joe Criscuolo if he could contribute to The Daily Freelancer. So I said "Sure!". Anyhow, here's Joe's first submission.
Enjoy,
Slim

Is a Day Rate the Answer?
by Joe Criscuolo

I think we can all agree that day rates suck. Or do they?

I mean let’s face it, for us career freelancers, a day rate is tantamount to career suicide! But, in our current wonderful and vibrant economy – sarcasm intended – we would be remiss to cast aside any deal because of a day rate.

So, what’s a day rate anyway? Well, it’s basically when a client (you’ll recognize the client if you look over your shoulder – he’s the one administering jail house justice) asks if you could adjust your rate from an hourly standard to a daily or weekly standard. For example, a freelancer who works at an hourly rate of $65 per hour accepts a (often lower) rate based on a gross rate of let’s say $600 per diem. If that freelancer works a ten-hour day, his hourly would be $60. The client will save $50 and the freelancer would secure the gig.

Granted, that’s a potential $250 loss for you on the tail end, but also a $3,000 guarantee for the week! Let’s see… don’t accept the day rate and lose the $3,000 because of a $250 net loss, or take the loss and get a mortgage payment in one week… Hmmmm, tough choice. Boy those day rates suck! Again, sarcasm intended.

So, what’s the problem with this scenario? The client is happy, the freelancer gets the gig, and the world gets to be saved yet again by some lame form of advertising that will either end up in the proverbial ass end of the ‘social collective consciousness’, or even better, buried in a landfill on the island of misfit POPs.

Simply put - emotions.

Emotions are, in fact, the mortal enemy of the career freelancer. If we could somehow surgically remove the emotional center of our cerebral cortices, we might have a fighting chance for survival in this dog eat dog world of advertising. Hell, it would make saving the universe one standee at a time more palatable.

The problem for most of us career freelancers is our inability to adjust to the challenges of being our own boss. I mean, let’s face it, once we dive into the freelance pool and taste of its waters, very few (if any) of us ever go back to the rigors of the daily art director’s routine. Sadly, many of us have great difficulty making the transition from worker bee to principal. Many more still haven’t made the realization that they are no longer part of the ‘machine’ and continue to carry within them the deep, dark emotions that come with being a career creative person.

As a business owner of many types of businesses, I can safely say that the key component that separates the winners from the losers is one’s innate ability to check his emotions at the door and function in a pragmatic and rational manner consistent with one who owns a competitive business.

Here’s an example: If business A advertises lower prices and better benefits over business B, who will invariably get the business? That’s right, nobody because the economy sucks! But when things are great, usually it’s business A. Now why is that? Pretty simple, in a competitive capitalist market, our goal is to stand out and be better than our counterparts by offering a variety of goods and services at competitive prices. Why should we be any different? I’ll tell you why we aren’t – because we are emotionally attached to our wares.

“But wait, I’m better than that other schmoe and should get a better rate – screw this day rate garbage! If they want me, they’re going to have to pay for me, period! Top dollar even!”

Fantastic. Keep thinking that way - because all the business you lose fostering that emotional attitude just makes me richer. Okay, maybe not richer because that would imply I’m actually making money. What I’m saying is that when we inject emotions, or rather, fail to extract our emotions, we become just like any other caged art director but without the benefits, perks or false sense of security.

So, in short, are day rates a bad thing? My answer is no, but that’s because I’m a businessman and treat what I do, and who I am, as a business. I disconnect emotionally and allow the rational to override the emotional. If a deal needs to be made, I will make it. When you realize that you didn’t get the gig and hear through the grape vine that I’m working, it’s for that reason.

This doesn’t mean that I am dispassionate about my work and the quality of my product. Quite the opposite. I love what I do and the products that I provide. I just learned many years ago that the caged beast is one who fails to flee when the net is cast. I’m not sure what that means, or how it pertains to this article, but the moral of this story is simple: be firm, be professional and don’t shun something new simple because it might tinker with antiquated habits. Day rates may not work for some, but for most of us it could be a way into a new agency and a means to an end in this crazy world of advertising.

Joe Criscuolo

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