“It’s okay because my cousin is a computer wizard!”: the cost of incompetent people
“It’s okay because my cousin is a computer wizard!”: the cost of incompetent people
“It’s okay because my cousin is a computer wizard!”: the cost of incompetent people
How many times did we hear sentences like
“I will ask my cousin who is a photo amateur”?
“My brother-in-law will take my photos: he has a great camera, and will not ask me for money…”
We professional photographers – let’s underline it: professional – are used to hear similar sentences, as many other professionals, one above all, the graphic designer.
Even worse when insult is added to injury: “You know, he likes it…”. As though a professional didn’t like his/her activity, as though a burning passion was not behind the job.
You may also happen to hear “I do everything by myself”. Did geniuses like Steve Jobs act all by themselves?
Nowadays, it is common that companies consisting of one or more persons to believe that entrusting activities like communication and marketing plan, photography, graphic design, website and general communication to the highest bidder is the right solution to cut costs.
But that’s not the case at all. We are light years away from the truth.
The final image will be very far from what they need… and the results will be poor quality.
It is true, we all have to deal with the economic factor and above all, in time of crisis it is fine to make some choices: I am the first to advise my clients to proceed in small steps.
( website or social media – photography or creativity..)
If it is a question of having to choose which channel to give priority to, it is more than right to start from one point and then build the whole business communication, brick by brick, getting your hand where it is necessary.
It is quite another thing to think that it is right to entrust these tasks to amateurs or, even worse, to your brother-in-law/cousin of the moment because he fiddles with the computer: this is not thinking about your budget, this means considering others’ work worthless… and throwing money down the drain.
The right choice is definitely to act in small steps but well, one foot in front of the other with the most comfortable shoes for our feet.
Imagine you want to run a marathon with a pair of shoes lent by a friend who is used to jog on Sundays: you may finish the marathon, but the money you would have spent on a pair of suitable shoes will seem nothing to you, compared to the money you will spend to cure your legs. This metaphor is clear, isn’t it?
I leave you with a paradoxical consideration: would you have a friend operating on you just because he or she is good at playing Operation?
Think about this and tell me your answer!
