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Bad for Business
12 Plays4 years ago
In this week's episode, I discussed a sticky situation I was in and five lessons I learned from it.
Recommended Resource: 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene https://amzn.to/2DlVzcQ
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Recorded, Produced and Edited by Éliane Anita
Track Produced by Devo Beats
This is a Relevant Media production and Podcast
Recommended
Transcript
Cautionary Tale for Entrepreneurs
00:00:17
Speaker
Hi, guys. Welcome to the Alien Anita podcast. I'm your host, Alien, and I'm so excited to have you join me for this week's podcast. This week, I am going to share with you a cautionary tale that I experience in hopes that it will help you as you travel down your entrepreneur journey. And not just if you're an entrepreneur, but if you're just a person in general, I think that these tips will help you.
00:00:44
Speaker
I'm going to explain this in the form of business tips, but you can use this for your personal experience as well.
Encounter with a Graphic Designer
00:00:54
Speaker
I had an encounter with a graphic designer that could have really potentially caused a huge legal issue on my end, but we thank God it didn't. Here's the story.
00:01:09
Speaker
When I first started podcasting in 2017, I needed a graphic and it is required that you have some form of artwork to make your podcast identifiable. So in order to do that, you have to have a graphic.
00:01:26
Speaker
I reached out to a well-known graphic designer who owned a graphic design business and this person was extremely popular. This person was accountable to some of the same people that I was accountable to.
00:01:42
Speaker
And more importantly, this person I considered a friend. So I reached out to them and asked if they would be willing to help me with a graphic design.
Podcast Artwork Plagiarism
00:01:53
Speaker
Now, please keep in mind, although this person was a friend, this person was paid. So I did pay them for the graphic and I paid them well for the graphic. So when I reached out to them, they
00:02:08
Speaker
created a graphic for me. They sent it back. I was overjoyed and I use it as my podcast artwork cover. Moving forward some time, moving forward through some time, I was sent a picture of my podcast
00:02:28
Speaker
artwork alongside with somebody else's album cover. And you can go to my Instagram page and see what I'm talking about. I did post it, but I wanted you to see exactly what happened to me as a cautionary tale to you.
00:02:47
Speaker
So they sent it to me and basically my old podcast artwork was somebody else's album cover with my picture slapped on top of it. So if you could imagine the embarrassment, the hurt, the shame, the frustration that I may have felt or that I did feel when I found this out.
00:03:11
Speaker
So what I learned from it was five things.
Five Lessons for Contractors
00:03:14
Speaker
I learned a lot of things, but I wrote down five things. I just jotted down some quick notes, and I wanted to share with you those five things. So when you work with a contractor, a graphic designer, whomever, when you're just in conversation, when you are agreeing to build a relationship with somebody, you want to make sure that you do at least these five things. Number one, you want to make sure you do your research.
00:03:40
Speaker
You want to work with someone that is knowledgeable, credible, and integral. I cannot emphasize how important integrity is in business, not just for you, but for the people that you work with.
00:03:56
Speaker
You have to make sure that integrity is at the forefront of your potential business partner or contractors mind. It has to be the very first thing that they go by because
00:04:12
Speaker
If you are not integral, people will jeopardize not only themselves for a dollar, but they'll jeopardize you as well. So you want to make sure that you have people that you're working with people that not only know how to do what you're asking them to do, but that they can be held accountable and that they are willing to have integrity.
00:04:34
Speaker
I cannot emphasize that enough integrity is huge. The next thing you want to do is read and make sure that you read all reviews and comments. Look on their websites, see if any if it's a comment section where people can comment about
00:04:51
Speaker
how they enjoyed the brand or if they didn't enjoy the brand. Make sure you go through and read all of that. If they have an Instagram page or a Facebook page, go to it and see what people say and what they have said about this particular brand because if they had a bad experience, you want to make sure that you know that. And if they had a great experience, you want to know that as well. What makes this company worth you putting your company on the line for?
00:05:19
Speaker
look into past work that they have done. See who they work with and see what design that they come up with. In this case, I'm saying design because I work with a graphic designer, but you want to see if this person is, if their work is up to your standard. If it's a design company, if it's a graphic design company, you want to see what their design style is. If their design style even match what you're trying to do,
00:05:48
Speaker
So, you know, you want to make sure that you look at past work and see if it's worth you putting your business on the line or your reputation on the line for this person. And if you know anyone that's worked with them, ask your friends, you know, mention their name and conversation and see if
00:06:06
Speaker
Maybe your friend knows someone that worked with them and ask them what their experience is and what they did and didn't like about the process or whatever. You just want to gain as much information as you can before you enter into any kind of agreement ship or
00:06:22
Speaker
partnership or whatever with a person before you say yes. So you have to keep in mind that it's your brand, it's your business, and you want to make sure that you are working with the best. The second thing I would suggest is to trust your gut or follow discernment.
Trusting Your Gut in Business
00:06:43
Speaker
I cannot even begin to express to you how important discernment is in business.
00:06:50
Speaker
You need to know who you're working with and if that person is going to hold up to their end of the bargain and you can just discern in people's conversation. This is what I learned that people will tell on themselves in conversation. If you ask the right questions, if you hold a decent conversation, a long enough conversation with this person, just ask random and sporadic questions. You will get the truth out of people.
00:07:16
Speaker
It's like talking to a kid, eventually they're going to tell you the truth. So I would say, a part of the trust in your gut is to listen. Listen to the kind of conversations that people are having. Listen to their language and their posture. Listen to what they don't say. Ask very specific questions if you're not sure about what to expect from a process or if you're unsure about
00:07:44
Speaker
what you can expect from them, ask questions and continue to ask questions until you have clarity. Seek wisdom, reach out to somebody that's a mentor or seek out to a friend or maybe a business colleague and just see if what you're feeling is on or if you
00:08:05
Speaker
Maybe you're being over exaggerating, maybe you're over exaggerating or it could be anything. Just always seek wisdom if you're unsure about something. If something gives you a red flags, ask questions and seek and reach out. And a part of that too is just take some time and pause. Say, wait, you know what, before we move any forward,
00:08:26
Speaker
I just need a couple days to kind of process through this. It's nothing wrong with you taking your time because this is your business. This is your reputation. This is your life on the line, basically. You want to make sure that you're doing business and collaborating and building relationships with good people. And you want to make sure that these people have your heart in mind and you keep them in mind as well. So if you need to take a minute, take a minute. Trust your gut.
00:08:56
Speaker
Number three, be specific.
Clarity in Branding Vision
00:08:59
Speaker
So in this case, it was a graphic design. So I would say make sure that you map out and make your vision clear. Have everything that you want listed and lined out so that your vision is clean and clear and easy to process through.
00:09:18
Speaker
Ask for specific colors. Ask for a specific design. I don't know. Maybe turn a letter in the name of your company backwards. I don't know. Just make sure that you ask for something that's going to make your brand unique. If you did any kind of logo searches before,
00:09:38
Speaker
You could recognize the golden arches from a mile away. You know it's McDonald's. You can see the golden arch and know that's a McDonald's. Why? Because it's identifiable. So you want to make sure that you have something that's unique and that brings identity to your brand and to yourself. So that I would say in that be specific as possible.
Importance of Documentation
00:10:00
Speaker
The fourth thing you want to do is create a paper trail and keep all receipts. I don't care if your conversation started out as a DM on Instagram, or if it's in a formal format in an email or text message, whatever, keep every receipt.
00:10:19
Speaker
If you sent this person payments, make sure you send it in a way that can track. Don't just, you know, if you give somebody cash, get a receipt. If you are sending the internet payment, make sure you send it via PayPal or some data tracking in a way that you can track how your money was spent or where it went.
00:10:39
Speaker
So that if you have to call this person out, if you even have to get to the point where you have to involve legal representation, you want to make sure that you have everything that can protect you and protect your business. So it's important. I mean, you need receipts and paper trails of every kind. And the fifth and final thing is to proceed with caution.
Proceeding with Caution
00:11:05
Speaker
Do not make sudden moves. I don't care if it's business or personal.
00:11:09
Speaker
Never make a sudden move. Always take your time. Always give yourself time to process. If you are a slow processor, I'm a slow processor. I need a day. I need about two days or whatever to process through to make sure. And I know this about myself. So with proceeding with caution, you have to know yourself so well that you know what time you need to make a decision. So before you say yes to any contract,
00:11:38
Speaker
or you say yes to anything, make sure that you take your time, process it through, talk with mentors, talk about it with friends, do your due diligence, and proceed with caution. You can spend up to $2,000 trying to trademark something. If I was trying to trademark my podcast artwork,
00:12:07
Speaker
I would have been out of maybe up to $2,000. Why? Because I didn't work with someone that had integrity. So it would have cost me thousands if I had not, if I had to went through with a trademark processing because of not doing due diligence. Do not be like me.
00:12:28
Speaker
Take your time. Make sure that you proceed with caution, that you do your research. Listen to your gut. Be specific. Keep paper trails. Do all of those things so that if anything goes wrong, you are protected on all ends. Keep in mind, this is your business. This is your company. And if you don't take it serious, nobody will.
00:12:56
Speaker
I had to pay for that lesson. I'm giving it to you for free.
Learning from Mistakes
00:13:01
Speaker
I can't tell you the embarrassment and the shame that I had to see my face plastered on somebody else's work. Don't be like me. Do your due diligence. So I hope that that podcast helps you. I hope that you enjoyed it. Please be sure to share it with all of your friends and followers. If you know any business owners, get this in their hands.
00:13:24
Speaker
If you want to see what I'm talking about, I did make a post. It is on my social media. You can find it anywhere on my social media pages.
Connecting with Alien
00:13:33
Speaker
If you have any questions, concerns, you can always email me at AlianaNitaShow at gmail.com. If you want to follow me on any social media, I am Aliana Nita on all of the things. You can find me there if you need to find any links.
00:13:50
Speaker
I'll list them in my show description, so just click on that.
Recommended Reading: '48 Laws of Power'
00:13:55
Speaker
But before I go, I have a recommended resource for you. And the recommended resource is called, it's a book called 48 Laws of Power written by Robert Greene.
00:14:07
Speaker
This book is so insightful and so helpful in so many ways. He has 48 laws of power and he talks, he has an exhausted amount of information in this book. I highly recommend that you go and check this book out. It's really good because I really enjoyed it because I looked at it from a different angle. I wasn't just trying to learn the 48 laws of power, I was actually trying to see how people operate in the 48 laws of power.
00:14:37
Speaker
And I think that this book is incredibly insightful and it will really help anybody on an entrepreneur journey and anybody that's just trying to make it through life. So I highly, highly recommend that book. Go grab it. I will link it in my show description below.
Thanksgiving Wishes and Gratitude
00:14:56
Speaker
And I just wanted to thank you guys for listening and I want to wish you a happy Thanksgiving. Please enjoy your family, your friends, eat as much pie and turkey as you want.
00:15:07
Speaker
Some of you guys eat stuff and I eat dressing, but enjoy your holidays with your family. I just wish you a happy Thanksgiving. And if you enjoyed this podcast, please share and follow me on social media, guys. I thank you so much for being a part of my journey and learning with me and winning with me and failing with me and all of that stuff.
00:15:30
Speaker
As always guys, I love you so dearly. Thank you so much for tuning in. Be blessed and stay relevant.