Randall Milholland (@choochoobear) is a webcomic I have been following for years. At times he seems a bit "out there", but I think most of us are, some just do a worse job of hiding this fact.
This morning he went on a bit of a rant about what people expect regarding artists contributions:
All Art No Play is devoted to showing a small selection of Craigslist ads of people wanting free art work for their personal (and usually) commercial projects. Usually the ads "generously" allow the artist to keep a copy of said art project for their portfolio and the pay/benefit for the artist is "exposure". Obviously too many people don't quite get how artist's portfolios work and they definitely don't understand ownership of IP.
I found the Tumblr a fun, because-it-is-too-stupid-to-be-true-but-is, read and I was reminded of a somewhat similar event that occurred to me. As part of some small-business consulting work I have created some inexpensive websites for clients. I'm not a big-time web-designer, but I can do some decent enough work. It isn't my goal to become a web designer and as long as the client's needs aren't above my abilities I can get the job done at a good price. If a client needs something rather complicated/fancy I would direct them to a dedicated professional and I have turned down work that would basically be me taking money for no real work (like creating a real simple blog).
Anyway, I was referred a new friend-of-a-friend-of-a-client who had an idea for a new website. I knew before even meeting with this guy that it wouldn't be appropriate for me, but I figured I'd at least hear him out and try to give him a good referral to the right sort of help he needed. His pitch:
"I'm looking for a partner on a new commerce website startup."
![Christopher Stogdill Christopher Stogdill](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBDDyh1sQl0KM-J8Y1Jn8HvqKQPSh-b09tyLpZKM1I7pp3vCvHk3FYw4zXGmP8WeGR_NdKW06o6Sh9iodew9VG_sUPD0tYJ9JW5VYxC_uVDfWE3SJNC9d1C8DQDVValdfertBo/s1600/me2.jpg)
"Ok, I can tell you right now that odds are this isn't something I can help you with, but at least I should be able to get you connected with someone who does internet startups. Tell me about your idea."
![Anonymous/Clueless Photo Courtesy of psdgraphics.com Anonymous/Clueless Photo Courtesy of psdgraphics.com](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheq6cLO6avm0Jnz0LZ-PybgoUbRP0iIMEEbIiY7H4R6__gCSp5cXf7WaHeFGebDyEFl2BAhkAiYzelD7_6PxZKbCU9KlrzlQaEqUvgYvIOFGPdX1oMU9bcA6G6ePv1_z-COzF9/s1600/anon.jpg)
"Let me make sure I have this correctly. You want someone to come in and do all the work for a new commerce website, pay for everything out of pocket, and if your project is successful then maybe they will get paid back? If you envision this as a partnership can I ask what you plan on bringing to the table?"
"Well, it's my idea......and I know some woodworkers."
![Christopher Stogdill Christopher Stogdill](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGtKeaQ81QSRQlR_Zf4r5JzaXqkwpXz5Njre5TNxr_es43hZd6u9GgU5n3RTo-mwl-mzLhmipO6MtO8wvDDKACd6m3IswHdgWJiPD81rT_0RmpuY-H2opIR6JCk2eOSeRvyoIc/s1600/me2.jpg)
"So you going to help me with this?"
![Christopher Stogdill Christopher Stogdill](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWoKUWodmRQru47JjUpErVkKcJEAugXxSN4Ya9hTk3D08HvPsLBrDZzo3UFKUG12wx5sBfG9JCQTpjz2KxdzioucbiK3bgTJ-i-adiqiUkOKfvlGXx2dSGONobBtus73VHgIC4/s1600/me2.jpg)
I reached out to an old associate of mine who does a lot of work with internet start-ups and I pitched him this idea. Of course I will admit I did give him a heads-up that I was 99.99% sure that this was a waste of anybody's time. I said I'd pitch the idea so I did. My associate was much more professional about this than I expected, but wouldn't you know it.....nobody wanted to partner up with this guy.
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