A Copywriter, Two Dogs And Me ...

Before I proceed with my post, which by the way is going to be another rant (hey, I love complaining, so sue me!), let me tell you that my toothache is subsiding. The swell is almost gone, the pain is just a little irritable itch (for want of a better word) and I can eat without wincing :D And all that just means that I can go and pig out for the weekend ... LOL!

Ok, now let me get straight to my rant. I don't have much time cos I have some work to complete but needed to get this off my chest. I work in an advertising agency. Most of you know that already. We're not one of the big boys out there. And we don't even try to pretend to be. We're a nice small setup with a small workforce. But we do have pretty big time clients which I cannot name for obvious reasons.

We do work for developers, banks, caterers, embassies and also unfortunately for some our 'intelligent and prestigious' government agencies. Hey, don't look at me like that, they pay well okay. And we're pretty happy with the clients we have and the work we do for them so we have no need to compete with the big boys out there. There's lots of money to be made from below the line advertising.

We keep our staff at a very manageable level so as not to pass on the excessive cost of hiring too many irrelevant people to the clients which is what most agencies do anyway when they hire people to just sit there and shake legs (hey, that sounds like me ... LOL!).

And when the need arises, we engage freelancers like copywriters, photographers, illustrators and the like to do work for us. Saves us a lot more money than hiring them full time. It's not always that a particular work would require the services of a copywriter or a photographer, so why employ them full time, ya? And most of these freelancers are sourced by my boss and me.

Now, we're in the midst of doing a company profile for a particular government link company. They're a big name in the industry and the company profile would need to be pretty extensive and would require some deep copy writing skills. The job has been going on for quite a while and we've gone through 3 copywriters already cos the client basically rejected their copy.

Now, since we engage people to do work for us, that makes us the client instead right? And being the client I would expect the copywriter to come over to our place and discuss things with us. But no, this copywriter insist that we go over to her place and discuss the project there. And on top of that, she dictates the time that we can come over. And since I'm the one who deals with stuff like this, I'm stuck with having to face this person.

Imagine, there I am, on the way to see her and send some literature of the clients over for her, she calls me and tells me, to meet her outside cos she has another appointment! Hello, I thought you have an appointment with me and I even called you to confirm it before heading out. And now you tell me to meet you somewhere else cos someone else needs to see you. What are we? Dog food? We're paying you to do this you know. We're not asking for charity.

This has been going on for as long as I have been dealing with her and when I complain to my boss, she just says,

'Aiyaa Nick, you know how egotistical copywriters are la (no offense to you Marzie) just do what she wants la ...'

Huh? What the heck kind of answer is that? Geez, I don't tell my client to come and see me so I don't expect to be dictated by a supplier at her whims and fancies.

But then, I only work here. So I put up with it. The numerous cancellations, the numerous postponements and all this while I'm halfway there already. But today was the final straw. Today, after nearly 3 months, yes 3 whole months and people in the advertising industry would know that 3 months is a ridiculous time frame to write copy, the first draft is finally ready. So, she calls me and says,

'Nick, the copy is ready. Please come over and pick it up and don't forget to bring the cheque'

Well, okay, it took you 3 months and you want payment right away even. Can we post date the cheque to 3 months from now? Never mind, I confirm the appointment for later and schedule another earlier appointment. But on the way to my earlier appointment, I get a call from her and she says I have to come over now or she can't see me till next week cos she's going to be busy with another project.

I told her I thought the appointment was confirmed for later but she insist that I have to come now. Siggghhh ... I just feel like telling her to go to hell and rot there but I keep my peace. I call my other client and make up some excuse about Jupiter not being in alignment with Venus and that I'll be late because of that and head straight to see this pain in the rear! Good thing this client is a nice person and agrees for a late meeting.

Then I reach her place to pick up the draft and while waiting for it, she lets loose her two huge dogs which thought I was their lunch and proceeds to try and jump on me. Now, I like dogs, in fact I've been wanting to get one but when a dog tries to jump all over me when I'm in my work clothes and start shedding hair all over me, I'm not too happy about it. And I'm dressed in black today, so you know how glaringly visible dog hair is going to look all over me!

I was pissed at her that I just took the draft, threw the cheque at her and stomped out. That was the final straw. I don't care whether she calls and tells my boss about it but I've just about had it with her. From now on, she's going to have to bow to my whims and fancies cos I'm not going to drive to her place anymore just to pick up stuff. She works for us so she should come to us, not the other way round.

And 3 months just to do a draft? I could have done it in half the time it took her! I think I need a vacation after all this. Maybe somewhere overseas but the air travel can be pretty expensive and if you're a frequent flyer, well it just might cost you quite a bit. I suppose this is where those rewards credit cards come in handy. You know the type. The kind of cards that enable you to get rewards when you use them with certain airlines or the kind that accumulates bonus points and you can redeem them for airmiles. The more money you spend, the more miles you can fly.

Well, enough of my rants. I had to let that out of my system or my weekend would have been ruined. Now that it's off my chest, I can smile again :D Besides I've got some dating plans with wifey tomorrow and I don't want to be in a foul mood. Have a great weekend folks ...