Originally Posted by Harpoon,Mar 26 2010, 09:59 AM

Somebody says to me - "We are considering using your services and want you to give us a proposal". Translation - "We want to hire you, perhaps for a very brief time and perhaps for a longer time". Therefore, the hourly clock starts ticking and the charges start occuring as soon as I begin the proposal. I tell them this. If they say, "No one else we are considering using is going to charge for the proposal", I tell them that could be a very good indication as to the quality of my work - I am in a position where I can charge for it immediately. If they want an initial meeting to just talk about broad options, I don't charge for it because it will typically be only an hour or so, and they won't necessarily get any of my intellectual property. A proposal will have to provide them with some of what I have spent a lifetime building. No one gets that for free.

I am reminded of the old Picasso story about the artist and tourists in Paris. He was at a cafe and two American tourists recognized him. They rudely asked him to draw them something. He took a clean napkin and a marker and scratched out a quick drawing. They said they wanted to pay him and he said "No you don't". They insisted and he said "Okay, that will be $15,000". (This was in the 1960's). They said they were shocked and asked how he could justfy such a high number since it only took him 30 seconds to do the drawing. His comment was "My friends, it took me a lifetime of work to get to those 30 seconds. If you insist on buying my work, that is what you bought, not the 30 seconds".

Originally Posted by my2ks2k,Mar 26 2010, 05:22 PM

i've heard that late in his life, picasso could go to an expensive restaurant and leave a doodle on his napkin as payment