Is Your Company a “Fluffer” for Other Businesses?
fluffer [fluhf-er] n, slang: An off-stage person hired to keep a male porn star in a state of erection.
~ Dictionary.com
Okay, provocative headlines aside, business is a contact sport. It can get rough. No doubt about it … but, are you doing all the work, yet you’re never the star?
Here’s how you know. If you’re saying one of these 3 things, you’re fluffing:
- “Hey, gotta pay the bills and keep the lights on”.
- “Well, it’s just for now. Until we get rolling”.
- “They’re going to bring us some real opportunities down the road”.
Well, you DO have to pay the bills. You CAN cut a client loose later and there REALLY might be bigger opportunities with that customer down the road.
Don’t Get Caught With Your Pants Down
But there are companies that can smell blood in the water. They’ll grind down your margins to nothing. They’ll ask you to put every cent you’ve got into meeting their rigorous standards and requirements. They’ll make huge down-the-road promises.
In the end, you’re doing all the work and they’re making all the big bank. And operating your business on other people’s terms can become a downward spiral where you never get ahead. It can kill your business.
And all those things you’re saying to justify these bad contracts are all the things you started your business to get away from in the first place.
Take the Leap and Be the Star
Doing the jobs you don’t want to do but have to do is a difficult position for any business to get out of. It takes conscious effort. You need an action list and here it is:
- Limit Your Exposure. Cut back on the expenses you’re paying to fulfill your fluffing contracts. Renegotiate cheaper rates with your suppliers. Put more of the customer service burden back on your clients by getting them involved to solve their own problems. Create efficient procedures and automate as much as possible.
- Actively Seek Good Business. Put aside a certain amount of time where you’re not available to your not-so-great customers and use that time to go out and hunt down the kind of customers you really want. Go to trade shows. Schedule as many meetings as you can. And decide right now that you’re only going to take on new contracts that are good for your company with this time. If it’s another fluffing contract, move on to the next meeting without skipping a beat.
It’s a short list, but it’s that simple. Cut your costs and raise your revenues. The key to turning your company into the superstar you want it to be is to go after the superstar jobs.
They might be smaller jobs with smaller clients that pay a higher rate. Or they might be good-sized jobs with large companies that throw cash around because they’re not well organized.
Next thing you know, it’s your movie. And you’re the star.

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3 Comments
Dave Navarro - Freelance Smackdown!
February 25th, 2008
at 10:34 pm
Dear God, I spit my coffee out when I saw this headline.
I never thought about it that way … but when you are working a bad contract, that’s exactly what you’re doing.
Nice pic ;-p
Shane
February 25th, 2008
at 11:09 pm
Haha … glad you liked it Dave.
It can be tough to get out of those bad contracts when you depend on them to keep the lights on. And it’s a double-whammy because you’re making these other companies stronger and yours weaker at the same time. Slowly but surely that puts you in an even worse and more desperate position over time.
Just say no to fluffing!
Freelance Smackdown: Day 14 Update (With “Secret”-Busting Goodness) : Million Dollar Leverage
February 29th, 2008
at 11:44 pm
[…] show you the ropes in return. I don’t recommend just doing this for anyone, though, because some people will screw you over in a heartbeat. But if you can find a really successful person who has top-notch character, it might be worth […]
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