7 Necessary Freelance Writing Boundaries

What’s on the iPod: Mama Knows by Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds

If you take a day off, you want to be able to enjoy it, right? Not so for me yesterday. An intestinal infection had me wiped out just getting out of bed. The meds can’t work fast enough. Advil kept me upright, but there was no way I could concentrate on work. I did a little administrative stuff, then plopped on my favorite chair in the library and read/napped.

I’m working with one client at the moment, and I was able to let him know I wasn’t up to the task. I could have pressed on, fever and all, but it made no sense. I made no sense, actually. I couldn’t concentrate and I wasn’t going to put out my best stuff.

While this is one of those uncommon occasions where I had to postpone the work, it’s a good reminder to us all to put down boundaries whenever necessary.

We as consumers accept boundaries on occasions — no mail on Sundays (except special package delivery), limit one sale item per customer, etc. Why shouldn’t we have those same boundaries in our own businesses?

Here are a few ways you should be demanding respect from your freelance clients:

Pay. I can’t really repeat this one enough. If your clients are telling you what you’ll earn, you’re not putting up enough boundaries. In only a few cases should a client’s rate be honored — magazines come to mind, though even in those cases you might be able to negotiate a higher rate once they know you. You would no more tell your lawn service or mail delivery person what they will be earning than your clients should dictate your earnings.

Deadlines. Didn’t expect to see this one on the list, did you? In a fair number of cases, client deadlines are not always arbitrary, so you have to use your head on this one. However, plenty of clients come to you with last-minute, urgent requests, yet you sit three weeks later waiting for their revisions. Find out the reason behind the deadline — if they need that media kit or case study completed before a trade show, for example, that’s legit. Otherwise, push back if the deadline is unrealistic.

Client Deadlines. Refer to the three weeks you’re sitting waiting. Just as you have deadlines, so does the client. Your contract/agreement should state clearly what’s expected of your client and what will happen if they fail to meet their own deadlines (like you’ll consider the project completed and send them a final invoice).

Sick days. Everyone gets sick. You’re allowed to take time off for it. Imagine if you were working in an office — you’d be given so many sick days per year. Why not give yourself the same privilege in your business? Deadlines are a concern, but so is doing your best job.

Work hours. Clients should not expect you to answer the phone or email late at night or on weekends unless those are your normal work hours. For your part, refrain from answering clients when you’re not normally working. It’s the easiest way to set your boundaries and stick to them. If you don’t, why should they? The exception — when you’ve been hired for a project and have promised (with appropriate compensation, of course) your undivided attention. I remember one short-lived client relationship that ended when the client, after having been told I wouldn’t be available by phone because of my daughter’s graduation (and a houseful of out-of-town guests), called me persistently (I believe seven times) in the span of two days. Over a weekend. That’s what you’re trying to avoid by putting down boundaries.

Revisions. I know a few freelance writers who still offer unlimited revisions or complete rewrites. However, having been caught in a nine-month back-and-forth with a client early in my career, I decided limits needed to be established. Two or three revisions should get you to a good point. If not, you can still bill (because you’ve set the limits) and offer one more revision for free, if you like.

Late fees. Please, make it part of your contract to spell out your late fees in detail. Until I did, I never collected a late fee from anyone. Since then, no one has been late. Well, except the one magazine group that didn’t have that in their contract with me.

Writers, what boundaries do you enforce?
What boundaries do you consider essential?
Which ones have you bent on, and what had to be in place for you to accommodate?
Have you ever lost a client either because they stepped over your boundaries or they didn’t like them?