Welcome to a new series on the blog. No matter where you are in your freelance writing career, you’re going to come across a client that seems like a great find on the surface. Dig underneath, however ….
I hope with this series, we’ll be better equipped to vet clients — even existing clients — to see if the relationship really is worth keeping.
Let’s look at an example:
ABC Firm needs a writer with your experience. The projects consist of interviews with their client and then short articles under 1,000 words delivered within two weeks. They’re willing to pay your rate, too.
Getting into the gig, you observe the following:
- You need to be present for client planning calls
- Your interview subject has a different idea of what the story is and where it should be placed
- You’ve reached four rounds of edits and there’s a chance for at least one more
- The topic has morphed into something else, per the interview subject’s wishes
- They need you to find a new venue for this new story
Should you keep this client?
I started with this one because it shows just how tough some of these decisions can be. And really, this one is a toss-up depending on a few factors. Let’s look at them a little more closely:
- How long are the planning calls? Are they 30 minutes or longer? How frequent are they? Are you expected to be on every one, or just the trickier ones? Are you being compensated for your time on the phone?
- Who are you answering to ultimately? Let’s assume ABC Firm is a marketing firm and it’s their client you’re interviewing. If she wants a different topic, what do you do? How easily will you be able to address that disparity both on the call and with your client?
- Where are you in the revision cycle? Are you directly involved, or are you coming in at the end to clean up? How many people are involved in the revision cycle and who is the person with final approval? Are you being compensated for anything more than two revisions?
- What is to be done with the new topic? Have you written one draft based on the original theme yet? Are you being compensated for the additional work? Is there a chance to sell both stories to your client?
- How comfortable are you with placing stories? Do you have the connections already? Is it something you want to do? Can you push back the work onto the client (remember, you were hired to write, not handle marketing)?
Here’s where I personally draw the line:
- No unpaid calls over 15 minutes — no ongoing unpaid calls and no requirement that I be present unless I’m compensated for my time
- When there are too many people to please, that’s a no-win situation and I’m not interested — the ultimate client needs to be satisfied, not the marketing firm
- If the revisions go beyond two and are unpaid, I’m now spinning my wheels and the client may have too much control and not enough of a collaborative attitude
- If I’m expected to rewrite without compensation, I’m out
- The more work put on me without compensation, the less likely it is that I’ll keep that client
I had a case like this about six years ago. The company was a marketing firm, and it wasn’t until I skipped a phone call and a flurry of texts and emails came in looking for me that I realized they required my presence. They didn’t tell me that at contract time, nor were they interested in paying me for my time (they said it was something, “everyone else had no problem with” even though I knew that wasn’t the case). Moreover, I would write per the client’s instructions (and following the tone they’d set on their own website) and the firm would rewrite, water it down, and then I’d take the heat when the client hated it. Of course they hated it — it wasn’t what they’d ordered. After one incident where I was replaced on that account (and found that out when they introduced the new writer for that account on one of those calls), I dropped them. (Ironically, that same client later dropped them and hired me to replace them.)
2 responses to “Freelance Files: Is This Freelance Client Worth It?”
Not worth it, unless I was in a terrible slump and needed the cash while I looked for a replacement client.. Phone calls are paid time, period. Anything over 2 revisions is billed extra. There needs to be a single point person. If the firm is rewriting my material before sending it to the client, who hates it, then the person making that decision/doing that and I need to have a come-to-Jesus talk, because it’s not my writing they want. It’s the admin work with the client, and that’s not why I’m doing this.
Devon, that’s exactly the situation I found myself in. I’m glad to see you’d handle it as I did. These days, there has to be a stated point person/decision maker, paid revisions over two, and a frank talk when they’re rewriting so much without my input.
That last one did surprise me but not much. The firm would take weeks to even look at the draft that had to be done now Now NOW, then I suspect they fashioned themselves editors. They weren’t. In fact, two years later, that same client hired me to do said writing because the drafts they did see, they liked.
But firms know best, right? 😉