Lori's guest episode will be available directly at http://AllIndieWriters.com/podcast/7/ at some point on Thursday. 🙂

It's akin to clients who don't know what they want or they do, but have no idea how to explain it. I had one lovely client (he really was a nice person) who'd spent an hour telling me all about his business. It should take ten minutes — otherwise, you're over-thinking it or your focus is way off.

Anyway, I knew I was in trouble when he said "Our goal isn't to attract customers" but he couldn't tell me what the goal was. I missed the mark (naturally) and his note to me (very nice note, I might add) said that most people don't "get" what they do.

Right there was his disconnect. He didn't know how to tell me in a way that I understood and could convey to his audience, which apparently didn't include potential customers??

You tell me. I'm still scratching my head over that one.

Anne, amen! Agreed.

Paula, that's a wild story! You were so smart to mail that check back! Amen. You risked not getting anything, but you trumped his trump and won. Way to go!

It was sort of a PR type gig to get articles about his company and products in print, and he rated the "value" of story placements in various types of publications, which he broke down based on real circulation vs paid circulation; number of subscribers vs number of newsstand sales; ad rates, as noted in their media kits; distribution area; trade vs consumer; pass along numbers even factored in….and those are only the things I can remember. Of course the story length was important, too, and cover stories got bonus points.

According to his list, by my calculations the cover story I landed for him – in a family custom real estate magazines that spanned most of the US and were a great fit for his company – should have paid $2,000. But he nitpicked the definitions I gave and said it was worth less than $1,000. He said it was a trade, I said it was a custom publication geared to the trade's clients, exactly the people he wanted to reach. He said it was local, not national, but I countered that it was a family of local custom publications that were purchased by Realtors across the country.

I held my ground, and knowing I never wanted to work with a jerk like him again, I went ahead and burnt that bridge. Why? Before we'd hashed out a fair payment, he sent me a small check hoping I'd be dumb enough to cash it so he could say I'd accepted payment.

Instead, I mailed the check back with a scathing letter telling him I wouldn't allow him to get away with trying to use his complicated formula to confuse an inexperienced freelancer into doing far more work than he was willing to pay for. I outlined everything I'd done to get that story placed, I broke his stupid formula down like a checklist, and told him while my interpretation of his formula resulted in a higher rate, I saw where some confusion came from – whether it was a trade or consumer publication – and suggested the only fair thing to do was to split the difference.

After several heated letters (this was pre-email), he finally paid me $1,000, which was a lot more than he wanted to. I think returning that first check stunned him into realizing I wasn't some dumb little kid he could pacify with a couple hundred dollars. (Looking back, though, I was pretty dumb to even consider his ridiculous formula.)

Not having a budget. I know, I know. LOTS of prospects respond that they have not worked out a budget for a project. It doesn't always mean there's going to be a problem but with a bit more questioning, I often find they are not ready for my professional services. 😉