I will never understand why, when business owners understand full well the reasoning for charging for their work/services/products, they expect free work from other business owners. Budgets be damned — these are people intent on getting it for the least amount while charging an arm and a leg to others.

I remember a meeting with a guy in his office. He showed off his shiny new offices, top-of-the-line equipment, expensive translucent business cards, then when he heard my price, he sucked air through his teeth and said “Ooo, you’re going to have to lower that.”

I responded “Ooo, you’re going to have to raise your prices to afford me.”

This was the same guy who got in touch a few years later and offered me a “chance to rub shoulders with potential clients” for donating three days of my life to judging contest entries. Seriously. If these “potential clients” were anything like him, I would be “rubbing shoulders” with people who didn’t value my time.

Thank you for the pep talk. 🙂

I have to say that walking away has upped my income far more than saying yes to projects that I was told I “should” do for “exposure.” I don’t need exposure. I need to be paid for my work.

Last week’s Ink-Dipped Advice post was about the necessary contract.

I had one potential client, few years ago, referred by someone I knew. She wanted me to ghostwrite her book. She questioned that I charged for time spent in research and interviews, and then said she wouldn’t go beyond X figure (that was her budget) which was 1/11th of the quote I gave her. No. Just no.