Writer Beware: Employee Syndrome

I got another marketing email the other day from a one-time prospect that will never be a client. That’s by my choice.

The emails were what first made me reach out to this particular company, which is in my specialty area. They were signed up for the same conference I was hoping to attend. So early this year, pre-pandemic, I reached out. We talked on the phone. We chatted about the industry, and dug into a few details on how I might be of some help to them. I offered to do some small projects for them for a month or so to show them how what I do could lift some of the weight of communications and marketing from their desks.

It’s what happened next that convinced me not to spend more time pursuing their business.

Sometime a few weeks later, my contact reached out and asked if I could get on the phone with him. He had a proposal.

I prepped. I had everything in front of me that we’d discussed, and the ideas I wanted to go over that could give their marketing a bit of a boost. As it turns out, I didn’t need any of it.

They were offering me a position. An in-house, on-staff, full-time position. The word “director” was in the title.

And it pissed me off more than a little.

Can anyone guess why? Normally, a job offer, particularly one at the level this company was talking about, would be a golden thing. How many job seekers struggle to climb the corporate ladder, and here was a firm saying to me Here’s your brass ring! Grab hold and we’ll take you in!

Yet there I was, stewing. It was one more case of a would-be client suffering from what I call Employee Syndrome.

[bctt tweet=”Employee Syndrome: Thinking every #freelancewriting pro wants to be your full-time employee.” username=”LoriWidmer”]

Here’s why I got so upset:

They weren’t respecting my business.

Yes, one could argue that they were gracing me with what they thought was a huge compliment — they thought enough about my background to want to put me on staff. But they overlooked something pretty critical. My business. I run a business. Just like they run a business. They were, in essence, suggesting an acquisition. Well, without my bringing on my other clients. But it was a surrendering of sorts of my financials, for I’d be working for them exclusively. Wow, I wonder if they do that when someone comes to fix the HVAC? Hire them to be the director of environmental control?

And another thing they forgot:

I wasn’t looking for employment.

I’d contacted them about partnering on projects. I didn’t ask them for full-time employment, nor did I suggest I wanted to move to another state (really). I suggested numerous projects and possible marketing initiatives. They countered with a job compiling accounting reports. Let’s just say that was a big miss.

There was one other thing going on that did not sit well:

They didn’t understand how to deal with a contractor.

Maybe the word “freelance” threw them. There is a negative connotation to the word sometimes, as in “starving artist” or “playing at writing.” Be assured, any future client who may be reading, “freelance” means nothing more than I work independent of any one company’s control. I work on multiple projects with multiple clients. I’m not playing at it, as my current clients can affirm.

This issue is probably the only one we writers can address with any potential client. It’s up to us to manage expectations with any new client. So when a client offers up how they want to work with you, that’s okay, but you should be setting your own work process. They can’t assume you’ll turn these projects around in 48 hours. If you don’t say anything, however, you will be doing just that.

But hey, take this job instead of us hiring you as a consultant? That’s up to you, but I’m running a business, and that business isn’t a staffing agency with one skilled worker to place, thank you.

One more thing bugged me, albeit a minor thing:

They wasted my time.

It’s true that not all marketing hits the target. But we were in conversation. We were discussing project possibilities. They knew I am an independent contractor. To then take what amounted to about three hours of my time over a few days and throw a curve like that was too fast a turn for me. And they weren’t even interested in the projects anymore. They’d made up their minds that I needed to be employed, not contracted. Moreover, they thought I needed to be employed in a position that had nothing to do with anything we’d talked about. I knew any convincing at that point was a waste of more time.

Why? Because that one move told me this:

They can’t think beyond traditional.

To me, that spells disaster on so many levels. They think employer/employee relationship, which means someone has to be subordinate. They think of one business approach, which means evolving is going to be suppressed. They think everyone wants to work for them, which means they don’t see their own internal weaknesses. Or worse, they do and ignore them. They also claimed ownership of the relationship and tried to control the outcome to suit what they wanted.

That’s not to say clients used to doing things traditionally cannot adapt and evolve. Many do. But to ignore an entire conversation that never once mentioned full-time employment was the hint that evolution was not in the cards for this company. And they’re good people, I’m sure. They’re just not my people.

That’s why this prospect is no longer a prospect.

So what’s the lesson here for us freelancers?

Know when to cut bait. Know when the meeting of the minds you’d expected won’t happen. Replay those conversations in your mind. Reread those emails. What is that client prospect really saying? Are there any clues that would lead you to believe any continuing efforts will be worthwhile, or are you starting to see roadblocks that are disguised and corporate norms? Are you hearing one thing, but another thing is being conveyed in writing?

If there’s a lack of clarity of their position, make an attempt to clear it up. If the waters get even muddier, walk away. If a prospect isn’t understanding how you work — or if they don’t want to change how they work — that’s not your next client. No relationship worth having is built on frustration or ambiguity.

Writers, have you ever had a client try to hire you full time instead of on a project basis?
What clues do you get from prospects that tell you they’re not a good fit?