Something happened a while back that’s been sticking in my mind. It’s not one of those “Look what that nasty client did to me” events, either. It was subtler than that. If I hadn’t been paying attention, I wouldn’t have noticed.
It was when the work outpaced the pay.
The client was a fairly new one. A good one, too. They were communicative, accessible when I had questions, and behaved professionally. At the outset it seemed like the dream gig.
It was for that first project, too. The client sent over plenty of information, plenty of resources, and lots of direction. And oddly, that’s where things started to unravel.
It was too much information. Too many resources, too much direction. Is that even possible, you ask? Yes, yes it is. I had a great outline to follow, so I started. Also, I had 25 resources to sift through, so I did. Two days later, I had client interviews to read through. I’d spent two days writing already, and the direction had shifted from what the outline said to what the client said they wanted. What do I do?
Well, I shift. The client is the boss, so if they want X, they’re getting X. So with two days pretty much thrown away, I started in again.
Did I mention I had five working days to finish this project?
When I took on the project, it sounded simple — create a document from these resources that’s under 1,000 words. And have these elements in it. Oh, and these keywords. I’m used to writing 600 words in a morning for another client for a similar project type. So the rate I charged was the right one given that information.
Given the rest of it? It was becoming much less lucrative. What normally takes me little time to complete wasn’t proving to be so easy with this particular client. There were a lot of moving parts, and a lot of what I suspect were behind-the-scenes opinions from higher-ups that were being accommodated late in the game. And with the one-week deadlines (and no, I will not make a habit of working over a weekend, so it’s more like a five-day deadline), it was more stress than necessary.
Did I mention that the client paid on a two-month pay cycle?
I knew this part going in and honestly, given the size of the project (or what I perceived to be the size) and my familiarity with the topic area, I didn’t mind that so much. However, when the work started to become more time-consuming and the deadlines didn’t get any longer, my instincts kicked in. I knew it was time to cut ties.
So I did.
And so should you.
[bctt tweet=”Can you bring yourself to drop a #freelancewriting client?” username=”LoriWidmer”]
That’s right — even the good clients can be bad matches. This one was. It was a solidly good client and five years ago, I might have duct-taped myself to them. But back then, I didn’t have seven other clients. I didn’t have as heavy a workload as I do now. And I wasn’t already stretched for a spare minute.
But if one or more of these things is present, listen to your gut:
- The work was more than expected
- The amount of time spent on each project outpaced anything you’d earn from it
- There’s no time to get to other projects
- The deadlines are too short
- The pay cycle is too long
- The parameters change – slightly, so not enough to call it a new project and invoice for the current one
When I exhaled after sending the break-up note, I knew the decision was the right one for me. Had my financial situation been different, or anything else in my life or with that client had been altered, I might have stuck it out. But as it is, I was stressed going into it. I feared that the thing that would break would be me. So I backed away politely.
No regrets.
What would it take for you to drop a freelance client?
Have you ever regretted dropping a client?
4 responses to “A Freelance Decision You Don’t Want to Make (but should)”
Interesting, Lori. So true.
Just curious. What was the client’s response to your backing away politely? I think sometimes clients know they’re sucking your time and energy like vampires, and other times they have no clue why you wouldn’t be continuing with them.
Either way, it’s still adios. Haha.
They thanked me and wished me well. It was just a bad fit for me, and I think they realized it. I had to turn down assignments because I knew that accepting them meant I wouldn’t get something done or miss a deadline. Since I’d rather walk over hot coals than miss a deadline, the choice was easy.
I did tell them why, and I did so cordially. I had no animosity toward this client. I simply couldn’t continue because of those things I mentioned and all my other commitments.
I’ve “fired” three clients. The first I’d worked with for years, but a new team of editors didn’t have a clue what they were doing. They would assign things they wouldn’t use for months (they paid on publication, or I wouldn’t have cared when the ran), and they butchered copy to the point that I wish I didn’t have a byline. The publisher didn’t respect the freelancers that created the content that his beloved salespeople used to draw in advertisers. The last straw was when I hadn’t been paid for an article 13 months after I turned it in and at least two months after it ran. I spent the last couple months hounding them for payment. Every time I called to speak with the accounting person I was told he was at lunch and he’d call when he got back. After two weeks of that, I told the receptionist, “That’s the longest lunch in history.” He called back that afternoon. One of the editors called me to lambast me for going behind his back (I’d asked him numerous times when I would be paid and he blew it off every time). By the end of the day the executive editor hand-delivered my check and I knew I never wanted to write for them again.
Around the same time, a marketing newsletter I frequently wrote for changed hands, and the pay was cut from 50-cents a word (this was in the late 90s) to 10-cents a word. The new editor asked me to write a 600-word piece (for $60) and cram in more sources than necessary. I told her “Good luck with that.”
Dropping two clients at the same time wasn’t easy, but it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. They sucked time and energy from me and I got little if anything in return. It wasn’t worth it.
The third was the chronic late-payer who, for three weeks, used “the flu” has an excuse not to pay my invoice. I finally told him that even school kids have to do homework when they’re out sick—he could sign a check from his sick bed or authorize one of his staffers to issue checks if he was truly out of commission. (Didn’t help that he posted photos of himself playing golf while he had “the flu.”) Again, he had no respect for freelancers. I really enjoyed the topics, but I can’t deal with such blatant disrespect. Or being lied to. Both are deal breakers.
That was another wise decision I have never regretted.
Oh Paula, I remember every one of those former clients of yours. I’d have done the same. The first one sounded like bad management and, you said it, lack of respect for freelancers. I would never lift a finger to the keyboard for someone like that again.
The second, cheap-assed people.
That last one, though. That was a liar. You made the best decision to not work for someone who lies. I mean, even school kids are better at it than that, seriously.