Freelance Writers: 3 Indicators That Your Client is Asking Too Much (and Not Paying Enough)
June 28, 2010
The following is a guest post from copywriter Jon Adam Green.
All freelance writers love a new client.
After all, a new client means new business, and new business sometimes turns into repeat business – the stuff that keeps food on our tables even during slow times of year.
BUT . . .
. . . is it possible for a client to ask too much? Could there be a client whose demands go so far beyond what you’re willing (or able) to provide as a writer that you find it necessary to actually end your relationship with that client?
Freelance Writing Insight: My Story of Bending Over Backwards for Clients
When I first started freelancing, I can remember bending over backwards for some clients – even when they were only paying peanuts for my services. By my (naive) reasoning, I should have been happy to have paying customers at all and if doing a little “extra work” for my clients meant keeping them, I was happy to do it.
Long story short: With all the phone calls I was making, spreadsheets I was preparing, and market research I was completing – all of which were completely unrelated to my duties as per the agreement made with my client – I wasn’t writing much of anything.
And I wasn’t getting paid for the extra work.
Freelance Writing Advice for Newbies: Indicators That a Client Is Asking Too Much
New freelance writers need to know that the writer-client relationship should be fair to both parties. Here are some indicators that a client may be over-reaching:
1. You’re not writing anything. If we call ourselves freelance writers, then that’s just what we are: writers.
When you see that the general tasks being performed for your client don’t have much to do with writing, he or she may be asking too much.
Examples of this may be a client who wants you to phone him or her after doing some research for a company presentation, working on a temporary marketing campaign that involves lots of phone calls but very little copywriting, or, in an extreme case, representing your client at an event.
2. You’ve acquired the company brand. It’s not unheard of for clients to give freelancers an email address associated with the client’s business so that they will look official and be able to maintain contact with people working in company offices.
If this just means setting up the email address to forward into your main business inbox and you’re only receiving an occasional note, it’s probably okay.
If it leads to your becoming a primary point of contact for your client’s business, however, you may have a problem. Likewise, if you ever find yourself making phone calls and saying, “Hi, I’m So-and-So with [client’s business],” and the call has little to do with what you’re writing for the client, you may have acquired the company brand.
Wasn’t not being associated with a particular company one of the primary reasons you started freelancing?
3. You’re undervalued. Even when you aren’t being assigned unorthodox tasks, maybe your client is asking you to do more work than what you agreed upon when you first decided to work together.
If this is the case, you’re being undervalued. Never do more work without being compensated. As with all scenarios in which clients overstep their boundaries, you should exercise caution when bringing your dissatisfaction to the client’s attention.
Don’t behave angrily or be overly emotional. Let him or her know that the work you’re doing is not part of the agreement that you both made in the beginning. If you know you don’t want to work with this client anymore, say you have too much work to do and won’t be able to get to them in the coming months.
Or tell them you’ve raised your rates.
Freelance Writing Advice on How to Handle Clients Who Overreach
What I’ve found, however, is that it’s best to calmly explain your concerns and be completely honest about why the client’s demands are troubling you.
Oftentimes, clients are very receptive to your concerns and are willing to re-negotiate. They’ve kept you onboard because they know how good you are, and there’s a good chance they’ll be willing to make some concessions in order to keep you around.
Sure it’s a cliche, but here it is . . .
Honesty is the best policy.
It’s what keeps us freelance writers professional and ensures that our best clients keep coming back for more.
About the Author: Jon Adam Green is a professional freelance copywriter and college English instructor. He maintains a blog at jonadamgreen.com.
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