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Topic: What to do when a client drives you nuts
| Author | Message |
| KC4 | Posted – 9/9/2007 3:34:43 PM | show profile So I'm a freelancer with quite a few mag/online clients who are pretty hands-off, supportive & basically everything you want. Then I have Client X. I sort of fell into doing copy writing & press releases, etc. for X's business ... it's the only "marketing" stuff I do. Though the work is thankless & not part of my career goals, the money is pretty good & there's a lot of work. My problem: Client X. I have actually had to quit in the past because the workload was so insane. I only resumed because, frankly, my boyfriend told me I would be crazy to turn down the money and I was kinda broke at the time. Now, not so much. X expects me to be on call 24/7 (I live in a different state, have other clients, and try to have a life). And when I complete a project, half the time it needs to be redone because X tells me one thing, I do it, and then changes her mind. On top of that, X wants me to do an impossible amount of work. Yes, I get paid by the hour, but I would have to clone myself to even make a dent, am having trouble meeting deadlines for the work I actually enjoy, and am literally working round the clock on her boring crap. (As I type this - on a Sunday - she's bombarding me with emails.) I became a freelancer so I could be my own boss, not have someone breathing down my neck, and budget my time so that I actually have a life. This past week I have lost sight of that. The catch? X is paying for me to fly up to her office for a week-long project ... so it's a bad time to say, "Take this job and shove it!" But after that ... Any advice? Should I just tell X (again) that I'm not a full-time employee? If this were a field or publication I was dying to advance in I'd be sucking it up ... but right now I just want to scream. Thanks for letting me vent. |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 9/9/2007 10:56:16 PM | show profile Really, the only issue is you needing to set parameters. You don't have to accept every project Client X offers or every deadline he extends. You don't have to answer his calls at 8 p.m. and can wait until the next business day to respond. You don't have to read his emails over the weekend. I don't think you need to fire him or make a big speech. You simply have to take little steps. "Sorry. My schedule won't allow me to finish this project by Tuesday. I can have it to you by, Friday." Or: "Sure, I'll be happy to revise this project. It will take a week." Now, there's always a risk, Client X wants a complete slave and this approach will lose him. Only you can judge whether it's worth the risk. But ultimately, every client disappears. And look at it this way: As long as you are saying, "Yes, no problem, sure," to everything Client X asks you to do, why shouldn't he keep asking? |
