post #18 - Ending a client relationship before it begins

#MerryMonday LinkedIn 🤎

Freelancers, let's talk about all the unpaid work that we do.

I'm not talking about you estimating a job taking 3 hours and quoting a fee for that, then the job actually taking 6 hours. That sometimes happens because of things you can't control (or don't know about up front).

No, I'm talking about the work we do when trying to land a job. I don't think non-freelancers really understand how much time we spend on correspondence and then, if we get to it, writing proposals, all in the hopes of getting the job.

Last week, I had to tell a potential client that I didn't think I could help her after all. We had spent 3 weeks going back and forth on emails (I think 15 in all!), and yet I was no clearer on what she was looking for with email #14 than I was with email #1.

I have written about this potential client before, the red flags that I was trying to excuse, because I do think this woman needs legitimate help, and her age (mid-80s) was making it hard for her to articulate exactly what she was looking for. But I finally had to put my foot down. If she couldn't even settle on a day and time for me to come to her home office to discuss her needs in person, what kind of time precedence was that setting?  That hers was more important than mine? Sorry, I can't be on-call unless you're going to pay for me to be on-call.

It's hard to walk away from a potential client, especially after you've logged some hours, but sometimes you have to do it. You need to know your worth.

But it's a new week and I have a job starting on Friday that goes through Wednesday, so I'm putting the potential client behind me.

Have a great week!

#freelancer #FreelanceWork #FreelanceLife #WorkFromHome #RemoteWork #KnowYourWorth

#JobHuntingChronicles

Popular posts from this blog

post #27 - Happy New Year

Image
#MerryMonday 💙 I hope everyone (especially job seekers) took a little time off over the holidays to enjoy some downtime. Some people believe December was a great time to "get ahead" for job seekers, while others noted that "companies still hire in December", and while both those statements may be true for some, I am glad I stepped away from LinkedIn for a couple of weeks. Ok, I admit I posted three times (once to remind everyone that scammers don't take holidays (thank you, Christmas Eve hacker 😠), once to repost the year-end recap that I wrote on behalf of Surfcat, and finally last Saturday's quick "Happy Saturday/Happy New Year, let's hope 2026 is better for everyone who is looking for work" post), but I didn't look at notifications or my LI feed - I literally posted what I wanted to say and then logged off. And you know what? It feel great 🙃  For me, 2026 is the third year in a row that I've started without a full-time job. This c...
Read more

post #12

Let's talk following up. How many times do you follow up to a potential job as a freelancer? Personally, I limit my follow ups. If I KNOW that my message was read, I don't follow up at all. Some people think that's not the best strategy but it works for me. Having to follow up to a message that I know was read signals a potentially difficult client right from the start and honestly, I've hung up my "mom cape". I no longer chase stuff. I get that everyone is busy but if you can't take 20 seconds to reply (even a quick "I'll get back to you") to someone who is reaching out to you after YOU posted a plea for help, I've lost interest in working with you. If I sent the message via a platform that doesn't indicate a read status, I'll probably follow up once, but again, I'm not interested in chasing someone for a reply. I'm good at what I do and you'd be lucky to get me, but I'm not going to waste a lot of time trying ...
Read more

post #2 (from 2024)

If job interviews were honest: Employer: Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Candidate: Where do YOU see yourself in 5 years? Admit it, we've all wanted to answer like this at some point 🤣 #IfJobInterviewsWereHonest #JobHuntingChronicles
Read more