The “APPETIZER” Series: The original version of this piece first appeared as an Appetizer course in The Well-Fed E-PUB in November 2016, and was one I wanted to run as a blog post (with minor alterations) in order to get input from many voices.
I picked up a new commercial writing client recently, a referral from another copywriter who doesn’t do commercial work. He’s an ultra-busy exec who wanted to start writing regular trade articles and blog posts in order to boost his professional profile in his industry.
Helping Clients Work Smarter
There are plenty of folks like him out there—people who know they have to create a greater online presence than just a website—yet are far too busy to even think about doing this themselves. So, commercial freelancers like us offer a perfect win-win solution.
We got off to a bit of a rocky start when he missed our first call (to quantify his needs and the nature of our partnership). I had to follow up repeatedly to get a response, finally asking him point-blank if I was wasting my time.
He quickly wrote back, profusely apologizing, and insisting I wasn’t. When we finally did connect, we talked through the format and contents of a first project, I got an upfront deposit, and I got to work.
It Keeps Getting Better
The project hit more speed bumps when he decided the three articles he’d sent me as source material—and upon which I based my first draft—weren’t the best sources after all. He sent me new stuff that, needless to say, necessitated a major rewrite to create a second draft.
Clearly, this was a new direction for the article and I had every right to renegotiate our fee (it’s certainly the advice I’d have given anyone who came to me in that same situation and asked my thoughts…).
But I decided not to. Why? Most importantly, if this first one went well, he’d become an ongoing client. In my books, that’s worth putting up with some early-stage hiccups.
Other considerations? 1) I wasn’t way over my estimated time, even with the rewrite; and 2) I could tell he was a good guy (which counts for a LOT), sincere about wanting to get this done, new to the hiring-writers thing, and just really scattered.
Cutting Slack—Prudently
Now, what I DID tell him, unambiguously (lest you think I’ve grown soft), was what I noted above: that this was, virtually, a total rewrite, and, while I wasn’t going to charge him more this time, in the future, I’d have to. And he got it.
We’ll see how things go, but given my punctuality on our scheduled calls (even if he sometimes didn’t make it), easy-going attitude and clearly expressed expectations for future projects, I’ve given him a lot of reasons to trust my reliability, respect my professionalism and enjoy working with me.
Yes, there’s a fine line between being easy-going and being a doormat, but use your gut to find that right balance.
Where do you draw the line with clients who do stuff like the above?
Have you ever done as I did above, and cut a client some slack, when you didn’t have to?
If so, did it pay off?
