When a Freelance Writing Client Changes Direction
From time to time, I work with clients who have no idea what they want. Well, they seem to know what they want when we first talk, but over time they change their minds time after time. While I can understand where they are coming from, most of these clients never take the time to think about the writer. Obviously, when a client decides to change direction mid-project it can cause major issues. Not only does the writer have to stop working, but there is a chance that many edits and complete revisions will be requested.
Here are two common “direction changers†that I have run into in the past. Although they may not be common, there is a chance that you will encounter these issues sometime during the course of your freelance writing career.
1. The project is going along just fine, and out of nowhere the client tells you that they are no longer interested in moving forward. I have had clients do this, and then pay me what they owe. But at the same time I have had clients who cancel a project and tell me that they do not have to pay because they don’t want the completed content. Of course, this is not fair to the writer in the least bit.
If you run into a situation where a client does not way to pay after canceling a project, the best thing you can do is explain your side of the story and hope that they will come around.
2. Midway through a project, you get an email or phone call from the client saying that they love your work but the entire scope of the project has changed. For instance, you may have been working on 10 keyword articles on general health when the client tells you that all 10 need to touch on diabetes, symptoms, and treatment. While a similar category, it will be on you to revise the articles. In many cases, a change of direction like this can put you back to square one.
Once again, if you encounter this situation you need to be open and honest with the client. State that you also like working with them, but that you put a lot of time into the initial project. They may offer you a “kill fee†as well as payment for the new project. If you don’t ask, but instead sit back and take it, you will run into this situation time after time without any monetary compensation.
Just like a lot of people in the business world, freelance writing clients have the tendency to change their mind from time to time. You need to make sure that you are as accommodating as possible but that you do not go so far that you put yourself out. Simply put, you should do what the original project guidelines state and then deal with any change in direction as it comes up.Â
June 27th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
The same thing happens in the printing industry too. We’ve had people order business cards, and then not want to pick them up and pay for them when the cards are ready, because they decided not to get into that business.
June 28th, 2008 at 10:35 am
I know exactly what you mean Chris, and have had to deal with both types of situations.
1. Quite a while back, I had a client who was pretty regular with ordering press releases. At one point, when he ordered his last release, he wasn’t happy about my rate increases (which were less of an increase and more about a sale price expiring). So I agreed to do that one release at half off, but anything in the future was to be at the new rate. I wrote the release as usual and delivered it. He decided to never pay, because he simply didn’t feel like distributing that news anymore (for reasons other than problems with the actual release). Had he also hired me to handle distribution, he still would have been billed for the time spent on the writing, but simply not the distribution. He only ordered the writing, so it was still owed – he never paid. It wasn’t a big contract, but it pissed me off to say the least. The worst part was that he recently had the nerve to contact me asking what “deals” I had going on on press release writing now. I simply made it clear he wasn’t going to be offered any deals, that my rates have since increased again, and needless to say he went elsewhere (a good thing, as I had no intention of working with him again).
2. The only other problem I’ve had with clients changing their mind was in a situation where I might have written several pages of copy to the specs of the client, only to then have them send me a completely new template (or outline of what they wanted included), that involved scrapping much of the past work and writing almost entirely new copy. There were bigger problems with this situation, but that was one portion.
I don’t think there’s much worse than the type of client who has no idea what they want until they see what they don’t want. Fortunately, I rarely have to work with clients falling into that boat. Lately I’ve been working with fewer independent professionals and webmasters and more with large corporations, and finding fewer and fewer situations where people don’t know what they want (it’s a nice feeling).
June 28th, 2008 at 10:40 am
dcr – I figured that this sort of thing happens everywhere, no matter the industry. But sometimes it just doesn’t make sense!
Jenn – Your first example sounds so familiar! Good for you pretty much telling the client that they are no longer welcome. It is a shame that some clients act like this, but it goes along with the territory of being a freelancer.
June 29th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
After getting screwed twice by a client cancelling a project I now have a contract that clearly states what should happen if a cancellation occurs. This has saved me so much stress!
Any tough clients I’ve had, I’ve always tried to learn what not to do next time – this has saved me more headaches than I probably know.
Take care everyone.