Some clients are easy to get along with, and willing to make things as simple as possible along the way. Others are overly demanding and not much fun to work with. Although dealing with demanding clients can be a pain in the neck, there are a few things you can do to ease the tension.
Here are three tips to keep in mind:
1. Be clear from the get-go. As long as the client knows how you work and what to expect from the start, they can only do so much in terms of making demands. It is important that both parties are clear as to what they expect from the project. Along with this, don’t be forced into agreeing to something that you are not satisfied with.
2. Don’t let them push you around. I have had clients demand that I work on weekends. I have also had those that demand that I show up at their office a certain number of days per week. While there is nothing wrong with negotiating details like this, you have to stand up for yourself and the way that you like to run your business. Remember, the relationship is supposed to be mutually beneficial.
3. It’s not all about the money. Some freelance writers will continually work with overly demanding clients because they are paying a halfway decent wage. While money is important, you don’t want to be pushed around, day after day, just to make a few extra dollars.
The next time you are faced with an overly demanding client consider implementing one or more of the above tips.
No matter how great of a freelance writer you are, there are going to be times when you receive a rejection letter or email. This happens to the best of us, even when the job seems to be a perfect fit. Although a rejection is disappointing, you can learn quite a bit from it.
Here are three things you can learn from any rejection:
1. Determine what went wrong. If you are lucky, the editor will send back a brief note explaining why your query was rejected. You may find that your article suggestion was not right for that particular publication. Or maybe they loved what you had to say, but they just aren’t looking for freelancers at this time. No matter what, it is important that you know why you were rejected. This way you can better position yourself for future success.
2. Did you do anything right? You may have to dig to find this answer. As noted above, some editors will happily write back, tell you what they do and don’t like, and let you take things from there. But with others, you will have to sift through the rejection and pull out both the good and bad.
3. How to be resilient. The last thing you want is to get down on yourself every time something goes wrong. Freelance writers have to be resilient. No matter how many queries you send out, whether it is a few or 100, you are probably going to receive rejections. This is all part of being a freelance writer.
Don’t get in the habit of ripping up or deleting rejections before you take the time to learn from them. The more you learn the better chance you have of success with the next one.
Over the years I have made many mistakes as a freelance writer. One that you definitely want to avoid is starting a project before you fully understand what your client wants. If you do this, you are making more work for yourself while also wasting a lot of time.
Here are three things you can do to better understand what your client wants:
1. Just ask. If you have any questions, no matter what they are, ask the client for clarification. This way you are both on the same page from the word “go.†You may be surprised at how much easier the project becomes when both parties are chasing the same goals.
2. Get on the phone. In many cases, I have found that communicating solely via email leads to more confusion than there has to be. By getting on the phone and having a five minute conversation you will be able to clear up any potential issues that are standing between you and a successful project.
3. Don’t stop until you get the right answers. While it may be difficult to ask one question after the next, if this is necessary it is something you must do. Even though you may feel awkward, remember this: your client would rather you ask many questions than guess and hope that you are making the right decisions.
Once you fully understand what your client is looking for, you should be ready to start and complete the project without any worries.
