Types of Clients You’ll Likely Encounter as a Freelancer
I’ve been a freelance writer for a few years, and during this time, I’ve dealt with different types of clients. The typical client is appreciative and respects the fact that I do have a personal life. However, I’ve also ran into a few characters who thought my life and business revolved around their project.
Being a freelancer and working with varying personalities is similar to working in an office setting and dealing with an annoying boss or worrisome co-worker. The only difference is that in the freelance world - you can fire a client!
Here is my top five list of different types of clients you’ll encounter from time to time:
- “No-Information” Client - You apply for a freelance job, get the gig, and receive your first assignment. Everything is fine, right? Wrong! The “no information” client is best described as the person who sends an assignment, but doesn’t provide essential details such as word length, due date, payment arrangement, and so on. In turn, you have to communicate back-and-forth to work through the details, which can be a huge time waster.
- “Something-for-Nothing” Client - Again you stumble across a seemingly perfect freelance opportunity. But there’s one major problem - the client doesn’t want to pay a reasonable freelance rate. This is common with web copy. I realize that web content doesn’t pay as much as print publications. Still, I’m not writing a bunch of SEO content for pennies, so that you can turn around and get rich off the revenue (maybe not rich, but you get the point).
- “Urgent, Urgent” Client - These clients are real characters. Their projects take precedence and you’re expected to re-arrange your schedule to meet their last minute need - or so they think. Urgent clients are annoying - and if you let them - they can make your freelance experience miserable. And the worse part…they aren’t appreciative! I stopped bending over backwards for irritating clients a long time ago. Since my freelance projects are pretty steady, I can afford to be a bit choosy.
- “No Pay” Client - Do I need to go any further? But here’s the gotcha - I still own the rights to the content. Therefore, I can market the articles elsewhere and recoup the loss.
- “Appreciative” Client - We can’t overlook the grateful clients. These are the people who make freelance life enjoyable. They provide ample instructions, respect our time, compensation is beyond fair, and they always pay on time. And you might even get a “thank-you” card at the end of the year.
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