Photo by Daniel Herron on Unsplash
12 client red flags to look out for
Happy almost fall!
I’ve been freelancing since 2011. It started off as a side hustle, in addition to my full-time job in healthcare administration, and grew into more when I made the leap to full-on self-employment in 2018.
I didn’t have many people to ask for advice when I first started out, and I made lots of mistakes along the way. I worked with clients that made me uncomfortable, found myself in compromising situations, worked way too much for too little pay, and so much more—which is why I want to tell you about the biggest red flags I’ve come across, so hopefully you do better!
Here are the biggest things that now elicit an immediate “no” from me:
🚩 Bad gut feeling: If I had just one piece of advice, it would be this one. If anything makes you feel weird, trust your instinct! This would’ve saved me 99.9% of client issues I’ve encountered.
🚩 Expecting free work: There was a time I would do certain things to “audition” for a job but I don’t think you should have to once you have a portfolio. That’s literally what a portfolio is: proof that you can do what they want to hire you to do.
Most of the time, doing work for free never resulted in anything fruitful. I even did a free project once for a celebrity because I wanted to work with them so badly. “If this is how they vet people, this is just what I have to do,” I thought.
As it turned out, they then hired me to block off a week of my time, never followed up, and ghosted me in the end, resulting in at least a week’s worth of lost profits. NOT WORTH IT!
🚩 Pushing back on pricing or undervaluing work: If you’ve set your rates fairly, they’re based on the market, your experience/qualifications, the time it takes you to complete a project, and other factors. If a client is giving you grief over what you charge, I don’t think they’re your people.
Maybe they’re not willing to make the investment you require—and that’s okay!
Or maybe they don’t value the sort of work you do enough to understand why they should pay more for it—that’s less okay, but I’ve found that companies tend to understand why solid freelancers charge more than your “bottom dollar” contractors once they’ve worked with the latter for any length of time. Quality always wins.
🚩 Being opaque about pay: You should not have to go through hours of interviews to find out what you’ll be paid. If they’re not being upfront, can you be? This helps save a lot of wasted time. These days, I put my rate in any intro email so everyone’s on the same page when deciding whether to schedule a call or not.
🚩 Insulting my work: I once worked for a difficult client who often took the chance to condescend to me about my work. If I asked for more pay, I would get this response: “Your work is almost worth that amount, and someday it will be! But not yet.”
I wish I had cut this person off much earlier than I did; they affected so many of my early business decisions, including whether or not to launch this newsletter! (I waited almost a year longer than I wanted to because they convinced me I wasn’t ready.)
🚩 Late to pay: If a client is always late on payments or hard to follow up with about your invoices, that’s a huge red flag. As a freelancer, we usually submit work and then wait for a while to be paid. I am not a fan of waiting any longer than we’ve agreed to!
🚩 Strange or aggressive language in the job posting: Feeling put off by anything in the job description is an automatic negative for me.
I saw a post recently that said, “If even one person yawns we're unpublishing your post and that might not be a joke.” Just, what? This sounds like a very toxic person to work for!
🚩 Restrictive, oppressive contracts: First, be sure that you’re at least skimming your contracts! You’re signing this legally binding document, and it’s important to know what’s in it.
Language that precludes you from working with other clients is typically non-enforceable in a court of law, but I always ask for it to be removed. As a freelancer, I have to work with other clients to make a living. Duh.
Other things I’ve asked to be changed: giving a company access to any work product I create during our working relationship, regardless of whether it was for them or not; clauses that required me to carry large insurance policies; and shortening payment deadlines so I get paid faster.
I also always check to see whether they’ll allow me to publicly (or even privately) share ghostwritten work. That’s important to know because if you share something in your online portfolio and don’t have permission to, you could be violating one of your contracts.
🚩 Harsh feedback: To be a freelancer, you kind of have to have thick skin. You’re going to be critiqued, and your work will be edited. Some of your work or pitches will be rejected. It’s just part of the territory. However! That doesn’t mean you should be raked over the coals or made to feel stupid.
I recently worked with a client who gave me weird vibes from the jump—but it was only one guy on the team who made me feel that way, and it was a big-name contract, so I signed it anyway. I submitted my first draft with no issues, went through a round of edits with their editor, and started on the second.
Sure enough, once I submitted the second draft, ~the guy~ got in there and started leaving all manner of aggressive comments. He had something to say about nearly every line I’d written, and then left an overall note that included the feedback, “This reads like we’re writing sentences we think sound good as opposed to speaking honestly and directly.”
If you know anything about me, it’s that I don’t say anything because I think it sounds good. I tell the truth, and I tell it upfront. I knew after skimming all of his feedback, especially that note, that he just didn’t like me. It’d been clear to me in the early stages of our contract negotiation, when he’d initially lowballed me and then sent me another “revised” contract with a payment rate that was even lower than the first one (another reason contract review is critical!).
Yet I’d talked myself into trying to work for them anyway. But—and this is how I know I’ve grown!—I wouldn’t continue.
I wrote an email explaining why I’d be severing my relationship with them (including unclear expectations on their end) and they paid me for the work I’d completed without another word. Problem solved, and good riddance.
🚩 Wanting me to be available 24/7: Sometimes, companies think working with contractors is a way to have an FTE without really having one.
If a client wants you to keep a set schedule, be on-call, or be available around the clock (or even during biz hours), you’re not a freelancer. You’re an employee, and you should be paid benefits and everything else that goes along with that.
🚩 Tons of feedback: I offer two rounds of feedback with each completed piece of copy. (For something like a website or landing page, it may take more because at first, I’m developing a feel for the client’s overall tone.)
If we’re getting into many rounds past that, I’m starting to realize that either this client doesn’t really want to relinquish control to a writer, or they aren’t sure what they want. When a client is clear on what they need and briefs their contractors well, there’s just no reason you should be having fiftyleven rounds of back-and-forth.
🚩 Just plain hard to deal with: If a client is just pesky for any other reason, it’s a red flag. Sometimes, it might be worth your while to charge these folks more to deal with them; the extra money can be an incentive and take the edge off for you.
However, if you’re not sold on that, I’d cut them off and try to find clients who align more with your values.
That’s it for me! What do you think? Would you add any to this list? I’m very curious; LMK in the comments!!
Tell me what future Will & Way topics YOU want to read about!
I’d really love to know what topics or questions you want covered in future newsletters. Let me know!
Will & Way accountability group update
Our Will & Way accountability group came to a close last Friday! There were 20 total members, and we worked on projects ranging from building a sales pipeline to focusing on longform writing.
Thanks to everyone who participated! I might bring this around again in the future, so stay tuned.
Check out my latest published work:
How to optimize your office workflow (Indeed)
Robin Albin on why your brand needs a defining word (Managing Editor)
16 demand gen marketing podcasts and shows to listen to (Goldcast)
How to translate your past experience into transferable skills (Climb Hire)
And here's what else is on my radar this month…
Resources/Opportunities:
Eva Recinos’s online course on Domestika covers the basics of How to Write a Profile, with tips on researching, preparing, and interviewing a subject.
Use promo code EVRECINOS-SUMMER for 5% off!
This residency will have you sequestered on an island with your plus-one of choice and pay you $4K to work on your artistic projects…I WISH I COULD APPLY! (I have other engagements that month.)
Here’s a mental health resource guide for journalists
How to beat the automated hiring systems
The Culture of Repair is now accepting grant applicants; projects must advance a culture of repair and rest on a foundation of repairing physical objects
The Fresh Voices Fellowship is currently open for submissions from Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, or other writers of color who don’t have a BA or MFA in creative writing
The Writers’ Co-op is hosting a Time and Project Management for Freelancers workshop
Poynter’s Leadership Academy for Women in Media is happening later this month; they’re also hosting a (free) Writing Workshop for Journalists of Color
The second season of Sarah Chapman Becerra’s Trailblazing in Color podcast will be released this month; if you’re a changemaker interested in amplifying collective impact, check it out!
Watching:
I finished the entire season of Hijack on Apple TV in less than a day. Addictive and satisfying!
Davey and I have become the kind of elder millennials who can’t stop watching the top-rated seasons of Survivor. So far, we’ve knocked out David v Goliath (recommend, if only to watch Mike White, the creator of White Lotus) and Millennials vs Gen X (hilarious and entertaining).
I’m also watching the Real Housewives of New York because I love Jenna Lyons. I haven’t tuned in since the Ramona years, but I’m finding it a good mindless watch.
I finished the latest season of The Ultimatum; I agree with people who say these people need therapy, not a proposal! I put it on as a background show while working and then inevitably got sucked in…
Reading:
I finished and loved: The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nugyen and The Crane Wife by CJ Hauser. I also enjoyed the memoir Wild Game by Adrienne Brodeur.
I wanted to love but could not finish Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez; this one was so intriguing to me, but there were so many things going on that I felt none of them were executed in a way that drew me in
Anne Helen Petersen’s research into the Bama #rushtok phenomenon is fascinating. I was in a sorority in college (mostly for the resume boost tbh) and I am so glad I missed this era!
Also by AHP - why the “workday dead zone” is a fake problem
Did you feel depressed this summer due to the heat? I can’t stop reading articles like this one and this one about the Texas summer and its effects on mood. (On a related note, here is a good piece on what to do with climate emotions.)
I felt this piece on the gig work “bait and switch” so much: “When I started working for myself back in 2009 with a new baby and little understanding of the challenges of independent work despite growing up with a single, self-employed mother, I thought working for myself meant empowerment. It meant no longer relying on the man or corporate America. It meant flexibility, unlimited earning potential, complete autonomy, and the chance to truly enjoy my work. And on a good day, independent work does mean all of those things. But they're not all good days.”
“Is it any surprise that almost half of those lucky enough to have PTO take less time off than they’re entitled to, and that while out of office, the majority of Americans still work?”
Did you know that the author of Where the Crawdads Sing was wanted for questioning in a murder?!
This piece on why not having kids doesn’t mean you’ll be lonely: “I hope that anyone, weighing the balance of whether they want a baby, or reckoning with being unable to have one, may be encouraged to hear how being child-free can, in fact, bring its own abundance.”
Did you know it takes 94 hours to turn acquaintances into friends, 164 hours to transition into good friends, and 219 hours to become best friends?! Now I understand why I feel so much closer to my college friends; we laid around together all.of.the.time!
This perspective on leaving the Christian community really hit home for me: “America today is a nation of believers (about 70 percent say they have some religious faith) who don’t regularly attend religious services (only 30 percent go to services at least once a month). I’m the reverse: a person without clear beliefs about God who wants to go to something like church frequently anyway.”
Thanks for being here!
Nikki
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Nodded along so hard to this! The "bad gut feeling" and the pushback on pay -- asking you to defend why you're worth a certain amount -- convinced me not to accept one project years ago and I am still grateful to my past self for that decision!! Love these reminders.