I have clients now. Fuck. Advice?

EricVonDoobie

EricVonDoobie

FAQ it
Dec 23, 2009
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Sunnyvale Trailer Park
So I've had a lot of family/friends pushing anyone they know who wants a website or online marketing my way.

The problem is this: I don't really want the work, but the demand/cash is becoming too big to ignore so I've taken on a few people and agreed to work with them.

Working with "clients" like this is pretty new to me, so I was wondering if anyone had any advice or input on things to avoid, best practices, etc.? Any other input on working with clients and anything of that nature? i.e. stream lining, making more from each client, etc. etc. Honestly any info at all would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
 


Take a number. Double it. Then double it again. Then think about whether you really need the money. Then think about what those hours working for yourself could make you.Also, money up front. If they can't do that, they are probably a waste of time.
 
  • keep records of all communications (no one can fuck you over this way because you have proof of what was said)
  • Never do anything unless it's attached to a milestone (see above)
  • set frequent milestones for review of progress because people's expectations change over multi month projects
  • always get money up front
  • always get money up front
  • always get money up front
 
Don't take on client work unless you're the kind of person who enjoys interacting with people all the time. And I second Mattseh, either be very clear upfront about what they get (i.e. 2 revisions, no extras, all other will be billed at higher rate) or up the rates you charge A LOT. Most of the cheapies are bad customers who have tons of requests and try to squeeze you for everything. They are cheapies because they are broke and they are broke because they don't understand the value of other peoples work.

I do a bit of SEO'ing on the side and I make it perfectly clear beforehand what they will get so I don't end up with people bitching.
 
Clients are an absolute nightmare. Only take on clients if they have a very good understanding of how SEO works (6+ months to see results) and if they won't be hounding you down on the phone when their ranking goes from #57 to #58. Finding clients who will leave you alone and let you do your thing is really, really hard. People feel the need to hire an expert and then hold their hand at every step of the process.

There's so much money to be made online without having to deal with people's bullshit.

Good luck bro!

rusvik said:
Most of the cheapies are bad customers who have tons of requests and try to squeeze you for everything. They are cheapies because they are broke and they are broke because they don't understand the value of other peoples work.
Click to expand...

THIS.
 
Whatever you do, make sure you control your consulting time. Don't make yourself available to them at all times. They will call you to no end. Schedule your follow up calls once every 14 days(twice a month) is my preference.

As stated above me always get money upfront. And, always be upselling.
 
brandonbaker said:
Clients are an absolute nightmare. Only take on clients if they have a very good understanding of how SEO works (6+ months to see results) and if they won't be hounding you down on the phone when their ranking goes from #57 to #58. Finding clients who will leave you alone and let you do your thing is really, really hard. People feel the need to hire an expert and then hold their hand at every step of the process.

There's so much money to be made online without having to deal with people's bullshit.

Good luck bro!
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^^^^I use to feel this way, but it just takes positioning. Offlien money will always be easier to make than online money. And, 800 number and a voicemail system would have solved these problems for me. When people see you as a busy professional when they hire you they treat as such. My clients no I have no problem severing ties with them and they see that experience as their loss so they tend to leave me alone and reserve all questions to their bi-weekly follow up call.
 
Trip5445 said:
^^^^I use to feel this way, but it just takes positioning. Offlien money will always be easier to make than online money. And, 800 number and a voicemail system would have solved these problems for me. When people see you as a busy professional when they hire you they treat as such. My clients no I have no problem severing ties with them and they see that experience as their loss so they tend to leave me alone and reserve all questions to their bi-weekly follow up call.
Click to expand...

It all depends what you want out of your business. If you want to have full control over your business and let other people rank their own sites, client work is a bad idea. But if you like the personal factor and want to be able to charge someone $1500/month for something that costs $350, then by all means go for it.
 
Just demand enough money that they will most likely chicken out, but if they do agree and you're stuck having to do the work, at least it's worth it.
 
Never work with relatives/close friends. You won't be feeling like working and they won't be feeling like paying, that's a law of nature, just like gravity. Do not promise any offline friends/relatives you'll "take a look at their site".

I once worked on a site of my ex-girlfriends' father, it was a nightmare. Brb showering.

Other than the whole morbid poetry, you're basically working a 9-5 again once you take too many orders. So stay away from it because doing it for the family/friends is like signing up for a 9 to 5 that never ends.
 
I agree with everyone on here. I'll also add, if you are doing this work because you have the skills, not because you want this work for a career, then you can always decline the work after the fact. Your rep may suffer with them a little bit, but in the end it won't screw you over in attaining your real goals.

Also, get paid. Make it worth your while!
 
My advice:

Don't take up a client unless:
1- They are willing to pay you ridiculous amounts of money
2- If they do 1, you will still get them a huge ROI
3- If 2, then ask for a cut as part of the deal
4- If 3, then make sure you can get control of the project if they decide to kick you out (ie put the links through a 301 domain you control, or something)

Clients can be awesome, but 99% of the time suck.
 
As far as SEO is concerned it's pretty easy to make money without having to do customer service. You simply sell a package, show proof that you delivered and then no more. Let them buy it or not. Selling SEO pr. hour is a horrible, horrible idea with clients calling, emailing and expecting documentation for everything.
 
I had this same problem.... your friends and family see you're making money online and now you're the "guru" for all computer related shit. I usually brushed it off too but like you the demand became too big to ignore. I decided to set it up as another business entity.

- Set expectations up front.
- Get them on monthly payments with "setup fee" + first months payment up front.
- Sell it to them in a package. Specify what is exactly included in that package including consultation time. Make sure to point out your time is extremely valuable.
- Hire someone to deal with customer support type issues (my website is down!)
- Hire someone to do business development (grow the business)
- Outsource SEO, Web development, etc ...

Set it up right from the beginning, put some thought into it. Layout prices, packages, options, etc... Just remember its a business not a hobby or favor to your mom's-friend's-alcoholic-son-in-law-who-owns-a-lawn-mowing-business-with-a-rented-mower.

If you aren't making money, and specifically more money than you can make elsewhere for your time then it's not worth it. If you think you can turn this into another revenue stream invest some of your money in employees to make it grow.
 
Find a way to manage all of the tasks and realize that its a lot of work. If you can afford it, hire someone to manage the projects, keep everything in line, write content, deal with clients, etc.

Also, more importantly make sure you charge enough and set time lines you can beat. We have been building out corporate sites for clients recently and charging $15 - $20k. Coming from throwing together quickie lead gen sites, I thought this was crazy. But now that I see all of the work going into it, it's actually about right.
 
Hey Ted from Warrior Forums here!
When I'm lacking motivation to take on new clients, I head over to the Warrior Forums to read the Mind Success stories so that I can feel motivated!
If you believe in yourself money will magically come to you!

Yours truly,
Ted
 
I can't find the full video but this was good:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZGra65Nob4"]F*ck you. Pay me. - YouTube[/ame]


I would actually encourage you NOT to take on the work, you'll make more yourself almost every single time.

But if you must: Setup a filter for your studio i.e. my minimum retainer grew from 2K to 10K to finally 20K and they just kept coming so a) never undervalue yourself b) even when you overvalue yourself don't overdeliver too much it becomes expected and on xx,xxx to xxx,xxx gigs it's a monsterous task to upkeep. I gave up servicing in 2007, wouldn't go back unless I was literally next to broke again, thus my advice is 'don't do it you'll juggle 25 idiots a year and have little time/focus on juggling your own profit makers'.

EDIT: Found the full - watch it: http://vimeo.com/22053820
 
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