take on clients?

I

illmill

Banned
Feb 20, 2009
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Planet Earth
Do you work on projects for clients or just focus on your own projects, or is it a combination of both? I'm just getting back into IM after taking a year off to travel, so I'm basically starting from scratch (since like an idiot I let my profitable domains expire and now someone else has them) and in order to fund my projects I have taken on a few clients since there is more of an immediate pay from it. This just seems to be one fucking nightmare after another. Either they don't pay at all when they say they will, or they expect too much for too little, or I have to explain to them how the internet works. Usually it's all of the above. And I'm not even talking about a lot of money either. Maybe a few hundred bucks here and there.

If you do work with clients, then do you have any suggestions on qualifying them so you don't run into these issues?
 


I swear I'm having the weirdest Deja Vu flashback...

Wasn't there a thread almost identical to this one a few weeks ago?

Sorry, OP- not trolling, just a bit bemused...
 
galacon said:
I swear I'm having the weirdest Deja Vu flashback...

Wasn't there a thread almost identical to this one a few weeks ago?

Sorry, OP- not trolling, just a bit bemused...
Click to expand...

This was more of a vent than actual question, which is why I posted in shooting the shit. Everyone is allowed to vent, not just the first person. It just pisses me off that small business owners expect the world and only offer you pennies.
 
my rules are:

- ALL clients 1/2 cash up front. no work before the check clears only to sign the contract

- get it all in writing or paper trail

- if relatives/friends I tripple my prices, they usually bug you more and think they own you and huge/insane expectations

- although I don't mention this to clients, but i give them a two week trial, for my own benefit, if after they pay me, they turn into clients from hell, i return their 1/2 and tell them go pound sand

- never give out your personal cellphone/email/address, or they won't stop bothering you
 
Nobody should operate without a monthly retainer and if you can you should really charge hourly. It's also up to you to make sure that they understand the work you're doing and why it costs what it does. The needs analysis should explain, in detail what they have to gain and the proposal should give a detailed account of how you will help them achieve these goals. Then your reporting should be extremely detailed.
 
Oh yeah, and if you have a client that's annoying, fire them and use the time you would have spent on them to find two more.
 
Get clients on a monthly retainer and make them sign a 6-12 month contract. It's a bit of a harder sell at the start, but worth it at the end. Keep in mind, underpromise and over deliver. Do that and you will NO problems from clients. 100% of my clients invite me around for coffees and take me out to lunch to go through monthly reports.

Earnings from this pay my bills and fund my own projects.. Okay, you're definitely working more than a 40 work week, but besides setting up your own projects your out networking and if you're good, get a good reputation.

From there, up your price, take on clients, if required outsource your client work (where possible) and scale up.. use profits for your own projects.. Do this for a few years = Profit!
 
Having done both I'd much rather have some good clients than a successful affiliate business. No way I'm going to take on crappy clients though.
 
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