5 Clients That Need To Be Fired - Today!

“It’s mostly easy to lose something than acquire the same, unless it’s your weight.”

Clients are precious, and as freelance professionals we do everything we can to hang on to the ones we have. Yet, every once in a while, there comes a specimen that turns your working days into a nightmare. Rude behavior, unreasonable demands, shamming on payments all make you wonder whether all that income is really worth the while. However, the good news is that you have a choice – the choice to FIRE your client. Yes, freelancers have all the right to be selective about the work they take up. If at any point, you find that you and your client are less-than-compatible, or that the project is not contributing to your professional growth the way you had envisioned, you have all the right to show them the door. Here are 5 client types that should send you scooting in the opposite direction.

The Time Eater

How many times have you come across a prospective client who spends hours with you over the phone discussing project details and negotiating the costs, only place a teensy-weensy order or none at all?  I have come across many of these in my freelancing career and I found that they are just a grand waste of time. All those hours could have easily be put towards a better (and higher paying) cause. Make all those phone/chat hours billable or let this one go.

The Perpetual Haggler

Now, you may sometimes offer to throw in freebies and economical packages to build client loyalty but having a client who is just out to milk you dry is not pleasant at all. “Can you deliver two articles for the price of one?” “While you are working on the content, why don’t you write a mailer as well?” There are plenty of clients who will go to any lengths to get a double bang for their buck. Ask yourself if it is worth obliging them.

The Non-Payer

This one is the villain of the freelancing world, the one every freelancer hates from the guts. Any client who doesn’t pay on time (or pays in bits and pieces) is really not worth the effort, even if the revenue coming from them is significant. Sending repeated reminders and bending backwards for payments is not only demeaning for freelancers, it also costs you time and ruffles up your financial planning.

The Confused Soul

This one deserves more pity that spite. Some clients are really not clear about their requirements before they set out to hire a freelance writer. The result – ambiguous briefs, frequent changes in the content, rewrites, revisions and re-revisions, and yet, nobody’s happy in the end. When you come across such clients, ask them to take their time and come back to you when they have made up their mind.

The Hard-To-Please Guy

Sure, we all thrive on pressure. Pressure is good as long as it drives us to do better and raise our standards. But what about the client who is consistently unhappy with what you do, even though you are sure in your heart that you have done a swell job? And neither are they able to provide specific pointers on what needs improvement. If caustic comments and criticism are causing you to lose morale and doubt your own capabilities as a writer, it is a sign that the client may not be right for you.