Tip #827: When Is It Time to Fire Your Client?
… for Random Weirdness
Tip #827: When Is It Time to Fire Your Client?
Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com
The creative arts are stressful- don’t let clients make them worse.
This article first appeared in MotionArray.com. This is an excerpt.
The truth is, everyone wants to work, and everyone wants to make money, but sometimes it’s not worth the hassle to deal with a bad client. So, when do you know when it’s time to let go of a client and get on with your life? Take note of these situations and consider if it’s worth letting go.
- Please Pay Me. We all know those clients that ask you for a ton of revisions, then they can’t seem to remember to drop the check in the mail. There are also really nice clients who never seem to pay on time either. The point is, you deserve to be paid, and you deserve to be paid on time.
- R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Any client has the right to not like what you are putting out. It happens all the time. After all, art is subjective. But that doesn’t give a client the right to treat you like a child…or worse. If a client can’t treat you like the talented artist you are and respect that you are a human, well, then you can do better.
- Revisions Never End. This one is tricky. After all, there is a fine line between too many revisions, and you just not being able to deliver what’s being asked. Working with clients is always going to have its fair share of headaches. And many times it’s not even the client’s fault. We artists can be hard to work with too. It’s a give and take, and we do want to work after all. But when you start dreading the client call, when you have to really wonder if it’s worth it to take that new project, then it probably isn’t.
Always stipulate only one person of contact and specify the number of revisions before extra fees apply, on your agreement. Tends to sharpen their minds!