Daily Writing Jobs

This is the first post on this blog along these lines, but I think that it’s an important topic to touch upon: cheapskate clients. Now, I’m not sure if “cheapskate” is an adequate term as I am referring to any client or customer who orders writing services and then wants to change the terms of your offer to suit their needs while leaving you with extra work for the same amount of money (or less).

Here’s my little story of one demanding client

This has actually happened to me twice in the last month.  I’ll give you a summarized version of one of these situations:

Client A has been ordering writing services from me since 2006 (nearly two years!).  He apparently loved my work and because we had been working together for such a long time, this person occasionally received very nice discounts on my writing services.  I use a fluid pricing schedule as opposed to a flat-rate schedule as this has worked out well for me.

In any case – this person wanted somewhere between 50-70 articles, probably more, but I could only verify about 70.  I was giving him a heck of a deal at only $10 per article for a couple of reasons:

1. The topic was very familiar.

2. We have an extensive work history and this guy had paid me thousands upon thousands of dollars over the years.

After I delivered about 20 articles, the guy wanted to change things around – he wanted me to lengthen my articles (agreement stated a minimum of 350 words); 17 of the articles were over 400 words, and several were actually over 550 words.

The end result – I dropped him.  Now, to be fair – I had a problem with him about a year ago as well, basically he started treating me like a $5 article writer.  If you do not know what that means, it basically means that the buyer changes the terms of the deal and expects the freelance writer to bend over backwards to save the contract because they are hard up for work.  However, at that time I told him that the way he was treating me was unacceptable and gave him an ultimatum – he changed his tone.

Why “cheapskate” buyers are bad for your business as a writer

So-called “cheapskate” buyers will suck you dry; once you give in to them, they will walk all over you.  They will expect the world from you and give you next to nothing in return.  There are good clients just as their are bad clients, and sometimes, such as the case here – there’s a fine line between the two.  Sometimes you’ll run into clients who will go along with your terms for a while, and then they’ll try to throw in a couple of additions here and there.  As a writer, you have to judge where your line is and weigh out the potential losses and gains by taking a certain action.

Quite honestly, by me dropping this client, I literally gave up thousands of dollars.  I’m ok with that.  I mostly cater to SEO companies, web development firms and professionals – I can make up those losses with a few writing projects.  If I were a new writer, or my clientbase was made up of “freebie seekers” where my clients had a hard time imagining paying $20 for an article, I probably would have sucked it up to get the $500 – $1,000 and then I probably would have called it quits.

I’m not in any way suggesting that you should drop your clients every time they want a little bit extra from you – that’s absurd.  With the right clients, there should be a little bit of give and take – plus, you can always make up for any current losses by increasing your bid a little bit on a future project if you are a decent writer who enjoys repeat business.

My advice for new online writers:

Beware.  There are people who will eat up the majority of your time, your energy and your resources and give you next to nothing in return.  If you show them that you are desperate or unsure of yourself, they will take note of that and use that point to their advantage.  While this isn’t the norm – there are plenty of good clients – this is something that is a part of the online writing field.

Bottom line: writing opportunities abound – if you have a client that is impossible to please, cut them loose.  There are plenty of people willing to pay you for your services – let the freebie-seeking cheapskates go and look for clients that appreciate the services that you provide for them.