The Reality Of Low Paying/Cheap Clients

You know, I've seen a few people say that they believe lower paying clients are easier to please and work with.

Well, I'm going to fill you in on some details because I used to work for people like the clients you can find in this forum and I've worked with business owners when they needed content. I'll just cover some quick bullet points.

- Cheap clients NEVER pay upfront. Maybe your experience is different, but I never had a single client who would pay 100% or even 50% upfront. Some of them would take the content and disappear which is a crap thing to do but they're cheap, what can you expect?

- They have unreasonable demands. The majority of them want you to include pictures, headers, ridiculous lists of LSI keywords and other miscellaneous requirements that they think will make them rank. Oh and by the way, all this extra effort is usually free.

- They're picky as hell. If you think, "i'm just going to submit this and we'll be done!" Wrong.. that's not how cheap people are. They always want reivisions, free edits or free advice.

- They all at one point become Joint Venture opportunities. I wish I could count the number of times clients (cheap ones anyways), wanted to start a "business" or "joint venture" without even knowing who I was. What this means is, you write for them for free and then you collect a share of the revenue... right...

They're a nightmare, trust me I know. Whenever I see these low paying clients just trashing on high paying clients for paying "too much". You get what you pay for...

 

Most freelancers learn to look for "Red Flags" and avoid these types of people or give them expensive quotes to cover the cost of the problems they have. Personally i just avoid them like the pledge, they are in every industry.

 

You forgot how they want to be tethered to your hip via Skype throughout the entire process, demanding your undivided attention. Eh, sorry - no. Let's cover the basics via email because 9 times out of 10, you're going to bail once you hear the price anyway so why bother to add you on Skype unless it's to finalize the details?

I've never had a client not pay. That's because I don't start any work until full payment upfront has been received. They always have the choice not to pay. I never have the choice to undo work that's already been done.

Pictures, etc. - with me, are not free. I charge an additional per image fee and I don't give them choices of images, either. You pay me to find ONE - not an album full for you to choose from.

I do one edit. By edit, I mean an edit...for grammar, for mistakes, for things that can be edited. When it comes to the business of, "No - I don't like this. Let's do it THIS way instead" - that's a new project and a new charge. I did what you paid me to do. I followed your instructions. I kept my end of the deal, making sure it's accurate, grammatically correct, etc. Your whims and wild hairs were not covered in the fee I charged - sorry.

I don't do joint ventures of any kind. If you're so sure your site's gonna be a hit and earn buttloads of revenue, then you'll have no problem paying me upfront to do the writing since you're going to make it back tenfold, right?

 

I always avoid cheap clients and I've genuine clients who work with me for years and I've satisfied with them. Cheap clients demand every time and they ask so many queries before we start working and genuine clients are set and let go type.

 

Lol I was just talking about this exact same thing earlier.

I tend to charge a high price (I say high - it's higher than the price most people work for on this forum but in the grand scheme of things it's pretty average) to all new clients now and depending on the size of the order I will ask for payment upfront. I pretty much stick to UK clients now as I can claim my money back through legal avenues if I need to.

One of my really old clients who I still work for for a low rate recommended me to another client a few months back. He had already told him what he paid me so I agreed to do his work for the same price. Anyway to cut a long story short this new client wanted web copy writing for his web design site but he had no idea what he wanted - either that or he knew what he wanted he just couldn't explain it in any logical terms. I gave him my Skype name and after around three hours really late at night he was still asking me questions about SEO, marketing and all that malarky. I called it quits and said I was finishing work and would have his article to him soon. As soon as I turned my laptop on the next morning I already had an email from him asking for updates about his work. Where was it? Why hadn't I contacted him etc.

Later that day (after hiding on Skype) I sent him the completed web copy for the first page of his website. Although it met his guidelines and covered everything he had asked me to in his eyes it wasn't right. He sent me more and more information via email and I set about rewriting. After rewrite number 2 the result was the same - the copy did not say what he had wanted it to.

This was when I called it quits. After giving 3 hours of advice through Skype and writing two pieces of web copy I cancelled the job. For such a low rate he expected the world and if he didn't know what he wanted his web copy to look like, I'm darned if I know. I apologised to my client who referred him and he said he understood. I changed my terms shortly after this.

Now switch back to 2013 and some of my high paying clients. They understand that it takes time to write good copy and they understand that if rewrites are needed due to a mistake on their part, they need to pay for them. Most also offer upfront payment and none of them hassle me for long Skype conversations.

The difference is crazy and now I won't work for anyone who pays peanuts - it's not worth the hassle.

 

I have come across a few people like this before but, on the whole, I have found most of my clients that I have worked with through DP to be great. I generally tend to look for long term work and most of the people I have written for have been on a long term basis so that certainly reduces the chances of being scammed or whatever.

It all depends how flexible you want to be. If someone wants me to write an article, post it to Wordpress and find an image etc... for the post then this is obviously going to be a bit extra but I don't mind doing it. I know some people who start getting annoyed because they have been asked to do this, that and the other beyond just writing. Just make sure that every part of the process that you are expected to complete is laid out before you begin any work and also factor it into the price. I only ever charge anything upfront when it comes to big projects; if someone wants me to write a $20 article then I am not going to hassle them for $10 upfront. However, if you are worried about this type of thing, then simply ask for 50% before you send any work then both parties are taking a risk; if they refuse to do this then it is probably a pretty clear sign that they aren't serious about it.

I know some people can be a bit overwhelming in terms of emailing all the time etc... All you need to do is set a clear deadline for when the work should be completed. If they are hassling you after the deadline and you haven't sent the work then it is your fault. Any emails on updates beforehand you can simply say that you will have it ready by the agreed date.

In terms of joint venture, no thanks. Why do it with someone when you can write and work on a business venture yourself if you want to?

 

I believe a lot of this nonsense has to do with sites like Odesk, Elance, etc. Of course, there are thousands and people on there... and they all think just because they can throw together a few articles (and stuff them with keywords for SEO) that they can write copy.

I cannot tell you how many times I've come across prospective clients who legitimately believe that paying someone $5/hour to write the copy to their website is a good idea. People just don't think about the investment aspect of having copy written. Yeah, you might pay more to get the job done, but having a solid copywriter can multiply your sales to a point where it's worth the investment 100 times over.

Another thing: I refuse to check or respond to emails before 11:00 a.m. That way I can knock out my most important projects of the day early on. Clients might whine about it but I've found this leads to them respecting my time more (and me retaining my sanity).

Corey

 

I have found that cheap clients will always pester me on IM. I always need to give them my full attention! And these days, I just don't. I have the busy sign always on and hopefully that stops a lot of people from messaging me unnecessarily. And oh, I have clients who ''just want to chat''! Ha! Well, I certainly don't have the time to chat when I am online on my work IM!

Also, I never start working without an upfront payment, especially if the person happens to be new. I have however 2 or 3 people who I have been working with for years and I don't mind not taking any upfront from them. I have been cheated by a few people who have so many requirements they want to be fulfilled and then they take the copy and run! I mean, how do these people sleep at night? Don't they have nightmares or something? Anyway, I have certain 'red flags' to tell me when not to work for a cheap client.

 

I have set times when I'll check email and IM's. I refuse to be a slave to my email and IM clients. I'll always respond to people promptly, but my work comes first. I'll give people my email first and then we will chat by IM if need be. The people who request that I must stick to my IM client like glue, I avoid. Many of them think they are the single most important person on the planet and I must drop everything that I am doing just so they can chit chat whenever the mood strikes.

There are many times too where I gave my IM details. The person requested to be authorized, so I granted the request. Some people, the deal was closed straight away. Other times, we're in the middle of the conversation, I'm waiting for something from the client, and then they are gone. I don't have time to sit there and keep monitoring my IM, waiting for the instructions or files from a client before work can begin. If the client was the least bit serious, they would have their act together.

My time is money. I don't work online as a hobby. Boundaries need to be set or some people will think all you have to do in a day is be at their beck and call whenever they need attention.

 

cheap clients always complain more, want more and are rarely satisfied. I was in a conference back in October that told us for 4 days straight to raise our prices for our services.

 

I completely agree with you! I have witnessed it and I get so many complaints. If you're cheap you get cheap work. If you pay more you get better quality work. Accept it for what it is.