I'd love some advice about this. How and when do you set limits with clients? Here's what I mean. Say you've got this way-great client, and she's easy to work with and communicative and clear... and she's just as happy with you as you are with her. But then she starts asking your opinion/input on more and more elements of her project. At first it's just casual and doesn't take up too much of your time, so you're happy to reply. But then it seems that she wants more and more (unpaid) input from you about areas of the project that have nothing to do with your role-- that is, writing. When do you set limits with your clients? Obviously you can't put "don't bug me about crap" in the contract. So how do other writers do this? Never reply to this sort of query? State these limits from the beginning? Or just suck it up and take the time to reply as part of a full service? I don't want to over-limit my relationship with my clients, but neither do I want to spend too much time on unpaid communication that has nothing to do with my part of a project. It's simply not cost-effective. So, what do the rest of you do?
I would tell her straight that you're getting paid to write etc so that's what your going to do. More often than not she will be scared of losing you as a writer if you have built a good relationship with each other. You could turn around and say that if she wants you to spend more time giving input she will also need to up the rate she pays you.
You could politely say "Well, I'm a writer, not a [web designer or ebay expert or whatever], so that question is a little out of my skill range. You may need to consult an actual [web designer or ebay expert or whatever]," and then change the subject back to your work. As for spending the time shooting the shit or bouncing ideas around with clients, I guess it depends on if I think it will lead to future work, the scope and pay of the project at hand and how much I like them .
Actually, you can! Perhaps not in those exact words, but I do have a clause in my contract (which all clients must sign) which states that any communication not relating directly to my contracted portion of the client's project will be billed at my regular hourly rate for consultations. Trust me, the first time they contact you about "crap" and you send them a bill... Is usually the last time! And I've never had it be a "deal breaker" for a client, either. Hope that helps
Quick fix - let the client know that responding to her inquiries is interfering with your progress on the project. Tell her that you want to help, but remind her of your commitment to finish the project on time and tell her that you'll have to limit your responses to project-related questions only. For the future, come up with a consulting rate. In your contract, include how much (non-project related) consulting time is included with the project, if any. Once your client's used up that time, start billing.
Don't be afraid of firing a client! It will save you a lot of trouble down the road, EVEN IF you lose the deal. I'd rather have a loyal client that doesn't pay much, than a guy paying me a lot buy giving me all kinds of bullshit
I am disappointed by the advice given here so far. When a client asks you for advice on other areas of their business turn it into an opportunity, not a nuisance. It should be easy for a writer to turn this into an opportunity for more business. This serves to reinforce your professionalism and that your time has value without coming across like a lawyer who only wants to squeeze every minute of billable hours from their clients. I also think in any service oriented business you have to allow some time for chit chat to build a reputation of being their go-to person. If that means on occasion giving a freebie or two, so be it. With a recent client of mine, I could have easily finished the assignment with the information he provided. It would have been a so-so piece with little to differentiate it from his competition and I have no doubt he would have been happy with it. Instead, I spent quite a while writing out a detailed list of questions that ate greatly into the time I had budgeted for the piece (yes, I'm now in the red on that piece). But, the result was a much more powerful piece and a number of new and more expensive pieces to write - read more business. It's a win-win. My client's happy because he is getting great copy and it's clear to him that I am a pro who values his business. He also gets a much more powerful website with more resources to offer his clients. I'm happy because I'm able to give him my A game and generate more business for myself. Selling up isn't just for restaurants wanting you to buy desert or French fries people. Don't let the easy ones get away because you want to be compensated for every minute of your time. Such a short-sighted view.
Good point... however you do have to set some kind of limit. If you want to keep the deal going on, that's great, just make sure it's on your terms
That's another matter entirely. Part of a copywriter's JOB is to get as much information about the client's product/service/business/target market as possible before they ever even think about starting to write. In fact, the majority of the people I work with (other copywriters) have a very detailed list of questions to ask any potential client, as do I. What Karen is asking about is a very valid concern - when do you draw the line for a client who has no respect for your time and/or the fact that they may not be your only client? Marketing advice is a solid investment in any business - as is the copy being written. A client who continuously wants your services as a business/marketing advisor, yet doesn't want to pay for those services, should be very politely (but firmly) informed that your expertise regarding matters other than the task for which you have been hired is ONLY available as a secondary service, and that a consulting rate will apply. Without these boundaries, you open yourself up to giving away hours that could be better spent on other clients giving away free business advice. A business owner who doesn't respect your time needs to understand that, for a freelancer especially, time is money - and marketing advice should be as much an investment as any other part of their business. There's nothing wrong with "giving away a freebie" once in a while to help build a relationship. But Karen's question (as I read it) was more about clients taking advantage of her time, rather than whether or not she should be trying to build a better relationship.
In most cases, I answer their questions to the best of my ability. If they're asking for something that's going to take more than a few minutes to respond, I ask if they'd like to set up a consultation. If they're asking you for things unrelated to your writing, and you're not interested in answering, simply let the client know that what they're asking falls outside of your area of expertise as a writer. Have people on-hand that you can refer them to to answer the types of questions they may have.
I agree that our job is to get as much information as possible. The piece I used as an example is one of several that I have been working on for this same client. We have spent a great deal of time exchanging information about his business. His will be a new business and there are many things still to be decided about how it will be run. There is no way to get all of the information in one questionnaire or interview because it is still evolving. With this project I am functioning as both business consultant and copywriter and am being compensated accordingly. Nowhere did I say that Karen should continue to give away freebies forever. I gave her 3 suggestions on how to turn these requests into additional revenue without risking alienating what has been a good client by sending her a bill for what she may be assuming is part of Karen's service. The client may not be aware that what she is asking for is truly outside of the original contract. I don't know about you, but the quickest way to lose me as a customer is to continuously hit me with "Oh, that's extra." I respectfully suggest you reread my post. Not only did I suggest Karen make it clear that she should bill for these extras, I also gave her 3 suggestions on how to approach the issue. I totally agree that it is easy to let a client take advantage of our desire to do a good job for them. My point is that answering additional requests for advice by only saying that's not part of our contract will prevent you from being taken advantage of but could ultimately lose you much more in the long run.