What Do You Do When You Write An Article Your Client Doesn't Want?

The topic line has happened to be a couple of times. I'm curious as to what other people have done; I'll tell you what I've done.

One client wanted 20 articles on a particular topic, so I wrote them. Then he said he'd wanted something more specific than what I gave him, but wanted to pick and choose through all the articles to select the ones he might be able to use (I always send one or two samples when I write a bunch of articles for a client). Instead, I told him I'd find another use for them, and I created a content website with these articles. Not a bad start, 22 pages for a new content site (one of the articles that had been requested was almost 2,000 words, so I split that one in two). It's not generated any revenue yet, but it still could.

A couple other clients have requested articles they said weren't quite what they wanted. One guy wanted information that just wasn't readily available, though I gave him lots of stuff. Another guy said I hit his topic, but it wasn't in his voice; how the heck that was supposed to happen, since I'd never met him, I'm not sure. But that was okay also, as I used these articles for one of my blogs. I figure that nothing gets unused, since, if no one wants it, then it's all my content.

So, back to my question, have y'all done anything different?

 

This has happened to me a few times as well, and I'll give you a general summary of what's going on with people that do this: a) they want articles they can put on directories, or otherwise liquidate, b) they are extremely picky and not intelligent enough to offer specific guidelines, or c) I just needed to pay more attention to the topics overall.

So now the hypothetical person has all these articles that may or may not already be put on some directory, or sold as PLR.

I actually made a thread about this not that long ago; most people said to use them in my portfolio. I have a really varied portfolio, but I usually stay in the horror entertainment & culture niche. So I have a few different version of portfolios organized by the kind of job I'm applying for. You could try that.

 

I always tend to ask the mood and the person whom I am based on, to write an article.

Until now, none of my articles have gone waste because I follow a simple questionnaire which I casually send out to the clients, to fill it up and return, so that I can start.

That acts as a contract and as well as answers my questions.

 

Duly noted, Team Nirvana. Communication is the key; however, there is often a language barrier separating clients and writers. It's very easy to get confused.

 

It is a good idea to ask questions before you begin your project: what kind of articles do you want (sales-oriented, basic information, opinion, etc), what kind of tone would you like these articles to take (conversational, formal, humor, serious), do you have other articles that you've liked that I can look at as a starting point...you get the idea. Your client will almost always appreciate your taking the time to ask these questions before beginning a project because it will save the both of you time later on. If your client is not sure what he/she wants, you might try sending in a couple of articles from your pack early to make sure they match what the client has in mind. That way you won't have to re-do a bunch of articles at the end of a project.

What AnniCanClick said is very true: some clients are just incredibly picky and they won't know what they want or don't want until something is put in front of them. Others have very specific ideas but aren't great at communicating them (which, frankly, is partly why they hired you to help them!).

Good luck!

 

If you do not do this already, request half of your fee up front.

Also, send him, say, half of the article for his approval before continuing on.

 

It's hard to determine what half up front would be when writing for so much a word. I don't do that as often anymore, but I do still do some articles that way.

 

True. Even by asking questions, if someone is expecting you to write as they speak, and you've never spoken, it's just not going to work. Then again, the two times I had an issue with it, both were in Europe somewhere, and being a New Yorker, I could see how my voice and language wouldn't match up with theirs.

 

You wouldn't tell a client "sorry I need half up front." I tell all of my clients patiently, that I'll need to estimate a security deposit before I can begin working; usually, it's 25 to 50% of the estimated cost of the project. Even if it's $1, it's better to have that trust established right away. If the client is professional, he or she will understand the risk you're taking when accepting their assignment, and pay the deposit. If the client refuses, then you know this person doesn't trust you, or doesn't intend to pay. In either case, it's a lousy way to start a working relationship, and you know at that point that it's time to move on.

 

Why is it hard to determine? I don't understand. You know how much to charge in the end, so....

Anyway, getting half upfront, or even some sort of figure close to that will compensate you for your time in the event something like that happens again.

That is, if you think your time has been wasted.

But if you show them the first half of the article before continuing on should help avoid that.

Besides, with so many ding dongs out there, getting 50% now and the rest after completion is common practice. As it should be.

 

1. It's your responsibility to know what the client wants before starting, and if there's so much of a language barrier that you can't figure that out then you shouldn't be working with that client.

2. If a client confirms that they want a certain depth of information up front and they change their mind after the work is done, they're charged for the existing content and any new content, period. It's one thing if your work was shoddy (then you should not be paid for the first set). But if the client confirmed and approved a topic line and you did the work, you get paid regardless of whether or not the client ultimately chooses to use that content as intended. If they change their mind after it's completed, that's their problem, not yours. Remember, your time is an irreplaceable asset. Once they use it, they pay for it.

3. Always get at least half of the payment up front. Even if you base your rates per word, you'll generally be contracted to write a certain number of words (say a 500 word article), so you'll be ultimately charging per article anyway. At least then if a client pulls a switch on you, you'll have some of the payment for your time already. When you get to the point where you have a constant demand for your services, you can charge up front in full (if these kinds of issues happen a lot though, that point won't come easily -- work on who you're targeting first to avoid the language barrier issues).

 

I agree with the last post. You certainly don't have to speak to someone to write an article for them in the proper voice. I haven't spoken to any of my content-writing clients in person or over the phone. I communicate with them exclusively through e-mail. I've never had a problem writing in the proper voice despite this.

Dan

 

I just want to verify that none of you are saying you've "never" had any issues. If not, I just can't believe it. I've only had the issue a few times, so it's not like it's a consistent thing.

Still, the question is what have you done with content that's been rejected. Do you just stop writing if you've only written half, do you try to find a new buyer, or do you find a way to use it yourself?

 

I place them adequately on one of my blogs and outrank the "client's" site in a matter of days.

 

I've never had an issue with content that could be re-used or re-sold. If it ever happened, I wouldn't do anything with it until I'd exhausted all collection options first (assuming it wasn't my screw-up, and was instead an issue with the client changing their mind after project approval). If you charge a significant amount, it's in your interest to do that. If someone doesn't charge much, they might not consider it worth their time to pursue collection.

If it did happen, what I'd do would depend on the niche and whether it was something I wanted to be associated with or be bothered to monetize or not. If not, I'd either eat the loss or unload them elsewhere depending on how the contract initiated (if it was a work for hire kind of agreement where the client gave the specifics, it could put another buyer at risk of problems if they used it, so I wouldn't bother selling it to them).

 

Now that's good stuff!

 

Probably a stupid question, but do you get a written contract with everyone? I know what Judge Judy says, but I haven't done that with anyone except for those people who sign up for blog writing services. I haven't reached even the $50 an article level yet, though I'm getting closer.

I do know what you mean by the monetizing also; I don't mind that part, as hopefully it will mean residual income of some type on the back end.

Thanks for the overall feedback; good stuff.

 

I almost never bother with written contracts (generally only when dealing with larger corporate clients). I do get details in "writing" via email and keep copies of it all for future reference and proof of project approval / budget agreements. If we hash out details over the phone, I'll email the details back to them and ask them to respond approving it to confirm we're on the same page. It's generally enough (and several bigger corporate writers I know rarely even bother with written contracts with those larger clients either). The more you charge, the less these things seem to happen though.

Take a sales letter for example. Somebody paying $100 might just say "do it." Someone investing $5000 is going to make sure you know what they want first, cutting down on confusion (although there still can be some at times). There's less of a "take it or leave it" attitude sometimes when budgets increase.

 

I typically round up or down so I can go ahead and tell the client how much the article is going to cost. For example, if I was charging $.03/word for a 500 word article I would charge $15 for the article, even if I wrote 525 words. They'd have to pay $7.50 upfront.

 

I'm getting ready to find and hire a content writer for user guides on my software system as well as other types of things like forum posts on my forum for the system to help generate some momentum. I had hired local Filipino tech writers to do this a while ago and to be frank it was a disaster. The quality was low, because as an American I know what English for Americans and other native English speakers should read like. However, I still had to pay them for the work that ultimately was unusable.

I dont want to go through that again, which is why this thread peaked my interest. How does one avoid having another person write a user guide and not get stuck with bad writing? I would NOT want to screw the other person, who still spent hours of their time doing the writing work, yet I dont want to get stuck paying for content that I would be ashamed to put online for the product.

Ultimately I can see that communication is very important, but still, you could wind up getting into a bind. When I do find a writer through this forum, I will start with just one article to test the waters. That way, if there is some kind of incompatibility, the loss isnt so great.