I've turned down 4-5 clients over the past 2-3 weeks for a variety of reasons. Mostly, there was just too much back and forth and balking over quoted rates. "Yes, that's good...but can you ____________________". Over and over - even when I agreed, they tried to negotiate even further. A couple didn't want to pay anything up front and another I was just too overbooked for. What about you?
I always turn down clients who offer peanuts for my services. No self-respecting writer will accept $3 for a 500-word article. Which is why I'm always saddened by the state of the B/S/T Content section. I just can't fathom how people can sell their 700-word articles for $2 each. $2 should get you a one-sentence blurb, not a whole article.
I recently turned down an old client whom I worked for on an hourly basis. She argued that I should be able to write a unique, fully researched 500 words article in 30 minutes instead of 1 hour that I billed.
The last person I turned down wanted a complete 30,000 word novella for $100... needless to say I laughed myself crazy while declining the job and offering him good luck on finding someone willing to work for such a low price for unique work. Some people can be so funny it's sad.
The last time I turned down someone was about a month ago. A fellow classmate of mine asked to write his research paper for him, which had to be APA formatted and 10-15 pages long. Needless to say, I turned him down because of moral reasons and because I had my own paper to write!
I turned down someone today who asked for a free sample article. I directed them to articles that I had written and were published online but she wanted something related to her company. I said that she would need to pay for it unless she agreed not to use it afterwards - some people just want something for nothing. So sad!
Turned one down yesterday because he wanted 2 FREE ARTICLES. He would pay nothing upfront, and if he liked the 2 FREE ARTICLES, he may order 10 more. Oh, and he said that he had ''1000's of articles to write'' (thinking I would jump at the temptation of the mythical ''1000's of articles! :O I mean, give me a break! If he wanted to understand my writing style, he could do very well by asking for my own samples. But no, he wanted free articles on his own topic! Some people!
Next time, offer to send him an invoice for 1,000 articles. If he really needs them, he can go ahead and order them, right?
I think some people favor cheap writing from sites such as fiverr.com vs getting quality content put together which will convert hundreds of time better just for the sake of putting text/articles/content out there...