Life of a Freelancer #1 - Don't Take Abuse from Clients
Earlier this week I applied for a freelance job. Nothing major, just something to cover a few bills coming up. I was told I am in the interview stage by the client but they needed me to complete a short test. I did so and was told that they picked someone less than an hour after giving me the test material. This is after I turned in the test material myself.
I thanked them for the consideration and moved on.
They messaged me again a day later saying the other freelancer dropped out and asked if I would be available to do the job.
I replied yes, I could do the job. I replied within 10 minutes of their asking me.
They replied a few hours later explaining they are going with someone else who replied quicker than I did.
Earlier today, got a message from this same client saying this other person bailed on them and asking if I can do the job. I replied immediately with a no. Now they are mad at me. Lol
Some people.
I ran into a lot of people during my freelance career who seemed to think that all freelancers were poor, sad saps desperate for work and willing to jump through hoops to get it. And honestly, I did some of that at the beginning. But as soon as I started saying "no" to outrageous requests and demanding more respect, the quality of clients I attracted improved dramatically.
Exactly. I used to take whatever the client threw my way but then I started saying no, you are not going to take that crap. At first it was slow going but as I kept putting my foot down I started realizing my clients were becoming higher class as you might say. I also had more time to work with better clients because I was not tied up working for jerks.
I have had clients demand 500 word press releases, distribution, me provide licensed stock photos and do it all within 24 hours for $5. I don't think so. lol They have knocked me on the service I was using at that time for it too (Fiverr). What sucked was even though I showed the company (Fiverr) everything between me and those clients including the gig offer that stated that stuff cost extra, Fiverr refused to take the strikes off my account - stating I need to work it out with the client and maybe just do what they want to get them to take the strike off. Nope to their service (I only recently started going back to Fiverr to offer some work).
Some people are just idiots and extremely rude and they do their best to bend the rules in their favor.
Client vendor relationship. Classic. Good on you for refusing their game. Next time, tell them yes, but triple your price.
Great idea. Unfortunately, this was through a service that uses escrow. Accepting the job would have been based on the initial terms set when I first applied unless they would be willing to start a new job request with the new terms (highly unlikely).
I have been freelancing for a long time, this is nothing new. I am constantly amazed at the candor of some people though.