A Call For Your Worst

I love being a freelance writer. One of my favorite things about being a freelance writer is the chance I get to meet some really great clients. I’m a bit disappointed that I may not ever get to meet a lot of these folks in person. A great client is a joy and makes all of the work not seem like work at all.

Ahh, but there is always the other side to the coin, no? Thank goodness the ratios seem to favor the good guys, but there is always a stinker or two isn’t there? I remember all of my really good clients, but the really bad ones are branded in my memory. Fortunately, I’ve only had a few in the last two years.

One of my horror stories is partly my own doing. I was new to this and quoted a ridiculously low price for what I understood the project to be. Ugh. Folks, take my advice and outline all of the details for the project in writing. In advance, preferably. Hehe.

It seemed straightforward enough. The client had a blog and a website selling a particular line of products. She wanted regular blog updates and wanted me to figure out how to drive traffic to her sales product site. Well, the blog website was a free WP theme and it was a mess. The color scheme and fonts and layout were not conducive to much of anything. I did the extra work that was needed to bring things up to speed but she wasn’t interested in updating or changing the theme – she liked it as it was.

At first, she would send me sites that she had found relating to her products. The idea was for me to get permission for reprints on her blog and to try and arrange for reciprocal links. This would have been okay except she started sending anywhere from three to six of these every day. Before I knew it, I was swamped. Part of the problem was that the product website had this crazy, complicated method for linking and each one required several email exchanges. I’d say a good half hour of time was needed for each one.

The client’s stated goal was to drive traffic and boost sales for the product site. I tried to suggest several methods for making this happen and each method was flatly refused. She wanted things to change but wasn’t willing to make the changes to her system that would enable her goals to be reachable.

Oy. Like I said, part of this was my fault for not laying out the proper groundwork, but ultimately, the client’s rigidity was the primary factor in the project’s lack of success. When I finally cut the ties for that one, I breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Now, I know that you folks that would make this little client story pale in comparison. Let’s have it. Give us your worst. Do you have client stories that still cause you to boil over?