by Matt Rossi from ifoh designs

Time is, or should be right there at the top of our list of things to pay attention to in our profession. This is especially crucial to those of us who are freelancers. If your are doing a quoted job, the quicker you get done the more you earn per hour, leaving plenty of time to take on more work, and so continues the cycle. Every time we start a new project, we are investing in it along with the clients. We are investing our pride, integrity, time, sanity, skills, etc,. In fact, the clients only have to come up with an idea, approve things, and hand off a check (or cash…shhh I won’t tell). When our reputation is all we have, can we afford to take on work that we feel may damage that reputation?

I don’t mean to be a cynic, but the easiest way to protect yourself from problem clients, is to notice the warning signs of a bad client, and stand clear of them. Easier said than done you might say, especially when it comes to paying your rent, buying your food, or feeding your obsessive caffeine addiction. With all that in mind, we can however plan for the worst. Let’s see what we can do to protect our investment.

1. Confidence is key.

One of the biggest factors in having an indecisive client, falls from your lack of confidence in your work. Let the client know that you know what you are doing, by not only talking-the-talk, but walking-the-walk. Don’t blurt out “gee, I just don’t know if a two-column layout is right for this, or should I have a three?” this shows lack of knowledge, and weakness. These are things to be thinking about, don’t get me wrong, but you can keep them to yourself.

Another important step in gaining confidence, is to not over step your skill level, but also not under judge your skills. You need to be striving for something at all times, but you also do not want to send an email to yahoo telling them you want to redesign their entire network if you are still using comic sans and tables…Catch my drift?

If it is a redesign they are after, research their site heavily. Talk about flaws, and weaknesses you noticed when browsing it. Talk about the importance of web standards, and what they can do for their business. Don’t attack them full force by saying “gee your last developer didn’t indent properly on line 187″. That is not a selling point.

2. Be up front with them.

Let the clients know that you for instance:

• *Require a 50% down payment to initiate the project. Now you are both invested into the project. The client wants the work, and you want the other 50%.
• *Tell them that you only offer “x” comps and “x” rounds of review. If they exceed either of these, explain the consequences (more money for you).

*If the client gives you trouble here, take a step back and analyze the situation. How badly do you need this job? What are the risks? Are they a large company that would settle a law suit? Do you have saved confirming emails?

3. Always meet deadlines.

I think this is one of the most important of all. This kind of ties in both the above mentioned steps, as if you cannot meet a deadline, you do not show much reliability, thus decreasing confidence in your work. Don’t be a chump either. Let the client know that what you need from them, on what date(s) in order to meet these deadlines in an appropriate and timely manner. Don’t back yourself into a hole.

If you are part timing on a lot of your jobs, you might want to save yourself the headache of having to deal with “problem clients” and not take the job. If you are freelancing full time on the other hand, you need to be really be cautious. If you need to take a less than appealing job, make sure you think about how you are going to do things differently next time. Always be thinking two or three steps ahead, and try to keep these jobs to a minimum.

Matt Rossi is a 24 year old Web Designer living in Rhode Island, commuting to Boston daily, and hating every second of it. He started “ifoh designs: information foragers of hyperlinks & designs”, a web and graphic design inspired blog in 2007.