10 unconditional "No!" For freelancer
I first started freelancing while still a student, then I terribly wanted to create websites and would answer “Yes” to absolutely any offer, regardless of the level of my abilities and the required time. I just liked to know that someone needs me to complete a task that requires experience and certain skills. Unfortunately, it very quickly turned out that I was at work all the time, I fed on semi-finished products and always did not have time to pay off university debts. The situation became even worse because my customers gave my contact information to their friends (for example, a lady who wanted to sell sweaters for dogs online, but also had a budget of $ 100 for e-commerce; this is all for creating site, 1000 brochures, guaranteed result No. 1 on Google for “dog”, “sweater” and “love” requests).
In any case, now, after 4 years, my worldview (and my financial success) speak in favor of a more frequent use of the answer “No”. Below are ten questions that I now almost always answer "No":
1) - Could you prepare a sketch so that we can choose a designer / developer? - Not.
Once, when I was still young and naive, I fell for it. As a result, I did not earn money at all and wasted a lot of time. Never do unpaid work in the hope that you will be able to earn money in the future - this is not the case in life, so why did you decide what happens with web design? At best (which is extremely rare), the scenario will be like this - you will get a job from a customer who knows that you will work for free if necessary. If the events develop according to the worst-case scenario, the customer simply will not pay you, but will use your work, knowing that from a legal point of view you cannot do anything about it. Most likely, you just waste your time.
')
2) - Can you give us a discount? - Not.
There are a great many companies that believe that web design services do not cost more than $ 20 per hour ( approx. Translator: this is “them” ). You should not have such customers. Immediately after university, I estimated receiving an order so high that I could take on an exorbitant amount of work, so long as I was paid for it. Believe me, it's not worth it, under any circumstances. Of course, you can do a favor to this company, but remember that this will harm your own future and the future of your family. Today, I immediately inform the customer of their rates per hour of work, which deters many potential customers. There is simple arithmetic - if half the customers are eliminated by increasing the cost of your work, you continue to earn as much, spending less than half the time. If you do the job well, take the appropriate fee for it - there will always be companies willing to pay you twice as much as their competitors.
3) - Could you register and host my site on the server? - Not.
It seems to you a good idea, another simple part-time job? Maybe ... if, first of all, you manage to get paid for it, and also, if you consider $ 10 a month as a fair price for endless phone calls that will disturb you at any time of the day or night. As you can see, if a client once decided that you are responsible for the functioning of his email and website, he will call you every time if any minor problems arise with his e-mail or when the website issues “404 Page not found” . It seems incredible, but I personally know one freelancer, whom the client called, even to consult about his mobile phone! And all because my friend posted his website on the server. Don't take it ... it's not worth it. Give the client the address of the company that deals with the registration and hosting sites, and then let them understand.
4) - Could you please copy this site? - Not.
Here you might think that I say "No" because of my strict moral principles, and although this is to some extent true, there are other equally important reasons. First, if the client copies the site, then his own morality is rather doubtful, which means that your chances of getting paid for work on time and in full scale are reduced. Secondly, doing this kind of work turns you into a monkey. In principle, in order to pay bills, sometimes you have to take up such orders, but why deliberately achieve them? Third, if you make a copy, then the only benefit you can get is payment. You will not be able to use this work as a portfolio or a sample of your work, and moreover in the future you may not even want to receive orders from such a client.
5) - Can I pay for the creation of a commercial site with the income from its sales? - Not.
I do not like to be a pessimist, but when they ask me such a question, I want to tell the client directly that he most likely will not be able to make money on his website. So, this is the same as asking me to make him a website for free. Yes, I know that there are exceptions, so sometimes I still ask a client in detail about his views on business, on a marketing company, on revenue planning, and 99% of clients think little about these issues. Most often, the client simply decides that the sale of T-shirts will be something fundamentally new to the Internet and plans nothing at all. In such cases, I usually start talking about what I need to support myself and my family, and I will not be able to do this unless my income is guaranteed. I suggest the client use Yahoo! Shopping or CafePress, and in 9 cases out of 10 at the customer as a result does not work.
6) - I have a great idea. Would you like…? - Not.
In fact, it is not very different from point 5, but if you buy into such an offer, it can lead to even more waste of time. I don’t want to impose, but I’ll repeat: if a person only expresses an idea and does not invest in the development of a potential business, does not plan it, then any work that you will do is nothing more than charity (of course, if you like it then please). But, to be honest, I’d rather be generous to my family and friends and help them for free than rely on working with an unknown person. Believe me, if someone really has a good idea, he will take you to share and pay for the work.
7) - Do you have ICQ (MSN, Skype, etc.)? - Not.
I can give my ICQ number if we are talking about a person whom I can trust, with whom I work on a long and laborious project. But in most cases, I tell clients that I basically do not use it. The reason is obvious here - every person has a personal life, and the work is outside it. Many customers see you as an employee on demand, which is bad. After all, to avoid this, you left the office ...
8) - Can I pay for work upon completion? - Not.
I demand 50% prepayment (with a very large amount of work prepayment can be reduced to 33%). It is necessary for me, as a guarantee that the client will pay for this project, and that I will be able to plan how I will use my income: on what bills I will pay, what I will eat, etc. Clients who are eager to pay for work at the end of it, more often than others go back down after you have already shoveled tons of work.
9) - Is it possible to do this tonight or this weekend? - Not.
If you once help out a client in difficulty, he will expect the same from you in the future. Just think about it: it may be worth doing at night beyond the promised amount of work (as I do all the time), instead of giving out promises that you will do additional work during off-hours - at night, on weekends or during holidays. I know many freelancers who, in addition to the work day, set a separate price for their hours of night work, and this is probably a good way out. After all, you are engaged in freelancing to be free? Is not it?
10) - Can I be sure that you will not use this work elsewhere? - Not.
This is a very delicate topic, as many clients misunderstand such an answer (intellectual property is in any case a rather insidious question). In my Terms and Conditions, which I demand to sign all new customers, I guarantee that they are aware of 3 things:
In any case, now, after 4 years, my worldview (and my financial success) speak in favor of a more frequent use of the answer “No”. Below are ten questions that I now almost always answer "No":
1) - Could you prepare a sketch so that we can choose a designer / developer? - Not.
Once, when I was still young and naive, I fell for it. As a result, I did not earn money at all and wasted a lot of time. Never do unpaid work in the hope that you will be able to earn money in the future - this is not the case in life, so why did you decide what happens with web design? At best (which is extremely rare), the scenario will be like this - you will get a job from a customer who knows that you will work for free if necessary. If the events develop according to the worst-case scenario, the customer simply will not pay you, but will use your work, knowing that from a legal point of view you cannot do anything about it. Most likely, you just waste your time.
')
2) - Can you give us a discount? - Not.
There are a great many companies that believe that web design services do not cost more than $ 20 per hour ( approx. Translator: this is “them” ). You should not have such customers. Immediately after university, I estimated receiving an order so high that I could take on an exorbitant amount of work, so long as I was paid for it. Believe me, it's not worth it, under any circumstances. Of course, you can do a favor to this company, but remember that this will harm your own future and the future of your family. Today, I immediately inform the customer of their rates per hour of work, which deters many potential customers. There is simple arithmetic - if half the customers are eliminated by increasing the cost of your work, you continue to earn as much, spending less than half the time. If you do the job well, take the appropriate fee for it - there will always be companies willing to pay you twice as much as their competitors.
3) - Could you register and host my site on the server? - Not.
It seems to you a good idea, another simple part-time job? Maybe ... if, first of all, you manage to get paid for it, and also, if you consider $ 10 a month as a fair price for endless phone calls that will disturb you at any time of the day or night. As you can see, if a client once decided that you are responsible for the functioning of his email and website, he will call you every time if any minor problems arise with his e-mail or when the website issues “404 Page not found” . It seems incredible, but I personally know one freelancer, whom the client called, even to consult about his mobile phone! And all because my friend posted his website on the server. Don't take it ... it's not worth it. Give the client the address of the company that deals with the registration and hosting sites, and then let them understand.
4) - Could you please copy this site? - Not.
Here you might think that I say "No" because of my strict moral principles, and although this is to some extent true, there are other equally important reasons. First, if the client copies the site, then his own morality is rather doubtful, which means that your chances of getting paid for work on time and in full scale are reduced. Secondly, doing this kind of work turns you into a monkey. In principle, in order to pay bills, sometimes you have to take up such orders, but why deliberately achieve them? Third, if you make a copy, then the only benefit you can get is payment. You will not be able to use this work as a portfolio or a sample of your work, and moreover in the future you may not even want to receive orders from such a client.
5) - Can I pay for the creation of a commercial site with the income from its sales? - Not.
I do not like to be a pessimist, but when they ask me such a question, I want to tell the client directly that he most likely will not be able to make money on his website. So, this is the same as asking me to make him a website for free. Yes, I know that there are exceptions, so sometimes I still ask a client in detail about his views on business, on a marketing company, on revenue planning, and 99% of clients think little about these issues. Most often, the client simply decides that the sale of T-shirts will be something fundamentally new to the Internet and plans nothing at all. In such cases, I usually start talking about what I need to support myself and my family, and I will not be able to do this unless my income is guaranteed. I suggest the client use Yahoo! Shopping or CafePress, and in 9 cases out of 10 at the customer as a result does not work.
6) - I have a great idea. Would you like…? - Not.
In fact, it is not very different from point 5, but if you buy into such an offer, it can lead to even more waste of time. I don’t want to impose, but I’ll repeat: if a person only expresses an idea and does not invest in the development of a potential business, does not plan it, then any work that you will do is nothing more than charity (of course, if you like it then please). But, to be honest, I’d rather be generous to my family and friends and help them for free than rely on working with an unknown person. Believe me, if someone really has a good idea, he will take you to share and pay for the work.
7) - Do you have ICQ (MSN, Skype, etc.)? - Not.
I can give my ICQ number if we are talking about a person whom I can trust, with whom I work on a long and laborious project. But in most cases, I tell clients that I basically do not use it. The reason is obvious here - every person has a personal life, and the work is outside it. Many customers see you as an employee on demand, which is bad. After all, to avoid this, you left the office ...
8) - Can I pay for work upon completion? - Not.
I demand 50% prepayment (with a very large amount of work prepayment can be reduced to 33%). It is necessary for me, as a guarantee that the client will pay for this project, and that I will be able to plan how I will use my income: on what bills I will pay, what I will eat, etc. Clients who are eager to pay for work at the end of it, more often than others go back down after you have already shoveled tons of work.
9) - Is it possible to do this tonight or this weekend? - Not.
If you once help out a client in difficulty, he will expect the same from you in the future. Just think about it: it may be worth doing at night beyond the promised amount of work (as I do all the time), instead of giving out promises that you will do additional work during off-hours - at night, on weekends or during holidays. I know many freelancers who, in addition to the work day, set a separate price for their hours of night work, and this is probably a good way out. After all, you are engaged in freelancing to be free? Is not it?
10) - Can I be sure that you will not use this work elsewhere? - Not.
This is a very delicate topic, as many clients misunderstand such an answer (intellectual property is in any case a rather insidious question). In my Terms and Conditions, which I demand to sign all new customers, I guarantee that they are aware of 3 things:
- but. Their html code was borrowed from other projects for which I did not demand payment from them.
b. Perhaps I will use the code from their project on my other projects.
at. They own all the code and the completed project (ready-made website), but not specific code fragments (registration system, image loading system, etc.).
I am proud of my productivity and speed, and I need to constantly use parts from other projects to achieve this. Not to mention the fact that I am selling ready-made flash videos, to create which I may need the old code. After all, customers do not pay you for creating a code for sale. So bring to their attention that they own the completed project, not the code.
There are other questions that no doubt should be answered. Add your own items to this list and remember that what you avoid no less determines success than what you accept.
via Freelance Job .
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/31318/
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