My So-Called Freelance Life - Michelle Goodman [63]
I’m guessing “pays well and on time” ranks high on your list, too. But if you have other client characteristics that are important to you—for example, allows you to work as part of a team, or assigns projects that require you to travel—tailor this list to suit your own freelance needs. Then, using the traits listed on your Client Report Card as a guide, give each client you’ve worked with in the past year an overall grade: A, B, C, D, or F. (You can also evaluate future clients this way.) Maybe a client gives you loads of work, is wonderfully charming, and has recommended you to some of their colleagues. But since you’ve had to hunt down your check from them on multiple occasions, you give them a C.
Don’t think that you have to play Donald and fire any client who earns less than an A or B. Before you go to extremes, tell the low achievers on your client roster that you love working with them, but you need more lead time, less scheduling snafus, a nonrefundable project deposit—whatever’s important to you.
If that doesn’t get you anywhere, send them packing. Remember, diplomacy is key. All you have to do to fire an unruly client is turn down the next job. However, if you want to do your part to help the freelance community, you can politely explain why. (“I can’t hang with having to chase down my check every time.”) Maybe if they hear it from enough freelancers, they’ll get their act together.
Just as no freelancer is without her own charming quirks, no client can be impeccably organized 100 percent of the time. It’s up to you to decide which minor inconveniences you can live with and which will make you break out in hives and default on your rent.
“Even when you’re down-and-out financially, it never works to take on a red-flag client for monetary reasons,” says graphic artist Colleen Lynn. “If you do, your situation will be worse in thirty days, not better. I will place my household rent on a credit card today and sweat out the ‘lack of funds’ situation before I take on a new client that may be a red flag.”
I’m with Colleen: Given the choice between a nightmare client who’s guaranteed to make me scream and a week or two of financial uncertainty, I’ll take door number two every time.
Chapter 15
You’re so Money
Tame your cash flow, save for retirement and find insurance that won’t bankrupt you
“Money is always dull, except when you haven’t got any, and then it’s terrifying.”
—Sheila Bishop, The House with Two Faces, 1960
You know my friend who sold magazine ads in Silicon Valley during the nineties dot-com boom, the one I mentioned a few chapters back? While most of my other twentysomething pals were struggling to make art and rent, Ms. Ad Sales was raking in six figures, playing the stock market, and decorating the spacious condo she’d just bought in one of San Francisco’s spendiest neighborhoods.
Once, when I showed up at her Pottery Barn-perfect condo for dinner, she handed me her ATM card and PIN number and had me run to the nearest cash machine for her while she finished up a phone call with a client. Her checking account balance? Eight thousand dollars. Eight thousand dollars. It nearly knocked the wind out of me. At age twenty-seven, I was lucky if I had $800 in my checking account.
I remember being both awed and repulsed, not to mention a wee bit intimidated. Who has that kind of money? I thought. But as I’d come to realize by my thirtieth birthday, having enough money so you don’t wake up at 3:00 AM panicking about the rent you were supposed to pay a week ago is incredibly liberating. It’s much easier to focus on the projects on your plate when your mind’s not crowded with panicky thoughts like Holy crap! What am I going to doooooooo?
I’m not saying you need to have a six-figure investment portfolio or a home featured in Architectural Digest to ease your mind (lord knows, I don’t). I’m saying that if you’ve been living with your head in the sand about how you’re going to pay your bills each month, it’s time to pull it out. Since freelancers don’t get a nice, neat