Has anyone dropped a client because you just knew it wasn't going to be a good working relationship

Hi Maarit,

I have. There have been two clients that I've severed ties with in recent months, not due to personality issues, but because of behavioral problems. I had done numerous projects with each too.

My gut instinct early on was that one was a little...flighty, and would be difficult to deal with. That turned out to be the case. If the expectation is that work will be completed and returned in 24 hours or less and I provide that, I expect to be compensated within a reasonable period of time, not the 30 days I waited, sent inquiries during, etc.

The other employer is still a mystery to me and is likely better off being that way. You deal with clients at a distance, so there is only so much you can do to create trust. Knowing that, I don't even attempt it. I simply do the work to the best of my ability and hope that it's acceptable. Dealings with my clients are not personal relationships. They're business. There was an issue, apparently, with knowing that the line existed between those two worlds on the part of my client. In the end, the comfort level simply wasn't there and I elected to cut the ties.

Sometimes you have to do that. It's not personal. It's business.

:)

Maarit,

I spend time on skype in order to qualify the prospective client before accepting the job. I end up turning down about 30-40% of jobs offered because there simply is no good fit.

I've made mistakes in my qualifying process and wound up with clients with whom I am not a good fit. Typically I send them all work done to date, tell them there is no charge, and wish them the best of luck.

Gary,

Elance is screwy. Like guru it was established for the commodity services. Unlike guru, it only barely tolerates those of us who don't do web programming. Elance's view of an engagement is "one size fits all." In the "carrot and stick" approach they forgot the carrot.

I don't think that it will result in a penalty on guru unless there has been a payment. I never ask clients to escrow funds and in almost all cases I don't bill anything until the end of the project.

And, I don't care. If there is no good fit I need to get out of the relationship.Several clients give me small retainers to be available to them for advice during the month. Only one abused that - From January 1 through January 17 this year I got nothing done but work for the one client (through elance I think.) I told him there was no charge and good luck. Most of my business is repeat/referrals, so guru and elance are footnotes for me.

The real penalty is going nuts or working yourself to exhaustion. If guru or elance or http://eieio.com wants to impose some sort of black mark on my "permanent record" have at it.

Best of luck.

Gary,

There is no penalty imposed by http://Guru.com for ending a relationship with an Employer. Some times, it just isn't a good fit.

The client I was working for who only stated 10 posts a month then made me do image editing, social media distribution, and even press release distribution contacted me that I was obligated to give him 30 days notice. I know $150.00 a month extra income helps to make ends meet but I'm a freelancer not free labor.

I will just be sticking to short-term projects from now on. Why would you even want to write for someone who tricks you into doing more work than expected?