Being a web worker can mean learning to handle many facets of running a small business, including dealing with difficult clients, which can often be one of the biggest frustrations that come with the territory. But how do you know if your clients are abusing you? Here are a few telltale signs and tips for how to fix and avoid these situations. The work keeps creeping in. Scope creep is the bane of many freelancers’ lives. You start with one description of what is to be done and end up doing something entirely different, or something that’s way more involved …

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If there’s one thing doctors and lawyers hate, it’s being repeatedly asked for their professional opinion about something outside of the office by friends and acquaintances. First of all, it’s professionally irresponsible to advise people without a full grasp of their specific situation and context, and secondly, complying with requests of that nature effectively amounts to giving away for free what you normally do for others for a fee.

Web workers, too, have to deal with these kinds of requests, but I personally find that people are even less abashed about asking for advice and help related to blogs, social media, networking and other web work because they don’t regard it as a specialized service the way they do with medical and legal expertise.

I’m not saying giving away freebies is always a definite no-no, but I do think that as web workers we need to start reinforcing the value of our work by drawing a line between friendly advice and working for free. Here’s how I’m trying to create that demarcation.

Parry When Possible

I’m mostly of the opinion that the easiest way to deal with most conflict is to avoid it, and free advice is no exception. Most of the time, when people ask me to do something like set up their blog, write their cover letter/resumé introduction, or otherwise give away what I normally require a fee for, I either respond noncommittally or agree to talk to them more about it later on. It avoids unpleasant scenes with close friends and relatives, and nine times out of ten, you’ll never hear about it again.

Role Reversal

It’s hard to keep this tactic from sounding too snarky or sarcastic, but as with most things, asking someone to see things from your perspective can help curb friendly requests. Avoid the “Do I ask you to help me remodel my kitchen for free??” knee-jerk response. Instead, exercise some tact and take the time to fully explain real parallels between what exactly you do for a living, and how it is you do it. Often, people don’t think anything of asking for web working advice because they don’t see the work behind it, since the process can be fairly opaque to outsiders.

This One’s On the House

Refusing to give away advice or help isn’t always the best course of action. If, for instance, your mother wants you to help her set up a travel blog (sign up for Blogger and pick a theme), looking to make some money off the deal would probably be pretty callous of you.

Even in less clear-cut situations, the advantages of giving something away might outweigh the downsides. Always examine whether or not you might be able to work out some kind of barter arrangement in exchange for other service, or for future consideration, if you know the person you’re dealing with to be dependable and have a solid sense of fair play.

Convert the Lead

If you’re an optimist, then you won’t see requests for pro bono help as an annoyance. You’ll see them as viable sales leads, and therefore a valuable source of potential income. This is another tricky bit of business, since many people will immediately become disinterested in your services when they find out you won’t be performing them free of charge. But that actually makes it a doubly-beneficial solution, since you’ll land a sale if the person you’re dealing with has a genuine need and you’re a good salesperson, or you’ll dissuade them from coming calling on you in the future when they’re looking for free advice.

Being asked about your job is great, especially if you love it as much as I do mine. I love the opportunity to talk about what I do with people who are genuinely interested. What I don’t love is being asked to do something by someone who couldn’t care less about the how and why of web work, just so that they don’t have to do it themselves. People will only respect what you do for a living if you respect it first, and part of that means not cheapening it by doing for free what you would normally do for a fee. Plus, shouldn’t your buddy from college learn to write their own cover letter at some point?

Do you find that people often ask you for free advice/work? How do you deal with these requests?

Somehow in the last few years the term “Reseller” has become an insult.  It’s not enough anymore to just sell a product, now to be a true Value Added Reseller (VAR) partners must provide services.  None of this is news but many partners are promoting themselves as a VAR when they may still be just a, dare I say it, Reseller.

As an end-user it becomes even more difficult to differentiate between the partners you go to in order to simply purchase product and those partners that provide you services above and beyond.  Partners truly have to differentiate themselves in the current market and economy which becomes even more difficult if your competing partners are getting the same air time from the vendors.

Word Play

There is nothing wrong with simply selling product but is there a different level of support partners need if they are a Reseller or if they are a Value Added Reseller?

It is as important for a partner to find and promote their value proposition as it is for the vendor.  If you don’t provide services it’s okay!  Really it is!  But you better add value another way (price, speed, accessibility).  The bottom line is with more and more partners claiming to provide services the market is getting murky and customers more confused.

If you claim to be a VAR you need to have the certifications required to promote yourself.  Vendors need to make the certifications comprehensive and provide marketing support for those who have completed it such as certified logos for websites and business cards and a partner finder on the corporate site.  Vendors also need to do their part to promote the services that should be offered with the product or set of products.  If the vendor site promotes “plug and play” then the partner has a hard time adding services.

There are opportunities for both types of partners, not providing services is not a bad thing but partners must capitalize on what they do provide.  Some end users only want a “plug and play” partner or they have the capabilities in-house and want a partner to leverage their relationship with the vendor to acquire product.  There needs to be different levels of service from partners and therefore, different levels of certification from vendors.

Vendors have you seen different opportunities for both?  Partners how are you differentiating yourselves?

I would like to share with you something that I believe has massively helped me grow my business over the years. What I have been doing is pushing myself to be more social and talk about something that isn’t just the work at hand.

For example, if I was at a residential clients house and waiting for an application to install or something else where there wasn’t much else I could do, I would look around the room and try to find something they are interested in and ask them about it. It might be sports memorabilia, travelling souvenirs or hobbyist items but when you allow someone to talk about what they are interested in, you will almost instantly develop a connection with them.

My clients would tell me about the countries they have been to, I would tell them about the ones I have been to and we might share various travelling stories. If I go back to the clients house 6 months later, I try to remember what we talked about last time and ask something like “How was your holiday in Fiji? I remember you saying that you were going there last time we talked?”. They love the fact that I remembered and cared enough to ask.

This takes the relationship away from me just being the guy who has come here to fix the computer to becoming a friend. The advantage of having a client relationship like this is the loyalty that comes with it and they are unlikely to replace you with anyone else.

Look at it this way, lets say you called a plumber over to do some work but you didn’t talk to him. He came in, did the job, gave you the invoice and left. Sure, he did a good job but next time anything happens that requires a plumber, you may not necessarily get the same plumber because you have no connection with him, he was just the guy that did some work for you a few years ago. You can easily find another one.

I also do this in the business environment as well but a little differently. I do some work for some medium-sized businesses and when a computer has issues, the employee using it calls reception and the reception calls me. The girls at reception have the option to call whoever they want but they now know me as more than just the tech guy. They know my hobbies, the area I live and I know theirs. By calling someone else, they may feel that they are stabbing me in the back.

Of course, in the business environment you need to use your own judgement of whether you should talk to people or not. Their main goal may be to get back up and running so they can resume work which they are now behind on. If this is the case, you will be liked more if you just make things work, bill them and be on your way.

So next time you are on a residential job or the situation is right in a business environment, push yourself to be a little more social. Ask them questions about things they are interested in and be genuinely interested in the responses. After a while you will definitely see a difference in your business.

SOURCE: TECHNIBBLE.COM

The project milestone sheet is an incredibly important document for freelancers and their clients. It defines all the most important tasks, who is assigned to them, and when they are due. In other words, it serves as the map for your entire work process.

So how can you create a milestone sheet that works?

Deliverables and dates. The most important items on the milestone sheet are the deliverable items that will come from both you and your client. From planning to development to project conclusion, every significant step should be noted.

Apart from the developmental stages of the project, here’s what you should include:

• Contract signing;
• Payment schedules;
• Submission of existing relevant documents from the client (previous marketing materials, business vision and objectives, etc.); and
• Ample time for the client to review your work and send feedback.

If you’re located in a different timezone from your client, identify the timezone that the schedule is based on. This isn’t such a big deal when there’s only a 2-3-hour difference — unless the project you’re working on has strict hour-by-hour deadlines. But for time differences of more than eight hours, I usually set the deadlines according to the client’s timezone by default. For my own schedule, I also have a personal copy based on my own timezone.

Identify the client’s area of responsibility. You can do this through color differentiation when there’s just you and the client (a trick I picked up from Justin Hartfield’s post on Freelance Switch). If you’re working with multiple people, it might be better to tabulate the schedule based on deadlines, the expected item, and the name of the person responsible.

Include consequences of deviating from the schedule. The end of the project milestone sheet should also clearly describe the consequences of failing to follow the set schedule. If delays in providing one deliverable will impact the rest of the scheduled items, make that clear. Don’t make this the “fine print” of your schedule. It should have the same font size as the rest of the text on the milestone sheet. After all, it’s equally important.

Make sure the client reads it. To increase the chances that my client reads the milestone sheet, I attach it to an email that doesn’t bring up any other issues. The email simply states something like “Attached is the schedule for the project. Please read it carefully and let me know if you want to make any adjustments. Is the time frame adequate for you?”

A short message like that works for the following reasons:

• You’re talking about one thing only so your clients won’t be distracted with other issues;
• You’re calling it a “schedule,” making it sound less intimidating to non-corporate clients or clients whose first language isn’t English; and
• The client can’t answer your parting question without looking at the schedule you sent.

Follow up. I might come off as repetitive, but for typically forgetful clients, I mention the milestone sheet every time I’ve completed something. I also tell them what comes next, whether it’s additional work I have to do or I’m waiting for something from their end. The frequency and phrasing of your follow-ups depends on the client. When you’re working with clients who are more attentive to schedule, sending out frequent and repetitive reminders won’t be necessary.

If there’s a deadline looming for something that your client is accountable for, such as comments on a draft or payments, it helps to send reminders a day or two before the due date. For tech-savvy clients you can do this through your project management software. In most situations, sending email reminders is enough.

By applying these tips, you can make large projects more manageable, and tasks easier to track. Also, with a good project milestone sheet, even the most difficult clients become easier to work with.

Do you use a milestone sheet for your online freelancing practice? What tactics have worked for you so far?

Source: http://webworkerdaily.com/2009/07/19/create-effective-project-milestone-sheets/