For the past few months I've been doing a lot of freelancing projects for people for little to no money. I figure it looks better on my portfolio if I make stuff FOR other people, rather than just making random websites and applications.
Now, I don't want to seem like a downer here. But let me just say this so you know where I'm coming from: NEVER EVER WORK FOR FREE. But you probably already know that; you're probably smarter than me.
A lot of people seem to think you can just ask a charity or small business if they need help with a website, you start from scratch, and build the perfect site for them. But it hardly ever works that way. In my experience, 99% of the time they already have a website using a do-it-yourself tool like Squarespace or Wix. Now, my job is not about coding, it's about explaining to them why those files can't be modified, why they have to pay for a different host, and why I need their secure information so I can set up their paypal on the new site I create.
So I guess my question is, how do I explain these things to my clients? And in a polite manner? I feel like I've really backed myself into a corner here.