Questions tagged [communication]
For questions about professional communication as a freelancer.
106
questions
18
votes
8
answers
660
views
Staying in contact with clients when I have a different sleep-wake rhythm (being a night owl or living in a different time zone)
I’m a night owl. I’m most productive/creative at night. I go to bed in the morning and sleep until late afternoon.
Being self-employed, this gives only a small timeframe for contact with clients, as ...
- 1,461
16
votes
3
answers
632
views
I failed to reach the deadline
I started a project given by client and it went fine for couple of days. Middle of the way, I got stucked with a technical limitation. I'm unable to proceed and it'll take more time and R&D to ...
- 263
15
votes
7
answers
2k
views
As a new freelancer, how can I improve my communication with the clients?
Recently I've become really frustrated after moving from a regular office job to freelancing.
Since I am new to freelancing, I decided to do some low-quality, cheap jobs to get some stars in my ...
- 442
14
votes
3
answers
2k
views
How important is a prompt reply in the freelance world?
When I am really overloaded with work, I don't have time to reply to new client's requests on estimations (how much will it cost, can you do these addons,...) as I simply cannot concentrate to produce ...
- 14.2k
13
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Client Threatening to Contact Permanent Employer?
I picked up a side job. Terms were agreed on. Payment up front and percentage of profits.
No money has been paid up front. Communication has been tenuous. I received a text message stating "I am ...
- 233
13
votes
4
answers
4k
views
Firing a client due to difficult ongoing work relationship
I have a Web & graphic design client that I've been working with since July of this year. Initially, the project was supposed to be completed, and launched, in full at the end of September.
The ...
- 231
13
votes
3
answers
1k
views
How to back out of a freelance project that has gotten too big?
Last August I took on re-doing an e-commerce website. At first she only wanted a re-design, but it ended up being completely redone. Since I'm a student, I didn't charge her a whole lot for it, but we'...
- 131
12
votes
4
answers
455
views
Phone or e-mail when attracting clients?
I'm starting as a freelancer in the web development sector. I'm constantly searching for new projects on (Dutch equivalents of) websites like oDesk.
Many clients add both an e-mail and a telephone ...
user19
11
votes
7
answers
7k
views
To talk with client or to chat with client and the effects on landing contracts
Most times, clients ask me to talk in Skype. Since I do not like talking as I may say something unplanned, I always direct them to message rooms where they ask questions, and I reply after thinking ...
- 14.2k
9
votes
3
answers
186
views
Being clear about the way I work
Lately, a couple of clients have been taking way too much of my time, in tasks such as:
extensive, totally pointless meetings
endless discussions about assets sizing (basically they aren't sure ...
- 241
9
votes
3
answers
362
views
Can someone suggest how I can improve my freelancer-to-client communication?
Usually a client does not know as much as a developer about software, that is why we are hired. The issue I run into is terminology. How do you communicate with a client that has limited computer ...
8
votes
3
answers
2k
views
How do I communicate to a client that he's wasting time and money by using my services hourly vs. paying a monthly fee?
I recently "fixed" a Wordpress site for a client. He told me the site's host had "malware problems" and he needed the site restored from a backup. I did that, and didn't change anything else about the ...
anon
8
votes
5
answers
494
views
How do you explain to the computer illiterate what a web developer does?
I run into many small business owners who have played with a website builder from their webhost. When I tell them I'm a web developer, they think that all i do is use one of these builders.
They ...
- 81
7
votes
3
answers
113
views
How to work with a micro-manage client
I have work with a client for nearly a week and I am really stress to cooperate with him. I apply for a blog writer for this job through a freelance platform. I have a feeling of being controlled, he ...
- 91
7
votes
4
answers
211
views
Which collaborative software do you usually need to work?
Here I mean the type of software, not particular brands and names.
We had a remote developer in our team and quite often we needed more than just email or voice call. Sometimes we shared screens for ...
- 171
7
votes
2
answers
203
views
What is an appropriate follow-up time with clients?
I'm just starting out as a freelance developer and I've reached out to clients who were referred to me and they don't have work ready for me yet. How often would it be appropriate to follow-up with ...
- 171
7
votes
4
answers
342
views
How to wisely spend money on improving my freelance business to result in a steady stream of income?
I want to spend some part of my monthly freelance income in a smart way to promote my services, build a stronger personal brand and do other things that will help me in finding higher-profile clients, ...
- 169
6
votes
7
answers
1k
views
Is it right to call a client who didn't hire you to ask for the reasons he/she didn't?
I had an interview with the manager of a small company who sought a web programmer.
He told me he was glad to have had the interview because he ended quite happy whith me. Nevertheless there were ...
- 163
6
votes
4
answers
309
views
How do I convince clients not to use irrelevant pictures on their site?
When I work with clients as a web designer, I often have conversations like this.
Me: The first thing a visitor sees when they come to your window cleaning website is a picture of a kitten. How does ...
6
votes
2
answers
252
views
Is it advisable to contact a company and offer your services based on job advertisements?
I'm currently working as a freelancer and came across an interesting job advertisement that perfectly matched my profile. Since I do not intend to quit as a freelancer, one could argue that it makes ...
- 288
5
votes
4
answers
345
views
Attracting clients who want web developer not designer
I'm currently a web developer, generally with the Python Django framework. What I do could be called full stack development. And, I'm looking to go freelance!
What I'm interested in learning about is ...
- 53
5
votes
3
answers
181
views
Handling client extras on the fly
I sell a B2B software that I developed which is customized for each client. I offer a maintenance agreement with the software that covers technical support, updates, etc. Most of my clients take the ...
- 1,366
5
votes
1
answer
171
views
How do I bring up me charging for work?
I have been working on my drawing skills for over a year now.
Yesterday, I received an email from a chap who saw an illustration I did and loved it.
He asked if I wanted to design a tattoo design ...
- 153
5
votes
4
answers
379
views
How can you inform a client that a freelancer is unqualified without being a jerk?
My client, Widgets Inc, hires a freelance designer, Bob, to do flyers and such. He's good at it. Bob figured out how to install Wordpress and is now calling himself a web designer. I tried to talk to ...
- 53
5
votes
3
answers
304
views
Should I charge the client for long meetings in person when he pays me on a per-project basis?
I'm developing a software for a client and the project had a delay of about a week.
I warned the client about the delay (this happened because I made a course and he knew about it). But now he wants ...
- 183
5
votes
4
answers
1k
views
How to start & who should start first interview over Skype?
I'm new to freelancing, and I recently sent a few proposals for jobs. Two clients (individuals, not companies) asked me for my Skype id and added me on Skype, but no one has interviewed me yet.
What ...
- 159
5
votes
1
answer
104
views
Is it ok to publish job openings on my LinkedIn profile to try to earn hiring commissions?
I receive many contacts from recruiters on LinkedIn.
Some of them genuinely ask if I know somebody who could be interested in the position(s) offered, and they sometimes mention that I could get a ...
- 61
5
votes
2
answers
272
views
How to tell client I cant do any more changes till they pay invoice?
I am new to freelancing. I have developed a project for a client. I am waiting for the final invoice to be settled - fixed price project. The client has requested revision changes 3 times. By revision ...
- 51
5
votes
1
answer
129
views
How should I inform a client about increased uncertainty in case of health issues?
I'm having some trouble during last few weeks, and it's happening along a freelance project I took before. Moreover, it's not me who has problem but my daughter. After the last visit to doctor we're ...
- 283
5
votes
3
answers
204
views
How do I not lose an otherwise good customer over a minor misunderstanding?
A very good customer of mine, gave me various digital media files on USB sticks and CDs to put on this newly created website. One CD in particular was an unpublished song of his and he told me this ...
5
votes
1
answer
63
views
Scheduling calls with clients in different timezones
I live in Europe, while my clients are mostly from US. Thus, the smallest timezone difference between me and my clients is -4hours, the biggest being -9hours. Yet, I also have a customer in Asia, ...
- 161
5
votes
3
answers
832
views
How to tell client that I can fix their problem in a cover letter, when they haven't specified a problem
I have been reading a lot about writing a cover letter, "How would you solve their problem", where clients want you to apply and require their work to be done. For example, a job posting may look like ...
- 679
4
votes
4
answers
395
views
Is there a reason against not billing someone when asked for an invoice for work completed?
I do some work for a client. Recently they asked me to fix something on their site. It took me about 1-2 hours to locate the problem but the fix was pretty simple. They sent me an email asking me to ...
- 145
4
votes
5
answers
2k
views
How to deal with clients trying to blackmail you?
I'm in an unfortunate situation where a client I'm currently working for is threatening to provide bad rating and feedback to my profile on a popular freelance outsourcing site (not sure if I can ...
- 143
4
votes
4
answers
221
views
Should I debug application on customer server if it wasn't previously discussed as part of the job?
I did create for customer webcrawler application. It's running fine on my local server, although customer asking me to debug application on his server, because there is exception thrown on product ...
- 143
4
votes
3
answers
110
views
Advertise through email
So I'm starting a basic business of consulting for web, mobile, desktop, games development. I have seen some business website around my neighborhood that really need rework or upgrade, so i was ...
- 398
4
votes
2
answers
91
views
How to say "How long will the interview process take?" without being rude?
I have 1 year of experience working as a freelancer and on average, the jobs that I find are usually very fast in the communication and bidding process. An average communication goes like this:
>&...
- 383
4
votes
4
answers
292
views
Application getting constant declined
This is from my previous post, which answer shed a part of my problem but i have been having a long issues since when i apply for job, it get declined, reason? "Choose another contractor", i changed ...
- 679
4
votes
1
answer
74
views
How to reject a project that does not fit with my skills or goes beyond my skills in order to keep your client for future projects?
I am having problems with how to reject this kind of project for my clients. As an example, a recent client that weeks ago I did a C Project for him arrives again days ago needing help in a project ...
- 383
4
votes
2
answers
212
views
Client wants me to take a portfolio project off my website
About 18 months ago I completed a brochure design for an old client. I added a few spreads of it as mockups to my online portfolio. The booklets contain text written by my client — helpful information ...
user15733
4
votes
2
answers
219
views
How much detail to use when communicating progress to client?
I'm going to be renovating a client website in the near future. However, I had a lot of manual processes with my first client that I'd like to change, particularly with my back-end organization of ...
- 1,617
4
votes
1
answer
222
views
Junior Graphic Designer here. Am I being low-balled by a client who I've worked with for the past 3 years? How to remedy the situation?
I hope you bear with me. This is going to be quite a long post. I want to lay out my situation in detail in hopes of getting advice as to what I should do and how to approach it the best way possible.
...
- 181
4
votes
2
answers
189
views
Leaving my best longterm freelance client for a Job offer, what's the best way to end this?
I'm a full stack software engineer who have been freelancing for a client for 2 years, it turned to a remote job but we never agreed on any contract she just keep sending tasks and I do them and bill ...
- 41
4
votes
2
answers
155
views
Revealing tactics to customers
Is it ok to reveal your tactics and techniques to customers? If not, what would you say? If yes, how much would you say?
I work in digital marketing, it this helps.
- 263
4
votes
3
answers
150
views
How do I increase efficiency in client communications without seeming impersonal?
I find myself with the enviable problem of having more work than time, and as such, I'm attempting to steamline tasks and increase efficiency, along with raising my rates. One issue that has cropped ...
- 503
4
votes
1
answer
74
views
What are some techniques to get past Human Resources to talk to the person that needs help
First of all, if my approach to this is a waste of time (mine or the client's) or unethical, let me know because that's more important to me.
I'm a programmer with management, product management, and ...
- 385
4
votes
3
answers
739
views
What's the best cold call pitch for a freelancing software engineer?
When I cold call a hiring manager for the first time, what exactly is the best thing for me to say after they answer?
I've been a contract software engineer for 25 years. Times are always changing.
...
- 149
4
votes
1
answer
254
views
How would an independent web developer land a large commercial job?
I'm an independent web developer and graphic designer who mainly prospects small local businesses and independent artists found online. When I'm out doing cold calls in person, I look for buildings ...
- 63
4
votes
5
answers
300
views
Keeping up with client work and emails
I am a freelance web developer that is looking for a service/software to keep track of work I need to do for clients.
I have quite a few clients, and most of them usually only need an hour or two of ...
- 143
3
votes
4
answers
612
views
How to deal with client's delusion to be a good graphic designer
This happens to me once in a while, and I do my best to convince the client for his own business greater good, but this time is getting serious...
I am developing a web project for the client (it's a ...
- 2,044