Comments on: Top 8 Dreaded Favors Asked of Web Designers

By: Juan Misael

Juan Misael — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 02:05:27 +0000

I agree with all of these. I even thought this was written based on me.

By: Ali Taylor

Ali Taylor — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 04:56:13 +0000

Truer words have never been spoken.

By: Delle

Delle — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 22:41:09 +0000

I learned a beauty a few weeks ago.
Don’t let a tight-though-regular client quote YOU.
“can you spend an hour working your magic on a catch cry for our redeveloped company title?”
You know what? I ended up spending hours on a project I couldn’t finish, countless emails with stacks of ideas, she rejected every single one.
Still wondering whether I should invoice for the initial hour she asked for because she pissed me off so much.

(I’m actually a copywriter but I still found the pointers super valuable)

Thanks for a great read!

By: Ivan Tsankov

Ivan Tsankov — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 18:25:48 +0000

Great article Jacqueline! The same cases #1 and #2 happened to me, twice!
Don’t be fooled here folks, if you think you have your free time, do it. If you don’t, just ignore them or make them pay for the consultation.

By: Jordon

Jordon — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 05:56:49 +0000

I recall number 6 happening. I was still in high school in BOCES, and I was doing this ladies site for FREE. I was a first year student there doing first, and second year student work, plus working on her site. She kept changing her design and asking how soon the site would be done. It is almost as if people think you can create a website in 10 minutes. I am now in the process of getting my own site up. Any feedback would be nice. blackoutdesigns.net. Thanks, nice article.

By: Arley

Arley — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 05:45:37 +0000

Good article, Thank you Jacqueline!

By: anony mouse

anony mouse — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 01:20:47 +0000

i have learnt all these lessons the hard way. trying to be “the nice guy”… there is a reason the saying goes “nice guys finish last”.

I have however found that when doing favors with/for like minded individuals in a field they can do themselves, I get more appreciation for the work, and generally some constructive feedback.

By: Marc

Marc — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 21:32:11 +0000

This deserves a story.

Project: A high-end furniture print catalog.

Working with the client, I submitted my first proposal. Now, I generally include a little in my estimates to cover the inevitable minor changes. If there aren’t any, we’re under budget and I get to be the hero. If there are, I don’t have to nickle-and-dime the customer on the final invoice.

Customer says, “This is a little high. Is there ANYTHING we can cut out of this?” Like a fool (this was early on), I told him about the extra in there for first-round changes.

Client: “Oh, good. There won’t BE any changes. None. We know EXACTLY what we want!”

Me: (Dubiously) “Well, okay, I’ll put it out, but if there ARE any changes – any at all – I’ll be billing them at $XX per hour.”

Client: “Oh, that’s fine. No problem. No changes at all.” (signs contract, which clearly shows the hourly rate for changes.)

Fast-forward to the tortured end of the project, where I submit a final invoice with an amount for changes ALONE that’s greater than the original proposal.

Client: “WHAT?? You said you wouldn’t charge for changes! You said you’d take it out of the proposal!”

Me: No, I told you that any changes would be billed at $XX per hour. That’s clearly written on the contract. I did the changes you asked for, nothing more.”

Client: “That’s rediculous! I’m not paying for all this!”

Me: “See this contract? Is that your signature?”

Client: “Yeah.”

Me: “We’re done here.”

He tried to not pay me for the changes when he sent a check for only the original proposal amount. I reminded him of his signature on the contract. Paid in Full.

First-round MINOR changes should be on-the-house (you build that into your original price). Anything after that should be billed at full rate. And make sure it’s all in your contract.

By: Marc

Marc — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 21:18:03 +0000

Oh yeah. Had this happen on a several projects. It’s the reason I finally stopped showing multiple concepts. Now I show one, and bill for reworks. Multiple concepts used to be the way things were done – and clients USED to respect us as professionals. Lose the latter, lose the former.

By: Eric

Eric — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 02:16:02 +0000

I’m currently dealing with a similar situation. This client was very difficult. I gave her a quote, she said it was too much. I told her that I’d work with her (because I was in a drought and needed to pick up another client soon) and she insisted that it was slightly too much. So then we met again (for the 5th or 6th time) and I was getting ready to tell her “find someone else because I’m tired of dealing with you”. She decided that not only was she now ok with my original quote, she wanted to add a bunch of other things that were going to end up costing her a ton more. I have a 2-payment process with my clients – half up front, half after. So I would be able to delay responding to most of her nagging and not have to worry about money…oops, she can’t pay half up front, she can barely afford to pay anything each money. So I stupidly cut her a break and said yes to the monthly payments, getting paid barely anything each month and now she thinks that I’m her full time employee…what?!? I have to remind her every few weeks “once the site is done, I’m done unless you hire me for more work” (which by that, I meant “once the site is done, I’m never speaking to you again or else I might end up killing myself”).

Oh and at the same time, I have another client who is the easiest client imaginable. She had barely any specs for the sites I was creating for her, so I could pretty much do what I imagine is the best design for the site. I told her that I have a 2-payment system, she paid in full, upfront. Since she first hired me, she has come back to me for 2 more projects.

Lesson of my story – If a prospective client seems difficult (hard to get in touch with, complains about your quote too much, constantly brings up the quotes they get from web design firms in India, etc) that means that chances are, they will always be difficult and will be a pain to work with. If you spend more time meeting with a prospective client than you would on actually designing their website, just say no and leave. Don’t think “they will be different” because they won’t be. And unless they pay in full upfront, they will withhold that last payment until they have tried everything they could to get you to do more work for free.

And yes, never do a website for free unless they are giving you a bunch of verified referrals. Personally, I would do a free website for 5 referrals that I can verify as legitimate, but that’s the only way.