i work full time as a graphic designer and i happen to do freelance work on the side. sometimes i find myself extremely busy with freelance and sometimes i don't have much going on.
"why are you telling me all this?" well... i really dislike chasing down new clients and their projects. it's like a doggone rat race. and sometimes, i'm the only rat in the race! even though i truly do try to scrap up all the freelance i can get, the big thing here is i do have a full time job. so i don't feel the need to chase down work from new clients that are being wishy-washy or not giving me the truth about what they want or don't know what they want and don't want to admit it or are just shopping around for a designer. seriously - who does that? you know what else i don't have time for? when new clients fail to mention that i am competing with another designer. generally i try not to get involved in "bidding" on work. i would rather you be upfront with me and just tell me if that is the case. that way i can withdraw my talents. there may come a time when i "bid" on work, but that is not now. so, good bye.
my feelings are that you either need work done or you don't. if you happen to be one that needs work done and you come to me asking for help i will gladly give you my opinion, show you samples that demonstrate my capabilities and quote you for the work you need done. then we go from there. this usually works out nicely, leaving both the client and designer happy. but lately, it's hard to tell the difference between the ones that need work from the ones that don't. and it seems that i am dishing out a lot of opinions, doing a lot of driving to meet new clients, emailing samples, sending quotes and throwing together big proposals... all for nothing. many of these new clients seem to disappear after that initial contact. as if they suddenly realized that this wasn't what they wanted. it's hard, and a lot of what i do before i actually land a new client and job requires quite a bit of work on my part. i don't even charge for any of it. though now i'm starting to think that i should.
this rant was brought on by the fact that i am in the middle of communicating with one of these new clients right now. they asked about having their newsletter sent out as an email blast. i said i could probably help. then proceeded to ask some questions and do research on email blasts. these questions and my research would help me gain a better understanding of what they actually need and what i would be getting in to... i cannot just say that i will do it. first, i need to know what it is they actually want me to do. in detail. details are oh-so important. so, after a long series of questions, and quite a few hours of research later, the client finally admits that they are looking for someone to do their web design - not a newsletter email blast!? why didn't they just ask for that from the beginning? i could have saved a lot of questions and wasted time trying to dig in to my own knowledge base to decided weather or not i could help with this newsletter email blast thing.
perhaps this person really didn't know what they wanted. maybe they were trying to beat around the bush and feel me out to see if i could replace the current person who does their newsletter. maybe even be their web designer as well. i really don't know. whatever the case, i responded that i can help with their web design and they seemed happy. me - not so much, because i have no idea what is really going to happen from here. i do know i still have questions. questions about what it is they actually want me to do. but for now i pray that this one doesn't just disappear. i'm not going to hold my breath or anything. but i do hope that this new client and i can forge a good client/designer relationship.
(sigh) i feel guilty being so pessimistic towards the aforementioned, but obviously this isn't the first time i've run in to a sticky new client situation. each time a situation starts out less than ideal, these feelings start to arise. it is a direct effect of past instances, where i've had a new client approach me about a job and then after some questions they either disappear or i find out that they are looking for something else... all after i've put out a considerable amount of effort. for free.
sometimes i get the feeling that some of these new clients just want me to simply say, "yes." what then? am i supposed to fumble my way around. perhaps never getting any real work or pay? yeah right! like i said. good bye. i have a job. this freelance stuff is just for fun - sort of.
....................jfk.......................
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