Fortunately, I finally came to my senses!

You see, as a freelancer, your time IS money.  If you let them, some clients will suck up all your time an energy and actually end up COSTING you money.

Let’s think about this for a moment.  Let’s say you average $25 per hour when you are actively working.  Now you have a value on your time, so you can use that to calculate how much money you’re losing on a particular client.

Now, let’s say you have a client who is extremely picky.  They’ve asked you to redo or edit your work several times, they’re constantly harassing you for updates, asking dozens of questions, requesting meetings and telephone calls again and again, and all over a simple project that they paid maybe $200 for.

In your head, try to estimate the total amount of time you’ve spent trying to please this client.  It is 2 hours?  Is it 4 hours?  10 hours?  Now multiply that by your hourly average, and you’ll arrive at how much this one client has already taken from you.  If  that number happens to surpass your hourly average, you’re actually LOSING money by keeping that client on your roster!

Whenever you encounter one of these vampires, it’s best if you just let them go.  That’s right, fire the client!

You don’t have to be rude about it.  Just be completely polite and honest, and as professional as you can possibly be.

You might say something like:

“I’ve really enjoyed working with you, and I want you to know that I really appreciate your business.  Unfortunately, I just don’t think we’re a good match.  It’s obvious that I’m having trouble completing your project to your satisfaction because of all the revisions you’ve requested, and I don’t want to waste any more of your time.  I have already sent you a full refund of the money you paid for this project, and I wish you all the luck in the world.”

Just send a polite, professional message like this to them after you’ve given them a refund.  Hopefully they will be understanding.  If not, just cut them off.  It’s honestly not worth the hassle to waste any more time on someone like this.

Remember, they’re people, too.  It’s easy to forget that when you’re frustrated, especially if you’re dealing with someone you’ve only ever met online.  But by being polite and professional at all times, you’ll have the potential that they may refer more business to you simply based on your professionalism and courtesy, and the fact that you treated them well even though you felt you couldn’t work with them anymore.

Whatever you do, NEVER feel guilty if you have to fire a client.  Your time is worth too much to let people waste it!