Blogs are funny things. When you start them they’re all exciting and you spend ages thinking of desperately relevant things you can write about. Then you go through a bit of a phase where they’re an obligation, and you have to force yourself to update them, although you’d rather be hanging out on Facebook or Twitter.
Then there comes a point where you suddenly realise the blog is where you turn to make sense of things. It’s where you solicit advice on whether your instincts are right or wildly off the mark, or where you go to vent because your Mum’s great but she doesn’t really understand about the potential conflict between good writing and SEO guidelines.
So I haven’t blogged for a little while. And the reason is there’s an issue I really, really want to blog about, but I’m not sure it’s wise (yeah, I know, like that’s ever stopped me before).
While I still feel it wouldn’t be appropriate to blog about this specific situation, I thought I’d blog about some general lessons that I’ve learned about ending a client relationship. Here goes:
- Always keep emails. Use Outlook/Entourage over webmail so you have a local copy of emails on your computer, which you can regularly back-up to an archive. One day, when you can’t agree on what was agreed, you’ll be glad you’ve got an archive. Especially if they haven’t got one.
- Submit detailed invoices. Often my invoices used to just say things like “news - £400”. I’ve learned now when it comes to invoices, more is more. Make sure your invoice spells out which news stories, how long they were, when they were published or submitted. If you’re charging day rate, make sure your email with the invoice says “This covers X, Y and Z projects”. Or use timesheets.
- Don’t do favours for free. The moment a client says, “Would you do it for free as a friend?” they’re not your client. (And if they say it a lot, they're not really a friend, either. They're just cheap) So either do a friend a favour, in which case you’re never getting paid, or be their supplier, in which case you charge for everything. Anything in between is just a recipe for disaster.
- If you agree something over the phone, send an email afterwards saying “just to confirm what we agreed…”
- Be very clear about what is your intellectual property and what you’re selling. Are these First British Rights? Online rights? Can the client sell on your work? Who owns the words, the design, the website?
- Finally, just a tip. Back up everything. Think about what information and access you need to do business – and protect it. A disgruntled client could potentially have a website, online account or blog shut down for days or even weeks by disputing its contents so it’s always as well to have a Plan B.
The reality is that in business, most people don’t want to screw anyone over. I remember reading once that most people consider their actions are completely rational and I sometimes have to remind myself of that – no matter how stupidly you think someone is behaving, their actions probably make perfect sense to them. You just don't have the benefit of their perspective.
Given that most people aren’t morons, it stands to reason that most disagreements at the end of a contract come from people having different recollections, different perspectives or just old-fashioned miscommunication. So a little clarity and preparation? Goes a long way.







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