--- layout: post title: ! 'Facing freelancers: a skill for clients to master' tags: [ loadacrap, personal improvement ] published: true --- Ever had a bad client? You know how the deal: he thinks you can read his mind and do everything he wants at the first try. Guess again. Today a client said to me: > You've been eating too much cheese, eh José? He actually thought he was my only project - even if he was, I am not supposed to know everything, since he didn't know how to approach me in the first place and didn't write the specs of what he wanted well enough. **Clients, this is the truth.** We as freelancers are providing a service for you. Say specifically what service it is you want us to do, don't just fire an idea away. If you only have an idea, get it written down. Here's a couple guidelines for you when approaching us. * If you can, personally reach us to discuss the idea open and friendly. * Be nice to us. We deserve good work experience too. * Always accomplish what we ask and let us do our job well. * Be ready to do whatever it takes. Remember, you're paying for the job. * Let us reach you as nicely as we would like you to reach us. The worst thing it can happen in such a relationship is to get chills whenever your name shows up on the screen. Word of experience. * Pay us. If you feel paying it all in a bunch is too much in your mind, set reasonable milestones. * Golden rule: if you want to hire us again, make sure we want to be hired by you again as well; we can always say no. It sure sounds like I'm pushing too much on you but I'm not. It's all a matter of love and motivation. After all, if you want us to do a good job, we need to feel we're doing a good job for a good person, so **spoil us!** Yea, spoil us. Make us feel good and enjoying the work we're doing, we'll feel like _"Hey, this client deserves a treat!"_, rather than _"This guy is getting on my nerves, let me just take care of the business so I don't see his face anymore..."._ Smile when you're talking to us, praise us when you see progress. I had a client, Paul Kay, who deserved a special award because he praised and kept motivating me so much he made me want to do his site smooth and silky, and fast too! I did his website in a week, for the very first time in my life. We ended up friends and he told he would love to refer me to other people because of the way he made me feel, not actually the other way around. PS: Freelancers, we should do the same thing, of course! We should praise our client for what he does and motivate him to be on track with our requests the whole time. Love is reciprocal.