Speaker 1: But with that said, sometimes you do have to break up with a client. It's just a fact of business and it's business. Again, take yourself out of it and just be an adult about it. Hello, hello everyone. What's up and welcome back to another episode of the Freelance Friday Podcast. Today, we are talking about what happens when your clients just kind of drive you nuts. And I wanna share my criteria for determining whether or not they are a client that is worth saving the relationship and also some things that I've learned about myself through dealing with these types of situations. Before we hop into the episode, I wanna say something that I feel like not enough creators in this space say, and that's that there are a lot of really amazing clients out there. I feel like so often we focus on the negative and we talk about the few random clients who are nightmares and they really are far and few between, at least for me. I've only had a few situations. Whenever I'm on a podcast, being interviewed for a podcast or something, people ask me that. They're like, can you tell us about a nightmare client? And it's always really hard for me to even think of one. And I actually just got off a call with a client, one of my longer term clients that I create content for. And it was like, they're just so nice. I actually love meeting with them. So I just wanna say that because I know a lot of you listen to the show to anticipate what you can expect out of a freelance career. And I don't think it's fair for me to just rant about the bad things when there are so many good things about working this way. There we go. But with that said, yes, there are sometimes nightmare clients, nightmare experiences. And listen, sometimes you will mess up. And I think that's the first tip that I wanna give is if you're dealing with something that, you know, is a bit of an issue, hear them out. Hear them out. We don't know everything. We can get very, you know, stuck in our heads and stuck in our ways. And you may have done something wrong or you may have done something that they didn't like. And I think it's important that we know how to accept feedback and criticism when done in an appropriate and respectful way. I've recorded an episode of the podcast way, way like years ago. It's just an audio only episode. I'll link it in the show notes if you wanna check it out. But it's about accepting criticism for creative work, which is something that I've really struggled with in the past. I'm a creative at heart. I'm trained in this. It's what I love most in the world, really. So it can be really hard to accept that criticism, but usually it makes me stronger. Also, like you have to know when to care. I know this sounds probably really bad, but a lot of times you just have to care less. This is not your personal YouTube channel. You know, that's what I have to tell myself when I'm editing a video for a client. Like if they want something done, I can tell them how it should be done based on like the rules of film and based on my years of experience. But at the end of the day, this is not my personal thing. So if that is just what is causing this rift, I'm just gonna do it their way and just care less, you know, to an extent. Obviously you don't wanna have things represent you poorly in your portfolio and all that stuff. But anyway, there's an episode about that that I'll link if you wanna go in the weeds with that one. But my point is hear them out. We are not perfect. We don't know everything. And also a lot of the times when you get complaints, I learned this from working in retail for many years. A lot of the times the customer just wants to complain. I was a manager at Victoria's Secret. And I remember, you know, I would get complaints about my team, like the cashier was so rude to me. And I'd be like, okay, come talk to me about it. And then they would just be like, yeah, she was really rude. And I was like, okay, what would make this better? And she was like, I just wanted you to know. I just didn't think that was appropriate, you know? And I'm like, okay, I can definitely understand that. You know, I'll, whatever. Like they just want to be heard. So your clients are the same way. A lot of times they just want to know that you are paying attention to their concerns and just saying something simple like, cool, I'll look out for that next time. If I missed an Instagram DM, if you're a social media manager, just say, no worries. I'll make sure that I put out my calendar to, you know, check the inbox every day. Just little, it's just small, you know? We just have to take it less personally, honestly. And I think those of you who maybe went straight into freelancing might struggle with this a little bit more. Like I said, I learned about this in retail. I learned about this again in corporate. I learned about, you know, a lot of different places, but if you have really only worked for yourself, I can see how this might be a little bit of a sore spot. Now with that said, it's certainly not always your fault, right? I mean, there are some times where clients, you know, whatever it might be, maybe they don't respect your boundaries and they're texting you on your phone late at night. Maybe they are just really rude to you. The way that they speak to you is very rude. That one is a hard one to deal with because unless they're saying something wrong, it can be hard to be like, can you not speak to me in that tone? So that one's hard, you know? But yeah, sometimes they do things that are not appropriate. So my advice, no matter what it is, is to address it. Head on, address it. Do not let it go months and months and months before you finally bring it up. And then it's like, what? I've been doing this the whole time. I've been texting you at 10 p.m. for six months. Why are you just now telling me it's inappropriate? So for the texting thing, I'll bring this up because this one seems to be pretty common. Late texts, late emails, late calls. Any kind of boundary overstepping, this one seems pretty common. I don't respond. Number one, I don't give out my number, my personal cell phone number to clients. If they happen to get it, this has happened to me where someone has gotten it because we were meeting up in an event or something so we needed to exchange numbers or somebody gave it to them, which please don't ever give out my number, friends, please. It has happened. I give them a grace period where I ignore it once. I don't respond. It's never, obviously if they were telling me their store was on fire, of course I would respond. But if it's, hey, this social media post needs to be edited, I don't respond. I will respond via email to set the precedent, to set the tone, saying this is how I communicate. And if it happens again, then I bring it up. You don't have to make it this huge deal. It doesn't have to be this cry fest, right? Again, take your own emotions out of it a little bit just on your regular touch base call. Just say, hey, I forgot to mention, I got a text from you the other night. I might not have mentioned this to you. You can kind of put a little blame on yourself, which softens the blow a little. Just say, I might not have mentioned this to you, but I really prefer, actually I wouldn't even say prefer, but for project requests, I can only handle those through email. So if you could email me with that request next time, I'd really appreciate it. And then give them a reason why too. I mean, you don't really need to, but again, if you're looking to soften the blow a little bit, just say, that's how me and my team communicate. It's so much easier for me to forward this along to somebody else, or it's so much easier for me to document it, or it's so much easier for me to put it into my task management tool, or whatever it is that you have to say to kind of explain that you're not just being a jerk, that you need it done that way. The other thing about that particular situation is keeping things in writing is just better for you and your business. I know somebody tells me something on the phone and it's like gone by the time I am at my computer. So you can frame it to them that way as well. Now, if it is something that's like a little bit harder to talk about, like I had this client when I first went full-time freelance and he was just like, he would talk down to me a lot. Like he would just be like, yeah, I need this done. Yeah, this is not good. Just like, whoa, bro, I don't work that way. So that one can be hard because he didn't say like F you to me, right? Like if you're using profanity, that one's an easy one for me to bring up and say, hi, sir, I can't work with a client who's swearing at me. Let me know when you're able to speak to me like an adult. Have that conversation before too. But when it's just like tone or just, you know, vibes, that one can be a little bit harder, but I do still bring it up. And I just try to be really calm and like gill them with calmness and just say, hi, Bob. Let's pretend his name was Bob. I understand this is really important to you. I understand this might not be the direction you were looking to take. However, as specific as you can be about these requests would be very, very helpful for me. It'll enable me to do my job better. You know, something like that. I mean, plain and simple. Sometimes you just gotta do that. The third tip I have is maybe try another way. This is actually a question that came up recently in the Freelance Friday Club in our mastermind group is somebody was talking about like using tech. They, you know, they have a hard time with their client won't onboard to their systems. Let's just pretend, you know, I use Asana and my client refuses to use Asana and that's how we get our projects done. Something like that. Well, if it continues to be an issue and it's just like a nightmare and they won't do it and they refuse to approve your post and it's just like terrible, try a different way. But try a different way if they're a client that you feel like you really need and that's really important to you. Because at the same time, if you are spending all of your time and energy, like just getting acclimated to their systems and things like that, that might prevent you from working with clients who you wanna work with even more. So you have to make that judgment call yourself. If they're a dream client, you know, bend the rules a little bit, maybe. But if they're not and they're being really difficult, it might just be time to say, hey, this is how we do business. I'm sorry it didn't work out, but unless you can figure it out, we're gonna have to end the contracts. It is what it is. I use the example when we're talking in the group actually of, you know, I'm building a house right now and like the contractors, they're great, I guess, but like no customer service, right? It's just like one line emails. They're very nice. They're very nice in person too, but it's just, you know, they provide a service that I can't do. I cannot build a house. I'm not even allowed to because of our contract. They know that like, it is what it is. And I think sometimes with our own businesses, we don't look at ourselves as a business and we don't look at ourselves as really specializing in a trade in the same way. And so we often adapt to other people or bend to what they wanna do when really we need to be running a tight ship. We need to be running a business and doing things the way that is going to make us the most productive and in turn, make your clients the most successful. You know, if my toilet breaks tomorrow, I'm not gonna tell the plumber to send me an invoice through this particular tool and, you know, onboard through this particular system. He's gonna give me a paper invoice and I'm gonna pay it however he wants me to pay it because I don't know how to do plumbing. So keep that in mind, weigh it out. If you're willing to try another way, try another way, do your due diligence. If they're not a client worth keeping, then just let them know, you know, it is what it is. This is the rules. This is what we agreed to when you signed the contract. Now, something else that's really important to bring up is that you should document infractions. You know, after you have that conversation and you come to an agreement about whatever the disagreement is, put it down in writing when it happens. I'm not saying this should be like, you're using it as blackmail or whatever, but if something more serious does come out of it, like if they try to withhold pay from you or, you know, anything like that, you're going to want to come with evidence to be able to back up your claim. And it can also be helpful for you when you're trying to determine whether or not they are a client worth keeping because sometimes, you know, we just forget about those little tiny conversations that happen and how often they happen. You might think, oh yeah, you know, they've been late on their invoice once or twice. And then you look at your documentation and you're like, actually they've been late every month except for one month. That's going to help you determine whether or not, you know, it's time to cut them loose or not. Now, breaking up with a client is a big decision. I'll be honest. You have a lot of things to consider. It's not just about the paycheck. It's also about your reputation. They might potentially refer you or not refer you if you break up with them. So you do have to think about that and keep that in mind. It's also just not a good feeling to leave somebody that you care about and you know, I mean, it sounds so personal, but you know, we work with people and we want the best for them. So you want to use that as a last resort. Of course, honor your contracts. This is important. This is why I actually recommend starting with like three month contracts, if you can. I don't usually sign a contract with somebody for a year unless I've worked with them before or they're like a dream client or something like that. Because just as much as they need to kind of try you on for size, you need to do the same thing and make sure that you're happy and you're like working with them. But with that said, sometimes you do have to break up with a client. It's just a fact of business and it's business. Again, take yourself out of it and just be an adult about it. And my sort of criteria for cutting somebody off is if they're affecting my mental health, my physical health, if they're affecting my relationships, you know, anything like that, it's probably time to go. If I'm not able to sleep, if I'm in constant pain, I have stomach aches and migraines because I'm so stressed out. This has totally happened. It doesn't matter to me what I have to pay them or whatever, if I have to refund them, it's just not worth it. I mean, that's probably why all of us left our traditional jobs or aren't looking for traditional jobs because we're looking for that freedom. And you know, it's just not that serious unless you're like operating an ambulance, you know, or working in some super high stress industry that involves saving lives. It's never that serious. I'll also cut somebody off if you're playing with my money. If you're not paying me, if you're late, you know, regularly I get it. Some things happen and okay, I forgot it was a holiday that day, whatever. I'll give you a pass, but if it's consistent and particularly if it's not even apologized for, if it's just like, eh, I'll pay it when I'll pay it, you're getting cut off. And of course, if there's something more nefarious or if you're being abused or disrespected, you just have to move on. So that's how I deal with difficult clients. They're pretty far and few between, but really the big things are just to listen, to stand up for yourself, to address it head on and do try to see things from their perspective though. You know, there's definitely been times when I'm like, you know what? You're right, that wasn't very professional or that onboarding process was probably kind of confusing. I apologize, I wasn't really very clear about that. Or you know what? I didn't reply to your email for like five days. I'm sorry, my bad. I need to get better about that. So be open-minded as well. And the last thing I'm gonna say on this topic is adjust your onboarding materials accordingly. You know, you'll start to see trends. We all make mistakes and we all kind of have to make mistakes to know what to look out for and what we need to improve in the future. If you see a trend of every client is not understanding your invoicing process or something like that, make sure to add an onboarding document about when you invoice or how you invoice or whatever the issue tends to be and make it really clear, go over it. I recommend onboarding calls, not just like sending over an onboarding document, actually talking through some of that stuff to get that confirmation that they understand the process. If you need help building onboarding documents, the social media management toolbox is a kind of template pack that I offer that has some guidance for you there. So I'll be sure to link that down below. So definitely include that in the process to prevent similar things from happening in the future. All right, today's question of the day. This is, hey, LaTosha, hope you're doing well. I would appreciate it if you could talk about what you do if your friends or family don't support your business. It's unfortunately a common thing for family to be the least supportive, would appreciate your advice. Ah, that's a hard question. It's hard for me to answer because I feel really, really lucky that I've actually never really experienced this. My partner, my family is all very supportive. I think my mom didn't really understand it when I first told her what I did, but she now tunes into the YouTube videos. And I think that really helped. And that's something I can say is maybe like have your parents or your family or your partner kind of shadow you and show them what you do. Because I think sometimes when you say things like, again, I'm not saying my mom thought this, but I think sometimes people can think, oh, you're freelancing. So you're just like freeloading. You're just laying on the couch all day. So showing them whether that's inviting them over to kind of shadow you or recording a little vlog for them that you just send to them to really show just how much you do. I think they can start to see an impact because especially for our parents, but our partners, I think partners are a little different. We'll get to that. But parents, they just wanna be proud of us and they want to be able to speak highly of us. And they wanna know that we're doing good things for the world or whatever. And of course that we're making money so they won't have to dig us out of any issues, financial issues. So if you can prove those things to them, prove that you're doing good things for your clients and for the world and for your wallet, they should be able to get over it. Partners, I think are a little different. I think there can be more layers. I think there can be a lot of jealousy in relationships, which I don't experience with Norris, definitely not. But I have been in relationships in the past where particularly, I don't know, like with the heteronormative, just like more traditional gender norms. Don't like when a woman makes more money than a guy and all this stuff. Like I just don't have time for that. Like I literally can't. I want my partners to be happy and healthy and that's all I care about. So I just don't have time for it. So ditch them if it's a partner. I mean, truly, I just don't have time for that. I also think sometimes partners, it can be a financial thing, which is understandable. Again, you need to prove to them that you can make money and show them that you are making money and that you are responsible. That's the other thing. I took a while to quit my job, not just for me, but also because I was in a long-term relationship where we lived together at the time. And so I did have that. We weren't married, but I did have that commitment. Yeah, I made a commitment to him that we were going to split bills and all that stuff. So I didn't wanna just become a freeloader. So you do have to make smart financial decisions and prove to them that you are making financial, smart financial decisions, that you're not just kind of being willy-nilly about things. So yeah, I think that would be my best advice. Friends, I've had jealous friends too. I don't have time for that either. I've had friends where we felt really competitive, particularly like other content creators, which really sucks. I really need more content creator friends, guys. But I have unfortunately had experiences where it was like, whenever we got together, it was always just like, let's one up one another. And they would only call me if they had good news to share about themselves. Never, if I did something cool, nobody ever was applauding me. So yeah, that does happen. I don't have advice on that one. It is a struggle, but the real ones will stand out. They do exist. Look in cool communities that you're a part of for good friends. I mean, honestly, my Twitter bio says all my best friends I met on the internet. And like, I really mean that. It sucks because I do wish I had more friends in my area, but sometimes I just feel like meeting other people who kind of understand your world is a little easier on the internet. And they tend to be a little bit more supportive because they really get it. They're really moving and shaking. They're not just trying to be your friend for the clout, you know, and trying to kind of like leech off of you. That's just been my experience, but that's my best advice. I hope some of that ramble was helpful. And I hope this whole episode was enjoyable, helpful. I enjoy hanging out with you all. Every Friday, I post on YouTube on Monday and Friday as well. You can subscribe to the channel, comment down below if you're watching on YouTube. If you have any questions you'd like me to address in future Q&A segments, leave them down below. Like, subscribe, follow on the podcast platforms, and I will see you next time. Thanks so much for tuning in. Have a good rest of your day. Bye.