In the infamous words of Kenny Rogers, “You got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em, know when to walk away and know when to run.” Of course, he was talking about poker games, but the same logic can be applied to freelance writing, too.
Sometimes you land a great gig with a great client – or so you think at the time. It’s going great, everybody is happy – and then something turns. You’re not sure how it happened, but little by little, all the progress you made seems to have fallen apart.
Your client starts nitpicking every sentence you write, inventing errors that aren’t there. You begin to take it personally because you know you did your best and that the material is good, but he chooses to cast a bad light on you anyway.
This is what I refer to as the Jumping Off Point.
Do you stay on the project you committed to, even though both of you are unhappy and it’s apparent – or do you bow out gracefully, cut your losses and wish him the best of luck in finding a suitable replacement?
We, as writers, should always do our best to make our clients happy. Our livelihoods depend on it. If our clients aren’t happy, they’re going to tell everybody they know and probably a few people they don’t know. Word of mouth advertising is a double-edged sword. It can be the best or worst publicity that a business can get. Too much bad publicity can have serious adverse effects on your business.
But what’s more important in the long run? Holding on to a disgruntled client or realizing when you’re in a no win situation?
Whatever you decide, there is one sure way to know whether or not you made the right decision. If you walk away from a project feeling an overwhelming sense of relief, it was definitely the right thing to do.
And I don’t regret it one bit.
