You’re Fired!

Sherman: you offered some great advice in that post -- "Every time you say 'yes' to one thing, you must say 'no' to something else." As web entrepreneurs we have so many potential opportunities that come our way every day. Because of that we have to be very diligent with our time and be mindful of what we say 'yes' to.

I've been a fan of yours since Mark Ress "introduced" us during

one of his courses. And I agree with this post wholeheartedly.

Bad clients suck the joy out of your job. I have no problem firing a client before

we begin because I know that the end result will be bad for both of us if I

take them on as a client.

It's much better to refer someone nicely to a competitor or tell them that you

just can't take their project on right now.

I can't speak to any metrics of passing on a client relationship, because it's hard

to guess how much trouble they would have caused me. However, let me go on

record to say that the same theory should apply to a business partnership - only more so!

Without going into detail, I'll just say that a bad partnership cost me over 100K and ended

in lawsuits and the demise of an offline business.

I have now learned (painfully so) to trust my instincts.

Lee Ann

AMEN! Bruthha . . . I am so in agreement with you on this one. Except, I learned the hard way the first time.

Early in my career I was once called on to produce and illustrate a couple of "characters" on spec for a children's book. First of all, I was starving, so I "trusted" the client was sincere when we met the first time, because she agreed to my rate per image/use, etc. Five weeks later, she introduced the slammer - If you invest, you can receive royalties at the back end... WHAT THE?? Dropped her like a rock, but gained a couple of "characters" in those lost weeks . . . ah, that would be the up side.

Recently, a referral and possible client wanted me to produce something to see if she liked my work. When I suggested she visit my website to view my work, she became cold and stated she'd worked with many photographers in the past and found it was difficult to keep one. She's an event planner. I could feel her micro-management vibrations through the phone - NOT AGAIN! and I dropped her immediately.

YES! I concur! Go with your gut feeling from the start. It's okay to educate the client as to your perception of their needs, but when they change their tune on your capabilities by asking for something for nothing, loose their phone number!

By the way. . . I found your site when I was studying OPW (other people's work) today. You were actually referred to by a couple of your YouTube fans with regards to inexpensive "IKEA" video lighting tools.

Great Site! Keep up the good work!

Hi
You are so right about picking clients! Some are time wasters and will cost you in the end. The best clients work closely with you, value your input and allow you to execute it!
Closing one door opens another for sure.