Working for Free?
Out of context: Reply #49
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- airey0
put it this way, and this is just an opinion along with all the others so pls ignore, listen, don't, whatever.
yes, sometimes clients can be using cunts. sometimes you can do a favour and it becomes expected and blows. yet sometimes it can work in your favour and keep a client on side. it's worth raising the point that you have an hour minimum you'd usually charge and maybe explain why but there's little benefit is a harsh email about 10 minutes work. if he'd asked for a brochure or a web-layout then sure but in my mind a 10 minute 'favour' is a chance to leverage some stronger connection out of the client. give 'em the whole 'as your a special client, etc'. make their already wanker ego feel better and let them feel like they got a 'win'. after all they came to you to solve a problem. if you're relied on for this then you're relied on. which is a good thing. i did 2 small rush jobs for a client 2 years ago, a business card and a css revision. i did them for nothing as i was working on a flyer for the client and thought i'd do some brown-nosing. now that client gives me around 35k a year and are pretty much trouble free so the small time outlay was worthwhile.
now as for this being a 'principle', ahh jury's out on that one. we all spend a lot more time here that;s unpaid than we would like to admit. yes, it's a downtime kinda thing but if you work for yourself then your business should be just as important as your downtime no? it's your business after all. one of the things you realise when you transition from employed to self-employed is the client juggling act can be as much trouble as it can be fun. in the past your employers would have done stuff for clients for free but you never knew cause you got a wage.
just 2cents, ignore and move on, there's nothging to see here.
“Principles have no real force except when one is well-fed.”
Mark Twain“Important principles may and must be inflexible.”
Abraham Lincoln“Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others.”
Groucho Marx