How to Evaluate Freelance Clients and Avoid Bad Situations
Don't get stuck in a stressful situation.
I started freelancing because I was sick of corporate culture, especially toxic work environments. I wanted to be in control of who I worked with and how work got done.
Most of my clients have been lovely, but there have also been a few doozies. In some cases, I suspected the client would be difficult, but I needed the money. In other cases, I missed some red flags.
Based on my years of experience as a freelancer, plus a prior career as a tech executive, here are some things to consider as you evaluate potential clients.
1. Identify your needs and set clear deal-breakers
At a bare minimum, you need to meet your income goals — whatever those are. If you take work that's far below what you want to earn, you're setting yourself up for a cycle of low-paying work that's hard to break.
You should establish an amount you'd like to earn per client or project, and the minimum amount you'd be willing to accept. Don't go below that. If clients want you to accept a rate that's far below what you normally charge, the client won't respect your work.
I spoke to a potential client last year — a prominent finance brand (I'm a fintech writer). The proposed rate was 1/4 of what I usually charge, and 1/2 of my absolute bare minimum. I knew this client could afford more, so it demonstrated a lack of respect for writers and their work. I said no. I would have accepted the work for my bare minimum, to get the brand in my portfolio, but I wasn't willing to do work at 1/4 of my usual rate.
You'll also want to identify the types of clients and work that aren't a good fit. In the beginning, it's ok to accept imperfect work while you are trying to establish a freelance portfolio. But over time, refine your ideal client and offer. Odds are, work that's outside of your skillset is going to absorb more of your time than it's worth. Better to stick to what you do best (unless you're trying to branch into a new product or service).
2. Assess a freelance opportunity
Freelance jobs will often have some type of job description, whether they're on a job board or shared on a social platform like LinkedIn. I've also had people approach me directly about freelance opportunities (such as sending me a DM).
Not all opportunities are good. As you vet the client and the potential freelance work, withdraw yourself from the process if you sense red flags. You can simply say that the work doesn't seem like a good fit. Or you could tell a white lie and say that you took on some more work for another client and no longer have the bandwidth.
Here are a few things to watch out for:
An unclear project scope
Clients who don't know what they want will be impossible to please. Make sure the client is very clear about the project scope and goals.
Clients who haven't worked with freelancers before
Clients who haven't worked with freelancers before aren't bad all the time, but it's definitely harder. They don't always understand how the client-freelancer relationship works, how to respect your boundaries, and how to treat you as an independent professional. You might find yourself doing more work than expected or find the client hard to communicate with.
Anna Burgess Yang
Unrealistic expectations
Rushed deadlines or fast turnaround times aren't realistic and put unnecessary stress on you. I've also seen freelance projects that have a fixed rate and an unreasonable amount of work for the amount being paid.
Unpaid test projects
Unpaid test projects are exploitative. In some cases, really terrible clients take the free work and use it, such as publishing a test blog post to their website without compensating the freelancer.
You can do a test project for a client — it's a great way to see if the freelance relationship will work — but it should be paid at your normal rate. I actually have clients sign a full contract. Most of my work is ad hoc, so doing a test project is no different than any of my other assignments.
A sketchy business
Does the business have a website? Does your contact have a social media presence? Can you find any reviews or information about the company/person?
There are, unfortunately, unscrupulous clients in the world. They might have you do work, and then ghost payment. You can require payment upfront (such as 25% - 50% of the total project), or require payment at different milestones. Make sure the terms of the milestones and payment are clear in your freelance contract.
For example, I require payment based on when I deliver work, not when the client approves work. Otherwise, I might be waiting forever for client approval.
A full-time job disguised as a freelance role
Employee misclassification is illegal in many countries, including the United States. A company can't hire someone to do the work of an employee and call it "freelance" simply to skirt taxes and labor laws. An example might be a role that is 40 hours a week, requires you to join internal meetings, and may even require time at the company office. While there are some instances where this might be freelance (such as a temporary role), it should not resemble the work that a full-time employee does.
Avoid roles like this because they can cause a lot of headaches later if it becomes a case of employee misclassification.
Consider communication and working style
Everyone has their preferred communication methods and ways of working. You need to evaluate if your client's expectations align with yours.
For example, your client might expect immediate replies to emails. But you prefer to check your email once per day, or you work outside of normal business hours. This should be a discussion before you take on the client.
A freelance friend of mine lets clients know that she would only use email to communicate; she wouldn't join a client's Slack channel. That's a boundary she's set for herself. If a client insisted on using Slack, it wouldn't be a good fit.
An easy way to talk to potential clients about this is to include the information on your website or in proposals you send. You can include a "Working With Me" section that outlines your typical working hours, response times, and methods of communication. You can also let clients know if you use a freelance project management system, or if you're willing to use their tool of choice.
Make choices that are in your best interests
Every freelancer has worked with a terrible client at one point or another. It's the nature of the work. But as you gain more experience, you should know what to look for.
And as you're first getting started, you can always take on an iffy client and drop them later. Or keep raising your rates, so that at least you'rea compensated for the extra energy.
Bad clients are a headache and can really put a strain on your business. The better you get at evaluating potential clients, the more you can avoid the bad ones.
Not sure where to get started with a client proposal or contract? You can check out this free checklist and download a template to use.
