most recent 30 from freelancing.stackexchange.com 2025-08-05T07:44:42Z https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/feeds/tag?tagnames=clients https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/rdf https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/q/10995 1 Robert https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/users/32848 2025-08-05T02:18:00Z 2025-08-05T18:09:31Z

<p>I'm a freelance marketer managing online reputation and brand sentiment for 3–5 small business clients (retail, salons, and local contractors). Each client is active on platforms like:</p> <ul> <li>Instagram &amp; Facebook (Meta Business Suite)</li> <li>Google Business Profile</li> <li>Yelp</li> </ul> <hr /> <h3>🎯 The Challenge</h3> <p>I'm trying to <strong>automate brand sentiment tracking</strong> across platforms and <strong>generate client-facing reports</strong>, but my current workflow is fragmented and time-consuming:</p> <ul> <li>I rely on <strong>Google Alerts</strong>, <strong>Meta Insights</strong>, and <strong>manual exports</strong> from Google Business.</li> <li>I’ve experimented with <strong>Zapier</strong>, <strong>Make.com</strong>, and <strong>Google Sheets dashboards</strong>, but haven’t found a comprehensive system that works.</li> </ul> <hr /> <h3>❓My Question:</h3> <p><strong>What is a structured, repeatable workflow for freelance marketers to track brand sentiment and generate cross-platform reports for multiple clients using low-cost tools (under $100/month per client)?</strong></p> <hr /> <h3>✅ Requirements:</h3> <ul> <li>Consolidate reviews/comments from multiple platforms</li> <li>Tag/sort by client automatically</li> <li>Generate visual reports (e.g., sentiment trends, summary dashboards)</li> <li>Optional: AI/NLP insights for tone detection and comment tagging</li> </ul> <hr /> <h3>🧪 What I’ve Tried:</h3> <ul> <li>Google Alerts: misses tone and nuance</li> <li>Meta Insights: limited to Facebook/Instagram, no aggregation</li> <li>Google Sheets: helpful but tedious</li> <li>Zapier/Make: powerful, but lacking complete examples/templates for this use case</li> </ul> <hr /> <h3>Budget:</h3> <ul> <li>&lt;$100/month per client</li> </ul> <hr /> <h3>Who would this help:</h3> <ul> <li>Freelance marketers juggling sentiment tracking/reporting across platforms</li> <li>Consultants creating client-facing reports without enterprise tools</li> </ul> <p>If you’ve used or built a workflow like this — even partially — I’d love to hear how you solved it. Bonus points if it involves Notion, Sheets, Data Studio, or Airtable integrations.</p> <p>Thanks for reading!</p>

https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/q/9882 2 user15733 https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/users/0 2025-08-05T13:05:34Z 2025-08-05T06:15:10Z

<p>Most of the freelance projects I take on involve working remotely, for a fixed price. I'll then take a deposit before starting work and invoice for the rest on completion.</p> <p>However on occasion I find myself working at clients' offices for a day rate and I find billing a little more tricky.</p> <p>In the event that there's any dispute over how many days work I've actually done, how do I prove it?</p> <p>And would it be acceptable for me to invoice every week? As I feel most places expect an invoice once per month, but I dont like the idea of doing an entire month's work up front without having had any form of payment.</p>

https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/q/1204 8 GSto https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/users/1278 2025-08-05T18:01:51Z 2025-08-05T08:53:32Z

<p>I commonly get the question of 'Who is your ideal client / target audience?', and I am not sure to proceed in identifying and defining my ideal client. I do feel that it would lead to having a much more targeted and effective marketing approach. </p> <p>How can I go about defining my ideal client?</p>

https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/q/10731 1 G'sworld Incorporated https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/users/29938 2025-08-05T02:20:44Z 2025-08-05T10:18:02Z

<p>I've been researching freelancing a lot, and to my surprise, I'm a little interested in becoming an independent freelancer! By this, I am inquiring about how to become a successful freelancer who makes a profit and is worthwhile.</p>

https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/q/10542 0 LMK Web https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/users/9845 2025-08-05T15:29:00Z 2025-08-05T07:04:25Z

<p>Do you have a policy for how long you retain client data after they no longer work with you? I have old files, emails, contracts, etc., for clients that I haven't spoken with in several years. I also have records from client companies that no longer exist (I work primarily B2B). Is there an ideal amount of time after which you just delete old records? If the company shuts down, do you delete everything sooner? I would keep items that can be used for my portfolio, but I don't know the value or liability in keeping anything else. I have had clients leave and then return a year or so later, so I do want to keep records for at least a year.</p>

https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/q/10521 1 Michael https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/users/28473 2025-08-05T14:57:47Z 2025-08-05T16:10:55Z

<p>I am a Front-end Developer with over 7 years commercial experience and would like to develop my skills in my own business.</p> <p>I was thinking about do my own outsourcing company in my country and finding programmers and QA testers to work. That's not easy because I do not know how to start. Can you tell me how is look process step by step? Of course, I am not asking about taxes etc. but how to find clients and workers. It is difficult because nobody knows my company, so I can not find clients. If I do not have clients, I can not to find workers.</p> <p>Tell me please what should I do first - find client or programmer to work and propose him to client? How can I be competitive as a small company? How to talk to large companies when I am unknown on the market?</p>

https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/q/10802 0 F. Zer https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/users/30415 2025-08-05T11:24:10Z 2025-08-05T14:38:12Z

<p>Initially, the client hired me for a project without mentioning any profit-sharing or assistance with commercialization. However, after investing approximately 30 hours into the project, I've produced a solution that far exceeds their expectations. Now, they're proposing a partnership where they would take 50% of the sales revenue and contribute to the selling process.</p> <p>I currently possess the license for this solution. Throughout our collaboration, which has included three video calls (every call is free), the client insists that the time spent explaining their vision should be considered as sharing ideas with me. However, I have concerns that their involvement may be more of an opportunistic move, given that I've been working on a similar project for the past seven years.</p> <p>I should add that the client is not fully open about what he wants in this regard. I am worried that he wants to clarify these new terms before he pays for the solution. He hinted that he probably wants a written contract.</p> <p>Am I obliged to share the license and share profit under these new terms? Additionally, what potential issues could arise if I agree to share it?</p>

https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/q/10651 2 No Name https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/users/29192 2025-08-05T03:06:24Z 2025-08-05T03:06:24Z

<p>If my legal name is A, but I go online as B, then when should I let my clients know that my name is not B, but A, if that's needed at all.</p> <p>Do I clarify right away &quot;hey, just letting you know that my legal name is...&quot;; do I wait until I need to submit a W-9; some clients don't request contracts of any forms, so do I need to clarify at all?</p> <p>I do have a DBA, and I'm not impersonating anyone or using anything copyrighted or trying to cause any damage, so I think the legal part is okay.</p>

https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/q/10356 2 D Sz https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/users/27345 2025-08-05T23:23:00Z 2025-08-05T23:23:00Z

<p>I've been googling this for days without a straightforward answer. My spouse is joining the foreign service, and we're both moving to Thailand next July on the US gov's dime. According to the foreign service materials on the state department website, I will probably have to pay Thai taxes for any income since I'll be living there for three years. I'm not too concerned about that. I'm a copyeditor for a few clients. I'm a 1099 contractor with them and get regular work with them. I've read a lot about foreign service spouses losing their W-2 jobs due to moving overseas because the company doesn't want to incur the tax risks. Will I encounter a similar thing when I tell my current companies about my move? Or does having a contracting relationship mean that nothing will change when I move? The best info I could find was that as long as you have a US address and bank account, you should be fine. But I just wanted to see if anyone else had a more thorough answer. Thanks!</p>

https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/q/10303 8 alxmntrvl https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/users/13035 2025-08-05T12:38:27Z 2025-08-05T19:59:42Z

<p>I recently started my first local design and marketing business, and currently I'm on the search for clients/work. I had a job interview yesterday with a reputable local construction company that is open to the possibility of working with me on a freelance basis, rather than as a full- or part-time employee, which has several benefits in my case.</p> <p>My question is regarding how I should approach a proposal with this potential client, and future clients. I'm not good with pricing my work (I'll be honest) and do NOT want to lowball myself. I'm trying my best to avoid hourly work, and billing for hours in general. I've just heard great arguments against it, and have seen these arguments borne out in my own 5 year freelancing career. Hourly is just not great, unless possibly if you're able to command a high hourly rate to be profitable, which I am not able to at the moment because that would scare potential clients away.</p> <p>So my question is – should I propose a monthly retainer? I'm honestly not sure what options an experienced freelancer who does not want to be stuck in hourly billing and run a profitable business normally proposes to potential clients.</p>

https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/q/10238 1 user26999 https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/users/0 2025-08-05T01:32:30Z 2025-08-05T01:36:32Z

<p>A new project I am working on needs a blockchain full stack developer and designer.They must understand solidity (Ethereum), sidechains (Bitcoin), etc. Anyone interested? In addition, I feel that it's quite difficult to find talent in this industry. Do you know how to find a good candidate in the blockchain field?</p>

https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/q/10223 3 Jay https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/users/21841 2025-08-05T16:27:06Z 2025-08-05T07:46:29Z

<p>Recently I've started sending some proposals to some possible clients. One of these new leads, is not a competitor but a company in the same city as one of my current clients, and in my proposal I was mentioning that I helped this client of mine achieve over X dollars in sales with my work (web design). My girlfriend read this and thinks it is not my place to disclose the amount of money I've help them generate — take into consideration that the site I made was from the beginning, so there were no previous numbers. Now I'm wondering, is it? I mean, I'm not telling an exact number, just something in the likes of &quot;I help them make over $100k in sales with my services&quot;. Is this considered unprofessional? Or rude? Should I go ahead and ask this client if sharing am ambiguous number of sales is okay with them?</p> <p>I'm a bit lost, any help or suggestions are appreciated</p>

https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/q/10035 6 Erik L https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/users/25954 2025-08-05T12:31:58Z 2025-08-05T01:04:15Z

<p>As you continue to add more and more clients, are there best practices or procedures that are best to follow to keep clients' project files, credentials, etc.. separated on your computer?</p> <p>My concerns are trying to ensure I don't accidentally mix up client files, or even web credentials. Or even the source code and different AWS/GCP/Azure profiles.</p> <p>I've thought of using separate logins on my computers, but that also becomes a pain because there are so many tweaks and things to tools and settings that they are hard to keep synced up.</p> <p>Is this really not a problem at all? Just as long as I sandbox as best as I can each client, use Chrome/Firefox profiles per client. I've done the best I can and call it good? Or are their techniques and ways to help better separate out each client into their own respective sandbox?</p>

https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/q/9951 1 Blatzo https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/users/25607 2025-08-05T14:03:49Z 2025-08-05T05:14:58Z

<p>Is a payment gateway, i.e, razor pay, part of the deal made on freelancer if I am a frontend developer and I made the deal with the client to just integrate APIs and make the UI in React?</p> <p>Or should I ask for an increase in the price for integrating the payment gateway?</p> <p>And isn't it something that the client should have told me before starting the project?</p> <p>It's a fixed price project and it has a strict timeline. He didn't talk about this payment integration before. He just gave me the link to a website and asked me to build it and told me to pay a fixed amount which was of course negotiated by me.</p> <p>And when we did the deal I clearly mentioned the pages and time I will make and he agreed to that. Now, after doing some work, I asked him what more is left and he repeated the list along with the payment integration. Which I reminded him was not there in the deal. To which he said, of course, it's by default there on a shopping website.</p>

https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/q/9873 3 user15733 https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/users/0 2025-08-05T08:56:23Z 2025-08-05T11:38:40Z

<p>Is it standard to reduce your rate if it means you're learning a new skill for the job? E.g. I am soon to be taking on some animation work for a client of mine. They did originally ask if I knew of any animators but I said I'd be happy to give it a go myself and that I'd just need to do a bit more practice beforehand (I'm a graphic designer who has a little motion experience).</p> <p>I was thinking of capping my cost at a certain amount, or working for a reduced rate.</p> <p>Would that be pretty standard to account for the extra time it will take me to produce it? I feel it wouldn't be right to bill them my usual rate otherwise it would work out a lot more costly for them to go with myself over someone more experienced.</p>

https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/q/9761 3 Sergi https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/users/24812 2025-08-05T09:41:27Z 2025-08-05T13:37:41Z

<p>So as the title says, how do you (freelancers, or the company you work at) create some urgency feeling so that clients don't take forever to come up with content or to reply to your e-mails? There are some clients that are stretching projects way past their normal development time because they are just so slow when it comes to answering. I present them with a fully developed site with dummy content (if no final content is provided) and clients have CMS access. It seems to be more of an issue at the end of a development cycle when the site is ready for launch, sometimes clients get stuck on minor details or board approvals that take forever and some projects can get stuck for months even when it's a big company...I am not contemplating monetary fines but I'd like to know if you have any techniques to create some urgency feeling. </p>

https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/q/9743 3 user613 https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/users/22384 2025-08-05T06:58:25Z 2025-08-05T07:42:22Z

<p>Last week I sent out cold pitching email to a few websites with three article ideas. </p> <p>In the past, I've sent out tens of emails and only received one or two responses. This time, I sent out six emails and three responded. Two of the blogs wanted the same article idea. </p> <p>I'd love to write for all three, though I don't have time to work on all three in a reasonable time frame. At the very least, I'd like to keep them as potential future clients.</p> <p>Also, I'm not sure how to go about writing the same idea for two blogs without it being a duplicate or a totally different article than they agreed to. </p> <p>Any suggestions on how to handle this?</p>

https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/q/9541 5 GoldDigger https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/users/24046 2025-08-05T07:30:51Z 2025-08-05T17:43:47Z

<p>Sometime ago, I did a challenging project for a client as a freelancer, and he uses my work as core of the software he sells. Basically my work is the main feature of that software, and he just ship it as part of his Software and make profit from it. I've been still working with that client on follow up projects.</p> <p>Now another client approached me and he wants to buys the same work I did for the another client. I guess he is probably a competitor of the first client.</p> <p>Regarding contract with first client, we have none. We never discussed about ownership of code, and all payment/work is done in good faith so far.</p> <p>If it matters, both these client are remote and from a different continent than me.</p> <p>So my questions are:</p> <p>A) Do I legally own the work or client? Can I legally sell it to somebody else too?</p> <p>B) What about moral reasons? Is it moral to sell it to their competitors.</p> <p>C) Any advice in general on how I should approach this situation.</p>

https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/q/9493 1 user21909 https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/users/0 2025-08-05T09:44:23Z 2025-08-05T16:59:18Z

<p>I have the impression that my Wordpress-projects seem to function very differently depending on how the client works with me. Some projects are easy - we select a template, the client accepts that we do not want to change much, delivers text and pictures and there we go. The site can be online within a few days.</p> <p>At present I have a client that sees himself as an easy project. The project is for a building in a caritative segment and is still in its build-stage. So there are no photos from within the building only some from the construction area and I only have some sketches from the rooms.</p> <p>The texts that I received are not complete and poorly written.</p> <p>So when I started with the project I selected a hotel page - then the client wanted different colors, different font, larger font and so on until the design was broken...</p> <p>After some in-between trying of different approaches that also did not work I came back with another template which works a little better now but same issue. I gave the client access to jumpchart.com, but he never entered something. In the end it was me that had to enter everything in it... useless.</p> <p>I am so frustrated...</p> <p><strong>Now my question:</strong> </p> <p>How do you deal with clients regarding your Wordpress projects. Do you always collect text, images and logo upfront?</p> <p>What are further rules that help you making the implementation of that wordpress-template an easy thing? Avoiding that the client has a thousand little wishes "to get the design right"</p> <p>I think both of us - the client and me - frustrated right now.</p> <p>How can I avoid this in the future?</p> <p>Thanks</p>

https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/q/8215 1 Jay https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/users/21841 2025-08-05T21:09:51Z 2025-08-05T23:09:39Z

<p>So I've been doing freelance design for this company and I work through email and my website with this one client. I have a Chrome extension that let's me track activity on an email after it has been sent. This client last read one of my emails about 10 days ago, then I send another 2 regarding changes he requested on the design. And today I sent a follow up mail and none of these have even been read. This client is really nice, I've worked with him on two other projects (aside from the current one) and also talked about the next one. Should I be worried that he hasn't replied or even read my emails? On one of the previous projects he vanished for like a week or something, and came back to tell me he was really busy and couldn't make time to answer me (which I completely understand). I'm just worried since I didn't ask for an advance for the current project and we're half-way through. I probably shouldn't worry at all and should just wait for his answer but I thought that reading some of your stories/advice would make me worry a little less.</p>

https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/q/9406 0 Shiva https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/users/1303 2025-08-05T03:13:49Z 2025-08-05T12:54:55Z

<p>I have made an indeed silly decision to not send the agreement upfront to my new client, before starting his Web development project... I actually didnt send it because he is a very close person and kind of my role model. So I did not want to appear too formal with him. I know, I shouldn't mix business with personal relationships...</p> <p>The project itself is going really smooth, no problems with the client and payment and deadlines are also being met on time.</p> <p>But just so that I can hand over certain rights and responsibilities once the project finishes, and also be clear about the future liabilities, can I send an agreement for approval midway in the project?</p> <p>He has already paid me two milestones. Basically we completed the website and it is just pending migration to his server and making the website LIVE.</p> <p>Your answer will be greatly appreciated.</p> <p>Thanks! </p>

https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/q/9333 2 Tushar https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/users/21411 2025-08-05T10:48:15Z 2025-08-05T07:39:27Z

<p>I have got this client from <strong>freelancer.com</strong> where he gave an email to contact him. I contacted through the mail, he said he wants a restaurant site built for him, provided an example and said he wants one just like that but maybe a better looking one. I wanted to know some information about the site he wants to build, as like: 1. if the site would be an exact copy 2. what would be in the reservation page 3. how many approx monthly users he expects into his site.</p> <p>But he never paid a heed to these info and asked me my budget. I told him my asking price. He then said he is based in USA and he will send the payment by emailing me the check. And said he will have his assistant send me all the contents I need.</p> <p>Also, in the very first email he included that "You would be updating the site for me". I asked what he meant by that. He won't talk about any information. </p> <p>My question is, how can I make him cooperate with me so that I understand what he wants and needs?</p>

https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/q/7891 1 Zeynew https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/users/20710 2025-08-05T21:02:13Z 2025-08-05T10:23:00Z

<p>Here is the situation: I have been working full-time for a customer (let's call him A) over the last month and most of this time was actually spent on projects from a single customer of them (let's call him B).</p> <p>Now that I'm planning to launch a company that will be in direct competition with A, I'm wondering if I could tell B about it, give business cards and so on. How would that be perceived?</p>

https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/q/7822 4 JB Pakalapati https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/users/20104 2025-08-05T07:57:41Z 2025-08-05T12:41:05Z

<p>I have agreed for a mobile Application project where everything has to be managed by me only as development and programming designing concern. The only Designing part has been given to another freelancer. </p> <p>We had a minimum of <strong>10 calls in 3 months</strong> of period asking or discussion of the project and designing backend making Client understand the imaginary design and flow of the project. after all this discussion they have given me a small amount of payment.</p> <p>Now all of the sudden getting calls from the client to <strong>refund the payment</strong> as things are not moving forward.</p> <p>How can I handle the situation and make them understand refund is <strong>not possible</strong> and I'm also finding it extremely difficult to refund the payment.</p> <p>The client makes fake promises to come back with new project etc etc.. but if they are planning for a second idea they will not ask for a refund. </p> <p>There were no agreements signed, we just had word of mouth. </p>

https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/q/8192 0 xenon https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/users/21708 2025-08-05T09:55:51Z 2025-08-05T21:41:00Z

<p>I'm recently working with a very indecisive client who never seems to want to make decisions or give approvals to any confirmations I asked of her. I have had a question on this <a href="https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/questions/8167/how-to-deal-with-indecisive-clients">here</a> a while ago. But there is a crazy turn of things with this client today and I don't know what are my options - she now says she has always wanted her site I’m doing for her to be like another website, but this website she now mentions is more complicated than what we have agreed.</p> <p>This indecisive client of mine has been evading my request for her approval on my design for her website before I implement it. Two days ago, after responding to her latest series of questions, I followed up by asking her for approval of the design again. However, she replied and said she will only give me the green light when she is confident about my maintenance terms. I have no idea how approving the design has to with maintenance but I believe she said that to evade my request for her approval again. She has done that numerous times. She has been coming up with questions after questions every time when I ask for her approval.</p> <p>The worst part of all in her email, she said she expects the site to be launched by next month and I should take the time from now to next month to get things done. I was dumbfounded to read what she has written. <strong>How in her mind does she expect me to voluntarily "get things done" when she doesn't approve the design until when she is confident of something irrelevant to the design and I risk her coming back with changes later?</strong></p> <p>I replied to her that I will only start implementation after she has approved the design. I also counter proposed her deadline and mentioned to her about how the deadline will be pushed back for any delays in approval, as what one of the <a href="https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/a/8168/21708">answers</a> in my previous question has suggested and I think it's a good idea.</p> <p>To my surprise though, she responded that she has always thought her website should be like blablahblah.com and I should go look at it. That website she now mentions is quite different from what she has said she wanted when we first agreed on the project. It's also more complicated than what I have quoted her in the quotation. The design has to be completely different to afford those features too and so <em>my existing mockups for her will all be wasted</em>! It seems when she has finally no other way to evade having to give an approval, she throws me a spanner by suggesting that she has expected the website to be like another site which she didn't mention at all from the start.</p> <p>Seriously, she is telling me this after she took 13 months to decide to hire me since we first met up, and then another 4 months having over 50 email exchanges and several offline meetups asking me a ton of questions and wasting my time researching for answers to her questions. We spent all this time talking to build this one website and now she suddenly says she expects her website to be like another site! </p> <p><strong>A lot of lessons learned</strong></p> <p>Clearly, I’m quite upset about this incident but it has definitely taught me a lot about dealing with clients in freelance work. I’ve done quite a few freelance assignments but this client is tough to manage. On hindsight, I would have done many things differently like writing a more detailed contract to protect myself even though it seems like a small project and not worth the time writing a detailed specs for it. </p> <p><strong>What are my options?</strong></p> <p>Right now, even though I've learnt my lessons, I think I should also know what are some options I should take. She has given me a 50% deposit which I did state in my quotation that this is not refundable.</p> <ol> <li><p><strong>Accept that she now wants her site to be different</strong>: If I accept her new expectation, I will have to quote her again for the new requirements and ask her to decide. Since it's decision time, she is going to have a hard time deciding again and I can expect her wasting my time answering her questions like "will users come to this page if we do it this way?" or "now with this new design, will users read this important info I wrote in my article?" I'm not sure she would even take my new pricing nicely. Even if she ever takes up the new pricing, given her character, she may flake again. And I need to spend even more time with her.</p></li> <li><p><strong>Withdraw from the project</strong>: Honestly, I'm very tempted to go with this option. I feel like she is wasting my time and she isn't worth it. But, I've collected a 50% non-refundable deposit. I don't think she will cancel the project on her own. If I withdraw from the project myself, what should I do with the deposit? Do I refund her partially or fully, or do I stand by my terms that it’s not refundable? If I return her the full deposit, I feel like I'm not being compensated for the amount of time and effort spent on answering her questions, all meetups, my time spent coming up with the design and mockup screens. And almost certainly, my withdrawal will turn things sour. Given that she evades making decisions, she might be somebody who's insecure or just outright manipulative. I don’t want her to accuse me of scamming her or whatever for taking her deposit and withdrawing from the project because I’m not.</p></li> </ol> <p>What would be the best thing to do after getting myself to deal with such a client?</p>

https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/q/8167 2 xenon https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/users/21708 2025-08-05T13:39:57Z 2025-08-05T15:49:50Z

<p>I do freelance web design and development on the side. I have a client recently who appears to be flaky and indecisive. She isn't very willing to commit herself to make decisions.</p> <p>When I've the mockup designs ready for her, she doesn't want to confirm whether she accepts the design or not. I've told her before that by accepting the design in the mockups, we will not be allowed to make drastic changes to it during development. So I'm not sure if this has frightened her, but I do this to other clients and had no problem. And I did assure her that minor changes such as colours and texts are fine.</p> <p>However, she has been replying to my emails asking her for confirmation with questions after questions and meetups after meetups, but just not her confirmation. She has said things like she needs to meet her friend A then friend B for their opinions first, etc.</p> <p>I can't move on to the development stage if she doesn't confirm the design because every time we meet up (which btw actually eats wastes even more of my time) or after she has her questions answered, she wants to add or change something to the design (which even though its just the mockup images, it takes time for me to do it). But I have to prevent her from changing the design after implementation as that will be disastrous.</p> <p>She has procrastinated on giving me a confirmation for 2 months since I'd given her the initial mockup design. I've a feeling the project is going to take way longer than I'd thought, and much of it is due to her indecisiveness.</p> <p>The project was quoted on a fixed sum for an amount of work. So I don't get paid for the time allocated to wait for her approvals. She has given me a deposit for the project and so I believe she is sincere about getting the project done. But I can't afford to let her delay the project this way because I have other projects in line and other things in my life. Moreover, she has a tight budget and so what she has paid isn't anything worth more than a 2-month work.</p> <p>I've been trying all sorts of way to get her to move to the next stage politely, but she has kept evading a confirmation.</p> <p>I don't know what else I can do. I have thought of a few options:</p> <ol> <li><p>The first option is, I just let her flake all she wants until she finally makes up her mind while I go on with my life and take on other projects. Since I've her deposit if she decides to drop the project halfway, she loses it. <strong>BUT</strong>, I know she isn't going to drop the project and she may just decide "okay let's do it now" on any one day which may not be a time I'm available to return to her project! And she isn't going to expect me telling her "Hey I've waited <em>x</em> months for your approval, now I can't go back to your project until <em>y</em> months." Moreover, switching context between projects after a few months is extremely disruptive, at least, to me. I have to spend time re-understanding the code done months ago.</p></li> <li><p>The second option, tell her I need her decision by a definite date and if she can't give a confirmation by that date, I will take it that she has confirmed the design and wants to proceed to move on to the next stage. She is definitely not going to like this. But my biggest concern is that I can expect myself having more trouble collecting my final payment given her flakiness. She might just claim that I made the decision for her without her agreement.</p></li> </ol> <p>Either way isn't going to turn out very well. I need help dealing with such people.</p> <p>What's your experience with indecisive clients like the one I've met? How did you deal with them?</p>

https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/q/8136 3 becca https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/users/21621 2025-08-05T21:42:44Z 2025-08-05T05:50:32Z

<p>I've been asked if I can manage social media for someone whose business is in another province - which means I cannot easily travel to them to gather images/content/videos/etc. </p> <p>How can you best manage the content for someone in this type of situation? This person sells products so would they need to constantly send me product photos and videos and all I do is post/write/strategize with them? How do you handle content in this type of situation? They want to essentially "hand-off" the responsibility of social media but I have no idea how else I would create the content. Especially since a big part of their brand is the face of the creator... which I wouldn't want to lose in their feeds.</p>

https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/q/319 9 Pierre https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/users/99 2025-08-05T11:56:00Z 2025-08-05T12:03:08Z

<p>This is a problem I'm running into as a beginner. I'm losing clients because I don't have a portfolio yet (Web Design), the clients that don't ask are very few and I don't know what to say to those who ask for it.</p> <p>Is this a wrong start? What should I do in this case?</p>

https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/q/6175 2 Peter MV https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/users/517 2025-08-05T13:05:03Z 2025-08-05T14:02:46Z

<p>This week a client from another region is visiting my team. We will have a whole-day meeting. </p> <p>In our last conversation he told me that he would like to take our team to lunch. It's 6-7 persons on the lunch meaning the cost is not insignificant. </p> <p>However, since he is our client and he is a visitor in our town, is it OK that he takes us for lunch and pays for it?</p> <p>Should I offer to pay the lunch instead?</p> <p>I have never been in situations like this and I am not sure what to do. I would not like to offend him by not paying the lunch (if it's expected), but neither to offend him by saying that we will pay the lunch what he had offered first. </p>

https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/q/417 18 drewwyatt https://freelancing.stackexchange.com/users/254 2025-08-05T20:40:39Z 2025-08-05T13:56:59Z

<p>I am not a designer. I don't claim to be, and I don't want to be. I am a programmer.</p> <p>I have a handful of clients that are small "web designers". Some are great, and I have recommended friends and family to them when they were looking for websites. Some are not so great.</p> <p>One in particular makes okay looking websites that just have (in terms of usability) bad design. The client pays well. I charge them a little more than the others because working for them usually means getting my hands dirty and doing some "hacking" that I am not always proud of. My work for them includes anything from wiring forms to the occasional quick-and-dirty back end CMS.</p> <p>My question is: when I see something "wrong" - is it my responsibility (morally, not contractually) to point it out and/or fix it. E.G. I often see form element inconstancies when wiring forms - they may use select menus for selecting the user's state in one area, but then 2 sections down, use a text input for entering the state where the user works.</p>

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