Hi Everyone!
I have a client who really takes up all my time, I could be busy with her stuff all night every night. Its hard for me to know exact hours of work because its at all random times that im on the phone with her. I feel like Im not taking on as many clients because of her. When I told her how much Im charging her, she said the person she used before charged $150 less, However I feel like Im spending so much time on her designs and research that I should be charging more.
(This is also for product design besides for just graphic design-Im not sure why I end up with product design customers… its not my only product design customer) 
Maybe mention to her that it’s getting for for you to work with her and come up with some sort of agreement where you only work a certain number of hours for her per week or month? It doesn’t sound like you’re enjoying the work so much because it’s so time consuming… and if she’s not happy with your pricing but it’s not worth it for you to lower it, stock to your price. She can find another designer if she’s not willing to pay your price…
yup i feel for you! there are 2 schools of thought in my opinion:
- some say never work with ‘red flag clients’ like what you’re describing (which include those who have a lot of scope creep, dont provide you with all the info even if they are quick to pay, don’t value you your worth etc etc) as they may take up 90% of your headspace for 10% of your earnings!
- some say by you believing in your value and setting clear boundaries and not being scared for a client to reject you but clearly communicating your value, then you can turn even red flag clients into ideal ones.
Personally I believe in number 2 b/c I’ve had ideal clients turn into red flag ones and vice versa. It’s really important to be aware of your discomfort (as you have been) and especially as you get more in demand, set your boundaries, clients will respect that and you wont get burnt out. (I need to listen to my own advice!!)
Also factor in added value as i have some ideal clients who are not demanding design-wise and i’m not so proud of the work and some headachey fussy clients who are annoying with payment but then the work has been really good for my portfolio and experience and helped me get the ideal clients!
And if you are already in a stuck situation or have tried and it’s still not changing, maybe you could see it as chessed to the client… but really giving boundaries can be an even greater chessed!!!
And remember to daven and talk to Hashem about it and what you’d love… (again i need to take my own advice!)
Hatzlacha!
p.s. tachlis - you can say you need to start charging for phone calls (hourly rate) and you can also request she collates all her ideas into one email or word doc and only then you work on it. i know some adhd type clients find it very hard, worst are whatsapp ones… peninah adler is v strict to not let clients whatsapp about work, only email. i had to set a boundary with one client to never do phone calls, she can leave me voice or written messages and of course emails. you can also explain that this is what you need to be able to devote the time on her work!
you can also not pick up and only call her back during your “work hours”.
rivkah, is including time on the phone not generally considered a part of the hours?
I also had such clients, some of them didnt even do it on purpose. I was just the whole day busy on the phone. It was literally taking over my life!
So I added my business hours in my email signature.
I just dont pick up the phone at other hours. (the first time they call out of hours I pick up the phone and tell them that I’ll call them back)
It was a huge ‘lifesaver’!
I agree with above. Set boundaries. LImit to working hours and communicate by email or loom videos. Saves ton of time.
Stick to your price at a minim of 15 or 30 min per change.
Thanx Everyone!!
I actually have a diff issue with a client. She is ‘internet free’!
So every time she needs to come over to me, she doesnt have email, I need to look everything up for her… its so time consuming!
What do you mean you have ‘to look up everything’? I had a client once that didn’t have access to email and I needed the copy from them so they wrote it down and brought it to me handwritten… That’s acceptable to do, but I have a friend that had such a client and the client treated her like her personal secretary like made her check her emails, send emails… until it came to a point she literally had to block this persons number so watch out!
I just had a client who did not have regular access to email/internet, and it was difficult. I ended up using texting mostly to communicate, and called her every step of the way instead of just emailing the files and drafts. She also was not able to do zoom meetings, which I like to do when presenting a logo and that did drag things out more. I’m not sure how I would handle it next time, but it was frustrating. She didn’t ask to come over, but I would not have been comfortable. I feel like that’s blurring the boundaries a lot, even more so than texting.
I’m curious to hear how others handle such a client.
My client doesnt even have text
So whenever I do something for her she needs to come by with takes up so much time…
For now unless you want to terminate it and work something out, you’ll have to deal with it in whichever way you see fit (setting boundaries that you’re comfortable with).