Hi All,

This may be a bit long but I'm looking for advice and ideas. Michel, I'm pretty sure you run into this too so I'm particularly curious about how you handle it.

The problem: Excessive phone calls from clients, and/or excessive consulting.

At the moment, most of my clients hire me for Website writing. Sometimes just an electronic sales letter, but most of the time I'm hired to create several pages of content and SEO. Often I start the sites from scratch, or add a whole other section for something new.

I try to add a lot of value to my services for the price, but I often find myself doing much more than originally agreed or intended.

Many clients for instance, seem to think that as soon as they've hired me for a project, they're welcome to call me anytime they like. Others seem to think I'm their personal marketing guru, and think nothing of asking question after question - phone or email - taking up hours of my time trying to absorb everything they can.

And most of them don't want to learn so they can do it themselves later... that'd be easy, I could sell 'em a book or something! No, they are just so tickled to have someone that can actually make it all make sense to them.

They're generally amazed and thrilled to find out I have so much expertise, skill, and experience - but it's when they find this out that they start taking up much more of my time than they should for the project I was hired to do.

Maybe I make them feel too "special"? and they get the impression they're the only client in the world for me?

Maybe I try to offer too much added value?

I don't like the idea of sending a long complicated legal document before letting anyone pay me money, and I'd like to think I can find a balance somewhere that let's me impress them without going overboard, so they'll come back over and over.

And then of course there are those that come back three months after the project is finished, asking "what do you think of..." or "have you heard of..." etc. To them, the project is still going of course, because it's the growth of their business. For me though, the project ended months ago.

Arggg! I just want to write, get it done well, and move on to the next project.

Thoughts and ideas on how to address these issues?
Thanks (and sorry if this was too much of a rant )
Kathy

Trust me, I KNOW. Been there, done that, got the keychain.

Here's what I do.

Turn it into a bonus, tell them they are getting it free of charge and make sure to add a retail value on your time. For example, say, with a copywriting job, "As a new copywriting client, you get [X hours/minutes] of consuting FREE OF CHARGE. Since I normally charge $[Y] per hour, this means your get $[Z] in total as free consulting." (Emphasis on 'x hours' and 'free of charge'.)

1) This tells them they are getting a specified number of hours of consulting with their project, and no more. It adds a certain tangibility to your 'free' consulting and helps stop the grinding away process.

2) By adding a retail value, this also increases the perceived value to your service. It tells them, at an unconscious level, that your time is worth money. They should be even more happy with the 'freebie' (since now they know what it's worth). (And it also adds value to your main copywriting service since they get this 'bonus'.)

3) If you go over the amount of time your give for free, make sure to tell them that: a) you're doing them a favor by 'extending' the free bonus time or, b) if it's them grinding away at your time, you can tell them that they've used up their free bonus and you would be gald to bill them for any additional time, perhaps at a discount, should they require more time.

Also, make sure to tell them "up to" [x] time.

Some clients are time vampires, and your time is money -- either directly or indirectly (because by them chewing away at your time, it takes you away from billable time).

Bottom line, the idea, just like copy, is to quantify and specify as much as possible. You can divided your service up, and detailing, point by point, what they get. And add a value to each step ... Rather than lumping evertything together. Why? Because that way, people understand the value they get behind each nook and cranny.

Good luck.

Kathy,

I agree with Mike on that 100%. Here is the way I do it. From the early contact we have I make it very clear how they are best getting in touch with me.

I always tell everyone to email me first, Message me second, call me only when the Cat is dead not before... in other owrds, emergencies. I have this written in the initial email I send out and reminders beyond that.

I now rarely get any calls. However I still get plenty of emails. I dont have a time limt on itbut I am going to apply Mikes tips there but I do copy a bit of my initial agreement for work to be done and paste it under a kindly reminder note. So far ... it hasnt been a problem.

My biggest problem at the moment is my messenger. Sometimes I have 4/5 screens up at once and to be honest its driving me N.U.T.S. My solution is write for a few hours. When my eyes are screaming for a Tea break I put my messenger on for a while but leave it in away status.

I get a few messages but it has reduced. My personal take on this... make it clear from day one what they are paying for.

Just a quickie... some time ago I did some copy for a client. She wanted to mve her site. I davised. She wanted a fresher look. I advised. She wanted an autoresponder ... welll you know the rest. I ended up doing the lot for nothing and it took me donkeys to get it all done. Did she truly appreciatte it? Not really.

Just be clear from day one. Charge like Mike said for sure.