All posts with the ‘ client control ’ Tag

Not all negotiation work happens in the midst of fleshing out the details of a job, with the sweat of contract terms glistening on your brow and the fire of fee arrangements in your belly.

Some of the most helpful negotiation work you can do is when you aren’t negotiating.  And one of the best opportunities you have is when you bill your clients.  You … Read More

Another Thanksgiving and another super fun podcast on freelancing!… Read More

You have a client named…Splinter.

Splinter has a new job for you about once every two or three months.  The work tends to be interesting, but not overly taxing, and Splinter generally agrees to a higher hourly rate than many of your other clients.

Splinter is also consistently late.  He’s late to conference calls, passing on specs and worst of all, he’s generally 10-15 days … Read More

It’s all nice and good to be able to negotiate when there is a contract, a fancy piece of paper that an attorney’s been paid to stick “wheretofors” and “hereafters” all over.  But what happens when you don’t have a written contract?  What happens when it’s a conversation over coffee and a handshake?

This might be the most helpful thing I’ve posted on the blog so far.

The day after Thanksgiving, Dylan Meconis, Erika Moen, Bill Mudron and I got together and decided to talk about comics, being professional freelancers, getting comfortable with the business of art and how awesome Steve Lieber is.… Read More

It should come as a shock to no one that I am a big fan of agreements in writing.  You might think it’s the lawyer in me that likes agreements written out and explained.  It is not.  It is the lazy person in me.… Read More

Man, ask just about anyone how 2009’s been treating them and you’ll get a smattering of groans, grunts and a whole lotta “What the heck is up with the economy?”

And if the job market looks frightening now, the freelance market is gonna start making it look like a 76-trombone parade (sorry, this shouldn’t be news).

Unfortunately, when things get rough our natural tendency is … Read More

In the comments, Colleen asked that I address “mission creep” and the joys that emit there forth.  I’ve heard it called “mission creep,” “scope creep”* and “the single easiest way to lose your mind.”  Whatever business speak phrase you prefer, it is the phenomenon of thinking you know exactly what a project will be and how much time it will take, only to watch it … Read More