I don't know about you, but I have a pre-determined writing schedule that I need to follow every week just to keep up with everything. I allocate blocks of time and whole days to get orders completed on time.
I have some clients with regular standing orders each month, so these get entered into the writing schedule at the beginning of each month. That blocks out multiple days every month before I even start.
I also have some clients who are regular enough with their orders that I know I should keep some time aside for their orders too.
Some of my clients are so hectic that they constantly add new orders into shared spreadsheets at regular intervals throughout every month.
These are the clients I love. I work hard to keep them pleased and I strive to meet deadlines whenever I can. They pay me regularly and on time, and they're very clear about their job specifications without being ridiculously paranoid about sending multi-page "style guides" just in case I don't know how to do my job. Being concise helps my productivity levels enormously, as I'm able to get the project right first time without fuss or rewrites.
And then there are those fabulously inconsiderate clients who place an order with a 24 hour deadline on it - on a SUNDAY - then demand it gets done on time, and then demand multiple edits that take days out of my time that were never part of the original job outline.
Keep in mind that the same clients sent me an 1100 word "style guide" they wanted followed to the letter - for a 350 word article. LOL!! Really?? Paranoid much? Afraid that another writer can't do the job as well as you might? Perhaps outsourcing isn't your thing, dear paranoid client.
These types of clients have no regard for the fact that I had other important clients already waiting patiently for orders to be completed. They just want what they want. And they want it now. Silly me agreed to the stupidly short deadline, because I was a little afraid to lose a client if I offended them.
I'm not afraid any more. I have good clients. I'll bend over backwards and write all night without sleep and without coffee to please good clients.
However, these are the types of unrealistic clients I'm seriously considering sending to other writers.
Seriously.
You're welcome to keep those types of clients for yourself. I'll even happily hand them to you, if you want them. I'm WAY too busy to deal with clients who take advantage of my time and effort and just don't care what else they might be interrupting.
The way I see it - if a client expects that I've really got nothing else on my plate at any time and I can drop everything - on a SUNDAY - and complete an unexpected order for them within a few hours, then that client obviously is used to dealing with writers who aren't good enough to stay busy on a full time basis and who do have that kind of spare time.
I'm not one of them.
