Behavioral Patterns of Online Clients

English poet William Cowper once said, "Variety is the very spice of life." The same variety applies to freelancing clientele. Dancing with a variety of personality types takes skill and experience. Although you may feel burned at times, it doesn't hurt to think positively of these occasional misgivings. 

This article aims to bring to light some of the most common behaviors of clients that you will meet online:

• Some clients don't have any inkling what codes mean and what search engine optimization is good for. They just want you to get the job done. If you get into specifics and start using jargons left and right, you might actually end up conducting tutorials to get your point across.
  
  Technophobia is a perennial challenge in the freelancing world. Not all businessmen are Internet-savvy and you'll be surprised that some still prefer to communicate ideas over the phone. Working for technophobes is not a chore when you consider the degree of creative freedom which you get to enjoy in a given project.
  
  
• Some clients exhibit their very high standards through nit-picking. Unlike the technophobic individual, this type of client has considerable knowledge with what he wants and how he wants things done.
  
  Working with clients who see themselves as the authority in the business can actually be a straight-forward and educational experience. You go with the flow, you learn from your mistakes (which the client points out with gusto) and you feel a sense of accomplishment upon completing the task.
  
  
• Some clients make you think that "Demanding" is their middle name. All the urgent commands and 10 pages of step-by-step instructions didn't just come from habit. The behavior probably emerged after hiring a freelancer who over-promised and over-charged but under-delivered.
  
  Dealing with this type of behavior can be stressful and limiting to your creativity, but it can also an opportunity for you to learn about effective time management and customer satisfaction.* 

5 Types of Online Clients

As with most things in life, the clients you will meet online rarely fall into either the good or bad department.

Notwithstanding scammers, there are about 5 types of clients you will likely run into before you end up with the ones you really want to work for. Have you met all of them already? 

The Picky Bargain Hunter

Job descriptions that trumpet the following lines are strong indicators of the bargain hunter: "Anyone can do this job. We will award the project to the lowest bidder.... Willing to pay $1 for grammatically correct, high-quality articles.... Superstar writers only."

Good quality and cheap pricing do not necessarily go together. Do yourself a favor and walk away. It's not even worth it to consider this type of client as a future business prospect - unless you have masochistic tendencies.

The Wholesaler

"Our previous freelancer charged half your rates. If you agree to our price, we can give you continuous business and maybe an increase."

The promise of more work down the line has been a bait long used by many online clients. Freelancers are divided on this issue. Your best move would be to decide what is practical. If the "discounted rates" are still good enough for you, then take the offer.

The Micro Manager

Clients who obsess about very high standards, status updates, time-in and time-outs and job protocols can be very difficult to work with. You might end up spending more time over their projects than you normally would because of endless revision requests and instructions.

On the upside, some freelancers get pumped just trying to please the micro manager. For the heck of experience, you might actually want to rise to the challenge.

The Juicer

As opposed to the micro manager who does all the thinking on your behalf, the juicer expects you to provide free in-depth consultation. The juicer is a lot like the content predator -- except that he steals ideas instead of your actual output.

He might or might not hire you. What is certain to happen is that you will be milked for information on "related" concerns often raised in the guise of a job interview or follow-up. If you estimate to spend 3 hours only finishing a task and the rest of the day chatting business with the big boss, you've just met the juicer.

It's high time you delineate your professional service fees from your consultation charges. Otherwise, dancing with a juicer might just hurt your business and your health. 

 

The Perfect Client

He doesn't treat you like rubbish and communicates instructions well. Revision requests and feedback are phrased constructively, and payments are delivered promptly -- with occasional bonuses to boot.

Ideal clients are true gems in the business, and most of the time, they are keepers. Value them as you would your closest friends because they are very hard to find.*