Worked on a report layout amendments until version 7 then the client say he actually don't like this

[pardiu]

Today i wasted my two days effort after i decided to cancel a 40USD fixed priced job.

It was a 2 page of report layout, which i thought could be very straight forward, and i work on it with the client yesterday night until minor changes until version 7 .

But today the client ask me wait and wait for his further brief/skype again and then tell me that he actually wasn't happy on the visual(and i had to explained to him the content are too many to fit in 2 pages to looks clean and nice), actually im ok with my client if they tell me the visual wasnt nice at the first round, but it was Version 8...

based on my experince, the client who always requested to Skype interview are the client who hard to pleased. in another way, they might also lazy to prepare the brief with all the needed materials.

[prestonhunter]

Teoh, the main problem here is that this should be an hourly contract, but you are using a fixed-price contract.

Upwork can not manage this sort of thing for you.

You need to set VERY STRICT, PRECISE terms for a fixed-price contract agreement, including specifying how many rounds of revisions will be allowed and the maximum number of minutes per revision...

And the second a client asks for anything outside of that, they need to create a new contract or new milestone, or they need to be moved to an hourly contract.

You need to be polite, professional, but also firm.

[pardiu]

Agree, but with firm and professinal will cut down a lot of small jobs especially during these tough season, honestly everywhere are same which we need patience to meet a correct and nice client. sometimes i spend my 80 connects and i can't even earn back a 20usd in upwork.

[prestonhunter · Accepted solution]

Little fixed-price jobs may be "death by a thousand cuts."

You may find it more profitable to focus on hourly contracts.

If you DO accept small-fixed price jobs, remember that is a privilege for a client to be able to that. A client who does not respect that privilege with me will lose that privilege, and becomes hourly-only.

[pardiu]

Thanks Preston, i am very agree with your point of view, basicly most of my nice client are in hourly contract, and they do trust me, there is no point to work with a client which doesnt trust me.

[feed_my_eyes]

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Teoh S wrote:

based on my experince, the client who always requested to Skype interview are the client who hard to pleased. in another way, they might also lazy to prepare the brief with all the needed materials.

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Many clients don't know what information a designer requires, so it's up to you to ask the right questions and make sure that you've established a clear direction before you get started. This will cut down on the number of revisions required (I rarely need to do more than one round). It's necessary even on hourly contracts because you don't want to waste a lot of time and run up the clock, but it's absolutely crucial for fixed price projects.

Also, someone with your experience could easily charge a lot more money. I'd go to at least $40/hour if I were you, and then gradually increase from there. You'll end up working with much better clients.