Monday, May 24, 2010

When do you fire a client?

I have a client whom I really like working for. I write a set number of content stories for him every week. What he does with the stories I have no idea. But he always pays on time, each and every week.

So why am I considering "firing" this client? As nice as the guy is, writing for him is starting to make less financial sense by the week.

Earlier this month, I picked up a new ghost-blogging job for a financial services provider. I write about anything to do with mortgage loans, auto financing, credit scores, credit card debt ... you get the idea. He pays me about $600 a month. Basically, I make $20 for every 400 words I write. Not great money, but solid. And I'm a fast writer, so it works out.

I'm also taking on a new personal blog at a blogging site run by a major metropolitan newspaper. For this blog, I'll be covering residential real estate. I'm excited about the opportunities here. My goal is to develop an audience -- thanks to the blog network's already built-in readers -- and then translate that into more opportunities down the road: a book, a position with one of the more lucrative blogging platforms on the Internet, a guest columnist position. Why not reach for the stars, right?

In the meantime, my reliable content publisher has become a bit of a burden. I simply no longer enjoy writing his stories, and the time to pound them out has become terribly scarce. Because the pay-per-article just isn't high enough, I have to let him go.

This, by the way, is actually a good problem to have. When you have to fire a client, you know that you're starting to do better again. At least that's how I look at it.