by Leo Wiles
11 November 2015
I am going out of my mind with anger at a client who every time I pitch seems to coincidentally have those very same ideas already in the pipeline. Should I call him on it and have it out, name and shame on social media or suck it up? They’re one of the bigger clients I work for, but I’m starting to feel like I’m wasting my time. Ray
Ray, chances are if you’ve ever met up for a glass of wine or a coffee with a fellow freelancer, there’s been a point at which one of you uttered those immortal words; ‘I love freelancing, but…’ And from then on in, the conversation often becomes increasingly animated, perhaps heated, as each of you tops the other with all the shit you ever put up with. For example:
• They didn’t answer my email
• The client never let me know about the pitch and I got scooped
• They stole my idea
• I’ve waited six months and they still haven’t paid me
• I am on my 12th re-write
• They’ve asked me to write it for 15 cents a word… and so on.
At this stage I am sure some of you are nodding your head, stabbing your voodoo effigy with another pin or mentally adding your own clients’ wrongdoings to the list above.
And it’s at that very point where you need to pick up the phone rather than act in haste and repent at leisure. Not to the client – heavens, no – but to someone you trust. It’s an action that has saved me in my red haze fog more than once. In fact even this week when I was sorely tempted to deliver a cease and desist notice to a client who has infringed my copyright more times than I care to mention. Instead, I rang Rach and being emotionally removed from the whole situation, she talked me off that ledge.
So while it’s okay to vent, write that email and rehearse the phone call that will crush the surly editor who has taken advantage / ignored you for too long, take a moment Ray, reach out and talk it through with someone who will play devil’s advocate and/or be the voice of reason. They might also have another solution that will save the situation (and stop you doing yourself out of dollars).
Your other options include a punching bag at the gym, a sweaty run or the website Scream Into The Void (created by late night talk show host Jimmy Fallon to try and encourage people not to troll, but release their feelings / mean thoughts into the black hole of this website instead).
What about you – how did you get off the ledge when you were last left high and dry?
Well done Leo for (hopefully!) soothing Ray’s frayed nerves. I think there’s an information underground when it comes to freelancing and it will bubble up to the surface if you stare at it long enough. During that “vent” session, that Ed’s name will come up. Your friend will remember that Ed’s name, and his or her reputation will take a hit. It’s another case of things happening “eventually, then suddenly.”
Actually Tom I think you’ve hit that nail on the head.
Certainly when I lived in Sydney, and had more time pre children to meet up with other colleagues who worked out of their home office, there was a hell of a lot of the evening devoted to the best name and shame offences of the month.
Perhaps we could create a client of the month wall – I jest but wouldn’t that be great.
The advice to ‘talk to someone you trust’ is sound. It doesn’t stop the underlying practice. We don’t own ideas. I get pinged when sources are cherry-picked though, particularly the ‘obscure’ ones I like to cultivate to bring about some freshness viewpoints and voices. It truly is sus when you’re told ‘no’ for a storyline only to see it appear with the very same ‘talent’, written in-house. It’s happened repeatedly over 20 years freelancing, most recently this month. There’s only so many times this mere mortal can turn the other check, Leo!
I’ve been there Heather – I try to use unique experts too for that reason. But once I saw my exact pitch – headline, sell and experts – used in the mag just a few months after I pitched it!
Yes Leo, In my experience, calling out the underlying practice of appropriating story ideas may bs smarter. Then again in my experience it depended very much on the actual circumstances. On talking discreetly with a colleague, yes, yes, yes, private crying room etc definitely, before risking a break in the relationship. Maybe it’s ok to add a ‘method; from the Sydney based highly regarded Conflict Resolution Network on this: i.e. Q: How can we make this fair? A: Negotiate. Q What are the possibilities? A: Think up many solutions. Pick one that gives everyone more of what they want (that’s a goodie if only 🙂 Q Can you work it out together? A: Treat each other as equals. l Q What are you feeling? A Could you get more facts, take time out to calm down, tell then h ow you feel? Are you too emotional? (Yep, that’s me). Q What do you want to change? A: Be clear. Attack the problem, not the person. Q What opportunity can this bring? A: Work on the positives, not the negatives. Q What is it like to be in their shoes? A: kDo they know you understand them? Q Do you need a neutral third person? Could this person help you to understand each other, yet build your own solutions? How can you both win? A: Work towards solutions where everyone’s needs are respected.
Hope that doesn’t sound ‘moralising’ and it is very general, I’ve been through it during my career and bits from this have helped for my part to calm down a bit.
Wow Robyn that’s a comprehensive list.
Thanks for sharing – it’s a great tool. Even with the time it took to read through all those questions, let alone mull them over, offered a buffer from impetus action. Allowing one I imagine to be much calmer and ultimately more professional afterwards.
L
I write an angry tweet in Hootsuite and schedule it for a random time in the middle future. I get to vent but the time period is difficult to peg to a specific person’s behaviour.