avatarChristina Szeman

Summary

A new freelance copywriter shares lessons learned from an encounter with a client who booked services without providing clear communication or content details, leading to challenges in delivering the work and processing a refund.

Abstract

The author of the article, a budding freelance copywriter, was excited to receive her first client through her website, hekateswritingservices.com. The client booked two services: an audio script and show notes, indicating a podcast collaboration. However, the client's vague responses to questions about the show's concept and frequency, along with poor English proficiency, raised concerns. Seeking advice, the author consulted a copywriting Facebook group, where members suggested not pursuing the collaboration and refunding the client. The refund process encountered complications with Wix and PayPal, as the payment did not appear on PayPal. The author highlights this experience as a cautionary tale for freelancers and entrepreneurs, emphasizing the importance of clear communication and knowing when to decline a client, especially when mutual understanding is lacking.

Opinions

  • The author believes that clear communication is crucial for successful client collaborations.
  • There is an opinion that it is better to refuse a client and issue a refund if there is a significant language barrier or lack of details about the project.
  • The author implies that freelancers should be prepared to handle payment and refund issues with their chosen platforms (Wix and PayPal in this case).
  • The experience has been framed as a valuable lesson for both the author and other freelancers about setting boundaries and managing client expectations.
  • There is a subtle suggestion that having a well-developed website could potentially help in attracting more suitable clients.

I Got My Very First Copywriting Client.

Or so I thought. Lessons from a new Freelancer.

Image by www_slon_pics from Pixabay.

I never thought that my website hekateswritingservices.com would ever get a client to respond. I thought that I do need some more help with that site. If you see that site, you’ll know that it still needs work to attract more clients. But this is a lesson for me and for you on how to deal with this sort of client.

About a week ago, Someone booked two plans for me to do. One is to write an audio script and the other is show notes. I immediately thought that this person wanted me to help with their podcast. So I did email this person some questions. One of the first questions was: “What is your show idea?” and then I sent another email asking them about the frequency of their show: Weekly or monthly?

When this person wrote me back, the only answers that I got were that they want to work with me and that it was weekly. Otherwise, I don’t know what to write. And from the way that this person wrote those answers, I don’t think that they know their English very well.

I did ask a question to a Copywriting writing Facebook group and some of them said that this happens and not to bother working with this person.

So I tried to refund this person, and that is another issue that I have to sort out with both Wix and PayPal right now. His payment to book those two plans didn’t show up on PayPal, and now this issue has been escalated in Wix.

By the way, I still haven’t written anything for this person. I don’t know what topic they want to talk about in the first place.

Photo by Mwabonje from Pexels.

Warning.

For those of you Freelancers or Entrepreneurs who encounter a person like this, let them know that you can’t work with them, and they can find someone who can understand them. And also give them a refund.

Nonetheless, this is one of many lessons that we as Freelancers and Entrepreneurs should learn.

Freelancing
Freelancing Writing
Clients
Refund
Lessons Learned
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