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Why I Turn Down Work

When I started my professional editing services a few years ago, I never turned down a job. I found out the hard way that this wasn't a good long-term strategy. After working on anything and everything that came my way and never turning down a job, I realized some jobs held more stress and problems than they were worth.

So, here's a brief list of jobs I turn down most of the time. 

1. Most rush jobs. I do take a few rush jobs if they are reasonable. I did one just last week, in fact, but the buyer was reasonable and simply wanted a 500 word document edited within 8 hours. That was reasonable and it was a good experience. But, some rush jobs aren't worth it to me. When someone wanted a 1,400 word document done within the next 3 hours, but it was dinner time at my house, I turned them down because I didn't want to rush through dinner.  I don't work between 5 and 8 PM, so if someone needs work during that time, I turn them down every time.

Family comes first and since I'm the chief cook and bottle washer in our family, I reserve that time to cook dinner, eat with my family and, of course, watch Jeopardy! with my husband.

2. Jobs from demanding clients. I once had a client insist I edit her document, send it back to her so she could "work on" my edits, then have me edit again. Problem is, she only wanted to pay for one editing session. I turned her down because my time is more valuable than that. I don't mind doing a revision after an edit, but this is not what she wanted.

Another client got me, though. He wanted what he said was a normal copy edit/proofread job, but his 12,000-word document was a printout of an audio file. He really wanted a transcription, then the edit. I had to transcribe, then copy edit....but he wasn't even happy till I cleaned it up (took out the markups). I told him during the gig that I would have charged double if I'd known I had to transcribe, but he ignored that, did not apologize and even though I suggested he make up the price in the form of a tip (this was a Fiverr gig), he did not. So, his name is flagged and I will not work with him again. I realize I could have cancelled the gig when I found out he wasn't up front with me, but cancelling gigs hurts a seller's rating, so I pushed through. (This guy actually contacted me again this week and wanted to do another job "like the one before." Uh, no. I reminded him of our last transaction, told him I can't take work from him again because of it, and haven't heard from him again.) I now preview documents from new clients before I get into the gig with them. This works most of the time, but there are times when someone just buys a gig without talking to me ahead of time. I have talked to Fiverr about this and they are actually working on an "accept" or "reject" button for sellers so we can avoid these conflicts and not hurt our ratings by having to cancel gigs. 

3. Low paying jobs. Taking less than what I'm worth is an insult to myself. I've had people request I edit an entire book of more than 50,000 words for $100. These clients mainly come through Fiverr, which supports a much lower editing cost, around a penny per word for an average, no-frills gig. In the private sector, I get paid a lot more per word - and I do charge by the word unless it's a special or one-time job for someone. So, those who are only willing to pay a fraction of Fiverr's low-support fees are not worth my time. Fiverr takes 20% off the top, too, so they are basically asking me to edit a 50,000 word book for $80. Um, no. At the minimum, a gig of 50,000 words on Fiverr would start at $500 and I would charge even more for formatting advice or comments on the content.

Surprisingly, turning down jobs has not hurt my business. I am busier than ever with two or three editing jobs per day - 7 days a week! My private, non-Fiverr clients rarely ask me for work on the weekends, so if Fiverr gets too busy, I can go into "vacation mode" and take a couple days off to give myself a break. I have been taking weekends off Fiverr since moving to a new city in a new state five weeks ago and I find it very refreshing and stress-reducing. Each time I go back to "in-office" mode, business picks right back up again. 

If you're freelancing, be careful not to give your time away or allow clients to rob you of your time. Respect your own time enough to turn down jobs that don't pay enough, come from clients who are too demanding as well as jobs that compromise what's important in your life.

~Tricia


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