TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: Frozen contracts From:Peter Kent <71601 -dot- 1266 -at- COMPUSERVE -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 23 Nov 1995 12:12:08 EST
>>Robert Plamondon wrote:
This happens to me all the time. All my clients are run off theirfeet, and
it's inconvenient for me to do their legwork for them,since they're in Silicon
Valley and we're in Oregon. Also, a coupleof them have fallen into the trap
of, "No, no, don't talk to Engineering,send your requests to me and I'll run
them down for you."<<
I've run into this, too. I also get, "I can't talk with you, but if you
e-mail me I'll answer your questions." The excuse is that they are short of
time, but answering questions by e-mail takes far more time than answering
verabally...which says to me that what they really mean is that if you e-mail
your questions they can ignore them!
>>My solution is to have multiple clients. I've found that 3-4 clientskeep
things humming along very nicely. Each client is convinced that they can keep
us busy full-time, but their follow-through is weak.Eventually, all of them
will give us massive quantities of work atthe exact same moment, and things
will get very interesting for a while.<<
This is pretty much how I handle it too; have several projects running at
once. As you point out, though, the problem is that now and again everything
comes due at once.
Thanks very much for your feedback,
Peter Kent
==================================================================
Peter Kent: 71601 -dot- 1266 -at- compuserve -dot- com, 303-989-1869
Coming soon, an updated and revised Technical Writer's Freelancing
Guide. E-mail for more information. Comments/suggestions welcome.
==================================================================