Down To The Wire

Latest word is that Saturday is the last day of the packing season at the cannery. That means that we have just a handful of days before Kristi’s back home, we’re sleeping on the same shift again, and we can just collapse and regroup for the fall. And thank God for it. We’re both just completely burned out and exhausted, and are ready for this to be over.

Fired a client this morning. That’s always fun. Nice guy, too – he owns a business making expensive, high quality components for high end audio equipment. He mainly caters to audio modification pros, the guys that hardcore audiophile geeks send their old amps and receivers to get “modded”, i.e. upgraded with hyperimproved parts. This guy makes some of those parts.

First red flag I got was at the very start of the relationship, when he told me that he was “kind of a copywriter himself”. Lord save us; it always astounds me when a client fancies himself (they’re almost always male) a writer, and still they decide to go hire a writer. Anyway, the writer-wannabe-clients always end up rolling the same way, niggling and nitpicking, insisting that the way they’ve been doing it for years is the proper way it is supposed to be done (they why the frak are you hiring me to replace it??).. basically playing the role of micromanaging editor and second guessing every single detail. Because he’s kinda a writer too, you know.

Sigh. We went around and around a bit this morning over email about the latest batch of copy he was unhappy with, and he finally said that he’d probably just write it himself and have me edit it. I wrote back and said, hey, we’re at the back end of your deposit and I don’t want to go into billing with a client who’s unhappy with my work. So let’s just call it a day.

Having a smart and loving wife who understands this business makes all the difference in the world. A couple years ago, I would have fought to keep this guy in billing, and then eventually we’d reach the end of the project and he’d refuse to pay. Kristi and I talked this morning, before she went on to bed, about all this. “It’s not worth it,” she said. And she was right.

Meanwhile, later this morning I sold a newsletter job and signed some website copy work with a previous client, a commercial retail outfit in Denver. I did a brochure for them a few months back. Also need to work on a Powerpoint presentation this afternoon for another regular. So I’m happy to keep my desk full of people who like me and let me do my job.

Welcome back from Labor Day weekend, all.