In my time in business, you can generally classify everyone as a type
1. the know it all - The guy who used to build websites back in the late 90's and would have no probelm doing what you are doing now, he is just too busy to do it (rolleyes). But becuase he knows a few lines of HTML code, he feels that he is your programming equal. YOu can't tell this guy anything he doesn't already know. This IMHO is the worst type of client you can have. The first time someone drops in something like "oh, I used to build websites" or "I am a programmer, I just don't have time for this" I politely pass on the project. Not worth it.
2. The guy who thinks he can be an *******, just because he is paying you or because he is your boss - My mother actually falls in this catogory. People who use authority just because it's there to be used. They quickliy find out I'm not the one. Once a month or so I generally end up mailing a check back to a client. There is a certain way you are going to talk to me, and it's not down.
3. the overly critical/ analytical guy - The guy that you send a mockup to, and it takes him 3 days to go over it and he provides you 5 pages of feedback. I don't mind these types actually, I like somoene who knows what they want.
4. the feeling/emotion person - About a month ago, I had a client, that we were suppose to build a rather large site in dupral for. Actually was going to be a bad ass site. The guy sent a paypal deposit, via echeck. Echecks take 5 or so days to clear, and we are busy as it is with other work, I told him, that we will start work once it clears. He gets pissy. I told him he should have thought about that before sending an echeck. Not my problem. So now he's mad becuase I told him to deal with it and wants to know why I would get so "mean" with him over something like this, and we go back and forth, or rather he is going. He gets himself so worked up, he now, has convinced himself, that we weren't going to work on the project. All in a matter of about 1 day he went from waiting for the deposit to clear, to demanding proof that we were going to finish his project. I canceled the PayPal transaction and told him to get lost. had the guy had any rationality at all, he would have seen the problem was of his own making.
5. the a little bit too lacksidical guy - The guy that you take money from and you want to finish the project for, and he just sn't that enthlatstic about it. These guys bite you in the ass becuase out of nowhere, they overnight NEED IT DONE RIGHT NOW. I had a guy that flew to china like 4 times in 2 months on a very similar flash business website. should have had it done in 2 weeks, but he was never around for feedback. Then he gets back in town and EVERYTHING HAS TO BE DONE RIGHT NOW I HAVE INVESTORS THAT NEED THIS AND NEED THAT.. I'm like look brah slow your roll. If it was important to you, you would not be traveling around the world. You leave we take other projects and you get put on the backburner for someone who has shown me from the get go they want this done in a timely fashion.
6. the name dropper - The guy who calls and can't wait to tell you who he works with, who he knows, etc. yawn. Almost autmoatlcaly they will ask you to work for free or to work for some type of equity. never fails.
8. The workaholic - The person that doesn't understand why you aren't working on a saturday. lol, this is me actually to a T. I have to remind myself hey people take weekends off.
I have learned over the years, how to NEXT clients just like I next women. There are certain flags, I don't even think about I will tell a client to get lost in a second.
The best advice I can give anyone is to keep making mistakes. You learn from mistakes, they are the best form of education a man has.
To totally flip the script I want to talk about Harry Truman. W?hat the hell does President Truman have to do about the secret you might ask? He and President Grant are my two favorite presidents. Both remind me somewhat of myself.
Presient Truman was not stupid, but he was not colllege educated. Very simple man, he has, basically 2 goals in life. The irst, was to marry Bess. He really is an interesting character for this forum, he never looked at, dated, even thought about dating another woman HIS ENTIRE LIFE other than bess. Fro mthe time he was 5 years old he saw her and that was it. He thought about her and wrote her and wore her down for 30 years until she marrie dhim. But the other was to be what his father wasn't and that was successful.
By the time he was almost 50 years old, this man, was married, living with his wife's mother, failed as a farmer, failed as an oil man, and failed at starting a small business with a partner. He had failed at everything he had ever tried in his life. Expect the army, he was a successful general in WW2. But he kept his head up and kept believing that one day his luck would change. He never got 2 down on himself.. a 49 year old man, by, all standard accounts, was utterly worthless man according to society. His step mom hated him, and used to chastise her daughter for putting up with him. But he kept chugging along, he believed in himself and he believed with hard work he would be successful. That was at the age of 49. By the time he was 60, he was the president of the united states. From living in your mother in law's addict at 49, to being the president of the united states at 60. That's something for you.
(I am being sarcastic in this sentence.)
