Did I do the right thing?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Deleted member 1603965
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Deleted member 1603965

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So, a client came in today asking me to write content for him. I had no qualms doing so but then he said he will only pay IFF the content gets indexed by Google.

I tried explaining that that depends on a variety of other factors related to domain metrics and the domain's past performance and history. But he was adamant.

So I politely asked him to leave. Did I do the right thing?
 
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Yes, you did the only right thing.

The dude is nuts.

He should consult a psychologist.

You're paid for technical job / task of writing.

If you sold "guaranteed indexing" as an upsell I bet you'd sell different type of service.
 
SeasonedCode said:
this is the only reason that let me quit freelancing
dealing with bad clients is really bad for psychological health and I won't ever do it again :)
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My boss was doing the same as freelancers do, just for bigger and older clients. Marketing himself through referrals / word of mouth.

He was banking $10k per month meanwhile freelancers had unstable $1k per month.

So choose wisely. Well branded agency is the way to go.

Freelancers are always at the end of the food chain.
 
Absolutely!

It's like going into a store, filling a bag with everything, and leaving the store.

The seller stopped you and asked, why didn't you pay?

And you say "I have to try it first, so if I like it, I'll come back and pay", or something like that.


I understand that people want quality, some of them were cheated, and they didn't get what they wanted, but again, for some things, there are simply some rules that don't change.

Of course, there are others who will accept it, I respect and appreciate it, but I would not.
 
BuildMoreLinks said:
but seriously, are you not confident that your content will be indexed? I mean if the client's site is not set to noindex, I don't see any reason why your content cannot get indexed?
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If you're confident, you ask for 50% upfront. :P
 
reaaski said:
Yes, you did the only right thing.

The dude is nuts.

He should consult a psychologist.

You're paid for technical job / task of writing.

If you sold "guaranteed indexing" as an upsell I bet you'd sell different type of service.
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My thoughts exactly.
SeasonedCode said:
this is the only reason that let me quit freelancing
dealing with bad clients is really bad for psychological health and I won't ever do it again :)
Click to expand...
I agree with you on this. But there is little I can do as of now other than freelancing.
reaaski said:
My boss was doing the same as freelancers do, just for bigger and older clients. Marketing himself through referrals / word of mouth.

He was banking $10k per month meanwhile freelancers had unstable $1k per month.

So choose wisely. Well branded agency is the way to go.

Freelancers are always at the end of the food chain.
Click to expand...
I am working with old clients too but always on the lookout for new clients because of obvious reasons.
MrDenz said:
Absolutely!

It's like going into a store, filling a bag with everything, and leaving the store.

The seller stopped you and asked, why didn't you pay?

And you say "I have to try it first, so if I like it, I'll come back and pay", or something like that.


I understand that people want quality, some of them were cheated, and they didn't get what they wanted, but again, for some things, there are simply some rules that don't change.

Of course, there are others who will accept it, I respect and appreciate it, but I would not.
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Exactly.
thedorf said:
Sure I would have done the same. Too many external factors involved.
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Yep. I too thought the same.
BuildMoreLinks said:
but seriously, are you not confident that your content will be indexed? I mean if the client's site is not set to noindex, I don't see any reason why your content cannot get indexed?
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He is asking for guaranteed indexing just with content while disregarding other factors that affect indexing.
reaaski said:
If you're confident, you ask for 50% upfront. :p
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I always ask clients to pay after delivery. I have my own reasons for doing so.
 
He's demand is unreasonable. It's like running ads and saying you don't want to be charged until you make sales. Your time and skills are valuable.
 
Deleted member 1603965 said:
So, a client came in today asking me to write content for him. I had no qualms doing so but then he said he will only pay IFF the content gets indexed by Google.

I tried explaining that that depends on a variety of other factors related to domain metrics and the domain's past performance and history. But he was adamant.

So I politely asked him to leave. Did I do the right thing?
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yeah you did the right thing , the client is either misinformed about what your job is or is trying to take advantage of you with unreasonable tasks because he things he pays good .
 
BuildMoreLinks said:
is the other content on the client's site indexed? if yes then I don't see any problems? what are these other factors affecting indexing?
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He never shared his site URL with me. He was just looking to purchase content for his site or sites. I have observed this with my other clients that there is no foolproof way of making sure that a given piece of content will get indexed. But yes, old and high authority sites seldom have issues with indexing. But since this particular person mentioned such issues, we can consider that he is facing such issues as of now. So I thought it is best to stay clear of him.
 
You did good! with all the recent updates, indexing and ranking has become more of precise work that define quality
 
Deleted member 1603965 said:
So, a client came in today asking me to write content for him. I had no qualms doing so but then he said he will only pay IFF the content gets indexed by Google.

I tried explaining that that depends on a variety of other factors related to domain metrics and the domain's past performance and history. But he was adamant.

So I politely asked him to leave. Did I do the right thing?
Click to expand...
You did the right thing, but you could've offer a double or nothing offer. No index, no payment. Index, double payment. And from there, it's just a matter of trust.
 
Digital Knight94 said:
You did good! with all the recent updates, indexing and ranking has become more of precise work that define quality
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Yes, things have become tough with recent updates indeed.
roydan said:
You did the right thing, but you could've offer a double or nothing offer. No index, no payment. Index, double payment. And from there, it's just a matter of trust.
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Interesting. But that would be gambling IMO.
 
Deleted member 1603965 said:
He never shared his site URL with me. He was just looking to purchase content for his site or sites. I have observed this with my other clients that there is no foolproof way of making sure that a given piece of content will get indexed. But yes, old and high authority sites seldom have issues with indexing. But since this particular person mentioned such issues, we can consider that he is facing such issues as of now. So I thought it is best to stay clear of him.
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I'd say you made the right call then, sounds fishy that he doesn't share the URL and has that specific request assuming he knows how indexing works. I'd have some follow-up questions out of curiosity to find out why such a weird offer
 
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