RE: 1099 -- What to ask?

[Andrew Plato <intrepid_es -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

--- Wally Glassett <wallyg99 -at- home -dot- net> wrote:
> 
> Finally, you should understand that if you become a freelancer you will be
> in the business of providing what your clients want and need, and you will
> be very lucky if that coincides with what you really like to do as a tech
> writer more than 25-35% of the time.

Wally makes a really good point here. 

Many times, what your client wants and what you think they should do, don't
coincide. When you're a full-time employee, you're expected to have more of a
stake in the company and therefore, presumably you have more say.

But as a freelancer, a lot of times the rules are dictated to you. You have to
find a way to make the deal work given a set of rules.

Good freelancers are creative and resourceful and can find solutions to
difficult or less-than-ideal circumstances.  Bad freelancers blame the company
for failing to see their wisdom. 

Companies make dumb decisions. But as a freelancer you often have go along with
those dumb decisions, even if it means it will take longer or produce an
inferior product. 

I think of it as a checklist kind of thing, 

1. Confirm the dumb decision.
2. Offer an alternative and demonstrate why the decision is less-than-ideal.
3. If you're rejected, reconfirm the dumb decision.
4. Try to figure out how to get the job done with the dumb decision in place. 

In the end, what matters is did you get the job done and meet the client's
needs. Some clients want less-than-ideal documents. So be it. They have the
money, they set the rules. 

Andrew Plato

Miles of dumb things: http://members.home.com/aplato


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