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Freelance clients who think that meetings don’t “count” as work and thus shouldn’t be invoiced. Obviously it’s up to me to fire these clients, but still…

• danielovichdk 4y ago
  What? Is this really happening?
• jokethrowaway 4y ago
  It's not a bad idea to give free meetings and charge extra for normal hours. It also allows you to give free intro and consultations, subsidized by existing clients. Architects and lawyers (even a few doctors) frequently do this and it makes for a smooth way of onboarding new customers - I'm glad I'm not paying just for some basic info and I don't mind paying a bit more once I get the service.
  • sudobash1 4y ago
    Its one thing if those meetings are for meeting a new client or discussing a new project with an existing one, but it is another thing altogether for (eg) weekly hour+ long status meetings.
  • gwbrooks 4y ago
    ^^ This. One of the biggest ways to boost billings is to be consistently -- even relentlessly -- easy to do business with. That applies to billing and time tracking as well. Tightly scope, fix a fee against that scope and set your rate high enough that you can accommodate dumb meetings, the occasional on-site, etc. When I was consulting full-time, I never even charged for travel because that removed a potential objection from out-of-market clients. But my rate? It was at the upper end of the range.