chris_hawk

9 ms·

31.
by chris_hawk 10y ago
I love you guys so hard right now. Great comments, lots of good points that are clearly informed by plenty of client-project experience, and even a couple of things I didn't think to consider. Real quick: 1) Bear in mind that nowhere
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Dear Client: Stop Asking for a Ballpark Estimate(christopherhawkins.com)
54 points by chris_hawk 10y ago|66 comments
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A Client Did Not Pay Me for Software Work. What Should I Do?(christopherhawkins.com)
1 points by chris_hawk 10y ago|0 comments
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by chris_hawk 10y ago
"Marketing is a multiplier" is an interesting perspective. The idea of "force multipliers" is one that occurs to me quite a bit - in fact, I even use that term in the linked article. A problem for many freelancers, I thi
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by chris_hawk 10y ago
"The more real the problem, and the better your solution, the less you have to rely on marketing. " I don't know...isn't the world full of good work that doesn't sell because nobody ever finds out about it? It seem
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If it's not improving my life in some way, it's mental clutter and it's out(christopherhawkins.com)
2 points by chris_hawk 10y ago|1 comments
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by chris_hawk 10y ago
Oooooh. I'm pretty stoked that Scott quoted me!
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Hiten Shah interview: startup decisions and what he *really* thinks about Steli(chasingproduct.com)
3 points by chris_hawk 11y ago|0 comments
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What Really Happened at Gumroad: An Interview w/founder Sahil Lavingia(chasingproduct.com)
14 points by chris_hawk 11y ago|0 comments
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by chris_hawk 11y ago
In reality, it's a double-win relative to the goals each company was striving for - and acheived! In the author's mind, Jira wins because it's OMG ENTERPRISE and going public.
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by chris_hawk 11y ago
It's worth noting that there have been plenty of cases where the rejected client did keep in touch, and we did end up working together later. It's not the norm - usually they just go away and that's that. But I do like h
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by chris_hawk 11y ago
nsns - can you elucidate?
43.
by chris_hawk 11y ago
I disagree. For whatever reason - the tech, the client, etc - the project is a bad fit. The e-mail says so as politely as possible, and moves on. Looks like you & me are from different planets perspective-wise, my friend. :)
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by chris_hawk 11y ago
Wow, that's great, thanks for spelling out your thought process. Granted, I disagree with virtually all of it, but I really do appreciate that a) you HAD a thought process behind your comments, and b) you shared it so clearly. Respect!
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by chris_hawk 11y ago
You know, my first career aspiration was to be an attorney. Seriously. And now I learn that I didn't even dodge a bullet by becoming a developer instead? Heartbreaking. :)
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by chris_hawk 11y ago
That's a pretty healthy way to look at it! Did you have that outlook on day one, or did it take some number of years in the freelancing game to come around to that outlook?
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by chris_hawk 11y ago
gk1, that's more or less what I was shooting for when I wrote and refined it. I'm glad you see it that way! At the same time, I wonder if nxb has tuned in to some tone-deafness that I can't see in the text. That said, this
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by chris_hawk 11y ago
"CTO for hire" sounds like pretty unforgiving work! It's a good thing you keep strong boundaries, it's wild out there.
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by chris_hawk 11y ago
Speaking as someone who mentors a number of new freelancers, often the LAST thing you want them to do is trust their gut! :)
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by chris_hawk 11y ago
Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner. Very astute, s73v3r. Client projects can be more like marriages than most freelancer are aware of, or would want to admit if they were.
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by chris_hawk 11y ago
Right! Those are all perfect examples of the mental process that goes on when evaluating a client. I often manage to go through that process myself on the spot, but there are many other times when I don't or can't. And more impor
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by chris_hawk 11y ago
Udo, that's not a bad approach, and I've used it myself. But I always felt bad for outright lying. At least by saying the project is a bad fit, I can say I'm being honest. Now that I've said this, I'm sure I'
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by chris_hawk 11y ago
You're right, a moody client could. That said, I don't live my life or run my business walking on eggshells, concerned with what the moody might do or say or think. I don't recommend anyone else do so, either. When I craft
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by chris_hawk 11y ago
nxb, that's an interesting take on the matter. Which specific language seems passive-aggressive to you? Also, how are you defining "excessive" with regards to length? it's 4 paragraphs: Paragraph 1) Thanks! Paragraph 2)
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by chris_hawk 11y ago
nerdy, you're right that it's not the most personal approach. However, that's kind-of the point; rejecting work can sometimes result in the rejected party initiating a more heated exchange than is good for either party. By m
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by chris_hawk 11y ago
This is important, and IMO it's the thing that most freelancers neglect. They freelance the same way they did their last W2 job - waiting for the boss to tell them what to do. Freelancing requires a whole 'nother type of thinki
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by chris_hawk 11y ago
Oh, man. I dream of the day a client comes to me with a project as interesting as a Gungan-targeting fish-taco stand website! Also, thanks for the compliment! That e-mail template took forever to iterate into what you see today. :)
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by chris_hawk 11y ago
That's pretty reasonable. Although I didn't explicitly SAY so in the article (and I really should have), the "Listen to them" step is intended to be via phone or in-person. Regarding #2, is it always clear to you on the
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by chris_hawk 11y ago
Yeah, that was interesting. I'm a sucker for anything that can be explained via Venn diagram, but I immediately understood what he was getting at. I have a similar problem (admittedly on a much smaller scale), having content in the wi
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by chris_hawk 11y ago
I cold-emailed him and just asked, and he said yes. Turns out he had already heard good things about the show, so he was inclined to accept my invitation. Get ready to hate me - getting guests for my show has been pretty easy, in general.

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