Red Flags a Flyin’

There is no guarantee that every time you think you’ve found a great client, she’ll actually turn out that way. Or if you think you’re dealing with a dodgy one, you end up right. But paying attention to clues is prudent and, over the long term, will pay off.

Figure 5.9: Client data often reveals potential red flags.

In Figure 5.9, we see some client statistics that should cause you to pause. None of this is definitive, but you might not put this job posting in your A list. Let’s look at why.

Right off the bat two things stick out: the fact that they only have a 35 percent award ratio and the low total dollar amount given that they’ve awarded 26 jobs. A low award ratio can simply mean the person is busy. But here, a lot of jobs have been posted, 74 in all. Why would they go to the trouble to post so many and then not award them?

Next, the average price paid for each job awarded is $79. This is far too low. If your guts are telling you this client is looking for cheap work, you might just listen. But let’s look further (see Figure 5.10).

Figure 5.10: This project posting has some red flags.

First, remember from the project title in Figure 5.9 that the book they want copyedited and proofread is 500 pages long. That’s no small project. And from earlier we already know that they usually pay low.

TOP TIPS

As you gain experience with bidding on and completing projects, you will begin to develop a sixth sense as to the quality behind the posting. Pay attention to this, and if in doubt, ask the client questions in your proposal to clarify issues.

Next, they claim the book has been reviewed by three editors already and just needs a final review. However, if you read the description closely, they’re also saying it needs a review for logic, consistency, sentence structure, and organization. Five hundred pages’ worth? I would run, not walk, away from this project. However, if you really want to give it a try, ask to see a sample of the work.