How to Let Go of a Client

Just do it.

When I was rereading this post, I could feel myself sitting in the DMV with my husband agonizing over whether or not to send the email.

Photo by Matthew Henry on Unsplash

If you're a freelancer, the idea of letting go of a client can be panic-inducing, especially if you're just starting out. Over the last few years, I've said no to a few opportunities because of low pay or bad vibes, but I had only had to stop work with one because it was a bad fit, and that was a few years ago. But this week, I was faced with an assignment that I realized quickly that I shouldn't have taken on.

I wanted to share what I did because I'm sure others have found themselves in this situation and haven't been sure what to do.

The situation was actually very simple: I shouldn't have said yes.

I had worked with this particular client last year and they offer low rates for (what I think is) an extraordinary amount of work. I stopped getting work from them after a few months, and I was totally fine with it. But when they reached out last week with more assignments, I said yes. Against my better judgement, I might add.

When I opened up the assignment on Saturday to start working on it, I nearly broke out in a cold sweat. There was a scoring system, a lengthy template, a spreadsheet to go through, and more. I had already been working ahead on a few assignments because I knew I had a lot due Tuesday (today as I write this), and I ended up with a cold Saturday night that's still hanging around. Pair that with my husband working all weekend and a day with the kids fighting nonstop with each other, me, and probably the walls, and I was spent.

So, I decided to email and let my contact know I wasn't going to be able to do the assignments. Now, as someone who wants to do everything and be everything and never let anyone down, this was a tough choice. I had committed to it, that means that I have to do it, right? Wrong!

I wrote the email and hit send. Here's what I wrote:

Hi [Name],

After taking a closer look at the template and the rate, I won't actually be able to take these assignments on. I'm sorry for the short notice, but it's not a good fit for me at the moment. Thanks again for reaching out!
Thanks,

Steph

After waiting for two days a little nervously, I received this response:

No problem, thank you for letting me know!

Whew!

Here are a few takeaways that I hope are helpful:

• Unless you have an ironclad contract with consequences, you can say no to something at any point (and even if you have a contract, there's usually a way out).

• I don't want to work with this client anymore, so I wasn't worried about maintaining a relationship. If I did and the assignment just wasn't a good fit, I would have worded the email differently or added that I would take on future assignments.

• While I worried a little about the response, I didn't worry too much. Worrying about things you have zero control over is rarely helpful, so even though it nagged at me and I felt a sense of relief when she responded, it didn't ruin my weekend.

• You don't have to explain yourself. I put in a little in the way of an explanation so there was some context, but I didn't go into much detail. In my experience, less is more when it comes to explanations.

• Consider the time and stress commitment when you're taking on work (duh, right?). Together, the assignments would have been worth $500 which is a significant amount of money, but the amount of time and stress that I would have put into it wasn't worth the money.

The moral of the story is to listen to your gut and your brain, but don't let your brain talk your gut into doing something that isn't right. I knew I shouldn't have taken it on to begin with, but I talked myself into it. That rarely works in my favor!

How are you dealing with the way AI is shaking up the freelance writing world? Have you lost any work because of it? What advice would you give to a new freelancer?

As of right now, I don’t think I’ve lost any work to AI specifically. The Google algorithm, yet. AI, no.

I have lots of thoughts about AI, but I think Liz Heflin said it really well on The Marketing Mentor Podcast:

It may eliminate a subset of people, but it’s not the people who would have ever worked with me anyway…I do think AI is taking jobs, but I think it’s taking the most base level. Those clients who weren’t really going to invest significantly in their content anyway. People, hair on fire, think “we’re losing jobs,” but those were jobs we didn’t want…You want the people who value content, who value expertise, who will treat you like an equal.

Yes, there will be companies that shift to using AI over freelancers, and maybe that method works for them, but I think there will be more who realize the need for a human hand in content creation.

It also doesn’t scare me because I think of all of the innovations that came before AI. Can you imagine what candle makers were thinking when Edison was like “check out this magic waxless light I made”? Or how milkmen felt when people started to get refrigerators? (Weird reference, but I just wrote an article about milk doors.) People pivot and adjust and innovate, so they can stay relevant. And we have to do the same!

My advice to new freelancers who are negotiating an already crazy business made crazier by AI is to keep it in mind when you’re building your offerings. For instance, some companies want to generate AI content and then have a freelancer edit it. Other content, like case studies, almost require a human because it takes more than just writing. It also requires interviews, formatting, and research that AI won’t necessarily be able to do.

Also, figure out how AI fits into your processes. I use it for brainstorming and sometimes doing drafts of LinkedIn posts. I’ve also been using it to refine my outreach messages and help with my web copy, but I have to do a lot of back-and-forth and then put my own stamp on it.

Another thing that came up in a recent edition of

Hayley Bruning

’s interview with Sharon Wu is that AI used human generated content, particularly for AI summaries.

While AI Overviews might seem convenient to digest, they're not always accurate. And what's often overlooked is that these AI summaries are built from content human writers create. As companies cut content budgets, we're facing a concerning trend: less valuable human-created content means less quality material for AI to work with in the long term.

I genuinely think that the initial push to use AI because it’s new and cool and convenient will give way to a more balanced approach.

What is everyone else thinking about AI and freelancing? Are you scared? Super chill?