Reselling Your Services

I have an ongoing contract to write monthly newsletter articles for a client. As per an earlier conversation regarding the theme of the month, I wrote a series of articles for the next edition. Then, I ran into the person who is my contact in this organization. I mentioned that I had the articles written in time for her deadline. She said that she had written some articles herself and probably wouldn’t need my material.

My initial reaction was going to be to remind her that we had a contract and I would have to bill her for my time. Instead, I decided to take a less confrontational approach. (Always a good idea with a regular and pleasant-to-work-with client.)

Since she had not given me specific instructions to write these articles, I told her that I wouldn’t bill her for them unless she used them. I told her I would email them to her and let her look at them. If she chose to use them I would bill them, if not, I would wait for her direction for the next edition.

I emailed the articles and waited. When the newsletter came out, my articles were in it. It was followed by an email requesting some additional work on another matter. Since then, I’ve gotten a lot of work from another department in this same organization.

Occasionally, you’ll have a client that forgets the value that a professional writer brings to the table. At that point you can resell your abilities, or force them to honor the contract. If you’re good enough, your abilities SHOULD win the day. I’m glad I took this approach. If it hadn’t worked out, at least I wouldn’t have burned any bridges.