I took on a side project to design a simple landing page for $2k, and the client has officially turned it into a full brand identity overhaul. They’re texting me at 11 PM on Saturdays asking for just one quick tweak to the logo icon and hinting at future equity instead of actual milestone payments. I’m about to fire them, but I really need the money to pay off some unexpected car repairs this month. How would you approach this?
2
SOWs set boundaries for you. Your contract should list the hours you operate in AND include rates for out of work requests. You have to set the working tone. If you answer at 11 pm they'll keep doing it. If you wait until monday business hours to respond, they'll get the hint. Its tough to want to people please but you need to operate in a business manner to attract the clients you want.
Did you have them sign a contract for the landing page job? It should have spelled out deliverables & had a section about additional services/fees & payment terms. How are they paying you for the add-on work? If you didn't have a tight contract for the landing page task, I would create one ASAP for the overhaul work, spell out deliverables, fees, payment terms, and request they sign it prior to completing any additional work. Include a paragraph noting any work that has been completed thus far they haven't paid for and request payment upon execution of contract (or set a date that you feel is reasonable). You can do a quick Google search or ask AI for a professional design services short form contract for your state. It can be short & sweet or it can include legal sections as well. Just get something to CYA in the case they continue to overstep & later dispute your deliverbles to avoid paying for the work that you've done. As PMM1 said, you have to set the tone for the treatment you will condone. Be professional & matter-of-fact about it, but keep it light in tone. You could simply say "I've really enjoyed working with your team! Since the project scope has evolved from the original landing page tasks, I've attached my professional services document for us both to sign that spells out deliverables with a time-line, as well as payment terms to ensure that we're all on the same page with expectations. I appreciate that you've entrusted me to revamp your brand identity and look forward to helping you achieve those goals."
If you don’t mind me asking how did you get into this? I’m in marketing and working on diving into another area that I can do on the side. And where do you find these kind of contract projects that people or companies are willing to pay for?