Dear freelancer,

I have a retainer client (one of my first) who has gradually expanded the scope of work.

I was writing and editing articles, but they’ve started asking me to do things like review marketing messaging, write landing page copy, and put together emails and press releases. I don’t feel confident in these tasks and would like to not do them, but I find it hard to say no.

I probably should’ve immediately pointed out that these assignments aren’t what we originally discussed, but here we are.

Any advice for drawing boundaries without burning bridges?

Sincerely,

Retaining my Sanity​

Dear Retaining,

Before we get into it, I see a lot of phrases worth celebrating: first retainer client, the client wanting to expand scope, your instinct to draw boundaries.

Your head is in the right place and your client is happy, so congrats.

I think the key here is “retainer.” It’s what clients want when they’re not 100% sure (or even 70% sure) what they want or what they’ll need. It’s what freelancers offer when their services span SEO writing to drip email campaigns to social copy. It’s what clients want when they have big plans but a limited team.

None of that is a bad thing, for either party. It just comes to one question: is that what you want?

From the way you phrased your question, my (maybe baseless) assumption is that it’s not what you want. You want to write and edit articles.

But, before jumping the gun, I think it’s worth asking: why do you not want the work your (very happy, apparently) client is passing your way? Do you not like the work? Do you not feel confident outside of writing and editing? Do you think it’s not worth your time?

My 100% take: I talk a lot about getting a lot more specific about your services as a freelancer (and I’ll talk through that in the remainder of this newsletter). But I do think there’s quite a bit of benefit in going broad, at least for a while. You can learn a lot about the wider marketing and GTM function, you can position yourself as more of a consultant vs. a freelancer, and you can end up as the “go-to person” for early stage companies.

Long story, short: you can command healthy rates by working on a retainer basis.

Think three or four retainer clients at $5k+ per month and you’ll be in the ballpark. So I wouldn’t discount the position you’re in. Are you wanting to push back on their asks because you feel some unwarranted sense of imposter syndrome, or are you wanting to push back because you honestly don’t like that kind of work?

We’ll proceed with the rest of this response under the assumption that it’s the latter.

Saying “no” is scary as a freelancer, period. But I promise that 95% of the time it’s been received with understanding, not incredulousness (I promise that’s a real word; I typed it out and then had to go double-check via Google).

For what it’s worth, over the last few years I’ve slowly but surely gotten more specific about what I do (and now what my agency does). I cut out email marketing then copywriting, then strategy writ large, then SEO, and so on. Now we focus on long-form content that starts with SME interviews and platform data. This niche has attracted the right clients and helped us command healthy rates for the agency and for our freelancers.

Notwithstanding my retainer point from above: there’s a premium to be had in being the jack of few trades, master of all.

Neither of these options is the right path. It’s entirely up to the work you enjoy, the value you bring to your clients, and (of course) where you think you can make good money.

If you decide that boundary-setting right for you, here’s a potential approach:

• Give plenty of notice: you don’t want to leave your client hanging if you don’t want to burn bridges. Bring up the conversation with two or three months of leeway for them to find the right fit for their needs.
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• Make suggestions for other vendors to work with. This turns the conversation around, from “Good luck, peace out” to “I can’t handle this, but here are a few folks who can.”
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• Take on additional pieces of what you are working on. They’re engaging with you on a retainer basis; it’s clear they need the help. So assess where else you can take mission-critical tasks off of their plate: interviews, outlining, brief creation, etc. I can’t get too prescriptive at this point because it’ll entirely depend on how you’ve worked with them so far.

Here’s my final take-it-or-leave-it piece of advice: if you don’t want to handle strategy, landing pages, and more… move off of a retainer agreement completely, once the contract is up.

Retainers are directly tied to hours, which means they’re typically tied to everything a client needs to be done. If you don’t want to take all of that on and instead focus on writing and editing, move to project-based pricing. It can be as simple as x articles for $x/month.

Retainer agreements are great for mixing strategy and execution for clients with low bandwidth; project-based pricing is better if you want to stick to the writing.

Still, the headline here is that your client is happy and they want to pass more work your way. That’s nothing to sneeze at, and I don’t think you’re in any danger of burning bridges.

Sincerely,

A freelancer

Dear Freelancer is a weekly newsletter by Brooklin Nash.

Each week, you'll get an honest and raw letter from Brooklin, who answers freelancing questions, dispels dilemmas, and shares his own experience.

Got a burning question you want to see answered? Ask Brooklin.​

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