As soon-to-be grads trying to find our way into the workforce, myself and my fellow CreComms are looking for ways to get ourselves noticed. One good way, especially in our current city, is pro bono work.
Recent DMT grad and successful freelancer Jamie Isfeld shared a very relevant post on her blog about when not to take on a client. I highly recommend it as a simple warning to us - there is such a thing as biting off more than we can chew, especially when we're new to the neighbourhood.
Jamie's article is spot on, and that sort of advice can be taken into any kind of small business/freelance work. I had a similar thing happen when I was in high school; a local man who owned a small business needed some computer help, and after cleaning his kids' spyware of his computer a few times he started calling me for EVERYTHING. Eventually he began to rely on me to do his business, and he was the type of person who would keep going and ignore a brewing problem until it became a catastrophe. "Backup your files? I thought that was just a catchphrase, like `Have a great day!'" is not far from the truth. Eventually I had to come out and tell him that I could not fulfill his needs, and that he'd need to find someone else who did this sort of thing full time.
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