[thelist] A Beginner Freelance Question

[Rob Smith]

> consider a 'retainer'

This is the key to gaining residual income off of clients even though you
may not be doing much of anything at the moment. Allow me to asciistrate:

          3 
  |    2  XX
C | 1  XX XX
L | XX XX XX
I | XX XX XX
E | XX XX XX
N | XX XX XX  X X X X X X X X X
T | XX XX  X X X X X X X X X  
S | XX  X X X X X X X X X 
  ---------------------------->
     M O N T H S  in  T I M E

The upfront costs are trivial to the cost of maintenance. Or, use up front
costs for purchases, extra unknown expenditures, and use the monthly
retainers for survival under year long contracts. Just keep adding. 

My particular strategy is scheduling clients such as, "Well, I'm booked up
solid for this month, can we begin work next month?" Then again, this can
show one of two things: 1) you're not that eager to gain their business, or
2) you're worth the wait. Albeit depends on the situation and the complexity
of the problem.

The alternate to the strategy is let the growth of the business grow with
demand. 

Rob