In dealing with many clients throughout my career as a web designer and Chicago seo specialist I’ve come across a pattern among small business client’s or those clients who come to me with “an idea.” When dealing with small business clients you never know when or if you are going to get paid!  I always ask for 50% up front and usually see the remaining 50% after a few emails or a few phone calls, but there are a few clients who just don’t respond or keep making excuses.  One of the biggest excuses right now is of course “the economy.” Of course those clients who use the economy as an excuse are the same ones you find  paying $600 a month or more to a Google ad campaign or a directory where their site is listed, but they can’t seem to give you the $600.  I think I need to get beefed up and start breaking some legs around here like Stewy in this Family Guy clip:

Yeah, you got money to pay for fake mustaches huh!  How much did you pay for that fake mustache?

$2.99

The lesson learned is to get your money upfront for any work that you do.  So those of you just starting out with web design, please take this advice and save yourself a lot of time and money!

Now we’ll move onto the client’s who come to you with “an idea.”  I’ve had several clients come to me with “an idea” and the vast majority tell me that their idea is like Facebook, lol. Once you hear that their idea is like Facebook, run!!!  Nothing is worse than dealing with clients who have no idea how the web works, they just come up with elaborate ideas that they think can be whipped together for about $1,000. Tell them to take a hike, stop being so nice and don’t waste another second of your time with “an idea” client.

Of course there are many more pet peeves, but I will save them for a later time.