I had a client who was paying me about $1,500 a month. Four blog posts at $375 each.
For a long time it felt like too much money to walk away. It lacked consistent work, predictable income, and no follow-up invoices. On paper, it was one of my best gigs.
But I dreaded every task.
The themes were always the same repeated ideas. Three different people reviewed each draft and could never agree on anything. I’d submit a piece, get conflicting feedback from two editors and a marketing director, go through it twice, and end up with something worse than what I started with.
I kept them for almost two years because $1,500 a month feels like real money when you’re building a freelance business. This was my rental!
It felt reckless to lose him. What if I can’t replace him? What if the next few months were slow?
But here’s what I didn’t count: these four posts, plus all the revision rounds, status calls, and email chains, took up about 15-20 hours a month. That’s $75-$100 an hour. And at the time I had prospects paying 3-4x per post in my actual niche.
I was spending 20 hours a month on a $1,500 client when I could have spent the same hours building and delivering over $4,000 a month.
So I fired them.
And it was one of the best business decisions I ever made.
How to know when it’s time
Not every angry customer has to leave. Some are just going through a rough patch and the relationship is worth saving.
But there are a few signs that it’s time to let go of a freelancer:
- The math doesn’t work anymore. You have raised your rates overall, but this customer is still paying what they did two years ago. And every time they point to an increase, they avoid the conversation or say the budget is tight.
- You are afraid of work. Not in a “hard Monday” way. Like “I’m going to rearrange my entire apartment and even clean the bathroom so I don’t have to open this Google Doc.” This fear is your gut telling you something. Listen to your heart.
- They eat your best hours. If your highest-energy writing time goes to your lowest-paying client, you’ve got a problem. The morning hours, when your brain is sharpest, should actually go to work drives your business forward.
- Scope drift is constant. The project was to be one blog post per week. Now it’s a blog post, two rounds of edits, a call to discuss the editorial calendar, and a “quick” review of their LinkedIn posts. All for the same price.
- You have surpassed them. This is the hardest thing to admit. Maybe they gave you a chance when you started. Maybe they are really nice people. But you’ve gotten better, your grades have gone up, and they can’t keep up. It doesn’t make you ungrateful. This makes you a business owner.
If you’re nodding to two or more of these, it’s probably time.
Sin is real (do it anyway)
Here’s what no one tells you about shooting free client: logistics is easy. The hard part? Guilt.
Especially early in your career, if a client treats you well, you will feel disloyal. On the other side, you’ll think about the person who now has to find another writer. You’ll think you’re arrogant, thinking you deserve better.
I have felt it all.
Every time.
And then there’s the voice of sunken appreciation: “But I’ve been with them for two years. If I leave now, this whole relationship will be wasted.” It wasn’t. It got you to where you are now.
But historically, staying where you grew up is what keeps freelancers stuck on the same income for years.
You can like a client as a person and still find that working with them is holding your business back. Both of these things can be true at the same time.
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How to Actually Fire a Freelance Client
The good news is that letting go of customer feelings doesn’t have to be dramatic.
Here’s what worked for me:
Give them notice
I usually give 30 days (you can write a notice period into your contracts; I’ve done anything from 15 to 30 days).
I say something like, “I’ve enjoyed working with you, I won’t be able to move on after (date). I’m happy to wrap up current projects and make the transition smooth.”
that’s it. You don’t owe them a detailed explanation. Be professional and friendly.
Finishes strong
Whatever’s in the pipeline, deliver your best work. The freelance world is small and you never know where people end up. They transferred former editors to new companies, and years later they rehired me.
It is always important to leave on good terms.
If possible, refer to them
If you liked the client at all, and it’s more a payment issue than a process issue, this is a good opportunity to build goodwill on the way out the door and land another writer a gig.
It softens the blow and helps a fellow freelancer. If you know a writer who matches the price and the work, write an introduction.
If you don’t enjoy working for them, then quit. If they ask you to refer someone, say you’ll pass the word, and if anyone is interested, the freelancer can contact them.
Don’t talk
Sometimes the customer will come back with a counter offer. More money, less fixing, whatever.
If you’ve already decided to leave, leave.
I made the mistake of staying after the counter offer and within two months everything was back to normal.
What actually happens next
I want to be specific here because it’s easy to say “something better will come” and hard to believe when you’re staring at a gap in your income.
After letting go of a $1,500/month client, I was back 15-20 hours.
I used that time to focus more on my niche, my offer, and my non-negotiables (which I think is a good idea to do after every client).
Then, I sent LOIs to companies in my niche (financial services). Within about three weeks, I signed a contract that started at $2,500 a month and after a few months was over $4,000. This client has been one of my longest and best relationships.
If I were still grinding out other blog posts, I would never have the bandwidth to follow them.
This is not an anomaly.
Every mid-career freelancer I know who has cracked an income ceiling can point to a moment when they let go of a “safe” client to make room for a better one.
The math only works if you actually have hours to fill with better work. If your calendar is already full of clients you’ve grown, you can’t improve your client list.
When you are ready
You don’t have to fire everyone at once. Start with the client that comes to mind as you read this. Every time I start a hard marketing cycle, I know in my head which current customer is on the chopping block.
If you decide to fire them, do it the right way.
Give them the proper notice, deliver great work until the end, and then go fill that space with something appropriate for where you are now.
Losing $1,500 is a scary feeling. But because you’re so busy with $1,500 you’ll never land? That’s the real cost.
Liz Froment
Liz Froment is a full-time freelance writer and the one who keeps Location Rebel running like a well-oiled machine. If he doesn’t write something informative or witty for his clients, he can probably be found reading a good book.
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