A web designer's nightmare client demanded dozens of design iterations and dodged payment, but later referred three new customers, including one that paid $6,000—three times the designer's usual rate. The difficult relationship opened doors to higher-value work and a better network.
One of our very first web design clients wasn't ideal. They were demanding and aggressive negotiators. It seemed like we were walking into trouble, but we were desperate, so I closed the deal with them anyway. They made us do tens of iterations on something that should have been capped at 2 iterations. Even after we did everything for them, they took months to pay us, and I had to call them and visit them many times to collect the money. It was a nightmare. But little did I know, this client later on brought us 3 new clients, one of whom was a very established business that I sold a $6,000 project to, which was 3 times higher than our normal rate back then. Through that same difficult client, we also got connected to a big network of businesses. Our patience and perseverance had paid off.
