Mercifully, it doesn’t happen very often because it goes down like a lead balloon with professional writers.
A client emailed on Saturday morning and wants us to write a 1500-word selection criteria and a cover letter. It’s due Monday morning.
We don’t write selection criteria.
We’re about to finish a client’s resume on a Friday afternoon and then out of the blue, the client wants us to write a 700-word cover letter, answering specific questions for a job they have just seen.
The job closes on Monday 12.00 noon.
I could tell them of our weekend rates, which are astronomical. Think of three zeros and put a one in front of them.
I could tell them to read the website, where it states we don’t do rush jobs.
I could tell them we have a long list of clients waiting for our services.
But I don’t.
The emails are a ‘brain fart’. They want someone else to do the work.
We answer politely, no thanks and hit delete.