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As a full time contractor for the last 15 years

- You should expect to be on call and service the client heavily - making sure you bill for everything with detailed time sheets and descriptions. your timesheets are you first line of defense and your time MUST be defensible.

- Basically you want to give the client the impression that you are always on and it's up to you to try and manage your work life. Eg. sign into skype from your phone when your out and if your like in a movie then msg them back IMMEDIATELY and say be back to my OFFICE in 90 mins or what ever. - What is an external client phone meeting?

Basically as a contractor your main goal is to service the client to the max while taking your time and enjoying your work, taking advantage of the time the best you can.

Some people I know sit at there computer all day and service many clients at once giving them all the impression they are the only client. Your best bet is to show as much continuous service as possible while padding in other work like getting more clients, updating your skills etc.

Your not an employee congratulations - don't be confused that you have to defend your time. The best contractors give the client everything they want and bill for all of it while taking advantage of being at home and padding in other work.



The issue I have is that I don't especially want this gig and don't need it. It's just nice to have for extra cash on the side and the work is easy so it's hard to justify turning it down. Is it really unreasonable to not want to be on call? Because if that's the case, I wouldn't really want to do it at all. I feel like 24 hour turn around on tasks seems reasonable but still being generally reachable and answering emails during business hours.




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