Freelancers,I have a question

Hi,Unity users!

4 days ago I was contacted by a guy,let's call him Charles to do some work for him(I'm freelancing as a 3d artist).He needed quite a lot of models so we agreed that I'm going to send the models in 4 batches,1 batch per week and I get paid weekly for the batch of models.
Charles also mentioned that he would like to see some example of my 'test' work so far(the work he asked me to do) to see if it fits his game style by this Wednesday(which is today).

The problem is he wasn't online on the forums in the last 4 days,neither on skype.Should I keep working on the models even if I could not contact him in these 4 days?Or should I postpone the work until he 'hopefully' comes online and can take a look at my work so far?

Thanks,
Thunderent

 

Speaking as someone who hires freelancers - i'd recommend updating him with progress, show images/wireframes (maybe use that sketchfab? site or whatever your approach normally is) and say, "Hey Charles, here's my progress so far - have a few questions i'd like to ask to clarify before moving forward.". Should be innocuous enough and at that point you are stating that you need feedback before proceeding - which you do.

 

Indeed, the key is milestones and pay-by-progess
if you loose contact for this long I'd recommend switching to another project for now. As a freelancer, it can be good to have 2-3 "ongoing" projects as a safety net- for example, while the client from "project 1" is "sorting stuff out" and the one from "project 2" is away n stuff, you can still do project 3.

 

email it to him, and keep going.

 

If you're worried about not getting paid for your work, email him the samples and *stop* until he okays them. If he disappeared for that long, when he was expecting samples, he's got some of the signs of a bad client already. I'd be very wary.

 

Asking for feedback is always a good way to get some response. Do a few renders, and ask him whether these will be okay, technically correct, etc. The main point is getting a response, so you can ask stuff where you pretty much know the answer.

If he does not respond, write a follow up mail after a few days, asking what is up with him (more polite of course, but basically), mentioning that you need feedback before continuing.

 

Thanks for the answers!

I stopped the work for him for a while and moved to another project until he contacts me(I sent him another PM on the forum) as he didn't give me an e-mail or something...That seems also suspicious

 

Firstly, you're doing freelancing right by working in small milestones.

If he hasn't been in contact for 4 days, I'd hold off on the work and get something else until he gets back in contact, especially since this is your first job with him and I assume you haven't received payment yet. If you had been working with him for a while and done lots of work with him previously, you could probably assume it's safe to carry on.

It's common courtesy when working with someone to let them know you won't be in contact for a few days.