i have a decent relationship with most of my clients now that i've gone indy, and i don't think there's much fight going on at all.

i've sat down with the client, talked for a couple hours, delivered some 'milestones'/ partially-completed components for preview, and the suggestions for revision fit in nicely.

and if the client wants to have some meeting to feel like "we're on the same page", there's nothing that keeps me from meeting with him/her/them for a period of time, taking the laptop to a cafe with wireless, and showing client what is done, what needs to be done, etc. that way, client is still involved ( but not much ) and there isn't a big hit of last-minute changes and such.

one client in particular has been notorious for scope creep, and all it takes is a quick, firm "that's for our next round", and he's happy and i'm not derailed from the code in front of me.

but it's not foolproof. i have another client for whom i pretty much subcontract, and some of their clients change their collective mind at every term. but that client i charge by the hour. ;-)