I feel your pain. I've read so many things about how to mitigate the overzealous "designer" client and none seem to work in practice. If they want to make decisions, they will, and they will destroy your hard work in one overreaching "I WANT PURPLE" swoop.

Similarly, people who spend all their time on competitor sites are the bane of my existence (right after ie6-7 users.) I want to scream at them, "You compete with them. DON'T DO THE SAME DAMN THING!"

We started an AdWords campaign at work and are spending a good chunk of money per month to pop up whenever someone searches a competitors company name. While that may have some luck in a consumer market - hey badass shoes are badass shoes -they don't work where a single deal takes 3-12 months, 1m+, and a countless hours from the sales reps. We don't EVER get leads from our website and doubt we ever will. We are selling a product that no one truly wants, and the only way to get people to spend a 110% of what is left of their print budget on us is to schmooze and sell and get on your knees and suck your little brains out. :P

How long have you been designing for? Do you often do projects for family/friends? I