I once saw a thought leader say something to the effect, “There are no bad clients, just bad project managers.” What a load of hogwash! I have had first hand experience with bad clients and if you haven’t had that “pleasure” yet, just watch a few business documentaries (check out…
Though we all hope we will never have to experience it, it’s inevitable that freelancers, designers, agency owners, and other creatives will eventually have a client that will be late on payment or won’t pay for their project at all. That is one of the downsides of the industry, bad…
You landed the pitch meeting! Excitement fills the air! Now, all you have to do is close the deal, easy peasy. Getting the potential client to say “yes” to working with you requires more than just showing them your fancy portfolio and talking about your Photoshop wizardy. It requires getting…
What Should You Do if the Potential Client Really Won’t Get On a Call? I’m always pushing creatives to skip the emails and get on phone calls or in meetings with potential clients. The more face to face interaction you have with a potential client, the better. Gotta build that…
When it comes to the dilemma of aligning with your cheap clients on a more realistic rate for your freelance design services, the problem is just that: alignment. If you have a cheap client you are struggling to get up to your rates, it’s because they don’t understand the value…
You had a few meetings to scope the project with your new client. The meetings were productive. The client was excited. Everything seemed to be in order and you won the project. Peeling Back the Onion of Creative Crap Following another productive meeting with the client, this time to kickoff…
I’ve seen some advice that a creative entrepreneur should ALWAYS require first payment to be made PRIOR to starting a project. While I understand the positive intention behind this advice, I don’t agree that it should be a required policy for your business. Here are few things to consider when…
There is a debate in the creative community that you may not be aware of regarding source files. Should you send your source files to clients as part of your original project fee? Or should you charge the client extra when they request that you send them the source files?…
Is it time to increase your prices? The short answer, for almost every creative entrepreneur in the world, is “yes.” Most creatives are dramatically undercharging for their services based on both market value and the value they create for their clients. Most creatives are charging less than their clients are…
It is easy to get frustrated when a potential client asks for a meeting to discuss a project and in that meeting they start fishing for your solid gold ideas to solve their problem. You, being helpful like you are, offer up strategies for their challenges, free of charge in…
