Comments on: Get an Edge on the Competition

By: Speak the language of your clients

Speak the language of your clients — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 02:18:05 +0000

[…] in the post from: Freelance Switch Related Posts 10 signs you may be charging too little for your designsPrepare the client for the […]

By: Freelancing Anyone? « Half-empty, Half-full

Freelancing Anyone? « Half-empty, Half-full — Tue, 01 May 2007 17:34:03 +0000

[…] The former reads like your typical career article on career improvement while the latter jots down rules of thumbs in dealing with clients asking for freebies. Again for the latter, everything can be summarized in a word: No. For the curious reader though, the article and No Spec link in it are nice reads though. […]

By: Reese

Reese — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 07:01:13 +0000

Amen!
Client relationships are not about the design. They are not about making things pretty or insisting your choice of pink in every other design that you do for people is a righteous one. It’s about listening to clients. Growing their businesses. Improving their bottom line (or exposure, or other initiatives).

The most successful freelance designers are able to separate the ‘design’ part of their work from the ‘client and project management’ aspects. Both require different sorts of skills, but I’d argue the client relationship skills are as important as design fundamentals for the freelancer who wants a thriving business over the long haul. thanks so much for posting and reiterating this!

By: ARTEgami » Habla el Idioma de tus clientes

ARTEgami » Habla el Idioma de tus clientes — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 13:34:53 +0000

[…] por el post de: Freelance Switch Posts Relacionados Controla El Proceso CreativoPrepara Tus IdeasLa Importancia de Seleccionar un […]

By: Cyan

Cyan — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 02:13:07 +0000

You’re totally right, Zac. I also found that once I started to speak to my clients in their listening, an added bonus was that my own business skills developed and my freelance career really benefited!

By: Zac

Zac — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 12:31:00 +0000

You are right to speak about creatives’ fear of speaking about business, especially the monetary aspects of it. I think this is in part because they (*we*) rarely have experience from the client side of the transactions. We gain a lot when we put ourselves in other people’s shoes.

In contracting out work myself I realized how important and almost comforting it is to deal with someone who was clear and frank about business, payment, and the factors that contribute to it.

Like much else in life, we can improve in this area through practice. Once we begin to speak our clients’ language we will feel better ourselves and, over time, our confidence will build.