Photo by frischmilch.

Recently, one of my friends asked me how I handle scheduling, getting content first and getting it on-time. I’ve been working in graphic/web design for six years professionally, primarily with non-disclosure (ND) clients.

The most important insight I gained during six years of working with different agencies is that each company has a different way of dealing with things. The most successful agencies had a few things in common.

Here’s what I learned from the big guns:

1. To schedule effectively, build a base of clients that will need on-going work.
2. To get the content up front, ask for it.
3. Place the client at the center of the universe, but with limits. Explain to them the benefits of these limits.
4. Understand that they want to be loved by you. Stay in touch!

Schedule

As referenced in this article and many more on the site, the 80/20 marketing rule should be your best friend. You need to massage your existing client base and ensure that it’s actually made up of companies that can give you business.

When your business is made up of on-going relationships, you can constantly ask for new work as soon as the current project ends. This helps both you and your client to project scheduling timelines and line your pocketbook. You gain the ability to accurately estimate time based on previous projects (as long as they have similar requirements), and because you’ve built a rapport with a trusted customer, you know that you will be paid and you can budget accordingly.

Once you have that going for you, you can share this schedule with your clients, which lends credibility to the fact that you’re not only busy, but in demand.

When a client comes to me with an offer, I never say I’ll start the job on the same day. Instead of making promises I can’t keep, I tell them the date I’m scheduled to finish my current work, ask for the details of their project, and send them a contract. This allows them time to look over the contract and get the content ready. Meanwhile, I can finish my current work, which also allows me to create a clear time-line for my own workload.

Tip: To find clients who will provide you with ongoing business, you can try getting industry-specific and focusing on a niche market. A friend of mine contracts with a financial company. These kinds of companies have ongoing work throughout the year because industry regulations are constantly changing.

How it benefits you: You’re not over-scheduling, running late on deadlines, or constantly scrambling to find new clients. Like the world’s most famous agencies, business runs more efficiently when you plan to work and work your plan.

Asking for—and getting—content

In the first talks that you have with your client about your work process, stress the importance of learning about the company. Let them know that you want to make sure you’re projecting their strengths. Let them know that without content, it is impossible to start and finish the project.

Stress the importance of content as an integral part of design. If company A’s content is casual, you don’t want to design something that doesn’t mesh with that. You want to know what Company A thinks its strengths are and convey that. You want to make sure that what you’re designing isn’t simply what you think of the company, but what the company thinks of itself. After all, they’re the ones who will have to deliver on the promises this image makes once you step away from this project. Not to mention the time you’ll save if you don’t have to rework that concept to fit their image.

To stress the importance of getting content before starting work, there are two things you need to do:

First, specify as much in your contract and client survey. You can also mention it in conversations to get the client accustomed to your methodology.

Secondly, from the beginning, make sure you explain the importance of getting content first, and how that benefits the client.

Try this: “Because I want to make sure that we achieve our goals on this project, I’ll need your content up front. The content, along with the client survey, will serve as a blueprint to ensure that we’re able to create a successful project.”

Once clients figure out that you have an effective methodology and you’re not just pulling stuff out of the air, they’re usually eager to go along with it, especially if the effectiveness of your methods can be proven with results.

Why it benefits you: You’ve cut down on headaches by making sure both parties in this relationship understand each other.

But how? Place the client in the position of reverence and importance that they deserve.

Make sure your clients understand that they are important. Every decision you make should have two parties in mind, your client and you. Clients understand bottom-line issues and time constraints. If you never set these limits and the client also doesn’t have constraints, you could be in for a world of disappointment. Even if easy-going clients don’t have a deadline, make sure you set one for yourself and inform them of it. You need to appear goal-oriented and studious, and moreso, you need to be what you project.

Tip: I’ll use content as my example again and ask for content with my and the client’s needs in mind:

“I’m interested in finishing your project in an efficient and cost-effective way. That’s why it’s imperative that I get at least 50% of the content by ______ (date). Your project is at the top of my list right now, but if I don’t receive content I have to take on other work, which is unfortunate because then I won’t be able to devote as much time to your project.”

What you are doing with an explanation like this is letting clients know that they are the center of your universe — but with limitations. You have other projects you might be working on, you’re not waiting desperately by the phone and you’re a legitimate business even if you are a one-person design machine.

When I use a response like that (or any variation on it), I usually get one of two replies: “Oh my god, I need to get you my content so we can knock this project out quickly!” or, “I’ll send that over when I send over the contract.”

Don’t be afraid to use this method. I have never heard, “Fine, I don’t want you to work on my project!”

If you use this method, coupled with the scheduling advice above, it won’t seem like “forever” before you get the contract and the content.

Why it benefits you: You’re showing that you understand that the client is important. You’re making decisions with the profitability of both parties in this relationship in mind: yourself and the client. Your goal-oriented focus puts clients at ease, which puts you at ease.

You love me, you really love me!

Yes, we really love you, client. For clients, results are important, but results without communication are deadly. That’s where many freelancers get into trouble: we forget that we’re not the client. The client doesn’t know what we know about the project, because the client isn’t usually sitting with the project 6-13 hours a day.

I’ll use my partner/husband as an example. He’s a great developer, but he has a terrible time talking to and interacting with clients. He used to sit for hours at a keyboard trying to determine how to update a client for what should have been a 5 minute email.

He’d rather just get the work done and figures the client will be happy with that. Don’t laugh: he’s been doing this for more than 6 years professionally (and coding since he was 5), but he still doesn’t have the hang of client communication. As any person who has ever taken a “the work will be enough” approach can tell you, it’s never really enough.

I explained to my husband that a client is your swimming student and you’re the instructor. All the client really wants from you (besides being able to swim after the lessons) is to show them that you won’t let them sink. Whether that’s a hand gently guiding them from one end of the pool to the other, or holding them as they kick off, they need to know that they’re not out here on their own. This holds true even if they have no technical idea of what you’re doing. The fact that you’re doing something, anything, and communicating that to them, is soothing.

I asked my husband, “What would happen if you were in a pool and then your instructor disappeared?” Most clients do as swimmers would: panic and start flailing wildly to stay afloat. When you’re there, providing guidance and keeping clients informed, your project stays afloat.

Tip: For those who need help with communication, I’ll give you the advice I gave my partner and my friend. Create four different templates for how to present updates. All four should provide different ways of presenting these four elements: what you set out to achieve, how you achieved it, where you are in the project now, and where you plan to go after you secure the last part of the project. You should always pivot to the next step of the project, what your goal is and whether you’re on target to hit that goal. Don’t lie to cover yourself. Make sure you explain limitations, be honest about projects, and always make sure you take responsibility.

My partner has improved both the efficacy of his communication and his confidence in communicating. That confidence allows him to stop procrastinating and worrying about updating and just do it. That’s not to say he doesn’t still get nervous before phone calls, but he has his talking points and he sticks to them. His notes and templates serve the same purpose for him as he does to clients: to keep him afloat and reassure him that he’s on task.

How it benefits you: It cuts down on the procrastination and helps you make valuable bonds. You’ll gain more from being an attentive vendor with a proven track record , than simply being “the guy who can do the job right.”

Go forth!

You now have tips for how to get the work, schedule the work, start the work off right, and maintain communication. Go create your schedule, prepare your templates, and take the first steps towards the stable environment that you deserve!

Seven is co-owner of Work Work Play, a design company based out of Portland, Oregon.

Seven Boyd

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