There is an old adage in the business world that “employees don’t quit jobs, they quit managers.” The idea is rather basic and reminds us that it is most often the people and not the actual job that generates turnover.

I think this philosophy holds true to running a freelance based business. But consider it this way: “clients don’t quit projects, they quit freelancers.” Heck, a client might be using a freelancer to begin with because they quit an agency that was driving them nuts.

What I want to talk about here are some ways to develop a business based on clients that don’t want to quit. After all, if we effectively retain our clients we will spend less time searching for new ones. Not to mention that extremely happy clients will most often refer new business.

Here are four things to keep in mind:

1 – Learn to listen

As a customer of any type, one of the most frustrating things is to not be heard. Many companies will turn to freelancers as an alternative to larger companies for this reason alone.

This is a point of real opportunity for the freelancer. We have the opportunity to create a personal experience. And this begins with listening. The more you listen to them, the more you will know how to tweak your services to suit their needs.

I am not suggesting we bend our business to fit every client. Instead I am suggesting that if we simply listen to the needs of our client we will quickly identify small ways to tweak things to make them exceptionally happy.

Never forget that your client knows their business better then you. So if you are called in as an expert in your niche, it doesn’t mean you rule them.

2 – Stick to your passions

I have written here on Freelance Switch about casting a vision and sticking to it before so I won’t repeat myself in depth. But I do want to point out that the more we stick to the things we absolutely love; the more likely we are to do a fantastic job. As a result, your clients will get a better product and be all the happier for it.

It can be very tempting to allow ourselves to be drawn into lucrative work that simply doesn’t strike at our core passions. For example, I am not a fan of SEO work. It might be tempting to sell people on those services, but I am not very excited about it, so I don’t even try.

Being a one man show means you have to be extra careful to only take on the type of work you will enjoy. Sure you might have to bend this at times, but hopefully over time your passions result in such great work that new clients line up and you have no trouble filling your schedule.

3 – Focus on results

Depending on the type of work you do this idea might present varying degrees of difficulty. But the idea is to make sure you’re always focused on the results your work will produce for your clients. This ties directly into listening, but almost always means trying to address the client’s bottom line. Let’s consider some examples.

Let’s say you’re a freelance accountant. It is one thing to simply do what you’re told, to track the money and generate tax forms. But what if you were to review things and help your clients understand how to more effectively manage their money and increase their profits. I imagine this is par for the course with larger business, but most likely a freelance accountant would work with smaller shops.

Another example might be a freelance web designer. Focus on results for your client by digging into their analytics to better understand their audience. And try to design around real tangible goals. In particular look for the points of conversion that will turn their visitors into paying customers. It seems so fundamental and obvious, yet many fail to take such a focus.

Look for ways to help your client with a real focus on results and you will find that business owners respond very well.

4 – Go above and beyond

One of the easiest ways to avoid losing clients is to go above and beyond. Providing that extra wow factor to your clients is a great way to make them feel they are getting great value for their investment in you.

One way to do this is to plan ahead. Come up with 2 or 3 bonus features ahead of time that can be somewhat generically applied to all clients. Prep them ahead of time so that your bonus feature has great value, but costs you very little in time or money.

This could be as simple as guided instructions for important follow up items after launching a new site. Or even a before and after assessment of site traffic after a rebuild. Things like this show value to the client and yet, can be very easy to pull off.

One of my favorite examples of this is using a Google alert for your client’s company name. And when you see interesting things come in send them an email. It gives you a reason to contact your client, and makes you look as though you’re watching out for them. Depending on how web savvy your client is this can be a simple and effective technique.

It might take some creative thinking, but look for ways to build a wow factor into your every day work.

Don’t get fired

After observing the shortcomings of agencies I really believe it creates an opportunity for freelancers to shine and avoid getting fired. I hope these ideas challenge you to build lasting relationships with your clients in new ways.

Article by Patrick McNeil

Every client you’ve ever come in contact with may seem different, but in one specific way they are all the same; your clients want to tell you a few specific things about your freelance business but they just don’t know it yet.

That’s where you come in.

As a freelancer you’ve got to be ready to learn at every turn, so preparing yourself with these five unusual questions that most freelancers forget to ask will help put you in a position to better your business and simultaneously grow your profits.

The reason I call these questions unusual is because most freelancers forget to ask them. We’re well aware of the questions we ask clients during the project brief but we forget to ask a few questions that get our clients talking and letting us know hidden truths.

Do you want to make your freelance business better, attract more clients and make more money? If you answered yes (you better have said yes) then you need to ask these questions to each and every client you ever come in contact with.

Why did you hire me out of everyone else they’ve checked out?

Odds are, your client shopped around before landing on you as their go-to freelancer for the job. They might have posted a job board listing, searched Google or asked their Twitter friends for recommendations. But somehow they ended up choosing you – it’s now your job to find out why.

What did you do that was so special it put you over the top with your client? It might be fast email responses, your down to earth tone or the fact that you gave detailed responses that were more informative than sales-oriented and they felt comfortable working with you because they could tell you weren’t just after their cash. Ask them and find out so you can continue to do it for future clients.

What additional services do you wish I would offer?

Sometimes we unintentionally pigeonhole ourselves into a specific job listing without really noticing the chances for expansion. For instance, I primarily create WordPress designs but have realized lately that clients are consistently asking for logo design services.

Instead of outsourcing things that I could do myself, I am now able to offer logo design services along with blog designs. There’s always going to be something that your clients wished you did (copywriting, logo design, business card design + printing, etc) so ask your clients and see what patterns emerge.

Who do you know that is in need of my services?

Yes, you’ll get the clients who love your work and brag to everyone they come across about you, but for some people they just don’t think to do it. Ask for the referral. Let your client know that you’d like to work with friends or colleagues of theirs and find out if they know of anyone who’s currently in the market for services that you offer.

When you ask, they immediately run through friends in their mind and see if they know of anyone which brings you much closer to additional deals because without you asking, they wouldn’t have even tried thinking of anyone. Want to take it one step further? Offer your client a referral bonus for each new client they send your way.

Is there an area of my business that you think I could improve on?

This is the type of question you need to pay most attention to because you can do 1,000 things right but the second you start doing something horribly wrong, you’re jeopardizing the future of your business. So ask your current clients if there’s anything they’d recommend you work on that they think would make your business better.

Most clients will find it hard to say something negative about you, especially since you’re going to do amazing work for them, but if you ask them they’ll feel more compelled to give you a response and their answers are priceless to the growth of your freelance business.

What was your favorite part about working with me?

Find out what they liked about working with you – was it your exceptionally fast response time to emails? Your creative skills? Your ability to include them in the project every step of the way? These are things you should be figuring out because if you see patterns developing in the answers your clients give you, you can identify your unique selling position (USP) for future marketing tactics.

The takeaway

Larger companies don’t take the time out to talk with their clients on a more personal level like this. Asking questions makes your clients feel more important and shows them that their opinions are valued. By being the scrappy freelancer that you are, you know this is the perfect opportunity for you to stand out and build a better business.

Remember, the more questions you ask, the more answers you will get so engulf yourself in this question process and pick your clients brains to learn as much as you can about what you’re doing right, what you should improve on and what direction your marketing can go in for the future.

Article by Guerrilla Freelancing

The setting and achieving of goals is one of the key elements in any self-development and business growth program.

Freelancers benefit from having goals as well. Goals motivate us. They can keep us going even when freelancing gets challenging. Goal helps us make decisions about projects and clients. They also help us see if we’re on the right track, or if we should redouble our efforts or even change course completely.

In this post, let’s talk about how to set freelancing goals so that they make sense. Goals that will push you towards achievement and success, but without making you a slave. And goals that will leave you feeling fulfilled when you meet them, not empty wondering what all the hard work was for.

Vision: The Source of Goals

One of the most common mistakes in goal setting is making goals that you don’t really want. This may sound stupid at first, but, in reality, a lot of us make this mistake.

Stop and think about it. How many of your goals reflect what you really want… and how many are what other people expect or demand from you? Sometimes we even set goals because everybody else is doing so.

If we let others dictate the goals we make, then those goals won’t effectively motivate or drive us to succeed. Instead, we may feel resentful. And when we reach those goals, we’ll find we’re not any happier or satisfied.

The way to avoid making this mistake is by starting with a vision. According to Michael Stelzner, author of Launch: How to Quickly Propel Your Business Beyond the Competition, the way to formulate your vision is by asking yourself, “Where do I ultimately want my business to be?”

Take at least an hour or so to let your imagination run free and come up with an honest answer to this question. Then write out your vision statement in a brief paragraph.

Walk away from your vision statement for at least a day. Then look at it again with fresh eyes. Ask yourself if that is what you really, truly want. If not, make adjustments. If it is, then you’re ready to set some goals.

SMART: The Language of Goals

SMART is the acronym corporations use to remember the best way to express goals. It stands for:

• Specific. Your goal should be as specific as possible. For example, rather than saying “My goal is to earn more,” it’s much more effective to say “My goal is to earn a net income of $100,000 this year.” Use numbers and other quantifiers to make your goal as specific and tangible as possible.
• Measurable. When you use quantifiers, you’re also making your goal measurable. You (and anybody else for that matter) should be able to look at your results and say whether or not you’ve met your goal. Thus, a goal like “Have 5,000 email subscribers by December 2011″ is a measurable goal, while “Have a critical mass of email subscribers” is not.
• Attainable. While we want our goals to challenge and stretch us, we want to make sure they are attainable. There’s nothing more frustrating than striving for a result that’s simply impossible to achieve. It will de-motivate you and make you feel like a failure. So don’t aim for a $500,000 income if you’re about to give birth to your fourth child (Note: Perhaps that IS an attainable goal for some; it isn’t for me). Be honest with yourself, but don’t settle for small goals that you could accomplish with very little effort.
• Relevant. Remember your vision statement? Your goals should all contribute towards your vision. Therefore, your goals need to be relevant to the ultimate end result you’re aiming for. If your goals aren’t relevant, then what’s the use of attaining them?
• Time-bound. Finally, your goals should have a definite deadline in time. State when your want to accomplish each goal. For instance, “by December 31, 2011,” or “at the end of six months.” Deadlines are powerful for motivating, focusing, and energizing us.

Types of Goals

When we talk of freelancing goals, most of the time we think of income goals. However, keep in mind that freelancing isn’t only about making money.

I think you’re a freelancer because you want a certain lifestyle. Include this lifestyle in your vision. Make goals about how many hours you want to work, what types of clients and projects you’ll be working on, and what other professional activities you want to do.

Also, consider writing goals to cover other aspects of your life, such as spirituality, inter-personal relationships, health, character development, and whatever else is important to you.

Goals and You

Do you set goals for your freelancing business? If so, what process do you follow? Have your goals helped you become more successful as a freelancer?

We’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences! Do post them in the comments section below.

Article by Lexi Rodrigo

Issuing a letter of demand is the first step in initiating legal action when a customer hasn’t paid, and can sometimes motivate them to open their wallets.

Article by Colin Porter

Are you always on the lookout for bad clients? Knowing what to recognize ahead of time can save you tons of grief, wasted time, money, and frustration. But it can also make you jaded and keep you from exploring otherwise valuable client relationships. Are you being too picky about the clients you take on?

Most of us know the tell-tale signs of a bad client. Many freelancers stay away from penny-pinchers, online auction sites, start-ups, or clients that ask for work on spec. While some of those can be deal-breakers, are we being too picky and missing out on the good stuff?

Explore What the Client has to Say

I never go out of my way to recruit a start-up business, but it’s inevitable that many reach out to me. I listen. You may not think a start-up owner has a lot to offer pay wise, and they may not know much about marketing standards, but they can also have a decent amount of money to share and realize the importance of marketing.

If I notice that they see how important marketing collateral is, I’m more open to taking on the job because I can likely sell them on more collateral in the future. Sometimes you can sense where a prospect is going from an email, but it may take a call. Let them know you’ll review what they had to say and that you’ll be in touch.

Take the Client up on Additional Work

You have probably heard that red-flag prospect saying, “If you work for me now, there’s going to be plenty of work in the future.” Yep, we’ve all heard that one. What happens? The client doesn’t contact you for more work and you let the lead go. That can be a huge mistake. By following up, you can remind the client that they wanted more collateral and sell from there, “We’ve got your website done, now how about a brochure?”

Don’t Shy Away From Kindness

I used to think people that were very nice (I’m talking over-the-top nice) were a little much. That sometimes signals a red-flag to me because their request is usually followed up with an, “I need that done by later today.”

Recently, a client approached me for a small job and my first impression was that he was overly wordy and may be high-maintenance. His English was a little broken and that can represent a huge challenge for anyone. But I took a chance on it and responded when he called. I just finished the project and he was such a nice guy. You never know where that relationship can lead. The point is, we become very distrusting as freelancers–usually for good reasons. Try to keep an open mind.

Forget the Project

Sometimes a client comes to you with a request for a service you may not particularly enjoy. But in saying no to the work, you can lose the opportunity to have a client that could turn more work you like your way. Look at where the client comes from–if it’s a marketing agency, he could pass your name around the office and you could get more work from it.

Red-flagging is a great process, but make sure your process is really working for you. It’s good to be cautious, and you know I’m a huge supporter of having boundaries. It’s also good to make sure that you’re not turning away good business.

Article by Kristen Fischer

Book cover

All images, text and files are property of © 2011 HRD Design

• Girl Power – book cover, workbook cover & internal section images
• Girl Power – logo for book cover
• Re Community – benefits guide cover
• Austen-Coley Academy – BC, LH, Env & Ad
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Book cover

Workbook cover

“Food for Thought”

“Potential Pitfalls”

“Next Steps”

All images, text and files are property of © 2011 HRD Design

• Dudes & Don’ts – book cover
• Girl Power – logo for book cover
• Re Community – benefits guide cover
• Austen-Coley Academy – BC, LH, Env & Ad
• Team Tiara – Hope Field logo

All images, text and files are property of © 2011 HRD Design

• East Texas Shop Equip. & Acces. – logotype
• Austen-Coley Academy – BC, LH, Env & Ad
• Team Tiara – Hope Field logo
• Guess We Did Mind The Gap
• Jay Wilkinson – logotype

brochure – outside

brochure – inside

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All images, text and files are property of © 2011 HRD Design

• Re Community – benefits guide cover
• Austen-Coley Academy – BC, LH, Env & Ad
• Jason & Tamorra Wedding – Invitation
• Mission Providence – brochure
• Art, Advertising or Both?

All images, text and files are property of © 2011 HRD Design

• Mission Providence – brochure
• Unishippers’ – Brochure
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• Dudes & Don’ts – book cover
• Girl Power – book cover, workbook cover & internal section images