Working with clients

The word “free” may be the root of the word “freelancer” but don’t be mistaken, you are never completely free. Yes, you are free from a stringent 8-to-5 lifestyle and you are free from one boss hoarding over you however, now you just have multiple clients which means you have multiple people who are your boss.

I have been working with clients, board members and committees for close to 15 years now. I’ve found if you make sure to always take care of a couple of basics, working with clients goes a lot smoother.

Here are some highlights on how I keep my “bosses” in line.

• The Relationship Matters – If you work with a client long enough it is inevitable: something will go wrong. It’s like the saying “sh*t happens.” Things won’t always go according to plan, middle-men will make mistakes, and well, so will you. It happens, and it happens to the best consultants and freelancers out there. When this happens, when there are no excuses, all you will have left to fall back on is your relationship – so make sure it is a strong one.
  
  If you have been always been honest and fair, if you have always given your clients a sense of security, your client will forgive you and you will be able to move past whatever atrocity has occurred.

• Anticipate – My very first job was as an event planner. I planned parades, auctions, pub crawls, you name it. Since then I have planned my fair share of press conferences, trade show events, grand opening and more. I have learned that anticipating everything that can happen is the best way to run a successful event and a successful relationship with a client.
  
  It seems a simple mantra “be prepared.” But, you will not believe how many times I’ve had people on my teams say, “but that wasn’t supposed to happen.” Well, it did. And, those of you who at least gave some thought to a contingency plan will be better off.
  
  At an event it may be as simple as having a box full of tape, a stapler, scissors and Sharpies. For a freelance writer it may be ready for a client to say they don’t want to pay because they are not happy, or surprising you by asking if you will co-write something with a writer you have never met. If you think about it, you can most likely guess what different clients might do.

• It’s in the Details – It’s expected that the freelancer or consultant pay attention to the little things. After all they are paying and, in our society that means they expect to be treated a particular way. Organization on the part of the freelancer puts a clients mind at ease, and makes them feel secure and confident. Be organized by asking questions, e.g., when is the deadline, is there a particular tone you are trying to strike, etc. Lay out your work process and your timing. Also, be diligent. If you said you will call at a certain time, do so. If the client was going to email you information and hasn’t, you follow up with the client.

• No Surprises – Much like Wall Street for the most part clients don’t want to be surprised. They want to understand what they are paying for and know what they are getting. Talk them through situations, processes and give them lots of examples. You are providing an intangible product to them – your writing – make them feel confident in what they are likely to receive from you.
  
  Again, questions play a key role for example, discuss how many words they want in a piece. It’s also always good to follow up with an email detailing what you discussed, who will be responsible for what tasks and the timing of each action item. This way it will all be crystal clear and you will have a happy client who expects what you are planning to deliver!
  

Independent Publishing in China

Printing in China is cheap -- and, I mean dirt cheap compared to printing in the U.S. or anywhere else for that matter. For a long time Mexico was the place for inexpensive in independent book printing, but now like in so many other manufacturing areas, China has taken over.

The benefit: those of us with smaller projects like my book with the Santa Barbara Zoo can actually exist. The downside -- well, there are many. 1) You don't really know what you are getting, 2) Prices tend to vary wildly even if you're getting the same specs quoted and 3) English as a second language always presents communication issues.

I've been going through the headache of quoting my project. Working with some Chinese business folk is akin to working with a New York celebrity agent on a bad day -- lots of yelling, threats, rudeness...you get the idea. It is no work for the faint of heart.

I've gotten a lot of things printed in Asia for corporate jobs (as well as worked with my fair share of NY agents for celebrity bookings) and it's tough, but if you don't have the budget, you don't have it.

So, if you're planning on going to China to get something printed here are some tips, and hey, I'm learning as I'm going too.

1) Be very specific with your specifications. And, I mean specific, e.g., size, thickness of pages, rounded corners, 4-color, etc.

2) Ask for a sample. If they don't have one they are willing to give you outright, ask if you can have one that you can mail back to them.

3) Ask for references. Get the name of one or two of their clients, preferably for jobs that are similar to yours so you can talk with them to see how satisfied they were with the quality of the product.

4) Google them. Do a little homework on the company you're dealing with to see if anyone has said anything good and/or bad about them.

5) Get a proof. Make sure you get a proof of your book, brochure, etc. before they go to print on the entire job.

6) Do as much as possible in writing. Leave a long and arduous paper trail if you can.

Remembering Poe

I think a lot of writers can recall their first exposure to Edgar Allen Poe. For most of us it was required reading in high school. I remember sitting in my English class in the dark -- the teacher would turn the lights off for effect -- listening to audio cassettes of The Raven, Telltale Heart and others. I distinctly remember the narrator moaning about the "cask of Amontiago" as if a ghost himself.

I always enjoyed the short stories the best, I never did fully appreciate his poetry. The Fall of the House of Usher is one that I like to read every now and again, though it tends to stick in my mind and haunt me for days if not weeks after.

Michael Connelly -- my husband enjoys his books, though I admittedly have not read any of them yet -- edited a compilation of Poe's works called In the Shadow of the Master. It also includes essays and commentary from famous authors like Sue Grafton and Stphen King. The book publishing coincides with the author's 200th birthday (good PR tie-in).

I haven't gotten my hands on book yet, but look forward to picking it up soon.

Do Something

"I'm creative. I should create at least as much as I consume."

Love, love this quote from a blog entry on Speak Up. We really are a society of consumption.

Read it, it makes you want to go out and do something.

Here's to a weekend of doing something...

Warning: Soap Box Rant

I live in a fairly small town and my reporting duties cover fairly local issues. As the larger economy has oh, let's call them "issues," it has an inevitable trickle-down down effect (the opposite one Reagan touted) on local economies.

Our local city budget is expecting to be short about $4 million for the fiscal year.

Okay, here is my rant in two parts:

A) What gets cut is always the things that make a city a community. Libraries, park maintenance, city events and the like are always first on the chopping block. I'm not saying we should cut police or fire officers, it just bums me out that the first items to go are always those things that I think make it great to live in a community.

B) People complain about these kinds of cuts but don't do anything about it. Local council members tend to make most of these kinds of decisions in a small town and they are very, very reachable people for the most part. I mean, it's not like you're trying to reach Governor Arnold on the phone or anything. I often find myself in conversation with people who have a defeatist attitude "well, there's nothing I can do about it -- those politicians are in charge." Maybe in D.C., (and some would argue that) but in a small town you do have a say, and more often than not, they will listen to you.

Whew, okay. Sorry about that. I'm writing stories on local crime rates, a local library being cut and one on a federal mandate that will make all manufacturers of children's items be tested for lead and other contaminants possibly putting smaller manufacturers (mom & pops) out of business.

I've got to start working on some more of those magazine article queries so my newspaper writing doesn't get the better of me...

Feeling Lazy

Today is one of those days when I just don't feel like writing. I have some corporate Web copy to write and just don't feel like taking it on at all.

So, I have been surfing through other writer blogs and came upon the following on The Renegade Writer. He writes:

Remember the Rule of Three. On those days when you have zero motivation, pick three tasks on your to-do list, preferably important things, do them, then allow yourself to take the rest of the day off. I find this hack immensely helpful on the days following a vacation or illness. It’s probably not a great hack to use every day, but if you’re in a deep rut, it gets you moving.

Hmmm... I stop to ponder. This seems doable, though I'm not coming off of vacation, nor am I ill. Do these three things need to pertain to writing ?

I've re-read the paragraph and decided that since it does not specify, I will interpret that the three tasks can relate to writing, but do not necessarily need to be writing assignments.

As a result, today I've :

1) Pinged my editor to see what he wants written for the next issue with some ideas of my own of course.
2) Written four thank you cards (this is sort of writing... no?)
3) Finished a blog entry

Signing off for the day...

Reporting is Tough for Me Sometimes

I write for a community newspaper. I mostly write civic-type news and some occasional sports and human interest stories. What I hate writing is about people who have died.

I remember reading all of the follow up stories after 9/11. At the time I read the WSJ daily (had a corporate job then) and even they did a wide-range of human interest-type stories about what happened, linking together last-minute phone call conversations with when floors and ultimately buildings collapsed. I remember crying on the train on the way into the city.

I got flashbacks of this when recently a the passenger train collided with a freight train causing the largest train tragedy in the nation for many, many years. I on-purpose avoided reading many of the stories in the paper. I just couldn't bear it.

Today I had to write a story about a benefit event some local businesses are putting on for one of the local businesses owners who died in the crash. I performed my requisite research and conducted interviews learning about the legacy and family he left behind. I learned about their three special needs children -- how they adopted their child's best friend who has cerebral palsy; I learned about how their business volunteered tons of time at elementary schools; I learned how he was married for 23 years.

I learned about how these people were certifiable saints. And, how local businesses were banning together to help.

I should feel really good, I'm doing a good thing by reporting this, right? But, I don't. I just feel awful. I don't know how people can regularly report on world news, especially all the horrible stories from places like Iraq, Iran, Darfur, etc. where tragedy happens daily if not hourly.

I guess that's a big part of what journalism is about?

I guess I'd better just stick to the lighter things.