It Takes More Than Talent

Let’s take Alan, a fictional example of a creative who, unlike Glitschka and Jones, didn’t see how important it was to concentrate on business and instead focused more on his natural gifts. Alan is a very bright designer with an impeccable artistic eye. So when his client, a major beauty company, hired him to conceive some ads for a new product line, they were shocked to find out that the aesthetic didn’t align with their branding platform at all. They had met with Alan to define their objectives, but Alan went with his original concept for the design and never stopped to listen to what the client wanted.

When the client saw the work, which was alluring but not at all in line with their company, they told Alan that they didn’t like it and they wanted him to go back to the drawing board.

Alan’s problem is that instead of working with the client to polish the work, he took all their criticisms to heart (I know, it can be hard not to do) and became extremely defensive. He maintained that the design met their needs and then told them that because he was the designer, they should trust his expertise. Oh no, Alan—that attitude will send you right back to a smelly office with fluorescent lighting.

The problem with Alan and creative professionals like him is that even if his design was gorgeous, he never made an effort to satisfy his client. Hopefully when a client hires you, they know what some of your existing work looks or reads like to get a feel for your competencies.

If you don’t have the business sense to ask specific questions, you can totally miss the mark and the final product could be way off-target, as Alan’s was. And if you don’t build a revision process into your contract, you may hit the client with fees that extend past their budget—likely ticking them off even more. You can spend all the time in the world producing the “best” material, but if a client doesn’t like it—and you don’t know how to cope with that—you can lose the client along with your credibility as a professional. You have to be able to work together, even if you are the one who is open to feedback and the client is the one on the defensive side of things.

Why’s that, you may ask? Think about corporate America. If a company used an in-house designer, they would have pulled that person into the conference room and ripped apart the design (politely, I’d hope), and then that designer would have gone back to his or her desk, grunted a little, and fixed the problem. Ultimately, the client would have gotten what they wanted. This is why I think so many companies fear working with contractors; they don’t want to put a great deal of money into a project fearing it will come back all wrong. If you want to work with larger companies, you have to be prepared to understand the concepts of customer service. You have to be able to gratify them, even if you hate the final design.

This doesn’t mean the customer is always right or that you can’t give your professional opinion; it means you have to build your business to accommodate their needs, from the way you express your business practices and word your contract to the communication techniques you use.

How can solo-pros be more attentive to customer service?

“I think that being in any kind of creative services industry is a delicate dance between leading the client and following the client. I think it’s a constant back and forth, so I lead for a while, then you lead for a while…and at the end of the day, the client gets to lead, meaning the client gets to determine the ultimate direction of the project because they’re the one putting the money into the project. You are a client service and that means that they get to call the shots.”

—Todd Henry, founder/CEO, www.accidentalcreative.com

Aligning Your Work With the Client’s Vision

Delivering positive customer service is obviously a big part of operating a business, but it goes beyond just being nice or spending that five extra minutes on the phone with a client in a pinch. If you know what your role is as a freelancer and strive to understand the client well, you will better grasp the vision of the project, which can help prevent sticky situations and result in more clients singing your praise.

Todd Henry, who founded the creative consulting firm Accidental Creative (www.accidentalcreative.com), believes that solo-pros need to take time to understand what their clients want in order to satisfy them.

As much as I think I understand what a client wants sometimes, I, too, have had situations when the customer isn’t happy with what I have produced. In that case, I have learned to take a “How can we improve this?” stance rather than the “Why don’t you like my work?” or “There must be something wrong with me!” approach.

When our work doesn’t match up to the client’s vision, we have to be willing to “let go of our pride and our ego,” says Henry, who hails from Cincinnati. Otherwise, you could have an unsatisfied client on your hands that won’t use your services again or, even worse, tell others not to.

Letting the client know that the project is a collaborative process from the start is vital. That way, even if it’s not exactly what the client wanted, you can still team up to make it just right. Otherwise, they may not be open to revising the deliverable if needed, and insist that you did not do what they asked. During client consultations, I almost always let the client know about the revision process—namely, that I build a few rounds of revisions into the cost. Not only is it a selling point because it provides peace of mind that they won’t be stuck with something they don’t like; it lets the client know not to judge the first draft too harshly because I am available to help them make it sparkle.

Must-Read: The Accidental Creative: How to Be Brilliant at a Moment’s Notice by Todd Henry

Taming Your Inner Critic

Sometimes the clients aren’t the harsh ones—we are. This is another issue that can cause roadblocks if you want to run a strong creative business.

In the beginning of my copywriting career, I was the one who demanded perfection more than my clients. If my first attempt wasn’t flawless, I would be furious with myself. I knew revising was important, but I wanted every client to be picture-perfect happy with what I did. When they were not so pleased or suggested changes, I would go hard on myself and tell myself that I was wrong. Sure, sometimes I would be defensive and have to “take five” to calm myself down, but mostly I was completely too critical and harsh on myself. I didn’t know at the time that in not educating the client about the creative process, or believing in it myself, I was making work much more stressful than it needed to be.

So the work had to be edited—so what? Once I really understood revisions were necessary—and a great way to improve customer service—I put the concept into my sales pitch, started getting excited about pleasing clients, and received more positive feedback and referrals for going the extra mile to satisfy customers.

Not all clients will be pleased with what you do, no matter how many times you try to tweak the deliverable. When the client demands perfection out of the first draft or first stab at a concept, you have to reassure them that it is all right to refine it. This is the part of the project when you start to put your ego aside even if what they want is off the wall. Again, in educating a client up front that revisions are often necessary, you are less likely to have an irate client—and if you’ve had one, you’ll do anything to prevent it from happening again. Client relations is a big aspect of being business-savvy; it’s not just all about how to file taxes!

Are We All Egomaniacs?

George Coghill (www.coghillcartooning.com), a cartoon logo artist and designer from Ohio, believes solo-pros identify themselves as artists, so when criticism comes their way, it’s natural to take it personally.

That’s why it’s important to realize that you are creating for someone else—not yourself. What you produce is subjective—some people will like it and others won’t—but if someone else is footing the bill for it, you have to heed their input.

“I think the successful artists are able to tame the ego,” Coghill notes. “It’s tough to take direction on your creativity, and if you let it get to you it can hurt.”

Jones admits that she relied more on her talent than her business acumen in the beginning. “I slowly learned more about how to defend my work and fine-tune my creative brief so I was coming closer to achieving the client’s goals and my own,” she explains. “Slowly shifting from relying solely on my talent to relying on my talent and business skills.”

Fusing Talent and Professionalism

What Jones has done is use her talent along with her business skills— a recipe for success.

“You don’t like the first draft of that brochure, dear client? What would you like to change? Let’s talk about it.” (Client relations.) “I do think you should keep this section because I believe it will be a help to accomplish your marketing goals.” (Negotiation.) “Okay, how do these changes work for you? Let me know what else I can do to help.” (Customer service.) “Your total is on this invoice. Thanks for your business!” (Accounting.) These are all pieces of business that are separate from your artistic talent yet must be incorporated if you want to flourish.

Once you embrace that you need to deliver customer service, and that being self-employed isn’t all about you, you’ll have a happier base of clients and peace of mind. Doing what you love will be enjoyable—as it should be.

Must-Read: Breaking into Freelance Illustration: A Guide for Artists, Designers and Illustrators by Holly DeWolf

Money Matters

Another reason that some creatives focus more on their craft than they do on business is because they do not believe money is important. And I realize that, because the majority of us choose to use our gifts because we’re truly happy when we create. I’m not out to make millions; I just want to make enough to live on and do what ignites my creative spirit.

But starving artists are a thing of the past. You don’t have to be poor to practice your creative talent. Plenty of copywriters I know make upward of six figures a year and I know artists that pull in enough to support their entire families on one income.

Perhaps most of us just want “enough to get by” because we think that’s all we’re worth, but that’s not true. Though you may not want to charge top-dollar as a rookie solo-pro, you can still charge—and earn—a competitive wage.

Some charge too much, some too little—and others don’t know what the heck they’re making. When I interviewed Jones, she said she knew plenty of designers working all day who think they are making hoards of money, but don’t know how much they earn. “They think they’re making money, but really they’re not. And it’s even more concerning that they’re clueless about it,” Jones notes.

When I think about freelancers and money, some main concepts come up: Creative professionals charge either too low or too high, don’t pay or properly complete taxes, and do not put the legal means in place to ensure they get paid. We are going to talk about all of these aspects in the coming chapters.

What types of financial goals should I set when launching a creative business?

“Initially to be able to at least come close to breaking even. Within a year or so to be making as much or more than working for someone else. If you can’t meet these goals realistically, the attractions of working for yourself versus working for someone else have to be very, very strong, or done out of necessity. Pay particular attention to your billable efficiency—i.e., the percentage of available hours that are actually billed to clients. Service businesses that average under 50 percent billable efficiency are seldom successful.”

—Cameron Foote, principal/editor, www.creativebusiness.com

Henry believes that it is difficult for freelancers to think in terms of money or want to deal with numbers because it is a challenge to turn their thoughts into value, or to value their contributions.

“The tendency is to underestimate the value you are bringing to the process,” he advises.

He says we emphasize our artistic nature instead of incorporating business principles because we tend to be more into creative ideas, not necessarily outcomes.