Freelance writers who manage to land that elusive (but lucrative) business client often lose the work because of their own faux-pas. Business people and writers may live at different ends of the spectrum, but a smart writer can keep the gig by learning how to take good care of the business client.
Business writing is a lucrative assignment for freelance writers to pursue, but not all writers know what to do with a business client even if they manage to land one. If you are a writer who is seeking business clients (or have some already), know that they are different than newspaper and magazine editors and other denizens of the publications world.
Business people think differently. How well you can keep your business client satisfied with your services depends on both the quality of your services and your ability to understand what your business clients need.
First of all, business clients think differently. They think everybody is in business. As a writer, you may roll out of bed at the crack of nine and stagger to your computer with a cup of coffee and work in your underwear. Writers know this. Business people do not.
Therefore, do not tell your business client about your various unsavory and unprofessional habits like letting your toddler answer your business line, cooking dinner while you proofread their articles, or drinking beer while writing taglines.
If you can afford it (and even if you can't) get a dedicated phone line for business and answer it like it was a business line during business hours, which by the way, start somewhat before noon. If you can't manage to talk on the phone with the sound of cartoons in the background, let it go to an answering machine and call back from a quiet place.
Business people get nervous trusting their multimillion dollar babies to people who watch cartoons in the middle of the day. Yes, I know it's your kids who are watching the cartoons. Business people get nervous trusting their multimillion dollar babies to people who work sitting next to their kids all day.
Second, realize that business people remember what they say to you. If they say Thursday is your deadline, don't let Thursday roll by without turning in your project or even calling them. Meet your deadlines. Stay within the scope of the assignment. Incorporate their suggestions. You can forget everything your spouse or kids or Oprah Winfrey says to you over the course of the day, but don't practice selective deafness when your clients speak.
Third, you need to see things through your clients' eyes. Your client is concerned with two things: his or her career and his or her company. You would think that would be in reverse order, but it's not. You always want to make your client look good, first and foremost, and if you can do that in such a way that the company benefits, bonus! But serve your client.
Do you know why? Because companies don't hire writers, people hire writers. Your client is a person. Make sure his or her needs are met in terms of writing (make him look good by delivering a top-notch product on time and on budget) and let him worry about saving Wall Street.
Fourth, pitch ideas at your client but do it gently and then back off. Think of it like throwing pebbles at a window at night and then running away. Rarely have I seen a client jump at an upsell (that's what they call it when you get one sale and you turn around and right away talk the client into buying something bigger or better), but I have had a lot of good results with the pitch-and-run approach. A few months later the client comes to me with a brilliant idea. They tell me what I told them! And then I can agree to the new job and applaud their incredible brilliance.
Finally, remember that people who work in the corporate mainstream are often overworked but not in the way that writers are overworked. Most of them spend long hours in uncomfortable clothing. They often have to travel or sit in endless meetings. This translates into something few writers appreciate: most corporate denizens feel completely powerless when it comes to control of their own time. It's a weird sensation and one that does not sit well with most people.
For that reason, always respect the time of your business client. Keep phone calls and emails short and on-point. Don't bother them with idle requests or superfluous questions. Keep chit-chat out of the conversation unless you get "led" by the business person that some personal banter is permissible.
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