As a freelance copywriter, your business depends on getting work—whether it’s from existing or new clients. But managing multiple clients (and clients-to-be) with different needs, deadlines, and expectations can get a little hectic. So how can you protect your time, energy, and creativity without compromising on your quality of communication (or your own sanity)?
In this episode, Nicki and Kate share their top tips for effectively communicating with clients, right from the initial outreach, all the way to project completion. Listen in now to find out how to set yourself up for successful communication with a client from the get-go, how to make sure you’re *never* at a client’s beck and call, and if texting clients is a smart move or a recipe for disaster.
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Looking for closed captioning or a transcript? Watch the episode on YouTube!
A Sneak Peek at the Episode
[1:44] It’s a bad scenario when communication from clients or would-be clients gets missed. That’s why it’s important to regularly check your spam folder and test the contact form on your portfolio site.
[3:50] You also need to check your messages on social media frequently. And remember, if you aren’t connected with somebody, it’s not going to go through as a message—it will go through as a request.
[4:28] Nicki recommends checking these different inboxes at least once daily. If a couple of days go by and a client doesn’t hear from you, it does not reflect well on you.
[5:17] It’s perfectly fine to take time off but make sure that you communicate clearly when people can expect to hear back from you.
[6:24] It might sound like there are a lot of channels to check but you want to make it as easy as possible for a potential client to get in touch with you. You never want to take people off the platform they’re on if you don’t have to.
[7:54] Nicki and Kate strongly recommend sending your initial outreach to a client via email as opposed to a DM on social media.
[10:58] It takes a bit of research sometimes to find a client’s email address but there are several online tools like hunter.io that can help you. (Always avoid emailing generic company email addresses like info@xyzcorperation.com!)
[13:25] Once you have a client, it’s best to ask them how they would prefer to communicate. But choose just ONE way to interact with them—having too many channels for communication gets very confusing.
[17:19] Whichever form of communication you choose to use with a client, you can still set up certain parameters so that you don’t have to constantly be at a client’s beck and call. Just make sure you communicate those clearly to your clients.
[20:17] If there is a certain platform that your client is using, they should add you to that platform without any extra work or costs on your end.
[21:17] Our hosts give a word of warning around texting clients. This kind of communication can cross personal boundaries and is hard to get out of once you’ve started. Plus, there is no such thing as a copy emergency!
[26:15] Kate advises us to consider taking the tech for your business off your phone. One Sec is also a useful app which gives you the chance to think twice before opening certain apps on your phone.
[28:43] Ideally at the start of a relationship with a client, you want to set them up with clear expectations of when they can hear from you with regard to check-ins for a project and the key milestones throughout it. (It’s best to err on the side of over communication.)
Must-Hear Takeaways
As with every episode, we highly encourage you to listen to the entire conversation! But here are a few of the highlights:
“As with any relationship, it’s about setting the expectations, making sure communication is open and clear but balancing boundaries as well. So, as you’re planning how you’re going to be reaching out in the world, as you’re going to be taking incoming messages, as you’re going to be communicating with your clients, figure out what works for you. And yes, sometimes you might have to accommodate clients in certain ways and that’s okay but also make sure you’re not bending over backwards, and make sure you’re not letting it encroach your peace of mind. Because you need your peace of mind, you need your creativity to do your best work so make sure you’re protecting yourself and protecting your energy while still communicating in an open and timely (not immediate) way with potential clients and clients.” – Nicki
“You want to set your client up with clear expectations of when they can hear from you, check-ins for the project, key milestones throughout it. And if you’re thinking, ‘well, what are my key milestones?’ Again, if it’s a bigger project, you want to have places where you check in, even if it’s just to say, ‘hey, this project’s still on track, still loving digging in, I’m having so much fun, just wanted to let you know that we’re still on track for x deadline’, whatever it is—especially if you kick something off and then it’s weeks before you’re delivering something, just that touch base can set a client’s mind at ease. So thinking about when to communicate with a client, err on the side of over communication in the sense of just, ‘hey, wanted to let you know the status update.'” – Kate
“You can set up. parameters so that you don’t have to constantly be at a client’s beck and call. Remember you are not an employee, you are not on staff. If you are, you can even still do that if it’s okay with your employer, but the expectation is not that you are sitting in front of your computer from nine to five each day. If you are an employee, it might be a little bit different, but even still then, you should be able to get a little bit of time away from Slack and email and all that kind of stuff. The expectation is not that you’re just sitting there, waiting to respond to them at any time. You being a freelancer and having many different clients that you’re dealing with, you need to control those rivers of communication, all of those inputs, because if you are constantly trying to respond to everything, seeing all these notifications coming up, watch it, it’s going to get overwhelming. And you have way more important things to be doing than to watch the notifications and respond at every single moment. Well, it’s going to be a time suck. It’s going to completely ruin your productivity.” – Nicki & Kate
Mentioned on this Episode
Related Links
- Learning to Effectively Communicate as a Copywriter
- What Are Your Copywriting Business Rules?
- You Don’t Have to Work With Clients You Hate
- How NOT to Pitch Potential Copywriting Clients
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About the Build Your Business Podcast
Ready to turn your love of writing into a successful copywriting career?
Join professional copywriters Nicki Krawczyk and Kate Sitarz to get the tips, tools, and training to help you become a copywriter and build a thriving business of your own. Nicki and Kate have 20+ and 10+ years of experience, respectively, writing copy for multi-billion-dollar companies, solopreneurs, and every size business in between.
Whether you want to land an on-staff job, freelance full-time and work from wherever you want, or make extra money with a side hustle, the best place to start learning is right here.
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Last Updated on June 10, 2024
