Freelancers: How to Work Better with Your Clients

Posted by Harshad

Posted: 13 Aug 2012 03:12 AM PDT

This article is part of our "Guide to Freelancing series" - consisting of guides and tips to help you becoming a better self-employed. Click here to read more from this series.

Working with clients all day long may sometimes lead to stress in a freelance schedule. Long working hours, impending project deadlines, and constant criticism from clients can really bring down one’s enthusiastic spirit. Thus, building a compromise with your client is imperative to the success of any project.

As the provider, you have to be honest, sincere, and above all respectful of each of your clients’ opinions. Without their project needs, you wouldn’t be creating any work in the first place. And don’t get me wrong but a compromise doesn’t have to feel restrictive to either party.

Official Business meeting space - featured image

(Image source: Fotolia)

In this guide I would like to share a few tips for assembling open communication between freelancers and their clients. Learn how to pitch your ideas in a creative and thoughtful manner to capture attention. You’ll find that projects move a lot smoother and both you and your clients will feel more accomplishment with the completed work.

on the Same Page

There are plenty of times where we misunderstand the goals of a specific project. This can lead to disaster, especially when your client is expecting one idea and you present something totally different.

To avoid such an embarrassing scenario keep your communication channels open. In the first couple of discussions make sure you clear up any and all questions ahead of time, and encourage your client to do the same. This gets everything out on the table so issues can be dealt with upfront. Web designers (especially) need to understand what the client is looking for in a layout mockup (color scheme, page elements, navigation, etc).

To stay on the same page keep a list of all project ideas and changes over the project timeline. You can always look back at these notes to solidify your understanding of what the client needs. It’s a professional way of handling creative ideas, especially when working on multiple projects for the same client or for multiple clients, simultaneously.

Always be Open to Changes

A common habit of many designers is to limit the changes that can be made to the project after the first meeting. I feel that it’s best to keep the project fluid so new ideas can always be introduced to the final result. Don’t be too rigid when sitting down to do the actual design work. Not only will you most likely make changes that are different from the first draft, clients will be very fickle with their ideas.

In general, they will be more inclined to check out a few different concepts than to decide on whether or not they want or don’t want a single offered design. Try to keep a schedule of constant contact to keep them in the loop. You can try sending out a quick e-mail once every few days to update them with any new changes or feedback.

How to Pitch your Ideas

In any good compromise both parties want to feel like their ideas are being heard. Before brainstorming for new concepts, make sure to give a thought to what your client is thinking or seeking in the final outcome. They know what they’re looking for.

But on your side, with your professional background in design/coding, you may think that your own ideas are much more beneficial to the project. It’s important to learn how to express these ideas without nullifying the client’s wishes. Pitch your ideas as a possible alternative suggestions, and create 2 or 3 additional sketches or mockups that illustrate your ideas to show to the client.

(Image source: Fotolia)

If you have examples of similar websites or designs on the web at hand, use them as a visual guide to explain what exactly you’re trying to accomplish with your idea. And if your idea is totally off-center from what your client is looking for then you’ve both dodged a bullet.

If you treat the views of your client with respect, they’ll be more willing to hear your point of view. Even outside the scope of web design there are similar creative fields including logo designs, branding, marketing, and print work. Unless your client has specific knowledge in these fields they should understand your expertise and take heed of your advice and guidance. So it’s really a matter of converting their amorphous "final project" concept into reality.

Accepting Rejection

You will have plenty of your great ideas shot down right away. Learn to not take this criticism personally as it’s most likely that your skills aren’t under scrutiny in these situations. Clients may have come with a strict final image of what they need in their mind which sometimes cannot mesh with your ideas. This doesn’t imply that your ideas are rejected because they are bad or wouldn’t work.

Rejection is simply a part of compromise. It shouldn’t make you feel incompetent and you definitely should not give up on pitching new ideas. At the end of the day it’s about what your client wants, but if you really like your idea, you can try building them on another project just to get a satisfaction from putting the idea to fruition.

Inking the Rules

If legal writing is more in your favor then consider crafting a contract before starting each new project. This contract represents a single set of rules and regulations that must be followed during the production of the project. It can include specific design ideas, timelines, what will be presented and by whom, or anything else that is essential and relevant to the project.

This gives you a chance to sit down with each client and sort out some of the heavy materials first i.e. figuring out how much you’ll be compensated and how long you have to complete each part of the project. Your client will also gain a sense f security knowing clearly what you’ll be working on and what course the project will take at each point of the timeline. As time goes by you could each submit edits and changes to the contract as you see fit. Having a contract will keep everybody on a level playing field

Let the Ends Justify the Means

Even though you are building a portfolio on the side during each project timeline, you need to keep yourself focused on completing the project swiftly and professionally. Don’t get too invested on one particular design, or you may find yourself delayed in completeing smaller parts of the project.

Designers often take a lot of pride in their work, and with good reason. You should be proud of the work you do both within your portfolio and in the smaller side-projects. The end goal in any case is to finish the project and don’t let yourself get distracted. When you over-analyze smaller elements or is too engrossed in pitching new ideas, then you might start failing to meet the set deadlines. Stay productive when on the job and only use your spare time to work on creative side projects.

Not every project you work on will give you a chance to show off exuberant new designs or your sketching talent. Sometimes you just need to build what the client requires then move forward. There isn’t always room for compromise, even on fun projects, so don’t get discouraged if some ideas fall through. The bigger picture requires work that can be completed within the required time frame and providing support to the client when help is needed.

Stand Your Ground

The worst way to lose a client’s trust is by revealing to them that you don’t really understand as much as you say. There will always be new things to learn while you work, even in freelancing. The job is fast-paced and requires knowledge in a wide range of areas including the business side of things, and in negotiating your needs and wants, not just the clients’. This applies to beginners and professionals alike.

I understand that not everybody likes to deal with the business side of freelancing. But it is an important area which frequently requires discussions between you and your clients. Beyond the scope of design work you’ll also need to discuss budgets, time frames, and possible future maintenance, fr example, will you be available for web hosting support, and would this cost extra money?

Know your worth and know how much your time will cost. When you sell yourself short, there isn’t much room to negotiate what you deserve later; 1-2 weeks after, you may regret this and start dragging your feet since your self-worth has been shortchanged due to your lack of ability to negotiate. When in doubt stick to your guns and prove to your client that you mean business. Always hold a courteous and tolerant attitude towards their ideas. Build a sense of mutual trust, as this can lead to repeat project work in the future.

Helpful References

Conclusion

I hope these ideas are beneficial to freelancers who are looking for better client relationships. It’s a two-way street that requires both parties to work together towards a common goal. Compromise is a part of a freelancer’s life. When you can stay objective about the work you’ll feel less emotionally attached and more willing to push forward for immediate results.

More related articles:

30 Beautiful Three-Colors Websites For Your Inspiration

Posted: 05 Aug 2012 04:53 PM PDT

Color affects a design greatly. However, a design with too many colors can easily overwhelm a viewer. Sometimes a minimalist approach can help draw the eye of the visitor to specific content – the right content.

In this collection of websites, we focused on designs that used three colors for their primary design elements. However, a few of these sites do include one or two highlight colors beyond the 3 main colors. Nonetheless, these websites were just too well-done and close enough to the 3 color criteria that we could not help but include them in this collection.

Notice how the colors help you focus your attention to where it is needed. Can you see how the brand was tied into each of these designs? You can also see how using full-color graphics alongside a limited color palette is still useful without going too far down the minimalist design path. The following examples will show you that websites that use a maximum of 3 colors can still be effective.

Recommended Reading: Beautiful & Creative Single-Page Portfolio Websites

Image Mechanics

A nice minimalist design, that uses just enough color to draw the eye to important content on the site.

nclud

The large, blue photographic background is a nice contrast to the white main text and green brand name, which draws a reader’s attention first. The light blue text draws the eye downward to a brief description of the company and a list of their impressive clients. Nice use of color to create hierarchy!

The Loft

Different shades of grey on a white background give this web page a sophisticated minimalist appearance. The colored text in the page menu act as a guide in navigating the site.

Fat-Man-Collective

Just like their branding look and tone, this website design is also "short and sweet." Way to go with maintaining a branded look!

Creative Spark

Minus the illustration, this website incorporates only 3 colors into its design: yellow, black, and white, which is a nice reference to a light bulb, when you think about it. And a lightbulb works well with the company name, Creative Spark. Interesting.

Pepperminted

Cute name and a cute mostly 3 color design, this one is simple yet creative at the same time.

Sergey Stanchev

The dark color scheme and limited use of color give this site a sophisticated, professional look and feel.

Digimurai

The text colors of orange and blue coordinate with the illustrated background and cute little mascot.

Causecast

Grey, blue, and pink on a white background provide a very "happy" tone, which seems like a good choice for a volunteering/charity program.

Astheria

This clever design uses colors of, well, drugs! White, grey, and blue are usually the colors you see on pill boxes, so these designers really ran with the idea of "Design is a drug."

Dave Airey

Ah, David Airey, one of the most popular brand identity designers in the graphic design blogging community. His site is minimalist featuring only black, orange and grey text on a white background. Simple yet effective!

Eduardo de La Rocque

The textured background looks like the fancy paper some people use for resume and CV printing. It is interesting, too, that the pinkish-red text fades to light grey when you hover your mouse over it.

Eight Face

Black, white, and grey, along with a few hints of orange text, are the main colors used in this design. These colors give this website a sort of "news" appearance.

Fever

Dark and light grey and red are used interchangeably in this design. While this design could be a bit more well organized in terms of what colors were used where, they did stick with the three colors of the title very well.

Stefan Coisson

This site uses 3 colors quite effectively in a simple website layout. While the text could be better organized, the green highlight stands out nicely against the black and white text.

Jon Tangerine

Okay, so this is another that stretches beyond the 3 color scheme a bit, but it is such a beautiful site that it screams, "Look at me!" The yellow highlights and text links (with a little bit of orange underlining) contrasts nicely with the black and grey and occasional white text. Beautiful!

Martin Hipp

Dark grey, black, and a grass green blend well to give this site a refreshing professional yet unique appearance.

Minimal Sites

Starting to notice a pattern in the use of black, grey, and a bright color on a white background? Maybe this type of color scheme is popular because it creates a minimalist look with just enough color to draw attention… and this website is no exception.

Motion Theory

The strip of black on the side is a nice touch that adds to the "film" look and feel. Grey and red text keep this site simple, which is very important with all of the images that must be included.

A way back

Blue along with shades of grey keep this design minimalist and traditional. The 3 different colors are used nicely to draw attention to important text.

Grain and Gram

This website does a great job of creating a "gentleman’s" appeal with manly colors of dark grey, a grain color (in keeping with the title), and white.

Awesome Font Stacks

Orange along with black and grey (and a tiny bit of white text) helps to break up this text-heavy site and make it interesting.

Yuna

This site mostly uses the dark and light greys of the geometric shapes, but blue is also a highlighting color, along with a bit of pink. So, really, this is another variation of the black, grey, and highlight color scheme.

Pentagon

Grey, some white, and lots of blue make for a very simple color scheme. On the other hand, the blue seems a bit overwhelming, and the flashing graphics don’t help much.

Graphic Design on the radio

Technically, this site only uses about 3 colors: black and grey text in white boxes, and the pink textured background. But, wait! Close the page, reopen it, and the background is now blue, no, yellow. Okay, you can quit reopening the page, now. Disappointed there’re are only three colors to play with, aren’t you?

Pixelbot

Again, Dark grey, light grey, and a highlight color make for a simple, effective color scheme for web design.

Site inspire

While having the text change color when you hover the mouse over it can be fun, this one may take advantage of this feature a little too much. But maybe they can get away with it because of their simple, 3-color design.

Stefan Persson

Grey/black with orange and white add to this very well-organized design. Each color seems to stick to a strict use, which really takes navigation of this site to great heights.

Faust

A simple color scheme helps to tone down the busy-ness of this site; however, less orange would have helped the design even more.

Industrial Facility

The navigation of this site is a bit different, something not always recommended. Yet the dark grey, light grey, and white color scheme helps keep the site simple enough to learn fairly quickly.

50 Infographics About The Olympics

Posted: 13 Aug 2012 02:42 AM PDT

Have you caught the Olympic fever? Saw Phelps, Bolt and other amazing Olympians win their fair share of medals in London? Think you know everything there is to know about the Olympics Games? Well, the 50 infographics below will definitely put that to the test.

We have infographics with information featuring the start of the Olympics in Greece to the revival period at the end of the 19th century, and Olympics in modern day London (2012).

Find out how various sports were selected and discarded over the years, how people feel about the current Summer Olympics 2012, how swimmers perform their best, etc. There’s even an infographic revealing the encouraging figures of the Special Olympics Games that’s held every two years. Get your brain ready to absorb all the fun facts and impress your friends with these bits of information!

2012 London Olympics (Source: Viator Travel Team)