What do Freelance Writing Clients want?
The question of what freelance writing clients want is a difficult one to answer. After all, no two clients are the same. With that being said, there are quite a few generalizations that you can make.
Here is a short list of what most freelance writing clients are looking for.
1. They want a writer who will listen to what they say, and then offer input based on what they hear. If you are not listening to your clients, and instead preaching to them, you are missing the boat. Remember, your client is the one paying for the work. They know what they want, and you should do your best to deliver.
2. Every client has a deadline in mind. For this reason, you need to make sure that you are always on the same page. If your client tells you that they need a project by Wednesday at 5pm, you need to take this to heart. Once you miss a deadline, it is safe to say that your client will no longer be able to trust you in the future. And in many cases, you will not get a second chance to prove yourself.
3. Although some people know what they want, others are looking to you for help. Time after time I receive inquiries from webmasters and companies who have a basic outline, but want me to decide on article topics, length, etc. Remember, you are the professional, and many people will base their decisions on what you tell them.
4. Are you easily accessible? This is something that you need to keep in mind. Make sure that your freelance writing clients have access to you via email, as well as phone. This way they can quickly get in touch with you if they have any questions, comments, or changes.
5. Quality work! When you get hired to write anything, no matter how big the project, your client is expecting high quality. Make sure that every project you complete is done to the best of your ability.
These are five things that the majority of freelance writing clients are looking for. If you keep them in mind while seeking new clients and servicing existing ones, you will better your chance of achieving success.
February 5th, 2008 at 11:54 am
I just wanted to take a minute and thank you for sharing your experiences. I read you every day.
February 8th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
Great advice. For someone who has no idea what clients are looking for I’d say that the most important things are doing what you said you would when you said you would, open communications (which includes telling them things about deadlines and prices as soon as you can, and letting them know if something changes or goes wrong), and a friendly and helpful attitude. It might seem like it’s a very competitive market with thousands of buyers and providers around the world, but if you master these things it’s a lot easier to find new customers and keep existing ones.
Once you’ve got those down you can always find little extras to provide to keep your clients coming back. Even on small projects I’ll frequently do a couple of extra things the client mentions - a lot of the time it’s important to them and even though we didn’t agree to it it doesn’t take long. It might cost me a little extra time but I find that it really helps increase my value which leads to higher rates. There is probably a point where it’s less effective, but as long as you have competition you want to be valuable.