How to Work With Clients as a Freelance Artist: Top 7 Tips
Even if you make money from home, that doesn’t negate the need to communicate with people. Often correspondence can be even more difficult than a conversation in person because we cannot hear the intonation of the interlocutor, we cannot observe his facial expressions, because of this, not knowing the emotional coloring of the phrase, one of the parties may misunderstand it.
A freelance artist’s job isn’t just to draw nice things or create a colorful list of information about online betting site in Tanzania. It’s also working with an audience and being able to communicate with clients in a way that keeps them coming back to you again and again. It’s also the ability not to waste time on those customers who come as “energy vampires” rather than profitable clients.
Learn to Communicate
Politeness is the basis of a successful relationship between two parties. A client may forget to say hello, get confused about how much a particular service costs, or simply wonder if you’re the right person for their project. As a rule, when people are spoken to in a friendly way (correspondence also applies), most adopt this tone, and communication begins to take a very different direction.
Ask questions, and once you know the answer, show variants of already completed works from what you’ve done for other people (of course, if they gave permission for that), be interested in the conversation and demonstrate that. Customers love attention to their wishes and leading questions, which ultimately increases the chance that the work will be ordered from you.
Consult the Customer
It’s good when the customer cares about your opinion, and the conversation may lead to an hour-long correspondence, because you shared certain information. Of course, this arrangement does not mean that you should always waste your time for nothing, but if the client realizes that you have consulted him well / gave some useful advice, he will not only want to come back to you, he will recommend such a friendly artist and others. Don’t count your money as if you were a lawyer with a per-minute fee, be open to people – and then it will pay off.
Trust your intuition. If it seems to you that the person is wasting your time for nothing, and advice and conversation are pointless, it is best to stop communicating and make sure that they came to you with a specific purpose, and not just to chat.
Deadlines Don’t Have to Be Idle
No one likes people who are late, especially when it comes to getting the job done. Even if the customer will forgive you for the delay, be sure that it will not make him happy, just as it would not make you happy if you were in his place. In case something went badly wrong (for example, unforeseen circumstances in life, of which, unfortunately, no one is immune), then it would be fair to warn your client about the situation in advance, not a day before delivery. The main thing is to keep the client informed, this is an extremely important and useful task for further cooperation.
This should also include working on your mistakes that may occur. For example, you need more time to correct something that the client is noticeably dissatisfied with. Learn to admit your fault so you can avoid conflict and show yourself as someone who can correct mistakes.
Your Price Tag Should Be Clear
How much will you charge for a rough job? How much would it cost for the same one, but with paint and backgrounds of varying degrees of finishing complexity? Or how much is the estimate for the hour of your time you will spend on a particular order? The way you put a price on your work will save a lot of nerves, and not make a potential customer ask a lot of questions or just pass by.
Another important point in determining the price, which we strongly advise you to use: limit the number of possible revisions. Many artists, tired of the eternal whims of customers, some of whom themselves do not really know what they want, long ago came to the following scheme:
- Stipulate with the customer what he wants.
- You offer some rough versions. At this stage, solidifies the understanding, whether your work fits the idea of the client. Usually you are allowed to make 3 to 5 free revisions, after which you will be charged separately. This is a very good way to screen out people who do not know what they want, but so that it is beautiful, or to force the customer to clearly articulate their desires.
- It is at the artist’s discretion whether or not free edits are allowed in the final order.
In order not to be cheated, agree at once on 100% prepayment of your labor and once again warn the client that not all edits can be made for free (even if you wrote about it in the most prominent place), to avoid conflicts that may arise on this basis.
About Bonuses
Offer your loyal customers a variety of bonuses and discounts, so they have an incentive to come back to you. It’s a simple but very effective tip if you have already established yourself as a freelancer and have a certain base of clients who want to see your work in their projects.
Know how to Say “No!” in Response to Terms That Don’t Suit You
An experienced freelancer listens to his inner “buzzer” telling him that at least a strange customer has arrived. The situations are astounding in their diversity, but here are some of the most common:
- You are asked to lower the price of your work or are promised to pay all (or part) of the amount after the order is completed.
- The client wants you to paint something that you are not prepared to depict. As a rule, artists stipulate right away that they won’t take on certain kinds of illustrations.
- You are spoken to disrespectfully. As a rule, tactless people make bad clients, and blatant disrespect should not be tolerated in any case.
- There is a lot of talk on distracted topics that have nothing to do with partnerships and working relationships.
- Unwillingness to compromise. This is important, as circumstances are completely different, both on the part of the client and the artist. If you don’t hear each other, you probably won’t work together.
Allocate Time for Rest
Rest and recuperation are just as necessary as work. It’s especially important for artists to remember to paint something for yourself, otherwise, you might lose interest in the process, not to mention quickly burn out. A well-organized schedule is the foundation of your mental and physical health, so try not to overdo it, take as many orders as you can, and give yourself days off.
How much you can put a monetary value on your work is directly related to your skill level. Increase it together with us, attract new people, and in time you’ll be able to take much more difficult and high-paying orders.
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