Retain Your Clients

This week’s episode is sponsored by Lili. Lili is the first online bank account specifically designed for freelancers, where you can manage both your personal and business finances, all from the same place. With Lili, you can organize all your purchases the same way you organize your dating preferences, by swiping left for life and right for work. If you sign up using code thewriterscoop, they’ll add 25 free dollars to your account when you spend $250 within the first 45 days.

As freelancers, we don’t get what we don’t ask for. If we don't ask our favorite clients for more work, we probably won't get it. The good news is, there’s a really easy fix for coming back to clients who you want to continue a relationship with: Build that process into your business plan. At the close of every project, decide how you want to continue the relationship. Maybe you want to ditch the client altogether -- that’s completely legit. But if you’ve got the space to continue that relationship, say so! If you’re looking to offer other services to that same client, tell them!
This week on the show, Wudan coached Mahima Jain on this very topic. Mahima is an independent journalist based in India who writes about environment, gender, and society. She has published in Indian and global publications such as the Fuller Project, BBC, Earth Island Journal, The Caravan Magazine and others. Her work has been supported by several international grants and fellowships (Earth Journalism Network, International Women’s Media Foundation, and others). You can check out more of her work at: https://mahimajain.in or on Twitter @theplainjain or Instagram @mahima.a.jain.
Mahima has done a lot of great work and it makes sense to continue building the relationships she has. But because journalism assignments are often presented in a one-and-done fashion, she finds projects sailing away once they wrap up --  even though she’s eager to work with those same editors again.
We can psychoanalyze to no end why freelancers tend to let good clients go. Maybe there’s a part of us that feels like “it’s too soon” to ask for more work. We don’t want to feel like we’re coming on “too strong” to a client. But Wudan's personal philosophy is this: It doesn’t hurt to tell people where you stand. Maybe you want to work together but not immediately, since you’re already booked for the next month or so.  Or maybe you’d love to start on another assignment because the experience of working with them was so positive. Say so.
You can buy this week’s resources related to client management in our store! (And if you’re a Patreon member, you’ll get them for free!) We have tipsheets on onboarding, offboarding, and reviving inactive clients. We want you to work with people and companies who treat you with respect.
If you haven't already, we hope you'll check out our online course on business planning; it'll help you think through what you need and want in your business.