Making Writing Clients Happy

I love it when my writing clients are happy. Usually I know because they send me effusive emails saying that I have captured exactly what they needed. I get a lot of those. (Lest you think I’m big headed, I also have several clients who simply pay up without comment.) This week was a first, though. I got a tip.

Most clients stick to the budget and seed a few well chosen words of praise when they are happy with the work I have done. This client put her money where her mouth was and added a bonus to the agreed fee for the article on social media. I felt good, and I tried to analyse what I had done to deserve this largesse. Here’s what I think it boils down to:

• I asked questions at the start to clarify the brief.

• I followed the brief to the letter.

• I offered to add a resource list to make it more useful for the client’s readers.

• I provided sources for my quotes so that the client could let them know they were being mentioned.

• I quickly made the minor amendments requested — a case of clarifying some terminology used.

• I delivered the article six days early.

It’s not always possible to deliver a job early. I’m usually happy to deliver on time. But the other aspects are what make me a professional freelance web content writer.