The majority of business owners want you to believe that all is perfect. Everything is perfect. They have a number of satisfied customers who don’t complain, and everything goes smoothly.
They’re lying.
In reality, regardless of how cautious you are, things can happen to go wrong. It’s a part of the business that no one likes to discuss, but it does happen. It’s possible that you will have a moment in time when you encounter a breakup with a customer.
No matter if you’re a freelancer or a small-business owner, it’s one of the toughest issues to face. Firstly, you won’t get paid. Additionally, it’s a problem since you do your best to assist your customers. However, you’re not the only one.
The remainder of this article comes from my personal viewpoint as a copywriter. However, the situations can be derived from any field. They’re also fictional, but they’re still great examples of what could fail.
1. The short
Before you begin any project, you will need a detailed brief from the client to know what they want from the project.
In order to get as detailed as you can is crucial, but it’s also difficult. Make sure you ask lots of questions to ensure you can get a clear picture of what they’re searching for.
Certain clients might assume that you are an expert in mind reading as they “I want four web pages written” they expect you to be able to pinpoint exactly what they want to write. Of course, it’s not in this manner. However, certain clients don’t realize they need to give you the basic information to work from (i.e., the things they are doing, who their clients are, what they would like and their USP, and so on. ).
Sometimes, when you have a client that is hard to work with, it’s tempting to draw up an outline and then get into it in the hope of getting it right. Do not do it because it’s a catastrophe that’s waiting to take place. The only thing you’ll be able to do is squander the client as you’ll have to go through a series of revisions. It’s more beneficial to start early to collect the correct data rather than trying to fix it later.
2. I’m not certain
Certain clients don’t know what they’re looking for.
They’re not certain of what they’re looking for and what format it should take and the kind of layout they’d like, or what are the most important advantages of their product or service are.
This is the kind of information that you’ll need to fight to get during the briefing.
If you’re unsure of the style and voice, the best approach is to ask your client for examples of other material they’ve seen written in a style that they enjoy. It’s easier to imitate the style you see rather than trying to make one from the vague instructions of your client.
3. Review process
What is the reason it is important to understand what the review process will be going to function?
If the person who is presenting an outline is also the person who approves it, you’re probably on the right track to win. If someone else is signing off the brief or a group consisting of management, it may be trouble in the coming days.
If more than one person is involved, there are multiple viewpoints to take into consideration. They might have different opinions regarding style and content, and even if you’ve adhered to the guidelines according to their entirety, you could need to make modifications.
The best approach is to learn the review process be and, if it requires multiple people, schedule an appointment with them at the beginning to have some basic guidelines established prior to writing.
4. Ideas
Sometimes you’ll meet someone who is clear on what they’d like. At first glance, this sounds wonderful; however, what happens if the ideas don’t pan out?
They’ve hired you as experienced in the field of copywriting. However, when you inform them of what you should write (benefits guided by benefits, second person, or conversational), they make a fuss and insist on doing the way they want even though you’re aware that it’s not going to work.
You have two options:
Write what they want to know that it won’t work and could damage your professional reputation
Let them go and locate someone else.
In this instance, take a break.
Do you know how you can avoid being in one of these scenarios?
The best advice I could give you is to trust your gut. If you hear a whisper in your head saying “no”, listen to it.
Your gut will inform you whether the position is the right one the way for you. Be prepared to say no. If you don’t, something might come up. If you’re able to admit it, it can help you avoid a lot of night-time sleepless nights.
