How to Be a Better Client

Freelance designers know how to be freelancers, and if they don’t there are plenty of quality articles that can tell them how to.

There are the ‘How Much Do I Charge’ articles the ‘How Do I Write A Service Agreement’ articles and of course the ‘But How Much Do I Charge If It’s A Good Friend” articles. What seems to be missing however, are articles that describe what should be expected of the client. Or in other words, the ‘How To Be A Good Client’ article.

The really good freelancers have learned by trial and error the detrimental effects that lousy clients can have on thier business and sanity. Many have even learned to smell a crooked potential client a mile away.

But at times, even the best of us can end up with the short end of the stick, doubting our skills and our worth.

Although this article may not be read by the one’s who need to see it the most, It may be just as helpful to freelancers who don’t yet know what SHOULD be expected of a client or potential client.

Addressing this to someone who is looking to hire a freelancer and assuming that said freelancer is somewhat seasoned, here are a few guidelines of note.

Figure Out What You Want – A designer needs a little more than “I want a modern looking site for my business”. You may not be the most tech savvy dude on the planet, but you should at least have a solid idea of what you do and do not want. A little research goes a long way. Check out some other sites or logos on the web that interest you and refer to them when talking to your freelancer.

Dont’ Be Cheap – If you hire a designer for $25 an hr. your design is going to look like you hired a designer for $25 an hr. Designing is more than just pixel-pushing. It takes a plethora of various refined skills, from understanding of typography to extensive knowledge of various software design platforms, not to mention the industry and market research that your designer engages in before beginning your project. This is your web presence, corporate identity or possibly your attempt at becoming the next Google or Facebook, either way it is being custom made to your specifications. How much is that worth to you?

Sign the Bloody Contract! – Yes, It is standard for a freelancer to send you one. Yes, it is standard for a freelancer to deny you speculative work and require a deposit before they begin working on your project. Remember a service agreement is not a ransom note, the designer most likely does not have an evil master plan to kidnap your project details and mocks until you pay up. it has been designed and put into place in order to protect the interests of all parties involved. If you have concerns about the terms and conditions set forth in the agreement you can negotiate some mutual changes, but first make sure you’ve done the following:

1. Read the contract.
2. Respond to the freelancer and let them know that you will be looking it over and getting back to them shortly.
3. Read the contract.
4. Make note of anything that you might find suspicious or disagreeable.
5. Read the contract.
6. Have your lawyer read the contract (although rarely necessary).
7. Don’t skip to step 4 if you haven’t yet done step 2.
8. Don’t do anything until you READ the contract.

You get the idea.

Send Them What They Need to Work With – Do you have a logo? Did you provide them with a project scope or details? Some examples of what design elements interest you? You don’t need to do the work for them, but letting them know that you hate bright purple or that you like tabbed navigation can save you alot of time (and money) down the road.

Don’t Call Them if You Get the Urge to Change the Header Font at 6am – The designer needs time. Time to do a little research or look over the project scope and details that you provided them. Tiny technical revisions are annoying when they are trying to get thier creative juices flowing and conceptualize the project. Make a list of all the things that you think you might want to change. Bring them all up at the appropriate time. Keep in mind that many freelancers keep strange hours and may end up working on your project while the rest of the world is sleeping. Don’t worry it WILL get done.

The Designer Knows Best A persistent client who doesn’t take the advice they’re paying for is cursed to get what they insist upon. The freelancers first mock is a sea foam green logo with a nice Sans-Serif Tahoma for the site content. Sure, you like the color red and you really really want to use that cool Captain Podd font. But what you may not know is that Captain Podd will look more like Captain Illegible when rendered in any web browser besides your own, and unless you’re sending out an SOS, red might not be the best choice for your healthspa logo. Have you thought about that? No? Well your freelancer did.

It’s Teamwork – Never mind the ‘client’, ‘freelancer’ labels, in the end you’re just collaborators on the same side of the line whose ultimate purpose is to produce great (and hopefully lucrative) work. Work that with a little cooperation might just surpass either one’s expectations.