Knowing Your Customer

I was thinking the other day about how Laurel Touby’s advice could apply to freelancers, who may not be starting their own companies, but whose lifestyles are very entrepreneurial. Especially her advice about knowing your customer and bending to fit the customer’s needs. For freelancers, the client is the customer. One major challenge can be selling yourself in your work while being at all times aware of what the customer wants. If you’re a seasoned writer, for example, it can be frustrating to have to change your writing style to meet the needs of the client. As another example, many photographers who do editorial work or commercial work also do art photography in their “real lives.” It can be damn near impossible to remove artistic inclinations, even when you’re just shooting a product for an ad. But, often times the client doesn’t want creative. So separating yourself (and your pride) out from a job can be hard.

It’s really important to strike a balance. On the one hand, freelancers have their “brand” (god, I hate that word) to develop. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been told, “You need to brand yourself.” (My response is always of course the corny “No! That sounds painful!”) Instead of brand, let’s say identity. That sounds way less horrible. Freelancers have an identity to uphold and to sell. You want to be chosen because your work is unique to you. You want to be chosen because your work is special. But sometimes you have to make your work unspecial to make the client happy.

So yeah, it’s hard. But good advice to always remember.

Advertisement