How to Impress New Clients from Day 1

I read an interesting post today about how freelance writers can build strong, professional relationships with new clients. The post is on Freelance Switch and is about creating a smooth client intake process.

The gist of the article is that it makes a lot of sense to develop a repeatable way to bring new clients into your work process and your world. I've made a map of the blog post:

The author of the post, Thursday Bram, points out two distinct benefits of creating a repeatable client intake process:

1. By presenting the client with a well-ordered process, you immediately present yourself as a professional who knows how to get the job done--with the least pain and stress to your client.

2. By creating a repeatable process, you make it easier (should this happy day come), for you to pawn off some of this early client interaction onto your assistant.

Both of these benefits can mean more money in your pocket, a less-stressful experience for your client and, who knows, maybe a decent starting income for someone who's just getting into the game and is ready to assist you and learn from you.

As Bram notes, it's critical to gather this information in a way that you can put it right into the writing process. So you can gather all your client intake info in a CD MINDMAP, organize it and add to it, then export it all to an MS outline and get to work. By jove! Brilliant!