Lesson #1: You Are a Creative Professional, Not a Laborer
You are not a laborer. Or whatever this guy is..
(Image from Photodune)
The
first lesson, which forms the basis of all other lessons in this post,
is to make your client understand that you are a creative professional
with the same talent, skills and experience that any other professional
might have.Most people don’t tell their doctors or electricians how to do their jobs… why? Because most people recognize that doctors and electricians know more about their respective trades than they do. This seems to change with web designers though – lots of clients think that simply surfing the web qualifies them to make design decisions… meaning that they usually treat web designers as extensions of their own minds.
Because of this false-perception, clients often take us creative professionals are laborers who were born to do their work, not experienced professionals that are an equal part of the design process.
This can especially be the case with freelance web designers, where most clients are of the mindset that – if you don’t have an office, it means that you don’t have any work hours. For these kinds of clients, educating them that you have set times of the day that you work is the first step in establishing a respectful work relationship. Make it a point to tell your new and existing clients that you are a professional, the same as they are, and that you need time for yourself, your family and all other things in the world.
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