Does your client roster read like the advertising section of a newspaper? Do plumbers, veterinarians, landscapers, dentists any and every type of small business who needs design services come to you? This could be because youre the only game in town not everyone lives in a major metropolis.
Attempting to please everyone is said to be the fastest route to mediocrity. In fact, its the fastest route to outright failure. Were going to look at why this is so, and how to go about streamlining your business to provide maximum value to the clients who are most worth it.
Too Much Hassle
You should happily alienate certain types of clients. You cant please everybody, after all. Some clients can be more trouble than theyre worth. Weve all had clients like these. Theyre demanding, yet tight-fisted about payment; they want plenty of options, but they dont value you enough as a freelancer to compensate you fairly. They ask for services you dont feel comfortable providing or which would require an excessive amount of time and resources to get.
To top it all off, they see almost no value in your work as a designer maybe their spouse or colleague told them they needed a website or rebranding and they just went along with it. What are you doing serving clients like this? Its a hassle thats not worth it in any way, shape, or form.
Project Not A Good Fit
Some design projects are just not worth the trouble of taking on. Whether theyre simply boring to you, or they wont contribute meaningfully to a strong portfolio, there are many reasons to turn down certain projects, even if the client is pleasant.
I cant tell you how many times Ive referred a perfectly good client to another designer friend of mine, simply because I didnt think I was capable of providing the best value to them. If you dont appear greedy for business any business these clients will usually take notice of that, and when a colleague of theirs comes along whom you are a better fit for, theyll call you first.
Who To Alienate
So, what types of clients should you alienate? Choosing who to focus on is a highly personal exercise. You can start by creating a list of the most common traits of your 5 best clients. What did you most love about working with these people? What about the projects was most interesting to you?
When youre done, you will have a reference sheet of the single type of niche client to zero in on. Anyone who doesnt embody, at least 80% of, whats on that list should be referred to a designer friend of yours who is more suitable.
Cant Afford To Ignore?
Focusing on a particular type of niche client can be scary for some freelancers who arent as secure financially as theyd like to be. Weve all done things for the money that werent necessarily fulfilling or career-building, and thats okay in the short term.
However, if you consistently find yourself taking on work you dont enjoy, just to pay the bills, thats usually a sign that something is wrong. Either youre not exposing yourself to the right type of clients who will pay more for your work, or youre off the mark with your pricing and service offerings. Either way, youre not providing the correct amount of value to the clients youre serving.
Conclusion
No designer can be everywhere at all times, nor can they be everything to all people. Theres no single, solitary designer who can provide the perfect solution to a generic pool of clients, nor should there be. If you want to be memorable in your clients minds, you have to first find the type of clients who are most likely to remember you the ones who most value your contribution and ignore the rest who dont fit.
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