Customer Service

04 March

How To Get Clients To Pay (For Sensitive Business Owners + Creatives)

Erika Madden   |   Business Tips, Customer Service   |   24 Comments

How to get paid by clients: what to put in your contracts, the best way to invoice, + 4 polite client scripts. (For the shy, sensitive business owners + entrepreneurs.)

Dear fabulous creativepreneur, freelancer, or service-based business owner,

Does the prospect of talking with a client about money give you sweaty palms?

Have you ever ended up losing money -- or not getting paid at all -- because you were too afraid to push for payment?

Does your reasoning for not pushing said payment sound anything like the phrases below?

"I don't want to come off sounding demanding and harm my reputation." // "I'm afraid I'll look money-hungry." // "Well she IS a friend of mine." // "I really want to avoid starting a nasty fight." // "Maybe the check is in the mail and I'll get it next week." // "I have no idea what to even say!"

If so, I love you + let me buy you a latte.

You're not the only one, nor are you the "bad business owner" you fear that you are.

What you might be?

Shy.

Introverted.

Even "sensitive." (And by the way? I'm claiming that word for all positive things, NOT the "ohhh you're just too sensitive, get over it" remarks that not-nice non-sensitive people like to say.)

But lousy, incompetent, and all those other awful things?

No. Those words will not be uttered on my blog.

So let's talk, generous woman. How do people like you and I get clients to pay up without coming off as greedy + cold?

I just happen to have a few tips (plus 4 fill-in-the-blank client scripts!) for you:
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28 January

Want To Know How To Delight Your Customers? 13 Savvy Business Women Share Their Best Tips!

Erika Madden   |   Business Tips, Customer Service, Reputation   |   40 Comments

Great small business tips from successful women on how you can impress your customers and look like a professional. A must read for the entrepreneurs, freelancers, Etsy shop owners, and other creatives.

Knowing how to delight your customers is a big deal, and something that really, truly, seriously intimidates a lot of new entrepreneurs + freelancers.

I know because when my freelance business in web and graphic design started getting serious (you know, I wasn't doing things for free-ish), the burden to make sure my clients liked me + my work was super heavy.

I felt -- and still feel -- that the entire key to my success in business was going to hinge on how my clients perceived me. And THAT would depend entirely on how well I could serve them.

This would have to be achieved not just by doing GOOD work (hellooo -- clearly a non-negotiable!), but by making sure their entire experience with me was pleasant, smooth and, well, utterly delightful.

I know back then I was hungry for any and all simple advice from people in a similar space as me on how to deliver this great customer experience , which is why I decided to pull together the collective brains of some impressive entrepreneurial women in this post today.

They have been incredibly generous to share the little, unassuming things they do that make a biiiig impact on their customer happiness, and I'm so SO excited to pass them on to you.

Here's what they had to share with me:
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14 January

7 Pithy Quotes From The Middle Ages That Will Help You Run A Soaring Business Today

Erika Madden   |   Business Tips, Classy Marketing, Customer Service, Reputation   |   11 Comments

These 7 quotes out of the Middle Ages will boost your business savvy, woo your customers, + make you a happier business owner.

You're probably wondering how I came up with such a loopy topic.

Middle Ages? Business quotes? Wha?

All I can say is that I have a slight obsession with both subjects and decided the only fitting thing to do was to mash the two together and see what kind of mess I could create.

Forgive me.
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