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Onboarding Process For Long-Term Freelance Writing Client Success — Transcript

by Mandy Ellis · 3,793 words · 510 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00don't be the freelance writer who starts
0:01their onboarding process too late in the
0:04game we want to make sure that we start
0:06onboarding a potential client by making
0:10sure they're a fit first we're not
0:11trying to onboard everybody we're trying
0:14to onboard the right fit so I'm going to
0:16give you a bunch of different steps to
0:18take to onboard your clients and build
0:20those long-term relationships and have
0:22ongoing work but you need to pay
0:23attention that we just don't want to
0:25take everybody on the bus we want the
0:27right people on the bus so we don't want
0:29to start late in the game and we want to
0:31be particular about who's on the bus I'm
0:33Mandy Ellis I'm a six figure freelance
0:34writer who has helped other freelance
0:36writers build High earning businesses
0:38they adore without the stress burnout
0:40and overwhelm and I'm going to walk you
0:41through a bunch of steps today so number
0:43one number one of these things is you
0:45need to filter your inbound leads this
0:47is what I call Diamond clients you need
0:48to dig for Diamond clients so when
0:51you're getting inbound leads meaning
0:53clients are reaching out to you you
0:54don't get on calls with all of them you
0:57just email them a set number of
0:59questions to answer before you get on a
1:01call to make sure they're the right fit
1:03because we want to start the onboarding
1:04SL relationship building process when we
1:06get on a call we don't want to be
1:08building relationships or wasting
1:10precious scheduled time on calls with
1:12clients who are not a good fit for us so
1:15when you get an inbound lead in I like
1:17to ask what's your project right if they
1:19don't email you like what the project is
1:22tell me what your project is what's your
1:24budget what's your timeline and what
1:25other things you have going on in the
1:27pipeline those are your minimum
1:28questions if you want want some more
1:30questions that you should ask on your
1:32initial call or your initial email grab
1:34my free season veteran cheat sheet it's
1:36mandel.com cheet that gives you a bunch
1:38more questions to ask to filter out the
1:41right inbound leads to get on calls with
1:43so that you can make sure you're
1:44onboarding those Diamond clients so you
1:45can go to mandel.com sheeet to grab it
1:48but you can have these questions that
1:51you send via email or you can create a
1:53standalone web page so I had this page
1:56that I had up that had my brand values
1:58testimonials past projects I worked on
2:01niches I was in uh and then a bunch of
2:03different types of projects I worked on
2:05with some ballpark pricing and at the
2:07very end of that page and this page is
2:09not searchable by Google so that I could
2:12only send it when I wanted to uh it had
2:14a calendar to schedule a call with me so
2:16if everything on that page looked good
2:18then they could schedule a call I want
2:20to be very careful about where I'm
2:22spending my time so in the beginning I
2:24recommend that you just ask some
2:26questions via email to make sure you're
2:27getting on the right calls after after a
2:30while of you kind of like getting used
2:32to that and knowing what you're looking
2:33for and really having those specific
2:35attributes of your diamond clients and
2:37this is something that I go over very in
2:39depth with my Runway and my wealth lab
2:41students but you have those specific
2:42characteristics of your specific ideal
2:44Diamond clients then you can start
2:47creating that web page where you're you
2:48get an inbound lead and you're like hey
2:50here's this web page of everything looks
2:51good schedule call and it makes it a lot
2:53quicker because people will self- select
2:55out so instead of them getting on a call
2:58and wasting your time or you realize
2:59they're tire kicker or um that they're
3:01not the type of client you want or
3:03you're just not a personality fit you
3:05have this web page to do it for you so
3:07when you're
3:08filtering these inbound leads this also
3:11means that you need to filter your
3:12outbound right so your Lois that you're
3:14sending those letters of introduction
3:17that you're sending out to potential
3:18clients this filtering process to find
3:21your diamond clients is really good too
3:23so we're filtering our inbound leads by
3:25either asking them questions via email
3:27or we have uh our Standalone web page
3:31that's not searchable by Google to send
3:32people and we're filtering the clients
3:35that we're emailing our Lois out to or
3:37sending those via LinkedIn inage inmail
3:40uh those are really important kind of
3:41two-pronged approach we need to filter
3:43filter filter this is something that I
3:45harun so much with my students as we go
3:48through the different blueprint
3:49processes like the proven things that I
3:51teach them um because it is key to
3:54wearing your new pair of glasses so you
3:56can identify Diamond clients by saying
3:57yes yes yes no yes no it's very quick to
4:01start identifying them because you know
4:02what you're looking for so if you can
4:03kind of put that into both your inbound
4:06process where people are emailing you
4:07and you're outbound where you're sending
4:09things out like Lois that will make a
4:11huge difference in your business number
4:13two number two now if you are onboarding
4:16properly you need to do some things that
4:18will take you out of your comfort zone
4:20one of those things is pricing I always
4:22always always recommend that you pick a
4:24number that makes you feel a little bit
4:25nervous this ensures that you're not
4:27leaving money on the table and you're
4:29also so pushing yourself out of your
4:31boundaries so instead of you setting
4:33rates and then being like well I hope
4:35this works I want you to pick numbers
4:37you feel a little bit nervous about so
4:39when you hear a client's budget we want
4:41to see if we're playing the same game
4:42we're not going into their budget to say
4:44like whatever they said the max amount
4:46is it that's not it we're hearing their
4:48budget to make sure that they also think
4:51$2,000 for you know this guide makes
4:54sense and then I want you if you're like
4:56let's say they don't give you a budget
4:58number I want you to pick a number that
5:00makes you feel a bit nervous when you
5:01send that proposal because it's really
5:04really good um for you moving up in your
5:07pricing aligning with the right clients
5:09making sure you're not leaving money on
5:10the table um and proving to yourself
5:12that you can get paid well for your work
5:14uh I also have a free pricing guide so
5:16if you go to mandel.com pricing guide
5:18you can pick that up and that will give
5:19you dozens and dozens and dozens of
5:22projects uh to uh help you price in the
5:25range that makes sense for you so if you
5:26go to mandel.com pricing guide you can
5:28grab it but the key here is that
5:31whenever you're setting your rates like
5:32I like to kind of have an idea of a
5:34ballpark of set rates that I like for
5:36certain projects but when you get a
5:39client's budget and let's say they're
5:41asking for four different things they
5:43want you know a guide an infographic a
5:45case study in a white paper you have
5:47kind of a ballpark in your head but that
5:49total project number should be a number
5:51that makes you a little bit nervous so
5:53we want to make sure we're kind of
5:54pushing our boundaries because
5:5799.999% of writers we under charge and I
6:01don't want to uh continue perpetuating
6:04the idea that like we should just keep
6:06kind of like oh well what is what do
6:08they say and what should we do and no
6:10you need to pick the number that makes
6:11you a little bit nervous so there's lots
6:13of highp paying clients out there um
6:16there isn't this like lack of
6:18high-paying clients it's your ability to
6:19filter and go find them and then your
6:21ability to charge appropriately for your
6:24work so you want to make sure that
6:25you're doing both those things number
6:27three here number three you need to ask
6:29ask a lot of questions on your client
6:31calls you need to be a questioner if
6:33you've ever read uh Gretchen rubin's
6:35book um about the four different kind of
6:38personalities uh I'm a questioner I
6:40think questioners are what most writers
6:42are because we're very curious and
6:44interested but you need to ask a lot of
6:46questions on your client calls because
6:48you need to know what's going on like
6:51are we a personality fit are we a fit on
6:53scope of work are we fit on budget are
6:55we fit on timeline do they have other
6:57work in the pipeline so asking a lot of
6:59question on those calls defines the
7:01project defines the proposal but it also
7:03defines your working relationship and
7:05your boundaries and how they treat you
7:07and you know the personality and how
7:09they communicate so we want to make sure
7:11that we are asking a lot of questions
7:13but we're also listening so listen first
7:16I like to listen first so that I can
7:18respond but then I also ask a lot of
7:20questions so that I can kind of
7:22reinforce the boundaries but also kind
7:25of set expectations and have them
7:27understand what it's like to work with
7:28me uh these things I think are really
7:31important for onboarding because it
7:33helps you weed out the right clients if
7:35you're asking a bunch of questions and
7:36they're getting annoyed or they're like
7:38why would you need to know that that's
7:39not your client um or they're like well
7:42we need it yesterday and like you should
7:43just do it because you're the writer or
7:45like you figure it out they're not your
7:46client or if you hear something like uh
7:48I'll know when I see it they're not your
7:50client you need to ask a lot of
7:52questions and good clients will be like
7:53that makes sense those questions and
7:55their answers and your ability to listen
7:58and you know actually understand what
7:59they're saying in terms of like working
8:02with them their personality all that
8:03stuff and respond that helps you onboard
8:06the right clients and set expectations
8:09for next steps which are number four
8:11your proposal contract invoice so now
8:14that we've kind of filtered people out
8:15in this process we're getting to the
8:17part where the the next step is after
8:19the call is we're sending a proposal
8:21contract invoice I like dubsado for this
8:24and I will put a little video here um
8:26for dubsado where I walked through how I
8:29use it but you want to make sure that
8:31you have a legally binding signature
8:33tool for your contract but also that
8:36you're able to send it all is one thing
8:38that's what I really like about dubsado
8:39is I send one link and it shows them the
8:42proposal the contract and the invoice so
8:45when I leave the call I let them know
8:47that hey I'm going to send you a
8:48proposal it includes all the stuff we
8:50talked about Plus pricing if that looks
8:53good you can sign the contract and then
8:54you can pay The Upfront payment all of
8:56that stuff has been discussed on the
8:58call there's no new information so
9:00sending the proposal contract invoice
9:02shouldn't be a surprise they should know
9:04exactly what you're they're getting how
9:05it works where it's coming from it's
9:07coming from dubsado uh and how all these
9:10different pieces are like of onboarding
9:12um work like when they're working with
9:14me or partnering with me so I like the
9:16idea of giving those things all at once
9:18because if they have questions on any of
9:20those things I can handle that with one
9:22email instead of an email for a proposal
9:24and then okay let me send you the
9:26contract and then let me send you the
9:27invoice they can go at their own pace
9:29and usually gets contracts signed
9:30quicker and payment made quicker so we
9:33want to make sure all those things are
9:35in place and the proposal contract
9:37invoice is a really good way for you to
9:40prepare your clients on the call and
9:42onboard them because then you'll get an
9:44answer of like oh no like we don't do
9:46contracts or um you know they'll tell
9:48you like oh we'll send a contract from
9:50legal like there there's a whole bunch
9:51of ways that we can move forward with
9:53onboarding but when we kind of set the
9:55stage that we're going with proposal
9:57contract invoice format that means we've
10:00already talked about payment we've
10:01already talked about next steps we've
10:02already talked about how we're going to
10:04move forward with this project um and it
10:06kind of like is a natural way to kind of
10:08onboard your clients number five here
10:11number five so anything that they are
10:13going through in the proposal contract
10:15invoice you're going to maybe negotiate
10:17with them so you're um negotiating maybe
10:21your payment terms or you're negotiating
10:23the contract you might be negotiating
10:25the payment itself if they didn't give
10:26you a budget uh you might be negotiating
10:29whether it's ghost writing or by line or
10:31whether you need to sign an NDA or you
10:34need to edit some other kinds of payment
10:36terms or rights terms in the contract so
10:38this doesn't always happen but um
10:40negotiating is normal like it's normal
10:42for you to send something and if your
10:44client doesn't give you a budget you
10:46pick a number that makes you a little
10:47bit nervous and send it away if that
10:49doesn't work for them there's a lot of
10:51clients who will just magically decide
10:53they have a budget after you send
10:54something that's not on you that's on
10:57them for not being transparent so you
10:59need to make sure that you're sending
11:01your stuff and if you want to negotiate
11:02you can good clients will always
11:04negotiate with you remember that good
11:06clients will always negotiate with you
11:07they will negotiate your price they will
11:09negotiate your terms they will like
11:11there's nothing in there that's like off
11:13the table they just want to talk about
11:14it a little bit more so you may not have
11:16to negotiate these things but good
11:18clients make it a fair uh it's a fair
11:21conversation between equals it's not
11:23like this weird thing where they're like
11:24you can't do that WR or like weird stuff
11:27like that uh so yeah negotiating is
11:30normal don't be afraid of it treat it as
11:32two equals trying to like solve a
11:34problem together number six here number
11:36six so you need at least a 50% upfront
11:39payment so I like at least uh if I'm
11:42doing a project I get 50% of the project
11:44upfront 50% due 30 days later so 50%
11:48upfront then I invoice so that two weeks
11:51from that invoice they I have full
11:53payment 30 days later does that make
11:55sense so I invoice and they pay that
11:58invoice and then they they the other
12:00half of that money is due 30 days later
12:02not I I don't invoice 30 days later the
12:05money is due 30 days later so I get a
12:07payment which is half and then 30 days
12:09later they will complete the other half
12:10of that payment so that for me has
12:12worked really well you can also do 100%
12:14upfront if you're doing a retainer I
12:17like to do 50% of the first month
12:19upfront 50% due at the end of the month
12:22every other month is you invoice by the
12:24first of the month it's due by mid-mon
12:26if they don't pay the invoice don't turn
12:28in your work at the end of the month
12:30uh but for me you could also do 100% um
12:32Upfront for the for the month for your
12:35retainer as well I just like to those
12:39two options have really worked well for
12:41me the 50% upfront 50% due 30 days later
12:44for a project where it's X number of
12:46deliverables for x amount of dollars and
12:48then the ongoing retainer for 3 to 6
12:51months is you know 50% of the first
12:54month upfront 50% due by the end of the
12:56month every other month you invoice by
12:59or on the first of the month and it's
13:00due by mid Monon and that way in case
13:02something happens you don't turn work in
13:04but you're already paid and they can
13:06kind of sort themselves out and pay you
13:08and then you can turn your work in so it
13:10makes uh it gives you some security in
13:12your business it helps you kind of move
13:14up to better clients because you've
13:15already secured payment and you have
13:17other things that you can focus on and
13:19like if they don't pay their invoice
13:20then you just don't turn in your work so
13:22it works out so that you're not turning
13:24in work where I've seen writers turn in
13:27work where they're like Yeah the more
13:28work I turn in the more money money they
13:29owe me right yeah but they're not going
13:31to pay that invoice like stop turning in
13:33your work so you want to be really
13:34careful about that you always want to
13:36have some money in your pocket though
13:38before you start the work don't start
13:40the work without any money in your
13:41pocket because this is part of that like
13:44agreement between you and the client the
13:46client needs to put something in the
13:47game for you to get started so you want
13:49to make sure um that you don't get
13:51burned like I did where I just started
13:54the work and then someone was like Hey
13:56we're not going to continue this or
13:57we're not doing and they haven't paid
13:58anything thing and you already started
14:00the work um or what ends up happening is
14:03um you know you have a client who didn't
14:05pay you anything and you're letting them
14:08take you take up brain space or mental
14:10space those people who have not sent you
14:13any money they get to be orbiters okay
14:15so if they haven't sent you any money if
14:18they haven't like they've signed a
14:19contract and they haven't given you
14:20upfront payment but they set a deadline
14:23they don't exist until they pay that
14:24money and the longer it takes them to
14:26pay the money the further out the
14:28deadline goes they don't get to pay you
14:29on Thursday and the deadline is Friday
14:31and you turn it in that's not how this
14:32works so you want to make sure that if
14:34someone hasn't paid you they're just
14:36orbiting they don't get to take a brain
14:37space or schedule space and then once
14:39they pay you can put them in your
14:41schedule last thing here is kind of like
14:43do you or don't you maybe want to number
14:46seven is maybe have a kickoff call I
14:48know some writers like to do this where
14:50they set up all the stuff and then they
14:52have a kickoff call to like talk about
14:53the whole project you could do that if
14:56you want I think that works better when
14:57you have a bunch of deliverables like
14:59you have like five or six deliverables
15:00that you're doing over maybe a 3 to six
15:02month period that might be a better fit
15:05but if you're having a retainer usually
15:06you're doing kind of repetitive content
15:08over a short Peri well not a short but
15:10over a period of time and um I think
15:13kickoff calls depend on personality so
15:15if you like to have a kickoff call where
15:17um you can connect with them again and
15:20go over the project and go over maybe a
15:22timeline or uh iron anything out you can
15:25do that I like to include two 30 minute
15:28calls or one 1 hour call in my contract
15:31um that way it's very clear that like
15:33hey if we do a kickoff call and it's 30
15:35minutes you have one 30 minute call left
15:37to go over anything in this project or
15:40um you know it also says if you've used
15:42all your stuff if you used either your
15:44one hour meeting or your two 30 minute
15:46meetings all other meetings are you know
15:48100 bucks an hour so that way it's very
15:50clear that yes you have meetings
15:51included in your contract for a couple
15:53things but if you want a lot of meetings
15:55it costs money so maybe you have a
15:57kickoff call maybe you don't it just
15:58depends depends on your uh personality
16:02how you want to handle the project how
16:03long it is how many things are in there
16:05so I think for for me when you're
16:07starting onboarding you want to make
16:08sure you start this way at the beginning
16:10where you're filtering clients you're
16:12filtering people who who uh reach out to
16:14you and say hey I want to work with you
16:16you're filtering people that you're
16:17sending Lois to and then you're being
16:19really specific about your pricing
16:21you're really specific about asking the
16:23right questions on calls and you're
16:24continuing to filter which means you're
16:27only onboarding the right people so this
16:29filtering process goes through the whole
16:31thing so you are onboarding but you're
16:33cutting people off the onboarding
16:35process as you go through and I think
16:37that's the right way to onboard because
16:38we don't want to just like shove people
16:40in and be like good you're my client we
16:41want to onboard the right clients and we
16:43want to be very particular about the
16:45filtering that we go through in
16:46onboarding so I hope this has been
16:48helpful and um the next video that we're
16:50going to talk about is effective
16:52communication so this is something where
16:55I think there are different
16:57communication strategies that we use
16:58with clients that are really important
17:01in how you talk to them and um what you
17:03say and how to get out of awkward or
17:05weird conversations and there's a lot of
17:07things that happen because we work with
17:09other people we work with other teams so
17:11I hope that's going to be helpful as
17:13well and uh I hope you have a good good
17:15rest of your day

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