- Welcome to the Creative Business TV show
where we help you make a success of your creative business.
I'm your host, Kylie Carlson, and this is a little
segment of the show we like to call Ask Kylie.
Today's question comes from Lauren in Sydney, Australia.
Hi Kylie, love the show, thank you.
As a new wedding planning and styling business,
I've ended up offering my services
to friends for free to get exposure.
It has ended up taking a lot more of my time
than I had anticipated and can afford to devote to it.
How do I take control of my time back?
Great question, Lauren, ya know,
this is a very common thing to happen
for people when they first start out in business.
What else do you do when you have
no experience or testimonials?
You offer your services gratis,
exactly what you've done, Lauren.
The issue you've got is you haven't
drawn any parameters around it.
It makes no difference whether
they're a paying client or not.
It doesn't matter whether they're friends.
You need to treat them in exactly the same way
as you would with any other client.
Now, I realize this is easier said than done,
but trust me when I say, it's the only way.
There's a reasons we use the old adage,
don't mix business with pleasure.
That is because it's so much harder
to fire a friend than it is a client.
When we take on a new client,
we usually issue them with a contract.
Sets up the boundaries, the limitations around
what's being offered and what they can expect.
It's a bit like a map that guides them through the process.
Now, if you aren't giving them this,
which I suspect you're not,
they've got nothing to guide them.
In some ways, it's even more important
to lay out the expectations ahead of time
with a freebie client than it is with paying clients
because you're freebie clients are more likely
to take advantage, especially if they're your friend.
So, before you start dishing out
your services for free, you need to think
about what it is you want to get out this arrangement.
At the end of the day, your freebie clients
are getting a really good deal out of you,
but what are you getting in return?
You can't work for free completely.
There has to be something in it for you.
In this case, it's experience and testimonials,
that's already been established.
But that's not all, you have to
set the boundaries around that.
So, what I mean by that is, before agreeing to do
these types of things, you gotta sit down and think very,
very hard about the time you can afford to dedicate to this.
Maybe instead of doing the whole thing for them,
perhaps identify areas they're struggling with
and agree to do those with them doing the rest.
Whatever it is, you've gotta be very firm
on this and put it down in writing.
Tell them the hours you've got
available and the ones you don't.
Outline what you're prepared to do,
and what you're not prepared to do.
Let them know that you wanna treat them
in the same ways you treat a paying client,
and you wanna give them a professional service,
and that includes a contract that
clearly states what you can offer.
Now, most people will probably appreciate this.
They can enjoy being part of the journey,
but Lauren, you can't just offer to plan
or style someone's wedding for free with no rules around it.
That doesn't make good business sense for anyone.
First thing I want you to do is work out
how many hours you have available in your schedule
to work with what we're gonna call freebie clients.
Then, I want you to decide what services
you're prepared to offer your freebie clients.
Finally, I want you to draw up a services agreement,
a.k.a. a contract, and it needs to outline
everything above that we've just talked about,
and you need to remember to include things like
times you can be available to answer
phone calls and emails, that type of thing,
and put a limit on the number of emails
and phone calls included within your freebie package.
Oh, and finally, another finally,
don't forget to draft up a paragraph that
clearly states what you expect from them in return.
Now, that might be images to use on your website.
It might be written, or better still, video testimonials.
It might be shout outs on social media,
a combination of everything I just said,
or something else entirely.
Doesn't matter, whatever it is, you've gotta be clear
and make sure it's included in your services agreement.
If your freebie clients aren't prepared to sign this,
then my advice to you is that you need
to politely decline to work with them.
Start off as you mean to carry on, professionally.
That doesn't matter whether, like I said,
whether they're free or paying clients, it's irrelevant,
you're still offering a service, and they are still clients.
So, the same rules apply.
Now, this doesn't necessarily help
with the current freebie clients you're working with,
Lauren, but it will help you in the future.
As always, I wanna hear from you.
Have you been in the same situation as Lauren?
Have you dealt with freebie clients?
Leave your comments below, so we can all learn from
each other in this wonderful creative community of ours.
That's all I have time for today.
I hope you enjoyed this edition of Ask Kylie
and that you'll join me next week when
I answer more of your creative business questions.
Don't forget to show us some love,
hit the Like button, hit the Subscribe button,
comment, do whatever you want, and if you wanna stay more
connected to us, come to KylieCarlson.co
and get on my mailing list.
Thank you for listening, and I will see you next week.
(upbeat music)
For more infomation >> Kennywood Lovers Attempt To Ride Thunderbolt 50 Times In A Row For Coaster's Anniversary - Duration: 0:47. 
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét