5 Steps to Working Well with Clients as a Freelance UX Writer
Whether you're just starting out or have been in business for a while, building positive and productive relationships with clients is crucial to your success.
Here are 5 steps to guide you in your client journey:
1. Set expectations (and boundaries) early.
It’s important to be clear about what types of writing you’re willing and able to work on—and not. Do you only do product copy? What about help center articles? Or marketing emails? Are there things that you’re not an expert in (and maybe don’t love) but willing to consult on?
From your client’s side, make sure you find out important info like their expected turnaround time for the project, their review process, who you’ll be working with in the company, and if they expect you to attend any meetings.
2. Get it in writing.
After you’ve hammered out the important details, get a solid contract signed before you really get started. You don’t want to find out down the road—after you’ve already put hours into the project—that the feature is on halt or the funding has dried up.
If you don’t have your own freelancer contract template, don’t sweat! There are a bunch of generic templates available online to help get you started. (And watch this space for a proposal template coming from Merav soon!)
3. Ask for the information you need. Then ask again.
Now you’re ready to get to work, but how do you get the info you need? There are so many memes about UX writers waiting for access to design files. It doesn’t have to be that way.
Be upfront with your clients about what could be helpful for you to do the best job possible. Here are our suggestions:
Figma files
A demo account or dev site
User research, customer support/success conversations
Branding and voice and tone documents
Their help center/knowledge base or user guide
4. Stay up to date and in sync.
If you’re working with a client long-term, you need to manage tasks and communicate about ongoing projects. Here are some ways to do that:
Set up a project management tool (like ClickUp) to organize your tasks and deadlines.
Create a “new task” form for clients to fill out.
For more complicated tasks, ask them to record a Loom.
Schedule short weekly check-in calls. Use this time to ask questions about new projects, get feedback on work you’ve submitted, or talk about what’s coming up next.
5. Guide them towards helpful, constructive feedback.
As anyone in this business knows, you won’t always get it right on the first try. You have to be open to feedback, and you can help your clients give you the right kind.
Unhelpful feedback is vague, based on feelings, and personal. It can sound like this:
“You got it wrong.”
“We don’t like it.”
“It doesn’t sound good.”
These all might be true, but it doesn’t help you get closer to the copy they need.
Helpful feedback is specific, based on research, and focuses on the words. It can sound like this:
“We’ve found our users are hesitant around that word. Can you offer something else?”
“The copy is clear, but we’re looking for a more playful tone in this flow.”
“That phrase works here, but it won’t fit in other places in the product.”
If you find yourselves with a client who’s stuck in unhelpful feedback mode, UX Content Collective suggests you ask them to use the phrases “I like, I wish” when reviewing copy. They should start by saying what’s working, and then say what they would like to be different. Something like: “I like that this message says exactly what the user needs to do, but I wish it were a little shorter.”
And once you’ve heard the feedback, it’s OK to push back sometimes if you don’t 100% agree. But remember to make sure your feedback is the helpful kind, too.
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