How you handle the client—and the work itself—certainly affects the success of the relationship. Delivering on time, doing high-quality work, and staying within scope

are all essential principles of freelance work. What’s discussed less often is how to guide your relationships with new clients

toward success, so that everything runs smoothly—and perhaps naturally. Here are nine ways to set yourself up for success when working with a new client.

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1. Set your final budget

The first step after landing a new client or project is to set your budget: how much you’ll be paid, and when and how you’ll be paid. Get the client to agree to

what they’ll pay you in writing—in your contract or by email. Clearly specify the hours you’re expected to work (if you charge an hourly rate)

or the project’s flat rate through completion. In most cases, the agreed final budget will be stated in the scope of work.

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2. Define your scope of work in writing

خلال مرحلة Negotiation With a new client, you should have defined their goals and agreed on how you’ll help them achieve them. Before you officially begin

work, restate in writing what both parties agreed on in terms of deliverables and expectations.

As with your final budget, you can share and approve your scope of work somewhere you can refer back to if a problem or disagreement arises.

At a minimum, your scope of work should include:

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- The deliverables you’re responsible for: what the client will get.

-When your deliverables are due: weekly, monthly, or quarterly—with exact dates.

-Your quantitative (metrics) and qualitative goals as a freelancer: the results you’re expected to deliver.

-How your results will be measured: your key metrics, such as subscriptions, followers, website visits, etc.

-How you’ll report your results, who is responsible for monitoring them, and when.

-Any meetings either or both parties are expected to attend—for example, weekly check-ins.

-How much you’ll be paid, and when and how.

- Key milestones achieved.

The scope of work is the most efficient and effective way to manage expectations. You and your client can revisit your expectations whenever a question arises about

deliverables. Expectations serve as an integrity check to make sure everyone is aligned. They can also be a great tool for influencing discussions when negotiating a broader scope

أو معدل أعلى.

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3. Agree on communication standards and processes

Your communication approach will overlap somewhat with your scope of work, but it goes beyond that. It should explain how you’ll communicate with your clients and which channels you’ll

ستستخدمها (على سبيل المثال Slack أو Trello أو AsanaIt should also cover what will be accomplished at each meeting with the team, when the

meeting will take place, and any other communication expectations.

Your approach will involve some trial and error, and it will change over time. Try not to be too resistant to change as you work toward finding what suits both parties

best. For example, CloudPeeps recently updated how we meet with our clients and set up new workflows to stay aligned

between meetings. This proved to be the best solution for us in terms of productivity and removing blockers. But it took a few different approaches to figure out what worked best for us, especially since we’re

spread across different time zones.

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4. Gather all passwords and secure your files

As part of your onboarding process for new clients, collect all related passwords and login details as soon as you start working with them. We recommend using

a secure platform like 1Password to ensure your client’s sensitive information isn’t compromised. In 1Password, you can create a dedicated folder for each client so

everything stays organized and is easy to access in one place. (Expert tip: Remember that all the software you pay for to run your freelance business may be tax-deductible!).

5. Set milestones

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5. حدّد أهدافًا مرحلية

Breaking a project into phases creates an opportunity to renegotiate. Include one or more goals in your work agreement to provide a chance to review what’s been accomplished and how

أُنجِز. يمكنك، عوضا عن ذلك، تقسيم المشروع على مراحل ومراجعتها دوريًّا. نعيد – في CloudPeeps – كل ثلاثة أشهر النظر في المحتوى

and community strategies to identify what worked, what didn’t, and what changes need to be made. This is a good time to celebrate

wins and reset priorities. Examples of milestones include a content review, reaching 10,000 Twitter followers, holding a reporting review,

1,000 subscriptions, and so on.

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6. Prepare Your Internal Process

The better prepared you are for successful client work, the better. That means staying organized. Make sure your calendar is up to date with your clients’ calls and meetings,

أنشئ ألواح Trello أو مشاريع Asana التي ستستخدمها، حمّل أية أدوات أخرى قد تستخدمها في العمل، أنشئ ملفات آمنة في حسابك على

Dropbox account to keep all your work, and so on.

Create a daily or weekly list of everything that needs to be done for each client or project. That way, you can wake up each day knowing exactly what needs to be

done. If you do this for all your clients, you’ll be able to improve your freelance work faster than you can imagine!

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7. Make room for feedback

Clear, consistent communication between a freelancer and a client is the cornerstone of any successful relationship. The most important part of maintaining ongoing communication is finding ways to receive feedback

regularly. When you schedule weekly meetings, set aside time for your client to share constructive feedback on the work you’ve done.

Acknowledging feedback—positive or negative—by reflecting it back and thinking carefully about what you could do differently or continue doing

is the only way to keep your clients happy and willing to continue the relationship.

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8. Set boundaries upfront

Tell your client in advance, when defining the scope of work and communication practices, about any days off or vacations you’re planning. This makes expectations clear, so you and your client

Plan accordingly. For example, if you manage a social media account and are going on vacation, schedule posts before you leave and make sure someone on the team

can respond to anything urgent—and has everything they need to do so.

Most importantly, make it clear when you’re available to respond to emails, instant messages, or calls. Whatever you do, resist replying to

a client’s email at 11 p.m. unless it’s truly urgent. Set boundaries and expectations early so they aren’t overstepped later. Your

client will respect that you work with other clients and have a life outside work. Make the most of tools like Boomerang, which let you schedule

emails to be sent later.

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9. Create a client onboarding checklist

Gather the steps mentioned earlier into a checklist you can use with every client. Trello is a great tool for this. Having a repeatable process will make onboarding

clients much faster and easier, and ensure you don’t miss anything. You can also share the checklist with your clients so they know what to expect throughout the process

and can prepare everything they need in advance. Plus, imagine how impressed they’ll be with your organizational skills!