Hi Reader! The past few months, I’ve been wrapping up the last MCLEs I needed for my bar license renewal. And one of the sessions I attended was on client communication. Because it’s something all service providers need reminders about. There were two big themes of the session: bad news doesn’t get better with time you need to set communication expectations that align with the work Both of these were lessons I noted early on in my “Stuff I’ll Never Do Again” book. The first is obvious: if you…
Learn the three client expectation frameworks experienced creatives use to keep projects predictable, not drifting based on client whims.
Hi Reader! You might know about my “Stuff I’ll Never Do Again” Notebook. (If not, I tell the story in this week’s blog post.) The short version is that every time a client situation doesn’t sit right, I jot it down: what happened, how I responded, how I felt, and what I could do differently next time. Over the past 15 years, it’s been my favorite tool to spot patterns about what isn’t consistently working in my business. The real power of the notebook wasn’t in venting about what went wrong….
When I started my business, I was given a notebook to record my business mistakes. This notebook has transformed my client relationships.
Hi Reader! When I update a contract for a client, one of the things I’m often doing is inserting boringly specific language. Far too often, creative business owners try to provide flexibility in their contracts by using vague or ambiguous terms. They use things like “reasonable turnaround” or “as quickly as feasible”. But this vague or ambiguous language has multiple meanings. And it’s highly likely that you and your client aren’t on the same page about their meaning. A client who deals with…
Your contract is just not legal paperwork. It’s your operating system for client relationships. Even experienced creatives often use contracts that look solid on the surface, but quietly create friction. Maybe payment terms are technically there, but not specific enough to prevent delays. Maybe ownership language is copied from a template that no longer matches […]
Hi Reader! You probably have a contract in your inbox right now that you have not fully read. This is completely normal. Even I occasionally am guilty of skimming contracts in low-stakes situations. I want you to pull that contract up right now. Then find one clause that makes you pause. Because even in good contracts, there often is at least one clause that feels hard to decode. Maybe it’s something: you assume is standard, but it still feels off that feels dense, vague, or intimidating that…
Hi Reader! Both of my sisters are currently going through different endings in their professional lives. And as I reminded one sister this week, every ending isn’t a failure. Sometimes choosing to end something is not only the right choice, but a win. Maybe: they keep pushing your boundaries you want different outcomes you’ve outgrown it it is no longer aligned Very few things last for time and all eternity. So accepting that it’s time to end and closing it out thoughtfully and clearly shows…
Ending a collaboration can be done with clarity and grace. In this post, I give you short, copyable exit scripts for different scenarios and a one-page checklist to close a project without drama. These steps protect your work and preserve relationships.
Hi Reader! Do you ever avoid clear language because you want to keep things friendly? Sadly, skipping this up front is exactly what makes things tense later. I’ve seen it happen time and time again. Where collaborations start with everyone trying to be nice, friendly, and avoid being the one to “make it formal”. And six months later, all the little things added up, and they felt burned or upset with the collaboration. Because clarity is not about making things legal or formal. It’s a gift you…
Starting a collaboration conversation doesn’t need to be awkward. These three short scripts help you start the collaboration, keep things moving forward, or regroup when the scope starts to shift.
Hi Reader! As I mentioned last week, the length of your contract should be proportional to the risks involved. This is something that many lawyers do instinctively after years of practice, but isn’t taught in law school. (And some lawyers never seem to learn this lesson!) The reality is that for short, one-off, low-risk relationships, a single-page contract often will suffice. But you might need a 3-4 page contract to cover all the important points in a longer, ongoing, higher-risk…
