Customer service first

The key to keeping clients is to provide top notch customer service. An unfortunate generalization about designers is that we are unreliable. The more unfortunate part is that this is true in a number of cases. Therefore, to set yourself apart, follow through on your promises and deadlines and you will become indispensable to your clients. In fact, the quality of your work is secondary to the level of service you provide. Here’s a few tips on providing excellent customer service:

• Always deliver on time.
• Don’t promise unrealistic timelines, under promise and over deliver.
• Respond to emails and phone calls in a timely manner.
• Be honest, don’t mark up services like printing without telling your client.
• If a job is outside your area of expertise, don’t take it on. Refer your client to someone who can better help them.
• Care about your client and their business, not just your pay check.

How to increase your rates

Your clients average work day doesn’t revolve around what you are working on. They are focusing on running and building their business; design is just one part of that. Therefore, the last thing they want to do is babysit a designer or chase them for work that is late. You need to be dependable, the guy or gal who always delivers on time. Believe me, it might not seem like a big thing to you, but it is one of the best services you can offer a client if you plan to keep them.

Anyhow, getting back to raising your rates, let’s create a sample scenario. Let’s say your hourly rate is $50/hr and you’d like to raise it to $75/hr. Now that is not an insignificant hike, and your clients will definitely notice a difference. Instead of being worried about how they will react on their next quote, get out in front of the problem and let them know that the price of doing business has just changed. When you email or call them, you need to hit a couple of key points:

• Thank them for being a great client.
• Let them know why you are raising your rates.
• Let them know when the new rates will go into effect.

That might not seem like much, but if you have been doing a good job of being indispensable that is all it should take. The reality of the situation is, your client has an established relationship with you. They like you (hopefully), they know what calibre of work you are capable of, and they know you give excellent customer service.

As long as you are providing good work and awesome service, the client is not going to want to go to the trouble of finding a new designer. They don’t want to jump through all the hoops of finding someone new, testing out their quality of work, etc… Bottom line, you’re not selling your work, you’re selling yourself. Therefore, if you’ve been doing a good job of meeting their needs, they will not balk at the price increase.

The exception to the rule

There will be some clients who will have a problem with the rate increase. Much of the time this might be small business clients, who don’t have a huge design budget. In these cases, if it’s a long established client, I would recommend offering them a discount. This technique is a judgement call you need to make. Some of the factors you should consider are:

• Are they a good client?
• Do they pay on time?
• Are they easy to work with?
• Do they provide you with a regular stream of business?

If you answered yes to one or more of those questions, I would recommend offering them a discount. Good clients can be as hard to find as good designers. Reward your good clients by offering them a compromise. In this case everyone wins because you still get to increase your rates and you make the client happy by showing that you care enough to be flexible so you can continue doing business. As far as how much of a discount to offer, I’d recommend 10-25% off.

Well that’s it. I hope this post has been helpful for all the freelance monkeys out there. If you have any questions, or would like to share some techniques that have worked for you in the past, please leave a comment below.

Theme Process Checklist

1. Creative brief
2. Information architecture
3. Photoshop comps
4. Slice comp, saving images
5. Setup database on server
6. XHTML/CSS homepage template coding
7. Browser testing
8. Cut XHTML/CSS comp intp .php template files
9. Upload & Install WordPress on server
10. Upload theme files to server
11. Install Maintenance Mode plugin and enable it
12. Tweak admin settings
13. Import post formatting template file for testing
14. Install and configure plugins
15. Test all theme template files
16. Install Google Analytics tracking code in footer.php
17. Browser testing
18. Run through WordPress theme and development cheat sheets and checklists, making any necessary changes
19. Browser testing
20. Disable maintenance mode plugin and take website live

Creative brief

Having the client fill out a creative brief is critical in the design process. Many times, designers will jump into the job with only some of the details. Trust me, don’t do this. In the end, it’ll mean additional work when you have to go back and change things. In the near future, I’m planning on posting a creative brief template you can use for your projects.

Information architecture

Before you get to far into your project, make sure you create a wireframe and/or a sitemap for the entire theme. Show your client the sitemap and get them to sign off on it. This will save you a potential headache down the road.

XHTML/CSS homepage template coding

I’m not sure if other theme developers do this, but before I start doing any php template coding, I prefer to code the template in XHMTL. That way I can work out any CSS and/or layout bugs. Once my XHTML template is complete, I cut it up into the WordPress template files.

Browser testing

I prefer to test in the following browsers, I would suggest you do the same. MAC: Safari, Chrome, Firefox, and Opera. PC: IE6-8, Safari, Firefox, Chrome, and Opera.

Cut XHTML/CSS comp into .php template files

Below is a list of template files I use when creating a theme. This is only a suggestion, you’re free to use whatever template files you prefer.

1. 404.php
2. acrhive.php
3. author.php
4. category.php
5. comments.php
6. css folder (for additional stylesheets like print.css)
7. footer.php
8. functions.php
9. header.php
10. images folder
11. index.php
12. loop.php
13. page.php
14. screenshot.png
15. search.php
16. searchform.php
17. sidebar.php
18. single.php

Tweak admin settings

When you’re setting up a new blog, there are few admin settings you should tweak. First head over to Settings > General and fill in the fields. Next, head over to Settings > Writing. I like to increase the size of the post box to 30 lines for easier post writing. I’d also suggest setting a default post category. Third, go to Settings > Reading and set how many posts you would like to appear on your homepage. Finally head to Settings > Permalinks and choose a link structure for you blog. I personally prefer to use the Month and Name option.

Import post formatting template file for testing

WPCandy.com has a great sample WordPress content file you can download for free. Once you download it, import the file into your blog and it will create a number of sample posts that show a number of post styles. Check out the above link for more info and to download the file.

Install and configure plugins

At this point of the process, I recommend you install, configure and test all of your plugins. Below is a list of plugins I install on all my theme builds. Feel free to use them if you like:

1. askimet (comes installed)
2. All in one SEO pack
3. Contact Form 7
4. Google XML sitemaps
5. WordPress Database Backup

If you have any questions about this process, feel free to post them below. Thanks for reading.

Writing Quality Content

Here are a few bullet points to get you started. To read the full post, check out the link below. This is a list of best practices you should follow to write great content:

• Give users a summary
• Get to the point quickly
• Use small sentences
• Limit one thought per paragraph
• Use bullet points
• Use sub headings
• Do not over use exclamations!!!
• Drive emphasis with repetition
• Drop unnecessary adjectives
• Use details, be specific
• Use hyperlinks
• Use a personal tone
• Be unique
• Escape content overload

To read the full story, please head over to shayhowe.com.