Hello, I'm Liz!

I think you’ve covered some good points on staying in good communication with your clients. I know things that really have worked well for me and made my clients feel good about the process is that I share a lot with them during the initial design phase, this helps me to know I am on the right track and also allows for a more collaborative process.

If you finish your design and then show the client, then you’re going to feel a little frustrated about revisions (which the client is sure to have.) I find it is best to put something more loose together first that hits on the points you know they want and then as they give feedback you can give solutions that fulfill the clients needs in a design-minded way.

You also hit on staying in contact, which a lot of people neglect… but it is important. I always try to end interactions with my client (weather is be by phone, email or in-person meeting,) by letting them know when they can expect to hear from me next. This just puts them at ease and eliminates any wonder. You don’t have to stalk them, they don’t want that - but a simple “I’ll be emailing you by end of day Friday” keeps them from calling you on Thursday cause they think you’ve forgotten about them.

Also, one of the things I always appreciate when I hire a freelancer is that they respond to emails in a timely way. I am a web designer, I *know* that during the week, it is pretty unlikely that they are not checking their email for more than a day.. so even if you aren’t able to follow up with a full response to an email about revisions or quote request right away — just write back a quick note with something like, “Just want to let you know, I have received your request and I will be able to go over these Tuesday morning!” There are few things less frustrating than sending an email out and then feeling like it just evaporated into nothing… especially where work is involved.