For all the right reasons, freelance writers seek out business clients. Businesses may provide lucrative writing assignments that benefit both parties. They improve the company’s image and the writer’s bottom line. The majority of businesses pay well and have a lot of work. Why then do so many writers mess up when dealing with business clients? Even more challenging to maintain over the long term than they are to land is their happiness. This is due to how differently writers and businesspeople think.

Business people have different perspectives. Your ability to keep your business client satisfied with your services depends on both the caliber of your services and your capacity to comprehend their needs.

First of all, business clients have different perspectives. They believe that everyone is in business. As a writer, you might get out of bed at nine in the morning, stumble to your computer while drinking coffee, and work while still wearing your pajamas. Businesspeople are unaware of this; writers are.

Don’t divulge to your clients your various dishonest and unprofessional behaviors, such as having your child answer your work phone, preparing dinner while you edit their articles, or drinking beer while creating taglines.

Get a dedicated phone line for your business if you can (and even if you can’t) and answer it like it’s a business line during business hours, which, by the way, start a little before noon. Let the call go to an answering machine and call back from a quiet location if you find it difficult to talk on the phone with the sound of cartoons in the background.

People in business find it unsettling to entrust their multimillion dollar children to those who enjoy watching cartoons in the middle of the day. Yes, I am aware that it is your children who are watching the cartoons. Business people experience anxiety when entrusting their multimillion dollar children to caregivers who spend the entire day sitting next to them.

Second, be aware that people in business remember what they say to you. Don’t let Thursday pass without submitting your project or even getting in touch with them if they specified that day as your deadline. Keep to the parameters of the assignment and adhere to deadlines. Consider the advice they offer. Don’t practice selective deafness when your clients speak; you can forget everything your partner, children, or Oprah Winfrey tells you throughout the day.

Third, you must consider the viewpoint of your customers. Both his or her company and career are important to your client. Although you might expect it, it’s not in reverse order. First and foremost, you always want to make your client look good, and if you can do that in a way that helps the business, even better! However, help your client.

Why, you ask? Because individuals hire writers, not businesses. Your customer is an individual. Ensure that their writing requirements are satisfied (make him look good by delivering a superior product on schedule and within their budget) and let him worry about rescuing Wall Street.

Fourth, if you do it subtly and then back off, it’s acceptable to bring up fresh ideas with your client. Imagine doing something similar to hurling rocks at a window at night and then escaping. Rarely have I seen a client jump at an upsell, which is what they call it when you make a sale and immediately try to convince the customer to buy something more expensive or better. However, I have had a lot of success using the pitch-and-run strategy. The client approaches me with a brilliant idea a few months later. They relay to me what I said to them! Then I can accept the new position and laud their extraordinary brilliance.

Finally, keep in mind that those who work in the corporate mainstream are frequently overworked, but not in the same way that writers are. Most of them work for long hours while dressed in uncomfortable attire. They frequently have to travel or endure long meetings. The majority of corporate dwellers feel completely helpless when it comes to having control over their own time, which translates into something that few writers can appreciate. The majority of people find it to be an odd sensation that they do not like.

Always be considerate of your client’s business’s time as a result. Short and to the point, keep your phone calls and emails. Do not annoy them with pointless requests or inquiries. Keep chit-chat out of the conversation unless you get “led” by the business person that some personal banter is permissible.