creativecircle, Author at Creative Circle

Pencils down! It’s time to start thinking beyond the classroom with Creative Circle’s College Resource Guides.
It’s no secret that finding a job after college is hard — really hard. As a recruiter for creative and digital talent, I can tell you that the competition is tough even at entry level, which is exactly why I’m a huge fangirl of our College Resource Guides. They offer a simple, pointed timeline for every stage of your college career — freshman to senior — helping you to stay clear on what you need to do to land that dream job upon graduation. (And bonus: You might even be able to avoid moving back in with mom and dad for another year.)

Freshman year might seem awfully early to start considering your big career moves post-graduation. Guess what? It’s not. I’m willing to bet that the only strategic planning most of your dormmates, classmates, and dormmate’s classmates are doing right now is for Dollar Taco Night next Tuesday and not four years from now. And hey, we’re only hot-sauce-loving humans! But today’s reality for college grads, particularly in the creative and marketing fields, is that success starts early.

Beginning in the Freshman Resource Guide and carrying over to sophomore year with the Sophomore Resource Guide, you’ll notice that the word “resume” gets tossed around like magic dust — poof! Your own personal brand begins now. Be sure to keep updating your resume throughout your entire college experience, tracking everything you’ve done. Over time, and over internships gone good and bad, you’ll redefine your resume a hundred times, subtracting all the bits that no longer make sense and folding in the ones that do until you finally create an identity so relevant to your field that it could make even the coldest career counselor shed a tear.

Before you know it, the great divide will be upon you, and by that, I’m referring to your junior year. If you don’t have an internship lined up by then, apply, apply, apply! Just as the Junior Resource Guide emphasizes, it’s critical to start networking and interning at this phase in the game. This is where life starts to become much bigger than Dollar Taco Night. Why? Two words: safety net. You’d be surprised at how many students don’t end up in the career they thought they wanted. You might take an internship in a field like marketing and realize midway through what you really want to focus on is graphic design. This allows you time to retool your classes, and possibly even your major, while finding another internship to help you build a design portfolio. Trust me: You’ll need one.

Senior year sort of catapults you blindly into the lobby of the real world. It’s time to throw the stone as far as possible into the pond, rippling a call heard around your industry. Just as the Senior Resource Guide directs, you want to get a grasp on applying early enough for full-time positions, all the while avoiding “senioritis.” Reflect on all the working relationships you’ve cultivated during your internships and networking, and use those to your advantage by connecting on LinkedIn. If graduation has come and gone and you still find yourself jobless, take on some freelance work or even a post-collegiate internship.

Getting the career you want upon graduation can be done. But notice I didn’t say it was easy. It takes organization, effort, and above all else, diligence in staying ahead of the curve and your competition. When you get stuck or you feel like you don’t know where to start, keep these College Resource Guides handy and return to them every time you start to feel yourself wandering down the path of “this seems impossible.” They are designed to guide you through the hinterlands by targeting all the little pit stops you must take along the way. Among them, the most important are: Resumes, Portfolios, Internships, and Industry Networking. The ultimate results of treating these pit stops as actions over the course of your college career will yield results that are unfathomable in the best way.
Ok, you can have your pencils back now.

Amanda is a copywriter-turned-recruiter who joined Creative Circle’s Philadelphia team in 2015. Her fascinations include, but are not limited to: good use of white space, just about anything animal related, TED Talks, and helping people find jobs they really want. Outside of playing talent matchmaker, Amanda spends most of her time scouting new locales in the City of Brotherly Love with her husband and jumping bean of a pup, Tuxedo.

As reliable as the leaves changing color, the temperatures dropping a few degrees, and Starbucks rolling out the Pumpkin Spice Latte (and everyone’s personal feelings around pumpkin flavors), each fall, Boston’s population suddenly swells with digital marketers. 20,000+ people stream in from all over the world for Inbound, the digital marketing conference hosted by Hubspot. It’s a chance for marketers, entrepreneurs and creatives to network, mingle, learn, and get inspired. Speakers range from the mega-famous (um, hi MICHELLE OBAMA) to small agency owners or speakers sharing a few nuggets of wisdom with anyone willing to listen.

I’ve been lucky enough to attend Inbound for the last two years, and I always leave feeling like I can scale 10-foot walls in a single bound. I’m so buoyed by new ideas and inspiring concepts that I can’t wait to share every tidbit with my team. Rather than unleash all this learning on them like an open fire hydrant, however, I thought I’d channel my enthusiasm into this article for the Our Notebook audience!
I came away from the conference with four great ideas to try.

1. Have Some Empathy.

There was no official theme to the conference this year, but if there was, it would be empathy. I don’t want to bring politics into this post, but I would be remiss not to acknowledge that we live in a troubled and divided world. Brene Brown, Michelle Obama, and hundreds of others spoke to the power of empathy and the impact it can have in our world. And truly, this concept has never been more powerful than it is now.

The practical application echoed repeatedly was: “Help your customers. Don’t sell to them.” As creatives and marketers, this means taking a step back, putting ourselves in our audience’s shoes and truly understanding them. What are their pain points? What are our services doing to improve or enhance their lives? What does your audience need that you haven’t provided for them? An authentic, empathetic voice and message will be the most impactful way to connect with your audience in the years ahead.

2. Ramp Up Your Messaging.

The big tech trend at Inbound last year was messaging services. At their conference last year, Facebook announced that Facebook Messenger has over 1 billion active users (!!!), and has recently opened this tool up to businesses to keep in touch with their customers too. Thought leaders at Inbound predicted that using a messaging service or chat bot software can help eliminate some potential roadblocks in customers’ paths to purchase, while at the same time avoiding the need to pick up a phone and call someone (gross, right?).
This seems like an odd point to follow up empathy with. But the truth is, in this modern and digital age, we are much more apt to look for information on our own rather than asking someone else. How many times have you Googled how to do something rather than reaching out to someone else you know who could help you? Personally, I spent a good hour Googling which cleaning products were safe to use on my gas oven without blowing up my apartment before caving and just asking my mom.

My point is, empathize with your audience by understanding your tendencies for wanting to source and locate a solution to your problem independently. Not everyone has the resources to build or pay for a chat bot for their personal or business website, but maybe you could get a “Contact Me” section built where someone can easily and quickly get in touch with you. Do you have an FAQ section that may address common questions or concerns about your services? Do you have your direct messages set to “public” on Twitter? Try one or all these, and see if it helps bridge the communication gap between you and your audience.

3. Use “Yes, and …”

This is the new favorite statement used by improvisers all over the world. In order for an improvised scene to be successful and funny, scene partners need to agree and build on one another’s ideas rather than shoot them down.
For example:
“Slow down! You’re driving too fast!”
“What are you talking about? We’re not driving; we’re at the grocery store,”
versus,
“Slow down! You’re driving too fast!”
“Well, I’m never going to be a good racecar driver if I don’t practice!”

Which of those exchanges leads to a stronger, funnier result?

As a lifelong theatre student, I wasn’t sure I’d have much to glean from the talk on improv for marketers, but as soon as the “Yes, and …” concept was introduced, I realized how infrequently I use that tactic at work. If an idea or pitch clashes with my sensibilities or what I think is plausible, I’m quick to shoot it down (“We’re not driving”), rather than build off it. My personal challenge walking away from Inbound is to “Yes, and …” my team more! It will lead to better, stronger work, and it will make my team feel supported and safe when they introduce new ideas. And that’s a win for me too, because that’s exactly how I want my co-workers to feel, and the kind of workspace I want for myself. So next time you’re in a meeting, make like Tina Fey: “Yes, and …!”

4. Change the Story by Changing the Storytellers.

In 2016, Teen Vogue went from just another teen magazine to one of the premier sources for forward-thinking political, cultural, and fashion journalism. How did they accomplish such a huge brand U-turn? Editor-in-Chief Elaine Welteroth credits it to diversifying their staff.
By changing who had a seat at the table, they changed what kind of stories they told. For example, they realized that they didn’t need to stay pigeonholed into stories about makeup and prom dresses; teenage girls were expressing an interest in political and current events in addition to which highlighter would give them a better glow. They expanded their staff of writers and the kinds of topics they covered. The result was not only a broader audience that now stretches well beyond their young female demographic (Welteroth mentioned proudly that Dan Rather now counts himself as a reader), but national acclaim for their publication.

If you are looking for this kind of change, look for the voice or experience in your organization that is missing and act on adding that person to the mix. But not all of us are able to make those kind of hiring decisions, or perhaps you’re not in a place where diversity is a huge priority for your company. Reaching back to the empathy theme, it’s important to understand the need for a voice or representation that mirrors your audience’s own experience. If your work isn’t connecting with your audience in the way you anticipated, think about any other voices or experiences that may resonate with them more.
You may not be able to hire someone who has that voice, but maybe you know them personally. Can you take them out for a working lunch and ask them to share their experiences with you? Can you seek out writers and artists whose voices resonate with your audience? Fold their work into your media diet. If you can’t impact the table at work, change your creative and digital roundtable.

It was remarkable to be at a digital marketing conference that gave me so many personal insights in addition to professional ones. Inbound encouraged its attendees to do more than buy a new piece of software or track a particular trend; it challenged us to look inward and see how we can improve upon ourselves and apply those same improvements to our professional lives.

Julie is the Project Manager for Creative Circle’s marketing team, and a life-long passionate storyteller. She manages the day-to-day workflow for the Marketing team, and oversees email marketing, marketing automation, and various other digital marketing initiatives. Julie has her B.A. with honors in Theatre and Creative Writing from Butler University. She is a Kentuckian by birth, Chicagoan by choice, and a fan of Beyonce, Gilmore Girls, and writing in pen. She is always trying to get a reservation at Girl and the Goat.

In most jobs, the only way to feel like you’re growing is to get a promotion (and of course, more money). Oftentimes, employees end up taking any promotion or manager position that comes their way because it seems to embody the essence of moving forward, regardless of whether the “upgraded” role is applicable to their long-term goals.

However, if you are in a creative profession, chances are you’ve grown up saying, “I just want to make stuff,” which makes the infrastructure of most organizations incredibly stifling when it comes to creative growth.

Unlike a conventional advertising agency, where the ultimate promotion to creative director still has you engaged in creative production, many creatives in digital media are getting pushed up while also being pulled away from what they wanted to do in the first place — make cool things and tell great stories.

In my last organization, I watched endless numbers of creatives accept promotions as managers because that was the only viable next step that would allot them more money and a higher title. Unfortunately, many soon realized that they:

Never aspired to manage others
Did not embody leadership skills or experience to be accountable for someone else’s career growth
Were not socially comfortable engaging with others on a consistent basis
Preferred to be individual contributors who were left alone to create and produce work
Had no other options for growth

To my dismay, I watched a trickle-down effect where newly minted creative managers were frustrated by their lack of creative production and confused at what they were meant to provide to their direct reports. This resulted in their direct reports feeling paralyzed in their own growth, unclear as to whether they were meant to seek power or production.

Worse, when these creative managers eventually wanted to move on to other companies, they ended up taking managerial roles or higher titles because of the promise of more money (even though they still lacked managerial skills), setting them up for a path that they never chose and a focus on power over passion.

More than ever, there is a need for companies with creative teams/talent to provide alternative options for growth in the creative realm where creatives can feel like they are financially growing as individual contributors without the stress of title-seeking in order to get to the next rung on the ladder. And those who genuinely seek a managerial skill set should have the opportunity to do so, and to learn how to properly manage others.

As a creative, should manager be your next step? See what’s possible where you work in terms of being able to amass more responsibility within your role (and therefore increasing your pay) without taking yourself away from the work itself. When it comes to being a creative thinker, I think we can all agree that our minds live not in black and white but in shades of gray.

Annie is a Creative Circle candidate and freelance creative strategist/copywriter working and living in Los Angeles. She knows digital media as well as she knows her own horoscope (she’s a Virgo), having worked at the likes of BuzzFeed and Mashable. She has created branded content strategies for the top Fortune 500 brands, which means she knows the true meaning of “going native.” If you want to work with Annie, contact Creative Circle Los Angeles.

Our work, our relationships, and our lives succeed or fail one conversation at a time. -Susan Scott

In this era of digital communication it’s easy to overlook, ignore and avoid the relationships in our lives that need work. If you have ever sent an email when you should have picked up the phone, purposely dodged someone’s cubicle, or sat in fuming silence during a frustrating meeting… you’re not alone.

Sometimes we avoid a difficult conversation because we don’t know what to say or we’re afraid of what we’ll hear in return. Other times, we convince ourselves that we don’t have the time to deal with it or we don’t want to hurt another’s feelings. Or, we may lack the courage to confront the issue directly.

Having a difficult conversation is hard work. Changing the trajectory of a poor relationship takes effort. But avoiding the obvious problem can lead to anger, frustration, exhaustion, and even depression. If you have a difficult relationship, think about how much time and energy it sucks from you. Think through the benefits to be gained by improving it and then dive in to ensure those benefits are realized.

1. Prepare what you want to say

Start with your goal. What do you want to get out of the conversation? It should never be about being hurtful or ‘winning’ an argument. If that’s your objective, quit while you’re ahead. Your goal should be around developing a better understanding, getting past a roadblock, resolving a specific issue, being more productive, and/or moving forward with a specific activity or objective. Clearly state your goal in terms that are specific to your situation.

Next, write down what you want to say and organize it into key points. It’s best to keep the information limited. No one likes having a laundry list of issues thrown at them. Prioritize your list and plan on focusing on only the 2-3 most important issues.

The person you’re talking to may need help understanding the issue so be prepared with examples. Also, be prepared to discuss the impact – on you, your team, the project, or the company. Your concerns will carry more weight if you can clearly explain why it’s important.

Make sure you can describe the issue in ways they will find compelling. Remember the adage that everyone is asking, WIIFM (What’s In It For Me). Think about what motivates them and how they want to be perceived. How will their own goals be helped by improving their relationship with you? Weave this information into what you want to say.

2. Practice

Ask a friend to practice with you. Do a role play. Ask your friend to be objective and offer honest feedback on how you can improve what you’re saying. However, being prepared does not mean memorizing a script. Trying to remember exact wording could add to your nervousness and it doesn’t allow for the natural ebb and flow of conversations.

3. Prepare yourself

Start with how you’re thinking about the conversation. Labeling it as ‘difficult’ means you’re anticipating problems which will add to your jitters. Think about it as having a constructive conversation to move forward; an opportunity to develop new ideas, hear a different perspective, or identify alternatives. Anything to reset your thinking in a positive direction.

Before the meeting, take steps to calm and center yourself. Take a walk, practice a mindfulness exercise, have a cup of tea, focus on your breathing and take the time to collect your thoughts.

4. Deliver. Stop. Ask. Listen.

It’s often good to start by acknowledging the discomfort for you both. Explaining that you know this might not be an easy conversation for them shows empathy and can be the start of a productive dialogue. Also, be aware of your tone of voice. It’s often said that 10% of conflict is about the issue and 90% is about the tone of voice. Work to remain calm, patient and interested.

Explain that you’d like a chance to voice your concerns and that when you’re done, you want to hear their perspective. They will be less likely to interrupt if they know their turn is coming. Once you’re finished explaining your key points, pause. Stop. Give them a time to absorb what you said. Silence can be hard but is often needed to show respect for their feelings.

Ask for their perspective. Express a genuine interest in hearing their side of the story. Only by hearing one another out can you accomplish the goal you set in Step 1. When the other person explains their perspective, it’s important to truly listen with an open mind. Work towards finding common ground between you and determine your mutual goals.

Take ownership for your piece of the problem. Chances are that you both contributed to the relationship getting to the place it is. You will have more credibility; more influence in this situation if you acknowledge your role in creating it.

5. Work toward ‘next steps’

Make a commitment. Find something in your difficult conversation that you can commit to that will improve the relationship, even if it’s only a small step. Encourage them to do the same. If they’re open to something bigger, discuss making a larger commitment to one another or develop an action plan. One commitment that is often made is to discuss issues with one another on a more timely basis in the future, should they continue to arise.

Be patient. Unless the issue is simple you may not fully resolve it in the first conversation. If this is the case, schedule another conversation. Even if you can’t reach any other resolution, resolve to continue the dialogue and schedule it for a specific date.

Remember: the relationship won’t fix itself and it may get worse unless you step in. And what’s the worst that can happen? That you crash and burn? That you’re rejected? This would show that you tried which sure beats knowing you lacked the courage!

Robin Elledge is the founder of Janus, a coaching and consulting firm in Los Angeles. Robin’s greatest passion is working with people to improve their ability to effect change within their company, team, and themselves. She has over 30 years of experience supporting and coaching leaders at all levels, from CEOs to those who are just beginning their management journey.

One balmy day in March, I got a panicked call from a colleague. Turns out she had lost four good, retainer-paying clients since the start of year. Three of them left in the same month.

Needless to say, she was freaking out.

None of these clients left because her service was bad. The reasons varied: One brought her services in-house. One client was closing up shop. Another was pooling company talents after a merge and wanted to review again in six months.

Still, even if it’s not your fault, losing clients can make you panic. It’s never fun to begin with, plus there’s the added stress of things like, you know, paying the rent and whatnot.

That’s why I’m going to share a secret with you.

At least four times in my career, I have lost my best client. And when I say my best client, I mean a client who was spending more than the next three best clients combined.

I don’t panic about it now. Here’s why: Every year that I’ve been out on my own (save for one), I’ve always made more than previous years. And even the exception was within 5% of my peak.

In short, I’ve always managed to keep the opportunities rolling in. Whenever a “good” client left, there were always two to three more ready to step up and take their place. So I thanked those good clients for the time we spent together, made a note to check in with them in six months, and moved on.

I’m betting you would love to be that nonchalant. (OK, full honesty here, I do panic … but for all of three minutes. See below.) It’s hard work to be in a place where you can afford (literally) to be that carefree. Here’s what you have to do:

Always be working on your “funnel.” Always set aside some time each week to drum up new business. Even if this just means taking a referral partner to lunch or asking a current client for a recommendation. Getting new work takes time, so you need to start well before you lose any business.
Leverage the clients you have. This is technically part of working on your funnel, but it deserves its own bullet point. Can you sell more to existing clients? Can you get a warm introduction from them? Or maybe a testimonial? Always find ways to use your network to grow your business.
Don’t burn bridges. There have been plenty of times when someone I’ve worked with leaves for a new company. If we’ve left things on a good note, they will use me again. Be professional, and it will pay off.
Have a money buffer. I keep roughly two months of salary in my bank account with a big “DO NOT TOUCH” sign on it. (Not literally. What would that even mean?) There are always flush months and hungry months, and it’s good to know that you have the money saved to get you through the lean times.
Have a backup plan. No, don’t literally plan on bailing (not yet). This is strictly psychological: I’ve noticed that people tend to calm down and think through their tough times more rationally if they know, deep down, that they have a Plan B. So formulate your backup plan. Then tell yourself, “OK, if this doesn’t work out in three months, I know I can fall back on this!” You’ll be surprised how much easier it is to grow your business when you don’t have that “do-or-die” mentality holding you back.
Be positive, but take the emotion out. Really, all of the above points boil down to these two: Keep a positive attitude and don’t make rash decisions based on your emotions. Indeed, losing business means some extra time to reflect and make your business even better.

And if you lose that prime client, go ahead and panic, just a little. Complain to a friend. Crack open a bottle of wine and, in private, rant about the client. Cry about your future prospects. Wonder out loud if you’ve chosen the right career path.

After you’re done, you will have purged your system. You’ll feel better, and then you can get back to the work of rebuilding your book of business.

You can totally do it. I’ve done it four times and counting.

Brandon Towl is an experienced copywriter and content specialist living in St. Louis, MO. His main job is writing regular content for a number of industries and advising on all matters related to marketing; his passion, however, is providing workshops for writers and freelancers so they can grow their business. More information about these workshops and his company can be found at www.wordshaveimpact.com.

You’re preparing for an interview. You’ve poured over the job description identifying all the ways you’re PERFECT for this job. You’ve researched the company, the hiring manager and others you’ll be interviewing with. All good stuff. But what have you done to prepare for the interview itself?

Many interviewers use a technique known as behavioral interviewing. To learn what that is, contrast these two types of questions:

1. How would you approach an unexpected project that has a tight deadline?
2. Tell me about a time you got an unexpected project with a tight deadline. What did you do?

Both questions ask about your ability to work fast under pressure. The first asks what you would do and the second asks what you did do. Anytime you’re asked to describe what you did in a specific past situation (#2), you’ve gotten a behavioral interview question.

Why are behavioral questions used so much? When given general or hypothetical questions (like #1), most interviewees can figure out what the interviewer is looking for. And voilà – they say what the interviewer wants to hear whether it accurately describes them or not. By focusing on real situations from the past, interviewers know that the abilities we’ve used before will be used again. Behavioral questions are a better way to determine our skills and job fit.

So, what’s the best way to respond to behavioral questions? Use the S.T.A.R. technique!

S.T.A.R.

There are four pieces to a S.T.A.R. response. For each, be succinct and specific.

S – Situation: Briefly describe the background or context. What issue, problem or opportunity did you face?
T – Task: Describe the specific task or activity you took on to address the situation. What was your job in the situation?
A – Action: Describe how you went about completing the task (your action, not the action taken by your team). What steps did you take to get it done?
R – Result: Describe the outcome. What did you accomplish? What were the results, including the impact on the company, your team, your client, etc.?

Example Question: Tell me about a time you got an unexpected project with a tight deadline. What did you do?

Example S.T.A.R. Answer: Two months ago, my team was preparing for a client presentation which was scheduled for the next day. The person who was developing it had an accident and couldn’t finish, so I was asked to pull it together. I hadn’t been involved up to that point so the first thing I did was to familiarize myself with the client. I talked to our team, researched them online, and then dove in. I solicited help to gather the information I needed, developed an outline and ran it by our client lead. He made a few tweaks, but less than I expected, and I stayed very late that night to make sure the information was accurate, clear, and that it looked great. And we won the business! Although I prefer to plan my work, I can work under tight deadlines when needed.

Stories

To use the S.T.A.R. technique effectively, have 3-5 good stories about your past work handy and ready to discuss. Pick ones that demonstrate your best skills and abilities. In the example above, this story shows initiative, collaboration, perseverance, drive, and a focus on quality results. Think beyond your technical skills when you develop your stories. The interviewer is looking for your fit with the culture as much as your ability to do the job. Prepare to describe your stories using the steps in S.T.A.R. Chances are you’ll be asked a couple of questions where one or more of these stories can be used.

Mistakes

Don’t shy away from telling interviewers about mistakes you’ve made in the past. In fact, sometimes they will ask you to describe a situation where things didn’t go well. When this happens be prepared to describe what you learned from the situation and what you would do (or have done) differently as a result of this learning. Honestly describing mistakes can demonstrate accountability, integrity, and your ability to grow.

Non-Work Situations

It’s ok to use stories from things you’ve accomplished outside of your work (e.g. volunteer activities, clubs, athletics, etc.), provided you can ie the skills or lessons learned back to how it would apply in a work situation. This is especially true if your career is just starting out.

Good luck in your interview!

I love deadlines. I really do. As a freelance writer and editor and a lifelong procrastinator, I know that without firm deadlines, I’ll let my tasks drag on and on. I’ve noticed, however, that many creative freelancers like me are ripe for exploitation from demanding clients. We accept tight, unrealistic deadlines from clients who, whether they are aware of it or not, are taking advantage of a writer’s or designer’s fears of losing out on an assignment or the client altogether. But, freelancer, your fears are misplaced. I want to convince you that you’ll win when you refuse to accept unrealistic deadlines.

Crazy-short deadlines are not good for you

Research has demonstrated that overwork and its accompanying stress and exhaustion can interfere with making good judgment calls. “You’re simply more likely to make mistakes when you’re tired, and most of us tire more easily than we think we do,” said the Harvard Business Review’s executive editor Sarah Green Carmichael in “The Research Is Clear: Long Hours Backfire for People and for Companies.” “Keep overworking, and you’ll progressively work more stupidly on tasks that are increasingly meaningless.” Harsh words, but she drives home an important point: Overwork does not work.

Moreover, the health risks associated with overworking are real, and your impaired health does nothing to improve the client’s bottom line. Putting your client’s needs before your own reduces the leisure and relaxation that is key to de-stressing and appreciating your day-to-day life. Weekends/time off are for you, family, friends, outdoor activities and leisure. If you miss out on all that life enrichment, you’ll lose those special and rewarding moments, and even risk your personal life and important relationships.

Don’t make accepting unrealistic deadlines the norm

Sometimes your client may have a last-minute emergency where you want to step up and help out. Fair enough. When you routinely accept such deadlines, however, it isn’t good for you or your client. It’s normal to let our fears dictate our behavior from time to time, but if you get into a consistent pattern of jumping higher and higher at the client’s command, you will inevitably become exhausted and stressed out.

Don’t imagine that your clients will appreciate your going the extra mile or 10, or reward you for your sacrifices. In fact, your modus operandi simply trains your clients to demand faster and faster turnarounds. In the words of Meridian Health Plan CIO Tom Lauzon, quoted in “Don’t Always Aim to Meet Unrealistic Deadlines,” “When you finish a project with an unrealistic deadline, your reward is another project with another unrealistic deadline.” Overly demanding clients don’t empathize or understand what you require to deliver your assignment and will keep pushing you until you set limits.

So, how do you respectfully say no to unrealistic deadlines?

Be professional, clear and brief.
Do not get defensive, justify yourself or make excuses. You have a right to set limits that will improve your functioning as well as the quality of the work you produce, and to deliver to that client.
Stay calm and be positive. The person you’re addressing will appreciate it and mirror your low-key approach.
Be rational, but keep a sense of humor to reduce tension.
Remind clients of your achievements and successes on their behalf as you set limits.

And finally, practice what one of my mentors calls “the old ‘assume’ trick.” It really works: Begin by thanking clients in advance for their understanding of your need for more time to do the best job. When you seem to assume that clients will understand and say yes, it makes it a lot harder for them to say no.

What will happen if you set boundaries for an over-demanding client?

In the vast majority of cases, that client will have greater respect for you, and understand that you are a busy professional and not some dilettante artiste trying to shirk the hard work of creative writing or design. The worst that can happen? You lose the exhausting clients who drain your energy, and then you have the time and inner resources to replace them with better, more responsible people and businesses. We are all entitled to some R-E-S-P-E-C-T, as Aretha Franklin famously put it. Saying no clears space for you to say yes to opportunities that will advance you professionally and reward you appropriately.

Julie is a Creative Circle candidate and experienced freelance writer, editor, and content creator in Santa Monica, California. A mentor and a career adviser, she cares about the community of freelancers who are finding new ways to work successfully in today’s gig economy. If you want to work with Julie, contact Creative Circle Los Angeles.