I’ll be the first to admit the thought of writing one more workers compensation article appeals as much as root canal without pain killers. But it’s information that people in the industry in which I specialize need pretty badly. So I get enthusiastic about the topic. What about workers comp is interesting enough to become party banter?
Okay, not much. But the point is in order to write about something somewhat dry (huge understatement), you have to find a way to make it interesting to you. I do that by finding a new angle, a new topic and a new way to present it. And I get interested in the topic. If I write something I don’t want to read, why would anyone else?
I think the same should apply to your interactions with your clients. In fact, this week’s worth-inducing tip is to show your client your enthusiasm for his or her project or industry. Talk a little shop. Send a link or two of interest. Thank them again, adding how glad you are to tackle the subject or the project. Don’t lie. If you hate the work and are in it for the check, clam up. But if you want to make an impression, reveal that little bit of info on how enjoyable, fascinating, or intriguing the project or subject is.
I had a conversation like that a few weeks ago with a client. We talked a little shop, batting ideas back and forth and generally allowing each other the space to talk high level without worrying about the deer-in-headlights effects the topic normally induces. Yesterday, I get a note out of the blue – “You’re a pleasure to work with.” That, my friends, is making an impression by taking an interest.
So what are you working on now? How can you show your enthusiasm to your client?
I can show enthusiasm by meeting deadlines! I've got two deadlined projects that normally I would enjoy, but, since I'm in the midst of a "writing fit" with the ANGEL HUNT revisions and REDEMPTION KILL draft, they feel more like chores.
I will meet the deadlines, and the work will be good quality, but the internal struggle isn't pretty. when the writing is on a roll, I can't compartmentalize, and, frankly, ANGEL HUNT is the most important thing in the world to me right now, and I refuse to compromise.
Finding a way to keep the momentum and still stay on the deadlined work in the breaks from the revisions is an interesting challenge.
But then, it's never "just a job" for me. If I wanted "just a job" I'd work in someone else's cubicle. I'd rather face this type of challenge than the normal 9-5 challenges.
I tend not to take on jobs about which I'm not enthusiastic, getting away from wrestling with my own writing demons for a minute. I'm lucky that many things interest me, and I tend to go after assignments on topics that intrigue me. If I'm not interested in the topic, I don't pitch for the job.
But then, although I make my living writing, my focus isn't on the business writing. When that's what I land, I give it heart and soul, but that's the fill-in work. My main focus is on the fiction and the plays, which take longer to show a return, but which I find more rewarding. And, since the script work is heating up right now, too, I'm lucky enough to have the option of focusing more on that and less on business writing.
Finishing on deadline is a good way to show enthusiasm, I agree. 🙂 I get the same way, Devon. I want to be working on X, but here's Y and it's got a shorter deadline.
I think for me, I appreciate knowing that someone will read what I write and make good use of it. That's what motivates me to take the "less sexy" stuff. And sometimes it's handed to me, focus intact. I'm okay with it.
Well-timed post. I'm wrapping up a large product on the least exciting thing in the universe. It makes workers comp seem like swashbuckling adventure, I tell ya.
This was a biggie and the fact that I had the determination to see it through should be testament enough to my enthusiasm. Of course, it never hurts to go a little above and beyond the call of duty, though.
I think that a little authentic communication that goes beneath the more superficial exchange of notes and files is often a good way to do that.