When You’ve Forgotten More Than You Know
Written by Deb Dorchak - December 6, 2009 6 Comments
Your first steps into blogging are both exciting and intimidating. There’s the thrill of setting up your own website, choosing a look and tone, hundreds of themes to browse through and a lot of new terminology to get used to.
It’s a whole new world for sure. One you hope will open brand new vistas and get your business off the ground.
Wendi pointed out in her first post there are a lot of things a novice blogger has to know.
But what about the specialists involved in getting that site off the ground? Yes, there’s another side to the story, one that serves as more of a reminder how far you’ve come as a specialist.
Remember Your Roots
All of us start with nothing. We begin like Wendi did; with an idea and a goal, but little experience getting from Point A to Point B. Time moves on and with it our knowledge grows. We pick up bits of information and technique from reliable sources, and eventually establish our own individual mental library of skills.
What was once seemingly impossible becomes second nature. We’re able to complete the most complex tasks on auto-pilot. It’s easy.
It’s also easy to forget that not everyone else has reached the same level of expertise.
No matter what kind of service you provide you have to keep in mind that the people coming to you need you for one reason and one reason only: You’re the expert.
Virtual Sherpa
Not only are you the expert, you’re the guide as well. Your clients aren’t stupid, never forget that. Just because they don’t know the difference between a pixel and a png doesn’t mean they don’t know anything at all.
They’re on unfamiliar territory and you hold the map.
Start with the basics. Most people don’t care about the back end technicalities, so try to keep your explanations limited to layman’s terms. Use what people know, and if they want to know more then go right ahead and elaborate.
What you don’t want to do is overwhelm them with a lot of information they’ll never use.
Patience Is a Virtue
Patience. I’ve been blessed with it and believe me, I’m grateful for it – and so are the people I work with.
If patience is something you’re lacking, it’d be in your best interest to develop some. I know, it won’t be easy and it won’t happen over night, but in the long run both you and your clients will be grateful for it, too.
Nothing makes a client feel more secure when they feel that you’re taking the time to listen and offer viable solutions. They may think that neon pink and green are great colors, or blinking ads are the greatest thing since sliced bread, but it’s up to you to gently guide them towards what’s best for their visitors.
When you tell them what they have in mind isn’t a good idea, follow up with a reason why and a solution to make it better.
Seeing the World Through New Eyes
I often hear from parents how having children helped them experience the world all over again. I get that same feeling when I have friends come visit Las Vegas from out of town. This isn’t much different than dealing with a new client.
Each time you get a new client, try to see the virtual world through their eyes. See what you don’t see anymore and help guide them around the obstacles. In time, they’ll learn.
Sy Syms had it right when he said, “An educated consumer is our best customer.”
How do you educate your clients?
Read the Comments
6 Outstanding Responses to "When You’ve Forgotten More Than You Know"
Steph on December 7, 2009 at 4:35 am | Permalink
Deb:
You said: “They’re on unfamiliar territory and you hold the map.” I totally hear you on this, so much so that my tagline reflects it (Your words bring adventure. We bring the map).
When I first started professionally editing and proofreading, I simply viewed what I was doing as something to improve communication. People had no clue how to write properly and it was my job to fix it. Patience ran thin.
Now, though, as the years have passed and I continue to get feedback and interact much more with my clients, I see what I do as not only an effort to polish a person’s writing but to polish them as well, to teach them how to hone their craft. On a basic level, I teach them how to do what I do. By going over with my clients the changes and suggestions I make, and by answering their questions, they learn how to be better writers, how to fix and avoid the mistakes they make or simply phrase something better. Editing and proofreading is not simply a matter of marking up manuscripts. It’s also education. And patience doesn’t even seem to come into it anymore, since I enjoy what I do.
With individual clients, I don’t see my work as something I do separately and then hand back; instead, I view the editing process as a team effort. And quite often, my clients aren’t the only ones learning something new.
Deb Dorchak on December 7, 2009 at 5:57 am | Permalink
@Steph: Hey, look at that, you’re the first “First”! You know, I think you nailed it when you said that patience doesn’t factor in anymore when you enjoy what you do. When you truly enjoy what you do, the work is infused with enthusiasm and it spreads.
Steph on December 7, 2009 at 3:01 pm | Permalink
Agreed! In the end, your clients become your friends. Right?
Steph’s last blog post… First Snow
Deb Dorchak on December 7, 2009 at 7:49 pm | Permalink
@Steph: Sometimes that happens, but the most important thing is that they keep coming back for more.
Eliza on December 7, 2009 at 3:22 pm | Permalink
“An educated consumer is our best customer.”
Serendipity! I had this conversation today with an extremely experienced consultant, whom I am honoured to have as my mentor. And as I was driving home today I was thinking “Ah hah” here is my first guest post for Sirius Graphix as requested by the Lovely SG Ladies.
And look! It’s a perfect tie-in to this post.
On its way to you soon, darlings!
Eliza’s last blog post… The (Mis)Adventures of Mike: Mapping out business processes
Deb Dorchak on December 7, 2009 at 3:39 pm | Permalink
@Eliza: How’s that thing about great minds go again? Very serendipitous indeed. I’m looking forward to your guest post, I’m sure it’ll be brilliant!