I have the best job in the world. I get to work with YOU! And I’m speaking directly to “you” – the clients that I have (primarily) but also the clients like them that I don’t yet have. Let me explain, I’ve spent 30+ years as a graphic and web designer/developer and marketer. I owned a marketing agency for decades. I own a web design agency and two e-commerce businesses now, and I love my job. Love it. This is a love letter to my clients.
If I don’t like a client, I fire them (gently, usually with a “I’m going to refer you to a colleague I think that you’ll have a better fit working with.”) So I only work with people I like to work with, and they in turn like to work with me. If I have a prospective client I think is going to be difficult or I get a weird vibe, their estimate is very, very expensive (that usually weeds them out.)
So for my clients that ARE here, we, together, have something special. A way of working, mutual trust and admiration, a rapport that means that, for almost all of you, we’ve been clients (and friends) more than a decade.
I have the best job in the world. I can sit on my front porch or back deck and work on a beautiful day. I can work from a hockey rink or a coffee shop, or my home office. I get to do meaningful, impactful work for YOU and you, in turn, get higher business success with less stress.
I get the challenges you throw at me because you don’t understand limitations when you ask – and I, in turn, want to break those limitations and give you what you want. In between, the magic of finding a creative development or design solution exists and I get to find it for you. It’s magic.
This is not an optimized social media post or google-search engine results fodder blog. It’s a love story. A story of people who like each other who forge a relationship to better both their lives through their businesses. It’s about the magic of seeing your business grow and know I helped you get there. It’s love – for you, for your mission, for your passion.
I had this exact conversation with a client the other day. And we both have had to work with vendors and clients who are NOT the best clients or vendors in the world, and cause us grief. My first thought is “those people hate their jobs” – because people who love their jobs come to them with a renewed sense of vigor every day. Of course it’s difficult, and I’ve had at least a thousand (maybe two thousand) days of really hating being in business and finding it grinding and difficult. But it was almost always related to working with people who, for whatever reason, weren’t nice. Who hated THEIR jobs so much they were angry, frustrated and incapable of doing what needed to be done. When those people are out of your (business) life, it’s magical. But it took me decades to learn that my business happiness was related to selecting only those clients and partners with whom I had that special relationship. I’m sure many of them went on to find other special people that at least tolerated them.
A long ago client (John, we’ve long since lost contact and I don’t remember his last name) said to me “in 24 hours, this won’t feel like such a crisis, in a week, you’ll feel less strongly about it, and in a decade, you’ll hardly remember it at all.” He’s right, three decades on, I cannot even remember what it was that was the crisis du jour, nor even his name. But his words (which were a gentle guidance in a difficult situation we both found ourselves in) stuck with me, thirty years on.
Clients tell me I come across as eager, excited and happy to be doing this work. It’s because I do. I still come with the same tired, cranky, not eager days as you do, but together, we get over those challenging days through purposeful work and meaningful outcomes.
Thank you. From the bottom of my heart!
