Case Study: Use This Four-Word “Rule” For Better Freelance Client Retention

This case study reveals how I used a four-word “rule” to keep a valuable client happy. And it also proves that focusing on client satisfaction leads directly to more money in my business bank account.

A few weeks ago, I shared the four-word “rule” you can use to make your clients love working with you.

Now in case you missed it, that rule is…

“Do it for them.”

And in the article, I promised that if you follow this rule, your clients will happily pay premium rates to hire you over and over again.

Well today, I’m going to prove it.

And in a moment, I’m going to show you a text that I got from a client yesterday…

But first, you need a little context.

See, my client sent me the text after we talked about new projects on our last check-in call.

On the call, he mentioned he was going to need to write a certain set of deliverables.

And he made it seem like a foregone conclusion. Since up until now, he had always handled this type of project himself.

But In My Mind, I Heard My Client Saying He Was Going To Do My Job — Writing Copy

And that set off an alarm in my brain. 🚨

Because if my client is writing copy…

It means I am not following the rule to “do it for them.”

So I jumped in and asked a simple question…

“What would need to happen for me to write these deliverables instead?”

And after a quick discussion, it turned out he just needed to confirm a few details about the project for me first.

But here is the key thing you have to remember:

My client had always written these deliverables before. So he wasn’t really thinking about the possibility of assigning them to me.

As A Pro-Lancer, It Was My Responsibility To Point That Out…

And to suggest that I take over the project instead. (Which is the second example of how to “do it for them” in the original article.)

And that brings me to the text I got from my client yesterday, after I handed in drafts for the project I took off his plate.

Because when you follow the rule to “do it for them,” your clients say things like this…

These…all look gr8 and I’m overjoyed that I don’t have to do them myself.

But there’s something else I still haven’t told you yet…

I Just Increased My Retainer With This Client By 10% For My Work This Month

So now you tell me.

After this exchange, do you think my client is happy about that extra investment?

I think that’s an obvious yes.

Which proves my point that following the rule to “do it for them” will make your clients love working with you. And that they will happily pay premium rates to hire you over and over again.

But I Also Want To Take A Second To Call Out The Fact That I Followed My Own Advice Here

And that just three weeks after I shared an article explaining this strategy, I’m publishing a case study where I actually used that strategy in my own business. 

Because the sad truth is, most people who claim they can help you grow your business are 100% hype and 0% substance.

And few of them have ever actually achieved the outlandish results they’re promising.

Which is why I want to make sure you know that the material I share comes from almost a decade of hard-won (and sometimes painful) experience.

It’s not just stuff I just make up out of thin air because I think it will make me sound smart or look good.

I care about you too much to do that.

And I’d rather show you the hard-hitting truth — so you can see real growth in your freelance income…

Instead of pushing feel-good fluff that may be more enjoyable to read — but doesn’t actually help you become a better freelancer.

So as one of my business idols Ramit Sethi says, “be careful who you learn from.”

And keep an eye out to make sure the people you study from actually practice what they preach.

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Now Let Me Show You How To Make Freelance Clients Come To You — Like Clockwork — Using A Simple, 30-Second Conversation…

All the details are inside my free business blueprint 30-Second Referrals.

With this free PDF, you’ll discover how to use a simple, 30-second conversation to get two referrals from every single client you sign. (I’ll even show you exactly what to say during this conversation with my word-for-word script on page 13.)

That way, you can make clients come to you like clockwork. And you can fill your pipeline with more new business than you can handle.

But there is a small catch…

30-Second Referrals is only available to members The Freelance Like A Pro email list.

So enter your best real email below to join us and claim your free copy of 30-Second Referrals now. (And you’ll get my members-only emails to help you run a more profitable and stress-free freelance business, too.)

Thanks for the freelancing guide and the emails that you've been sending out — the 30-second referral method is so stupidly simple, that it's genius!

Connor Inch, Freelance Copywriter