Client Services Archives | Bourn Creative

Agency Highway Interview: Creating A Client Management System

September 13, 2018 Jennifer Bourn

Earlier this year, I was research a new content collection tool called Content Snare. The software facilitates the collection of any type of content you need (like website content) and allows you to create custom templates, upload images and screenshots of the design, add instructions, and more. It completely mimics my internal process for gathering website content from clients and so far, I’m in love.

What’s funny is that just as I was researching the software, the founder James Rose reached out to connect about his brand new podcast, Agency Highway. It’s aimed at helping freelance designers, developers, and small agencies do better business. He had heard about my business and client management course Profitable Project Plan and wanted to talk shop and have a conversation for the podcast.

This is one of the best podcast interviews I have participated in because James and I are so in sync with our approach to client work that I swear, we probably could have kept talking for hours. But lucky for you, we reigned it in for a sweet 30-minute show that dives into client onboarding and client management, the early years of Bourn Creative, and the changes made in my business to create the life as a business owner I wanted.

Create Clear Communication By Speaking The Same Project Language

October 27, 2017 Jennifer Bourn

Have you ever been in a conversation where you’re communicating you’re point and the other person is communicating their point, and you find yourself getting increasingly irritated and frustrated because you’re talking about the same thing, but speaking a completely different language?

Have you ever shared something important with another person, and they respond with some comeback that makes you say, “Yes, that’s what I just said!”

Have you ever been listening to someone explain a topic only to be left confused because they use a completely different vocabulary than you do?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you’re not alone.

Clear communication is a skill that is developed over time, and without it, professional conversations between service providers and clients can devolve into a frustrating and confusing experience. That’s why one of the very first things we do with new clients is ensure we’re both speaking the same project language and using the same vocabulary.

Here are 3 important tips to empower you to communicate clearly with clients and equip clients to communicate clearly with you:

Creating Profitable Project Plans

August 16, 2017 Jennifer Bourn

What do your project plans look like for client work? Are they working for you, or just more work for you? If you’re looking for a better process for your business, I teamed up with WPSessions to share a practical system that Bourn Creative has not only tested and refined over five years, but used on hundreds of real client projects. This is a battle-tested solution that will help you relieve stress, boost your profits, add value to your service offerings, and create happy clients.

Have you ever felt like you’re drowning in your business and just can’t get ahead… like you’re so busy doing the actual work, it seems like you’ll never have time to work on your own projects and ideas?
Did you begin freelancing to have more freedom and spend more time with your family, but that isn’t exactly how things shaped up?
Are you making good money, but wish you had better margins and higher profits so there was some “wiggle room” in your business?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, this webinar was created just for you!

How To Achieve Higher Profits While Working Less And Enjoying More Freedom

August 9, 2017 Jennifer Bourn

“I want to work less and make more money,” is a common desire among internet business owners, freelancers, and entrepreneurs, but often with so much work to do, it seems next to impossible.

If you focus on sales and marketing, you end up falling behind on client work, and if you focus on client work, you risk losing potential new business. Sometimes it’s a struggle just to get ahead of the work you have so you can take the evenings or weekend off… and maybe you’re even so busy that things are starting to slip through the cracks? I have been there, and almost 10 years ago, it all came to a head one night when I realized that I had a big problem in a very embarrassing and public way, and that it needed to be fixed as soon as possible or my business would begin to suffer greatly.

After celebrating Bourn Creative’s twelve year anniversary this July, I decided to share my story, the lessons, learned, and how I overcame exhaustion and stress to run the streamlined, freedom-based business Bourn Creative is today.

11 Steps To Get Off The Freelance Income Roller Coaster And Improve Cash Flow

July 13, 2017 Jennifer Bourn

Freelancers, entrepreneurs, independent professionals, and even small agencies at some point, all have the same problem — riding the income roller coaster, where in some months you’re overflowing with cash and in others you’re barely scraping by.

When income fluctuates between extreme highs and lows, stress levels rise, sleep is lost, and a constant state of worry begins to take over. I know because I’ve been there.

In the early years of Bourn Creative, I didn’t have a problem finding new clients or landing new business. So while my income has never been a challenge, my cash flow was a big challenge, and that affected the forward movement of my business and the stress levels associated with being a freelancer.

Here’s exactly what I did to get off the income roller coaster and improve cash flow:

Selling A Million Dollars In Design Side Projects

May 18, 2017 Jennifer Bourn

Development is clear cut. It works or it doesn’t. The code is well-written or it’s a mess. Design on the other hand, is subjective, with the success of a project often based on the client’s ideas, perceptions, opinions, and personal experiences of what good design is.

Jennifer Bourn (that’s me) is founding partner and lead designer of Bourn Creative. While she spends her days designing high-end, complex, custom WordPress sites and brand suites, she has also sold well over a million dollars in just side projects and add-ons ranging from in price from $75-$3,000 — and the journey has been good, bad, and at times, down right ugly.

Jennifer recently teamed up with iThemes Training to deliver a free webinar called Selling a Million Dollars In Design about selling design services that skips the hype and sugar-coating, and gets right to the mistakes made, lessons learned, and business practices implemented over the 12 years Bourn Creative has been in business.

6 Web Design Proposal Clauses You’ll Be Glad You Added To Your Client Contract

June 19, 2015 Jennifer Bourn

Recently I wrote about why you and your clients need a contract, and what should go in a web design contract for the GoDaddy Garage. The topic has generated quite a bit of discussion, so for my latest WP Elevation article, I decided to continue the conversation and share with you 6 contract clauses that will save your tush — these are those ones you’re so happy you have if things ever get sticky.

About Those Contracts

Never have I run into a designer who was thrilled to invest hours upon hours into a client project only to not get paid.
Never have I run into a client who was happy about paying for work and not getting what they expected.
Never have I run into a service provider or client who looks forward to and enjoys the tough conversations about contract enforcement.

Rock solid, crystal clear contracts aren’t just good for you, they are also good for your clients. The best contracts support and protect you both equally and communicate your level of professionalism. These contracts are based on real experiences and less-than-stellar scenarios that become hands-on learning opportunities.

Unfortunately, that means the newer you are to the industry, the least likely you are to be protected.

Crafting High-Converting Client Contracts For Web Work

June 11, 2015 Jennifer Bourn

In my last article for the GoDaddy Garage, I shared the benefits of using a Crafting High-Converting Client Contracts For Web Work — should give you a solid foundation to see where your contract can be improved.

If you’re on the client-side of things, you may be looking at a contract from a potential service provider, wondering if it is any good, or if they really are the best choice. This post should help you evaluate a contract for a potential service provider, and ensure you are asking the right questions.

Remember, the ultimate goal is to make your contract easy to understand and to eliminate any roadblocks to decision-making, and to make your potential client feel comfortable and safe.

Why Designers AND Clients Need Client Agreements, Proposals, Estimates, Contracts

May 20, 2015 Jennifer Bourn

Recently I was at WordCamp San Diego, where I spoke about Pricing The Unknown And Dealing With Uncertainty In Web Design — naturally in several discussions client contracts came up. Multiple designers and developers mentioned they don’t have a formal agreement and rely on verbal agreements. Many of these same service providers also admit they are being run ragged by their clients and struggle to maintain profitability on projects.

This inspired my latest article for the GoDaddy Garage is ready for you! It’s titled: Why Designers Need Client Agreements, Proposals, Estimates, or Contracts.

Contracts protect you, your bottom line, your time, and your sanity — and they do the same for your clients. Yes, designers and developers often joke that bad clients make great contracts. But we often forget that many clients have bad experiences, too. For them, it only takes one bad designer or one bad developer to make them skeptical of every other designer and developer.

But why should you always use a client contract? You’ll just have to read the article to see what I say…

VIP Treatment: A Smart Marketing Lesson From Lego

February 14, 2013 Jennifer Bourn

What does VIP treatment equal? For your clients and customers, feeling like a VIP often equals spending more money!

I think we all can learn a valuable marketing lesson from Lego this Valentine’s Day on marketing and VIP treatment. For Valentine’s Day, Lego put together a special promotion. As a VIP member, I received a gift in the mail containing special early bird opportunities, discounts, and opportunities to earn double VIP rewards.

It’s no secret we’re HUGE Lego fans in the Bourn household.

Heck, we’re remodeling our entire bonus room into one giant Lego utopia. So when this little package arrived, we were excited. We’ve received special Lego packages like this before and they’re always brilliantly done and well designed.

Letting Go: Clients and Customers Always Have Final Control

January 10, 2013 Jennifer Bourn

Check out my Lego Winter Village! It took hours, upon hours to build and it’s the only Christmas related decor that we haven’t put away. I just don’t want to break it down yet!

This Christmas, we trimmed the tree, decked the halls, hung the stockings on the mantle … and built the winter village. Think this was done by my kids? Think again. The winter village is all mine. As soon as I was done, I photographed it and called the kids in to check out my hard work. The layout was carefully planned, each scene was set, each mini figure was placed, and then …

Closing the Gap Between Prospects, Patrons, and Profits

March 5, 2012 Jennifer Bourn

2008 was a year of near economic collapse in the United States. Americans in some sectors are still reeling from the great slump in the housing market, the widespread loss of jobs, and the ongoing outsourcing of work overseas, among other catastrophes. When it comes to our economy, unrest and uncertainty seem to be its calling cards. In such a climate, it’s easy for us entrepreneurs to focus on the negatives, mostly that consumers don’t have any money to spend on our goods and services.

But what about focusing on the positives?

Kiplinger reported at the end of last year that “Consumers are finally loosening the purse strings.”
Time magazine announced in January that 2012 is “The year of the entrepreneur.”

In fact, entrepreneurialism is at an all-time high. And that means that businesses, especially targeted, niche businesses, are continuing to push ahead, finding a steady stream of customers for their products and services. If you’ve been convinced by all the talk about the bad economy, you may be missing what’s right in front of you: money, ready to be picked up off the table, and leads and prospects who want to work with you. Eventually, if you do things right, they will give you their money.

If you shift your focus a little bit, you can close the gap between your prospects, patrons, and profits.

Memorable Experiences And Camping As An Adult

August 16, 2011 Jennifer Bourn

The Bourn Family just got back from a week-long, tech-free camping trip at Burney Falls in Northern California. We lucked out with fabulous weather and enjoyed the downtime to relax!

This year we camped with Brian’s parents, my parents, and one of my sisters. It was the first time I have ever camped with my parents as adult with my own kids. The trip brought back so many fun and memorable moments from my childhood — as my mom and dad continued the same camping traditions I remember from my childhood with my kids: