As the title suggests, this one thing will make your projects run more smoothly if you implement it on a regular basis!
Picture the scenario, you are a freelancer and you are providing a service to your client. You work remotely and never meet up in person with the people who contract you.
The Problem is, it is very hard to see progress of a project with remote workers, it’s our duty as a freelancer to let your client know exactly where you are in the project so they have visibility of the work done.
Add this small thing to add into your daily process and you will keep you client’s happy, and what do happy client’s create … more work.
Drum Roll – End Of Day Update Video
It’s super simple, record a one minute video of the work done using screencast software at the end of each day and send it to your client.
Walk through the work done, show your client what you have achieved and how the project is moving forward towards completion.
It’s a very simple thing, you show your client where you are, and how their money is being spent.
Scratching My Own Itch
I started to do this as a result of my work with sub-contractors on projects. I saw the problem live and wanted to scratch that itch with my own work.
I would pass my freelancer a requirements and it would go very quiet. I did not know where they were in the timeline, and even if they were working on my tasks.
Paying a contractor to do work for you takes a lot of trust, you are paying people to do a task for you and expect it to be completed on time and to budget.
I would fret that with work was in progress, or even worse I would start to micro-manage my contractors to get status updates, nobody likes that.
Add into this mix different timezones and things get messy quickly
I realised my clients would be thinking this about my services delivery so I started to add and end of day update to my daily process.
Example End Of Day Update
Here’s an example of what I would send to a client, the project is my internal AI development projects but it’s a real example of what I would do.
https://app.screencast.com/ZGw7zpO422Y7g
It doesn’t need to be hugely in-depth, just a quick check-in to show progress is being made.
Software I Use
You don’t need expensive software to do add this process to your working day., my preferred tool is TechSmith screen capture (formerly Jing), there is a free version, but I pay $10 per month for the pro version.
Another great alternative is Loom, again the free version is great and the paid version it not too expensive.
Testimonial
I got a testimonial from one of my clients Nate recently and he highlighted the end of day update and how it made our project run more smoothly.
Neil stepped in when we had a contractor fail to deliver. Once Neil took over, I got daily update videos. I always knew where we were in the process and saw the product developing daily. The deliverable was perfect and easy to use. Neil understood what we were trying to do, implemented revision feedback seamlessly, and developed custom solutions that I didn’t even know were possible. Could not recommend Neil enough.
Nate Banker – CEO Banker Creative
Wrap Up – This One Thing Will Make Your Projects Run More Smoothly
It’s a very simple thing, but implement this and you will thrill your clients. This makes you look very professional, keeps your clients in the loop and leads to more projects.
I’ve heard so many horror stories about freelancers going AWOL, keep your clients updated!
If you would like to work with me after learning a little more about my processes please get in touch.
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash