The Overwhelming Freedom of Boundaries For Creative Professionals & 10 Ways To Implement Now

Jessica Kelly is a creative professional in branding, web design, and creative strategy. She is also a podcast host and producer. You can find her portfolio site here.

Imagine a life where your clients are happy. They trust you and respect your time — every time. Think of how it must feel to know where you stand in each creative process, what you will get paid for each project, and how much time you will have leftover for your family and your passions when it is all done. It feels like FLOW.

Now, write a capital “FML” in the comments if when you started your creative business you felt like you needed to PROVE yourself — and you did — by doing WHATEVER your client asked whenever they asked you to do it. Guilty as charged, here!

Most creative professional newbies (and even some veterans) fall into this sad existence. Despite going above and beyond to satisfy our clients (and charging very little, if any, money for it), we still look unconfident and, dare I say, unprofessional.

Our clients are craving ground rules. We MUST, and I repeat MUST, set the ground rules for our clients before agreeing to anything; even if we are not sure exactly how we can help them yet. You wouldn’t play Monopoly without the rulebook. It just wouldn’t be fun. Let’s lay the groundwork for your own personal monopoly game — your business — so you can start to enjoy it again.

The unspoken value of boundaries toward productivity

Process-less projects are like trying to hang a picture without a level. We can get the job done, but it is harder, time-consuming, and it will probably look crooked when we’re done.

Boundaries are essential to the human mind. They are the number one tool in our creative toolbox. In a 2001 study published in The Journal of Cognition and Development, the authors found that when given a boundary — be it visual, physical, or functional — children were able to organize and complete tasks more efficiently than given the same task without any boundary. Adults (and clients) are no different.

If you look at the success of major companies during the tech boom, you will see proof of people living within boundaries by choice.

For example: In 2005 Facebook began competing with MySpace using their limited interface over Myspace’s infinite possibility interface. Students just wanted to communicate, not worry about learning HTML to keep up. The simple interface with clear boundaries won big time. MySpace who?

At the same time, Apple’s iOS started giving Windows a run for their money in favor of simpler, security-based applications with clear requirements of use.

The lesson is that people just want to do the thing. Too much choice creates overwhelm and complication.

Our minds are organized databases of knowledge. In our conscious mind, we can only handle a few tasks at a time, so we categorize the rest into our subconscious mind for safekeeping. When we set boundaries, we are creating a system for our clients to understand us. This system is called our process. It is a roadmap.

Set The Pace and Stand In Your Expertise

Stand in your knowledge that you are the expert. It is okay for you to set the pace and make the decisions. That is why you get hired. That is what sets you apart as a professional. Make no mistake — clients will push us to the limits of our boundaries, but not much further.

You may be worried about coming off as harsh when you set your limits. You may be afraid of losing a client you can’t afford to lose. That is a totally legitimate feeling. I want to make the argument, though, that failing to set a structure may be the reason they ultimately go with another vendor in the future. Your boundaries answer 'The What' and 'The How 'of your project so they can make clear and precise decisions about the cost and reward of hiring you.

Specific Boundaries To Set Immediately — Non-Project Related

Below are some boundaries I use to run my process. They help me make time for the things that matter and allow me to be present for my husband and children. I hope the same for all creative professionals.

1. Say No To Jobs You Don’t Want

I know, I know. You need the money, but money is a renewable resource and your time is literally your life. Quit the wrong thing before you even get started. I know it is hard to say no. It is a skill that takes practice. Here are some simple phrases that have helped me. Basically, I frame it in a way that is a win for the other party:

a. If you don't enjoy the work, say: “That’s not exactly what I do, but I know someone who might love to take that job and can serve you better.”

b. If you have too much on your plate already, say: “I am at capacity on my projects right now, but I should have an opening in May and could help you then. Would you like to put down a deposit to reserve that spot?”

c. If they want a service “trade” that doesn’t work in your favor, say: “Great idea! You send me your prices. I’ll send you mine, then we can bill for the difference. (The power of positive assumptive statements is huge. Rarely will they ask not to pay you what you are worth. They will either pay you the difference or change their mind and you don’t have to do anything else.”) If you don’t want the trade, you will have to be clear and polite about that. The worst thing you can do is say yes, but not follow through.

d. If the payout is not worth the effort, say: “I don’t do that much anymore. If you really need it from me, my price starts at (an astronomical number that satisfies you). I can hook you up with another professional who may be able to save you money on it, though.”

One of the greatest things I say is, “Look, I would love to take your money, but I don’t think I am the right person for this job. If you want [A, B, and C] — I would suggest you hire someone who specializes in these skills." I am never lying when I say this and I keep an inventory of related creative professionals who would do a good job. People appreciate honesty and connection to the right resource more than you know. The worst thing you can do is halfway commit and then not follow through. Don’t be THAT creative.

2. Set and Keep Office Hours Now

You are human, not an automated responder. I cannot say this enough. If your client can’t respect that you have a life outside their immediate needs, they are not the clients for you. Dump them — respectfully and with taste, but seriously — get out.

Set your hours clearly on your website, in your contract, and most importantly, in your actions.

If you say that you do not work on the weekends and evenings, do not reply to client emails on the weekends or evenings. This doesn’t mean that you can’t work during those times, just don’t hit send on those emails until 8 am Monday morning. Rarely, and I mean rarely, there are exceptions to this rule.

Don’t ignore things that will embarrass or hurt your clients, but 99% of business can wait until business hours. If you do have to make an exception, let them know it was an exception and that your norm will resume effective immediately.

Mine would look something like this: 

“I don’t usually work Saturday, but I couldn’t let this one ride until Monday. I fixed the error for you. Find the correction here (link or attachment). After 1 PM today, I will be off the clock again for the weekend. I’ll check in with you Monday for any additional changes.”

This example completes 3 goals:

1. Let’s them know the standard mode of operation
2. It makes them feel like you made a special exception for their situation just this once… how thoughtful of you!
3. Closes the window. Gives them a set time that you will return to your standard mode of operations, resetting expectations in their rightful place going forward.

If you have a client who consistently makes weekend requests, set an out of office reply on the weekends that list your hours. Answer on Monday morning with no apologies.

(Note: if this is uncomfortable for you, I get it. Internalize that you are not at their beck and call — even if they pay you more money than God. You cannot serve them well if you do not first take care of yourself, your mind, and your sanity. If you respect that, they will too.)

3. Don’t Give Away the Farm: Transfer Intellectual Property Rights Safely

Clients pay for an end product. That end product has value. In some cases, that product carries the value of the company itself (logo, website, blog content). Until they have paid in full, retain the rights to your work in writing. Anything less would be theft.

Look, common sense is not always common practice. People with the best of intentions will get excited about your work and start putting it out into the world as their own even before you have a chance to finish or approve of it.

The worst-case scenario is that the client abandons your project or transfers it to another designer to take credit, not paying what is due. It can and has happened. Cover your bases. Be clear that you maintain the intellectual property rights to your creative assets until they fully complete their portion of the exchange and you are finished creating.

Intellectual property rights law is wishy-washy on ownership if no agreement is set in writing. If they contribute any ideas in writing, they could claim part ownership even if you did all of the work for the creation and didn’t get paid.

4. Your Pricing Sets Your Worth — Don’t Take it Lightly

The dreaded pricing problems of creatives are real! Believe me, I know the struggle. So many things are variable in creative projects. It will take work to set hard pricing boundaries, but it is so worth it when your livelihood is on the line.

My best advice is to get super clear on pricing and stick to it like peanut butter. Put your time here and do the math, because it will get you business. People make decisions based on money. If you have a clear price and another vendor does not, you will probably get the business and set the precedent because they have all the info they need to choose you.

Stay tuned for my upcoming article “Pricing For Profit and Professionalism” for detailed help on pricing your services. The basics are this: know your hard costs, the value of your own time, and your discount range.

Be patient and don’t beat yourself up, setting your pricing involves trial and error, but it is so incredible when you feel the freedom of getting paid what you are worth consistently and without apologies. I know, it is not the stuff you love to do. Your future self will thank you, though — I promise.

5. How You Get Paid Is Just As Important As How Much

You set your price. Now it is time to get paid! Save yourself the headache and make it crystal clear when and how you will be paid.

My Rule #1: Never Charge Hourly: Verizon doesn’t charge by the minute anymore and for good reason. It infuriates people. Your clients hate hourly prices as much as you do. They are impossible to budget and can cause surprises. These surprises cause awkward conversations that can strain your client relationship.

My #2 Rule: Never start work without skin in the game! If your client has never paid you a dime, they are not invested in you. The chance of them flaking on you goes through the roof. This is true for family, friends, and the guy at the Fortune 500 company with big pockets. Deposits saved my career.

That being said, give your client some mental reassurance, too, by leaving some money on the table to be paid at project completion or the project end date. Creative projects are rarely paid upfront in full and for good reason. This keeps your creative mind motivated to complete your end on time.

How and when you are paid is totally up to you depending on the situation, but below are the expectations I set with my clients:

Projects 6 weeks or less at $2500 or less:

50% down, 50% due at project end date for the transfer of intellectual property rights, passwords, and official documentation.

Projects 6 weeks or more at $2501 or more:

25% down, 25% due at project end date for the transfer of intellectual property rights, passwords, and official documentation. The other 50% is due in payments evenly distributed between the start and end date. (usually monthly or bi-weekly for smaller projects.) A credit on file (or autopay setup) is required for projects over $2500 to guarantee the commitment of services and scheduling.

6. Protect Your Precious Time: Set Simplified Communication Preferences

The dreaded communication time suck can make or break your success. This is the one thing that determines whether your business fails or thrives.

What I say next may make you go “pshhh… unrealistic!” Trust me. This is your lifeline. You have to protect your TIME above ALL else.

Apps like Slack, Trello, and Wunderlist are great personal tools to use for organizing yourself, personally, with your own methods. BUT they provide too many distractions when used with clients. You should never have to sign up for a client’s individualized form of communication. Stay true to your own methods. If you signed up for a different account/channel/board for each client, you would be drowning in things to check. Explain that to them.

I suggest that ALL communications, even those said with our voices, are streamed through email only. For more on how this works, read my article on How and Why Professionals Use Email.

Your client is paying you for deliverables, not over-communication. If you are too busy answering with app notifications, when are you doing the work?

Strategically update your clients on your progress and let them know productivity times when you will be offline doing what you do: creating. This time is precious and it is what you are paid for.

Turn off your social media, your Slack channels, your pings — and Get It Done! Then respond via email when the time is appropriate.

7. Require a Strategic Strategy Session

So your deposit is paid and you know your client’s needs. That is not enough. You need a strategy session — and a strategy for your strategy session. Mind-blowing right?

You will save more time and money than you can imagine, by taking the time to ask specific and thoughtful questions about the wants and motivations of your clients. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and this is your time and space to make sure you and your client see eye to eye.

Read my article on How to Strategize Your Strategy Session here.

8. Notice of Termination agreement

You want to fire a client. They are sucking your time, treating you poorly, and not worth all the fuss. This sucks, but it happens, and we need to be prepared.

A “Termination Agreement” is a clear understanding of what happens if one party wishes to terminate the contract before it is complete. This may just be a couple of lines in your contract and it doesn’t have to be a big thing.

Here are some ideas of what to consider:

1. If they fire you, what are you both entitled to in order to part ways?
2. Can you ask for arbitration in the case of a legal battle?
3. Who owns which assets after each payment?
4. Are your deposits refundable or partially refundable?
5. What is your responsibility to deliver content and communicate with whoever takes over for you?

I can’t answer these questions for you, but think it through and be clear about it when writing your contract.

9. Their Business is Not Your Business: Set Semantic Accuracy Expectations

While you may be an amazing creative professional, yet you are most likely not a very good financial advisor, baker, or whatever your client’s work may be. Let them know and fully understand this. It may seem obvious, but trust me, your client might think their industry language is common sense and be furious that you wrote it wrong somewhere.

This is especially important for anyone writing copy regularly, but also those creating visuals. Discussing semantic accuracy makes me look professional and keeps my clients engaged in my process the whole time.

You should never be held responsible for the detailed accuracy of your client’s content, nor should you feel bad if you get it wrong. Be diligent in your research, and do your best to represent your client in the best possible way. Then, celebrate your client’s expertise by requiring them to proof and approve difficult content.

Be clear that you are being hired for your knowledge in XYZ and that you cannot replace their expertise in ABC. If they want their creative product to be accurate and professional they must be involved in the process and proof your work. Set this expectation from the beginning, and they will be engaged and excited about your collective content.

10. Set Your Required Level of Client Involvement (There is always a basic level.)

Ever had that client who disappears for 3 months just to reappear with a million excuses? They ask you to drop whatever new projects you have on your plate now to finish what you started with them before they dropped off the face of the Earth.

Let clients know that you have a clear start and a clear end date so that you can be professional and on schedule with other contracted clients. This is outlined in detail in my upcoming article about writing proposals. For projects over $2500, I always keep a credit card on file to charge in full at the project end date if they disappear. I put that in the contract as well so they know that if they don’t get me the materials or communications I need to finish, they are still on the hook to pay. I have never had a client go AWOL since adding this to my contract. Before that, I had at least one every 6 months. This boundary is vital.

Now, everyone experiences life. If your client communicates clearly that they have to put the project on pause — make a contingency for that. Maybe they can make a partial payment to reserve your time for a later date. You don’t have to be so rigid that you feel like a corporation, but put the general expectation in place so that people understand the value of your time and expertise.

Spend Time on Your Process & Expectations - You Will Thank You.

Whew… That seems like so many rules, but believe me… when your clients understand you, they have the power to respect you on your terms. They trust you more, and they believe in your ability to deliver the high-quality deliverables that you are known for.

Remember, this is not an all-inclusive list. You will come across things and people who really push your buttons. Learn from those experiences and create new boundaries that fit who you are and your business culture.

To read more of my articles, you can follow my Medium page or find me on Linkedin.