When Creative Freedom Clashes with Client Demands
What to do when your creative muse starts to feel like the draining 9–5 in customer service that you just left.
As artists, we need to make a living. But that living sometimes comes at the expense of our mental health and self-respect–not to mention our sanity–when we’re forced to work with a persnickety client just to pay this month’s rent.
You’ve most likely heard the cardinal rule quoted often: “The customer is always right.” But this rule is honestly just satire, and workers are the punchline. As a professional, you know that there are plenty of times when the customer is dead wrong. You just have to master the delicate art of not offending them while you correct their misguided ideals.
But as a creative freelancer, how do you approach the frustrating problem of balancing your creative freedom with client demands? I’ve got some pro tips below based on real experiences so that both you and your next client can get what you need.
Why is this balancing act so hard for creative workers?
As creatives, we are bound by our inspirations. Our brains won’t play by anyone’s rules–not even our own. So, producing predictable, quality work becomes very hard when we are constantly on someone else’s timeline.
We pull from our souls to create. It’s only fair that we demand to decide what kinds of projects get to drain our souls. Unfortunately, the cold, cruel world doesn’t work for us. Writers still have to play by the rules of Search Engine Optimization and the whims of social media algorithms to get enough views to make a payout. Filmmakers still need to surrender to the unoriginal demands of studio executives who are only worried about box office glory, not about making a real impact on the world. Actors sometimes need to put their own interpretation of a character aside in order to follow what the director dictates. Songwriters still need to play to a recording studio’s taste and timeline, regardless of where their own inspiration is leading them.
The difficulty in this line of work is you are compelled to follow both your muse and corporate or client leadership. It can start to feel like you never left your draining 9-to-5, you just added extra problems to your plate.
I started freelancing because I wanted to be creative, not work in customer service!
Imagine you are a graphic designer working with a client on their new website logo. You go back and forth, re-designing to the client’s demands again and again, but they keep coming back to you with dissatisfaction. No matter how well you try to work with them or how many adjustments you make on the design, nothing seems to please them. You are getting more and more discouraged. You’re running out of inspiration for options to give them. Meanwhile, you are not being paid for the hours upon hours of work you are putting into this project at the loss of pay you could be getting working on other projects. But you can’t drop this client, because one bad review could ruin your portfolio and shut you out of landing future jobs. You start to question, “Do I really suck this bad?”
What do you do?
Try putting yourself in the client’s shoes. Imagine that you have glimmers of a vision in your head but don’t have the skills, knowledge, or tools to bring what you’re imagining to life.
As freelancers, our jobs often start with helping a client describe their vision. Communication is paramount. If a client can communicate with you but doesn’t, that’s a problem. However, some people just need extra grace because they don’t have the language TO communicate in the first place.
Regardless of how we all wish our jobs could be, the bottom line is that freelancing and customer service are a package deal. We don’t have an HR phone line we can pass someone off too. We are the end of the line. That means we have to use tact and empathy to see from our client’s perspectives in order to run a successful business.
How do I survive having to work like this?!
So where is the line between working in a way you are passionate about and staying client-focused? Is making a living in today’s world from your creative work while still keeping your autonomy–and your sanity–possible? Or are we all just destined to have our dreams, visions, and passion dashed and eventually hammered into conformity? Will we each only survive a few years of our careers before becoming burnt out, uninspired shells of our souls?
I actually can’t answer these questions for you. You are the only person who can answer them for yourself. The good news is that freelancing lends itself to rebelling against cultural constructs. One size does NOT fit all! You will need to be self-aware and decide what is best for you. But, here are some tips to help you out with your consideration:
Pro tips:
- Take a step back and evaluate your stress levels and mental health every couple months. If your mental state is starting to decline, you are in danger of burning out and need to make some changes.
- Give yourself a change of scenery to realign your perspective. Get a generic part time job to pay the bills. Nothing will help you appreciate freelance work more than working in the fast food industry. (I firmly believe every American should spend at least a year working in fast food or retail, just for the insight to our society. But that is a different article.)
- Be smart about how you job hunt. Making sure you can land quality clients in the first place is the most important tip. Use Glassdoor, Reddit forums, and Google searches to check reviews. Be aware of issues related to certain industries, companies, and corporations.
For example: I worked a few gigs proofreading data to train AI this past year. I knew after working my first gig that these big AI companies with tons of international workers tend to hire too many freelancers for their projects (I’m talking thousands, if not tens of thousands) all at once, then have extremely poor communication with the fast-changing teams and project logistics. I even had trouble getting tech support and pay released on time. Moving forward, I take all this into account so I can make an educated decision about whether new offers I get to work in the AI industry pay enough to be worth the headache for me.
- Try to only give yourself only one horrible gig at a time. If you end up getting stuck with a soul-sucking job or nightmare client, don’t fret. Do what you need to do to get the job done. Process, vent, unwind…do whatever you have to do to detox from the gross. Then move on to something better. Have a network of people you can pull from to find the projects that inspire you, and the people who can support you through the tough clients.
- Tag someone else in. Maybe consulting with another professional in your field or outsourcing can be just the trick to get you and your client out of the rut. If you need to find a network of professional creative freelancers who truly understand the struggle to help you out with the last 2 tips, check out OBA!
- Please have the self-worth to respect your work. It deserves to be appreciated, supported, and fairly compensated. You won’t land clients who understand your art’s worth unless you know its worth first. If you have self-confidence and communicate clearly about your standards and expectations upfront, your client is more likely to trust you with the reins as the professional you are.
- Invest time to make sure you develop the skills you need to BE a professional. Sign up for Skillshare or Alison and take some masterclasses. Buy manuals and books written by others in your field on ThriftBooks. Or check out your local library–seriously, most people don’t appreciate the amount of free resources libraries have! Treat yourself to a weekend away to attend a workshop where you can learn and network with others. Your confidence will go up with your knowledge.
- Give yourself an outlet. Make sure that no matter what you have to put up with to pay the bills, you take time to rejuvenate your soul. Set aside the time you need on a regular schedule–whether it’s a couple hours in the morning, at night, or one day of the weekend that you go offline. If you’re a blog article writer, read a long novel by an author that isn’t popular because they write raw and gritty. If you’re a graphic designer, chuck paint at a sheet. If you’re an actor or singer, walk out to a secluded spot and let out a good scream. Or listen to voice actors on your favorite cartoon. Or sing while cooking, cleaning, or driving just for the pure joy of it, and not for work.
The Bottom Line
Real talk: part of being a freelancer IS being your own customer service, supervisor, and corporate manager. You ARE going to have to compromise with a client from time to time. You will need to learn and practice tact, and find ways to creatively express yourself in between getting work done that needs to be done. Sometimes, our job is amazing. But sometimes, our job isn’t all sunshine and roses. Sometimes we run into snags with clients who rub us the wrong way.
If your client is truly toxic, send them packing. But if you just feel stifled, frustrated, and uninspired in your career as a creative freelancer, hopefully these tips will help you avoid burnout–while keeping the bills paid!
What is the biggest challenge you face in making a living as a creative? Need more pro tips, or just someone else who understands? Subscribe to OBA Magazine’s free newsletter to get weekly insights from other creative freelancers who get it!
