Repeat clients

[eimarra]

My day job is a self proprietorship that I’ve been running for more than a dozen years now. I can tell you the adage is true — it’s more profitable to get a repeat customer than several clients who only use you for one job. There may be businesses where this is not true (wedding dress sales, perhaps?), but even those can use referrals from customers. One of the publishers I’ve done proofreading for over a number of years is engaged in selling off one of its imprints that I do a lot of work for. This could’ve meant a hit to my income, but with no fuss, they simply started asking me to do proofreading on other titles.

The same is true for readers, I think, which is probably why series are so strongly recommended. It’s easier to get readers to come back to see what happens next, rather than leaving them wondering if you’ll like their next book, your next world, your next set of characters, as much. It can be done, but it’s more work.

So today I am grateful for clients who like my work enough to keep working with me, even if it means shifting to a different topic area and style. And I am grateful to readers who enjoy my stories enough to keep reading, even those that have nothing in common with each other.

What are you grateful for today?

Originally published at Erin M. Hartshorn. You can comment here or there.