When starting out as a dental content writer, the goal should be to get several freelance clients who require regular work.
Yet balancing multiple clients can be a considerable challenge, requiring mental strength, excellent communication skills and effective time management.
In this post, I’ll show you nine golden rules on how to balance multiple freelance clients that allow you to grow your business without losing your mind.
So let’s get into it, starting with:
Rule #1 Prioritise your workload
If you’re dealing with multiple freelance clients, it’s a good idea to prioritise your workload based on the urgency and importance of each project. Doing so allows you to manage your time more effectively while ensuring deadlines are continually met.
Everyone will have their own take on how to prioritise workload, but I like to do the following:
I try to divide tasks up into:
- Any urgent tasks with deadlines or consequences – These will be done first
- Any important tasks with unspecified deadlines – These are scheduled for later
- Any important tasks you need to get done but can be delegated, and
- The ‘nice to do’ stuff that isn’t a priority or important. It doesn’t matter if these don’t get done.
Using a time management method like this allows me to focus more on what to tackle first while ensuring my most urgent tasks are done as a priority.
As a top tip, When making your daily/weekly tasks list, consider colour-coding tasks in order of importance. Colour coding helps you visualise high-priority tasks so they don’t get missed. I have a large whiteboard in my office space, and writing a task down and colour-coding means it’s on my radar and won’t be forgotten.
The good news is there are many ways to prioritise tasks, so do whatever works for you.
Once you have a good handle on how to do this, it goes hand in hand with rule number two.
Rule #2 - Set realistic deadlines
We’ve all done it! We’ve met with a client to discuss a project, only for them to return and say there’s a pressing deadline. We reluctantly agreed to take that deadline on, knowing that it’s likely to be incredibly tight at best and, at worst, impossible to complete within the given time frame.
Trust me, when you do that, it becomes incredibly stressful for you as you try to figure out how you’re going to get it done.
Moreover, writing content in haste is never a good idea, and if you deliver sub-par work to a client, they aren’t likely to stick around for long.
So when taking on new freelancing clients, be honest with them about how much time you need for the completion of a task.
From experience, I’ve found that when you tell clients you can’t start until a specific date, they usually respect that. If they don’t, then you probably don’t want to be working with them in the first place.
For example, I had a client who required 15 long-form comparison posts (3000 words each) on various teeth-whitening brands. Each post had to be formatted in a certain way and involved considerable research. We agreed on terms, but I told them I couldn’t start for at least three weeks.
Now bearing in mind this was a $7500 project, the client deserved my team’s full attention, which wasn’t possible while we were heading into other projects.
I knew I was taking a risk as he could have said that the wait time was too long and opted for someone else. But we had a good rapport, and guess what? He was happy to wait.
Most importantly, he got the quality work he wanted, and I got paid!
Setting realistic deadlines prevents you from overcommitting while ensuring you have enough time to deliver high-quality work.
As a top tip – If you aren’t sure how long a project will take, break the task into smaller chunks.
For example, let’s say your client needs a whole website rewrite. This can be 20+ pages in dentistry when you consider all the various treatments and services.
Understand how long it will take you to write one page and times that amount by the number of pages. You can then divide this into realistic, workable hours. From here, you should have a realistic timescale for completion.
Of course, if you do run into issues or problems during the project, it brings us nicely to golden rule number three.
Rule #3 - Communicate regularly
Communication is crucial when balancing multiple freelance clients. Make sure you keep all clients informed about the progress of their projects and let them know if there are any delays or issues. Doing so helps to build trust and ensures that your clients are aware of any potential problems before they escalate.
I firmly believe that there’s nothing that can’t be sorted with open and honest communication,
I once had a client who wanted an extensive rewrite of their dental website. So I gave them an initial quote and the timescale involved.
He agreed to everything, and I got to work. It wasn’t until I got into the task that I realised he also had a whole bunch of hidden pages that needed to be rewritten.
Now, I’d only quoted him for the pages I could see, and he thought it would be all the content. It was a genuine mistake, so I contacted him and explained the situation.
After some negotiation (and some give and take on both sides), we agreed on a revised price. Upon completion, he was happy with his content, and I got slightly more for my time. Result!
If you want to balance multiple freelance clients, the golden rule is always to try and keep them in the loop.
A simple update at the end of the day or week goes a long way and can get you out of many a sticky situation if handled properly.
Rule #4 - Manage your time effectively
Working with multiple freelance clients simultaneously is all part of being a successful dental content writer. As such, it’s essential to be efficient with your time.
When you have multiple projects on the go, create a schedule that allows you to allocate time for each project and prioritise tasks based on their importance.
You can use time-tracking tools like Traqq or Clockify to help you stay on track, or if you prefer, a good old-fashioned daily planner or diary works just as well.
Focus on completing one task at a time with no distractions.
I can get a lot done if I split my tasks into timely chunks and immerse myself in that one task for the allotted time.
Alternatively, when I don’t have a daily plan of action, I find that I’m not as focused and don’t achieve as much.
Of course, things don’t always go according to plan, and this brings us conveniently to rule five
Rule #5 - Be flexible
Balancing multiple freelancing clients requires a degree of flexibility, so be prepared to adjust your schedule to accommodate your client’s needs. This might mean working evenings or weekends or shifting priorities to address urgent requests.
Where possible, try to build some free time in your schedule for when you need to play catch-up or accommodate an urgent request.
For example, whenever I give a client a timeframe, I’ll say something like, “I can complete this task in 5 working days”. The client is then aware that two of those days are non-working days, and if push comes to shove, I still have Saturday and Sunday (or whatever days you want to designate as non-working) to complete any outstanding tasks.
Inevitably, I never book work for a weekend but will use the time if needed to ensure client projects remain on track.
Talking of not working weekends, this leads nicely on to the subsequent golden rule.
Rule #6 - Set clear boundaries with freelance clients
As a new dental freelancer, you’re probably happy to have landed your first few clients, and the last thing you want to do is to rock the boat. So when they have a request, you go out of your way to accommodate them.
The problem is that when a client regularly shifts the goalposts, and you spend more time doing stuff for free because ‘it’s only a quick job’ or ‘it won’t take long’, it can become awkward if you haven’t set clear boundaries.
As a tip, Let them know your working hours, communication preferences, and availability from the start. This helps manage expectations while ensuring you have enough time to focus on your work and personal life.
Notification can be done either verbally, via email or, better still, in the form of a contract of work.
It doesn’t have to be anything too complicated. Instead, just something that states what you are responsible for and what the project doesn’t include.
Having something like this documented shows clients that you have working boundaries and it creates a more professional environment from the start.
Of course, when you set working boundaries, it coincides with the following rule
Rule #7 - Learning to say no
An essential part of becoming a successful freelance writer is learning to say no. Sometimes, you may need to turn down work if it isn’t a good fit or the client wants to lower your price. This can be difficult, but it’s essential to know your limits and not overextend yourself.
Saying no to one person can help you focus on delivering high-quality work to your existing clients and maintaining your reputation as a reliable freelancer.
Again, I learnt this the hard way. Early on in my career, I worked with a digital marketing agency in the dental niche. They asked if I could complete content that fell below my minimum budget. I needed the extra cash at the time, so I reluctantly agreed.
Boy, was that a mistake.
The client piled so much work onto me that I focused all of my time on them, and my other clients suffered because of it.
Inevitably we ended up parting ways, and I learned a valuable lesson.
“If it doesn’t feel right, it’s absolutely okay to say no!”
Rule #8 - Take breaks and prioritise self-care
Balancing multiple freelance clients can be stressful, so it’s important to prioritise self-care and take regular breaks. If you regularly experience anxiety, irritability or brain fog, now may be a good time to take a few days out.
But how do you take time off as a freelancer?
Here are some top tips:
- Plan your freelance schedule as far into the future as possible- Look at what deliverables are due and examine future schedules where you don’t currently have any work booked in or due. Then, block those days out.
- Forward plan for taking a break – Work towards tying up as many loose ends as possible before your scheduled vacation. If you must put in a few extra hours beforehand, use your non-working days to catch up.
- Forewarn your clients – The final step is to forewarn clients that you’ll be taking a short break. So a quick email saying something like:
Hi (name)
I’m Just dropping you a quick email to say that I’ll be taking a short break between (insert date) and (insert date)
Let me know if you need further work in the interim, and I’ll ensure it’s completed before I go.
Most people will respect your time and wish you well. Moreover, you have done your bit by letting them know you won’t be contactable for a short period.
As a top tip – I always tell clients I’m likely to be away a day on either side of a planned break to ensure all loose ends are tied up without any further client interaction. This way, I can hit the ground running on my first ‘official’ day back at work and focus all my time on my client’s expectations.
Taking care of yourself is just as important as delivering high-quality work, so you must take time away from your business.
The final tip is the most important rule of all if you want to manage multiple clients simultaneously.
Rule #9 Stay organised
As we’ve touched on earlier, staying organised is vital to manage multiple clients The good news is that there are lots of free tools available that can help you do that.
So, use tools like Google Calendar, Todoist organisational lists, and project management software like the one from Hive to help you stay organised and on top of your workload.
Review your schedule and to-do list at the beginning and end of each day to ensure you stay on track.
So there you have it; the nine golden rules to managing multiple clients.
Balancing multiple freelance clients requires good time management skills, effective communication, and a willingness to be flexible. By prioritising workload, setting realistic deadlines, communicating regularly, managing time, and being flexible, the process of juggling client projects becomes more straightforward.
If you aren’t at the stage where you have several clients and are instead looking to land your first dental client, I have you covered.
I have an extensive free guide on how to be a well-paid dental writer with zero experience. It talks you through every step of the process, from where to start to landing your first client, and it won’t cost you a penny.
Simply visit my website Dental Writers Club, download my free guide and take action.
In addition, I also have a ton of other blogs on the site that you can use as references to help you with your dental writing career.
So here’s to your success!