Comments on: Writers are from Mars, Clients are from Venus

By: The art of feedback: 12 essential lessons - Bad Language

The art of feedback: 12 essential lessons - Bad Language — Wed, 18 May 2011 08:15:20 +0000

[...] Beware the Stockholm syndrome. Have a look at my article: Writers are from Mars, Clients are from Venus. [...]

By: Bambi vs. Godzilla: how to work with very big clients - Bad Language

Bambi vs. Godzilla: how to work with very big clients - Bad Language — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 16:37:07 +0000

[...] marketing pain but can’t say what he wants (or pay for it), then you’ll know what I mean. (See Writers are from Mars, Clients are from Venus for more on this.) There are collateral benefits too. For example, big name clients add lustre to [...]

By: Set up to fail – 12 danger signs - Bad Language

Set up to fail – 12 danger signs - Bad Language — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 14:29:09 +0000

[...] also: Writers are from Mars, Clients are from Venus and 11 things to do at the start of a new relationship. If you enjoyed this article, please share [...]

By: Business relationships: 11 things to do at the start - Bad Language

Business relationships: 11 things to do at the start - Bad Language — Thu, 20 May 2010 12:08:01 +0000

[...] together often end up feeling let down/cheated at a later stage.” I agree. I wrote earlier that writers are from Mars and clients are from Venus, so agreeing what is in scope is very important. I use a detailed project brief. John McGarvey [...]

By: Mr Leet

Mr Leet — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 16:13:43 +0000

“Why do relationships between writers and clients go wrong?”
I feel that all of the reasons that have been pointed out should be handled by the writer. Being a CIS major I have taken a few classes on software engineering and UML which talk a lot about the development phase. The same reasons relationships between writers and clients go wrong is the same with programmers. I’ve always been taught that unrealistic goals should be pointed out to the client.
.-= Mr Leet´s last blog ..Custom css for author comments on wordpress =-.

By: Punishing the innocent: writing lessons from DVD ‘copy protection’ - Bad Language

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 08:55:15 +0000

[...] the good clients simply because the occasional bad client doesn’t brief well or pay on time? (See Writers are from Mars, Clients are from Venus for more on this [...]

By: Matthew Stibbe

Matthew Stibbe — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 09:39:06 +0000

@Einat – good tips and feedback. Thanks. Matthew

By: Einat Adar

Einat Adar — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 09:21:20 +0000

I’ve been working with internal clients, and sad to say, but it’s usually a question of politics. If you have a good standing in the company, than you will be respected, but if management do not value your professional opinion, than it would be very difficult to get the brief right or edudcate clients.

Emphasizing schedules does not help, because you get the “we’re short on time, so just accept my changes and finish this” answer.

What you can do is educate your boss and their boss as much as much as possible. Another thing that helps is to speak in management’s terms. This is true for external clients as well – explain how what you write ties in with their marketing and business needs.

One last tip is to recruit the people using your materials in your favour. Sales people, partners, and users appreciate good writing, and are usually willing to support it.

Wonderful post.

By: sebastian aduriz

sebastian aduriz — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:06:44 +0000

Hey, thanks! Fortunately, I can read yours and I do enjoy it a lot. (And I lerarn a few things as well). It’s good to know some problems are much alike in London or Buenos Aires.

By: Matthew Stibbe

Matthew Stibbe — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:41:33 +0000

@Sebastian, thanks for the comment. Your website is beautiful and your team look like the coolest copywriting company in the world. I wish I read Spanish so I could follow your blog. Anyhow, the ‘walk away without anger’ thing is super-important. It means that you keep your self-respect. I’ve walked away from a couple of clients in my time and the only regrets I have is when I did in the heat of the moment. It also means that you have to be very rational about your decision-making and separate emotions from business logic. Finally, it forces you to be professional and respectful to your soon-to-be-ex-client which, hopefully, preserves some goodwill if you ever go back or need a reference or something.