The day is only so long.
We can’t do everything.
We can’t respond
to every customer’s demands
immediately.
We have to make choices.
I have four publishers
and there’s no way
I can write enough stories
to keep all of these publishers happy.
So I prioritize.
I have a spreadsheet showing me
earnings per word count
for each story, each publisher.
I know where I make my money
and I write stories for these publishers first.
I also track the sales
of the publisher’s top earnings.
This shows me sales potential.
“If there’s any chance
you’ll drop the ball
with one of your clients,
you’ve got to get brutally honest
with your priorities.
Choose your method,
then dig in:
You may want to prioritize
based on revenue
(the best-paying job gets top priority),
client relationships
(your biggest client,
your oldest client
or the new client you want to impress
gets your time and attention first),
or some other factor
that makes sense to you.
For instance,
if you have a client
who pays you a lot
but only uses your services occasionally,
they may fall lower on the priority scale
than someone who pays less
but is a regular customer.”
If you could make
only one customer happy,
which customer would that be?