ed to him that I had a lot of practice: years of working with people who were in a similar situation as he was. I added: “once you get a sense for what someone wants, then you go with it.”

No, I am no mind reader. However, anticipating a client’s needs comes with the territory. It has taken years of hard wo

Once in awhile I get it right — even 100% on target at that. What am I talking about? Anticipating a client’s needs to the point where I am able to convey to them what they are unable to state in words to me.

For example, a few week’s back I had a small project to work on, a series of automotive articles, and the customer wasn’t sure exactly what he wanted but he knew that there was something that he needed: fresh web content. I sensed that his budget was limited and I could almost hear him say as much, but I did not press the issue with him. Instead, after looking over his website, I decided that writing several tightly focused articles of about 400 words in length would do. No, it wasn’t the traditional copy I would have recommended but for his particular site it would be a good fit. At least that is what I had surmised.

When I pitched my proposal to the client he seemed cautiously interested, but he gave to me his go ahead despite whatever reservations he may have had. A few days later I managed to deliver the completed work to him and he accepted the project without demanding any changes. Instead, he remarked, “you knew exactly what I wanted without me being able to tell you what I wanted. How did you know?” Well, I mentioned to him that I had a lot of practice: years of working with people who were in a similar situation as he was. I added: “once you get a sense for what someone wants, then you go with it.”

No, I am no mind reader. However, anticipating a client’s needs comes with the territory. It has taken years of hard wor

nd the customer wasn’t sure exactly what he wanted but he knew that there was something that he needed: fresh web content. I sensed that his budget was limited and I could almost hear him say as much, but I did not press the issue with him. Instead, after looking over his website, I decided that writing several tightly focused articles of about 400 words in length would do. No, it wasn’t the traditional copy I would have recommended but for his particular site it would be a good fit. At least that is what I had surmised.

When I pitched my proposal to the client he seemed cautiously interested, but he gave to me his go ahead despite whatever reservations he may have had. A few days later I managed to deliver the completed work to him and he accepted the project without demanding any changes. Instead, he remarked, “you knew exactly what I wanted without me being able to tell you what I wanted. How did you know?” Well, I mentioned to him that I had a lot of practice: years of working with people who were in a similar situation as he was. I added: “once you get a sense for what someone wants, then you go with it.”

No, I am no mind reader. However, anticipating a client’s needs comes with the territory. It has taken years of hard wo

ghtly focused articles of about 400 words in length would do. No, it wasn’t the traditional copy I would have recommended but for his particular site it would be a good fit. At least that is what I had surmised.

When I pitched my proposal to the client he seemed cautiously interested, but he gave to me his go ahead despite whatever reservations he may have had. A few days later I managed to deliver the completed work to him and he accepted the project without demanding any changes. Instead, he remarked, “you knew exactly what I wanted without me being able to tell you what I wanted. How did you know?” Well, I mentioned to him that I had a lot of practice: years of working with people who were in a similar situation as he was. I added: “once you get a sense for what someone wants, then you go with it.”

No, I am no mind reader. However, anticipating a client’s needs comes with the territory. It has taken years of hard wo

o ahead despite whatever reservations he may have had. A few days later I managed to deliver the completed work to him and he accepted the project without demanding any changes. Instead, he remarked, “you knew exactly what I wanted without me being able to tell you what I wanted. How did you know?” Well, I mentioned to him that I had a lot of practice: years of working with people who were in a similar situation as he was. I added: “once you get a sense for what someone wants, then you go with it.”

No, I am no mind reader. However, anticipating a client’s needs comes with the territory. It has taken years of hard wo

ed to him that I had a lot of practice: years of working with people who were in a similar situation as he was. I added: “once you get a sense for what someone wants, then you go with it.”

No, I am no mind reader. However, anticipating a client’s needs comes with the territory. It has taken years of hard work to get to this place, but the payoffs for client and writer are very obvious.