Follow through on your promises.

We went out to grab a coffee and pick up an online shopping order earlier today, and in both cases, our orders were either wrong or incomplete. And of course, you only notice that kind of thing after leaving… so going all the way back to fix is a waste of time.

A product or service is a promise: That what it claims is actually true, and the money you pay in exchange will be a good investment. As a consumer, you have an expectation that at a minimum, you will get what is advertised — and at best, it’ll even exceed that. When the minimum is not met via being true to the promise, trust is eroded (even more so than if the promise had simply been less good).

Translation to running a creative practice: if you say you’ll do something… actually do it! Don’t let mediocrity or complacency allow you to show up at 50% capacity, when your clients deserve your very best, every time. This manifests in things like:

• If the timeline is 1 month, deliver in 1 month.

• If deliverables include a number of options, give clients all of the options.

• If you’re scheduling a call, show up on time (read: early) and prepared.

• If you include rounds of revisions, don’t complain when revisions are made!

• If email is your thing, don’t leave clients on read for days at a time.

Simply showing up and doing what you say is a massive advantage because not everyone does it. Consistency over uniqueness.