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It is more likely that they see this freelancer walking up in jeans and a t-shirt as someone who is unprofessional, brazen and cocky, or just plain sloppy

Entering a conversation with a potential client unarmed with answers to commonly asked questions will always leave a discouraging first impression.

Keep a list of your personal policies and procedures so you’re not caught off guard, and add to it when new questions are brought up. Know your business better than anyone else, and clients will walk away confident that you know what you’re talking about.

Then, if you have the time, put in a little extra effort to deliver a day early. Odds are, this will make an amazing first impression with your clients as they will be comparing you to designers they have worked with in the past who probably never attempted to beat the due date and might have even struggled just to finish by the agreed upon deadline

One easy way to blow your clients away is to stop emailing them simple jpgs of whatever you’ve created. Instead, throw the jpgs on a nice background, toss in their company logo and spend a few minutes creating a quick writeup for each concept. Present your thought process and logic behind everything you create. You’d be surprised how few designers put in this extra effort and how impressed many clients will be with it. Beyond simply making a good impression, this technique helps you sell your ideas to your clients. A simple static thumbnail leaves a lot of interpretation hanging in the balance. This could result in a complete misunderstanding of what you were trying to accomplish and ultimately an unchangeable dislike for your design. However, if they see that you’ve thought through the concept, they’re more likely to accept the design or at least make suggestions without destroying the integrity of the idea.

Beating deadlines, over delivering, answering calls and emails at all hours of the day and night, and coming through in a bind are things that your client should know are optional actions you perform to make sure they’re completely satisfied with your service. These methods should be noticed and appreciated, not abused