Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is to be easy to work with. If you
Speaker 1: want people to want to work with you, making the
Speaker 1: experience as painless as possible is a good way to
Speaker 1: make that happen. So today's tip comes courtesy of a
Speaker 1: friend who has been freelancing for a long time. She
Speaker 1: was working with a new editor and turned in a
Speaker 1: piece that was exactly the right length, written in the
Speaker 1: same tone as everything else in the publication, and she
Speaker 1: turned it in with the proper supporting material a few
Speaker 1: days early. To hear her tell it, the editor was
Speaker 1: so excited that she thanked her profusely for all she
Speaker 1: had done, which of course made both of us wonder
Speaker 1: were other people not doing this. Completing an assignment as
Speaker 1: assigned seems like the bare minimum, but we all know
Speaker 1: that not everyone is easy to work with. People miss deadlines,
Speaker 1: people don't do what they agreed to do. Sometimes people
Speaker 1: are not particularly pleasant with those they are working with.
Speaker 1: They are late to meetings, or they are unprepared. They
Speaker 1: are constantly trying to upsell to the next thing, and
Speaker 1: maybe it works sometimes, but most people who have a
Speaker 1: choice tend to seek out pleasure and avoid pain. If
Speaker 1: you work with two vendors and they are basically the
Speaker 1: same in terms of cost and performance, wouldn't you be
Speaker 1: more likely to give future business to the one who
Speaker 1: isn't a jerk? Wouldn't you be more likely to choose
Speaker 1: the one who seems happy that you gave them the business?
Speaker 1: I know I would, and pretty much most other people
Speaker 1: will do the same. So if you want people to
Speaker 1: want to work with you, being easy to work with
Speaker 1: is a pretty good way to stand out, particularly in
Speaker 1: a competitive market where it is hard to compete on
Speaker 1: price and everyone does more or less the same thing.
Speaker 1: Being easy to work with is the one place you
Speaker 1: can truly distinguish yourself. What this looks like is probably
Speaker 1: different in every industry, but being nice goes a long
Speaker 1: way everywhere. Returning calls promptly and thanking people is always
Speaker 1: a good idea. Doing the job you said you'd do
Speaker 1: in the time you said you'd do it in is
Speaker 1: going to make any one happy. I know it doesn't
Speaker 1: always work out. You work to build a relationship with
Speaker 1: someone and they quit or go elsewhere. A project can
Speaker 1: turn into a disaster despite everyone's best intentions. But careers
Speaker 1: are long, and if you have been in the same
Speaker 1: business for decades, you will likely have the experience of
Speaker 1: someone reaching out with a job or a project in
Speaker 1: the future precisely because they did enjoy working with you
Speaker 1: in the past. You were easy to work with and
Speaker 1: they want to continue that easy feeling as long as possible.
Speaker 1: In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and
Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod.
Speaker 1: That's b E the number four then Breakfast pod. You
Speaker 1: can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast Podcasts
Speaker 1: at iHeartMedia dot com. That before Breakfast is spelled out
Speaker 1: with all the letters. Thanks so much, should I look
Speaker 1: forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production
Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app,
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.