We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jerome Serra a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jerome, appreciate you joining us today. Everyone has crazy stuff happen to them, but often small business owners and creatives, artists and others who are doing something off the beaten path are often hit with things (positive or negative) that are so out there, so unpredictable and unexpected. Can you share a crazy story from your journey?

I had a client who I already fired, But for about two years he was one of my most profitable clients, but it would come at a cost.

I met him at a point where I needed money because I was just starting, I undercharged and overworked myself, and the more experience I got the more I realized how this relationship was unsustainable.

He would ask me to re-edit things just because he thought he didn’t look good, even though he did and these edits wouldn’t make any difference to the final product in the end, or he would just call me off business hours to talk about the project or some personal things that I didn’t care about. Or he would just show up 2-3 hours late to our production days, setting us behind hours. He would change the scope of the project last minute. I didn’t have a contract in place ( which was my fault) so I would never charge extra for all these changes or mishaps.

I was too scared because I needed the money and he was a nice person just a terrible client and also in part my fault for not setting boundaries from the start.

The last time I talked to him, he wanted me to do a BIG job, and I mean big, it consisted of flying to 5-6 different states, filming multiple interviews, multiple camera setups, and editing a one-hour-long episode. I thought that if I were to work with him again, I want a big payout, especially because the job required it. He didn’t like my initial quote, and asked me to take some line items off that he would provide, even after doing that, he still thought it was too much.

He asked me to give him a call, and that call went exactly how you would expect it to go, he told me that he helped me, that he made me who I was, and that I am not grateful. In the end, I told him I couldn’t do it for less than that, that was it.

Looking back I am glad I fired him because I managed to have a better year as far as the quality of clients that I worked with and the money I made. It’s ok to say no to these bad clients because you never know if your right client will be there waiting. Also don’t make my mistake and get a contract!

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

Check back in to tell them about how much more you can do to help them, and mean it.

Also, something I just started and that is gifting, Is my first time, so let’s see how it goes.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

The best source so far has been referral marketing. I joined this networking group for two years and that did pretty good, now I am doing my networking on Linkedin and doing SEO to grow my online presence on Google.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.melomultimedia.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melomultimediallc/