You got the gig. Congratulations! But now you actually have to write an amazing piece of content that will wow your new client and provide value to their target customers. Since most clients are looking to establish a long-term relationship with a freelance writer and repeat clients are the best way to make a good income, it is exceptionally important to knock your first assignment out of the park.

I have learned the hard way that the key to a happy client is having a firm understanding of their expectations and needs before you type the first word. Many times clients don’t realize all of the details a writer needs to know in order to create a solid deliverable and it is up to us to ask the right questions at the beginning of the project.

Here are five questions to ask your new client before starting:

1. Who is this piece of content for? This is honestly the most important question with content marketing writing. In order to write a piece of content that solves the customers’ problems, you have to understand exactly who is going to read your article, blog or white paper. Have the client clearly define the target audience for you as narrowly as possible and then do your own research to learn more about the audience. If you skip this step, you will more than likely miss the mark with your content.
2. What do you hope to accomplish with it? I’ve had clients call me up and tell me that they need a white paper. When I ask what they hope to accomplish with the white paper, they tell me that their boss decided that they need white papers because all of their competitors have white papers. This is the worst reason in the world to create content marketing. Each piece of content must have a clear purpose within the organization’s content strategy plan and the writer needs to understand that goal in order to create content that will accomplish the mission. Does the client want to increase website traffic? Are they looking to get a lot of social media shares? Are they hoping to establish expertise in a new topic related to an upcoming product? If the client doesn’t have a clear goal, ask questions and encourage the client to define what they hope the result of the content will be.
3. Can you send me some links of content that you like and think is effective? Yes, you can and should look on the company’s website to see examples of previous content. But often the reason that they are hiring you is because they are not pleased with some of the content that other writers have produced or they are looking to go in a new direction. If they don’t have any examples of their own content that they like, ask your client to look around the web for examples. Once you get these samples, use the content as a guide for the right tone and style to use in your deliverables.  
4. Do you have a specific length in mind? Make sure that you know the length so you don’t turn in 2,000 words when they have space for 500. Or vice versa.
5. How many sources are you looking for? What types of sources? Are there any specific sources that I should avoid? I am going to go more in-depth about sources for content marketing deliverables in the next few weeks. But this is a very important question to get defined up front since many clients don’t think about sources. In many cases, I have found that the most important question to get answered is any competitors that you want to make sure you stay away from as far as source. Or they many want you to use specific customers or staff members as sources.

What questions do you ask potential clients? What do you do with this information once you get it?