Crawl into the minds of your clients.

I’m going to tell you something that has massively helped me build a multimillion-dollar agency:

It’s knowing my client and what they do — inside and out.

Sounds simple, right?

But as working creatives, we deal with a lot of commercial and corporate clients.

Knowing what’s involved in their lives — and tailoring your creative services to that — is a massive game-changer.

I’ll give you my example.

My agency does a lot of work with real estate clients. We create high-end property content.

The amateur-level understanding is: Okay, a real estate agent needs photo and video to post online so people can see their listings.

The next level is knowing that real estate agents spend most of their time trying to get new listings and sign people up — and that having awesome content on existing listings helps with that. It builds their reputation in the community.

After 10 years, I know — almost down to their calendars — exactly what they do day in and day out. The good parts of their job. The sucky parts. The pressures. The sales conversations. The office dynamics. The industry politics. Their competitors’ strengths and weaknesses. Their goals — and their biggest fears.

Not that I would ever fucking want to, but I know so much that I could be a real estate agent tomorrow if I had to.

Could you do your client’s job?

Obviously, I’m not saying be at their level. But knowing their profession intimately has huge benefits.

First — Language.

If you can communicate to your client in their language, you build rapport. You build trust. You put them at ease. They feel like you’re one of them — which builds loyalty.

For example, if you’re an automotive photographer, you should be able to talk about how an engine or exhaust system works. If you're in the fitness space, you should know how to describe exercises and form. Doing content for a finance company? Learn some basic investment and economic terminology — and understand the services they offer.

Second — Value.

You actually start to understand how your creative services help their business.

People don’t want your art — they want what your art does for them. In a commercial sense, you need to know how it helps them grow.

Those product shots? They’re not just to make the product look good. They’re meant to attract customers, build a brand, increase ad clicks. You’re there to help them make money.

So, know their economics. Get curious about their margins. Do they need to sell high volume to make a profit, or are they high-ticket, high-margin and just need to find one right buyer?

Want your artwork hanging in a restaurant? Ask yourself — do they want something warm and family-friendly, or do they want elite, exclusive, expensive-looking work that signals status?

Know how your clients connect with their clients. Understand their economics. Then either tweak your offer to help them succeed — or get better at selling the fact that your work already does.

Third — Speed.

Because of everything above, working with you becomes faster and easier.

They don’t have to explain what they need. They don’t have to repeat themselves. They don’t have to waste time building rapport — because you’ve already done the groundwork.

Time is a valuable resource. Leverage it.

So, how do you get to know all this?

Yes, time working together helps.

But you can speed it up.

Do research. Prepare.

Watch videos. Read books on their industry.

Ask fucking questions.

Get so damn interested in them.

Stop trying to convince them how good you are — and become a student of their world.

Spend a day with them.

Research their competitors.

Be active about it.

Listen — they say business is finding a need and filling a need. Creative business is no different.

The tools and applications might vary.

But the principle is the same: Go deeper.

It’s not about your work.

It’s about what your work can do for people.