How to say no as a creative entrepreneur… and say yes to your best opportunities!

As a creative entrepreneur, there’s always a lot on your plate. You’re not just serving clients—you’re also playing CEO, bookkeeper, marketing director, social media guru… the list is endless.

People are constantly asking of you. Clients require proper attention to their projects. Maybe you have employees in need of your leadership. And oh right you’re also supposed to be networking, blogging, posting on instagram, and keeping up with your taxes.

Most importantly, you should be living your life: enjoying enough sunshine on your face and tender forehead kisses and naptime snuggles. Enough pillow talk and happy tears and hands held. Bear hugs and dancing and music that makes your soul come alive. Enough wine bottles poured and chairs around your table and stories exchanged long into the night.

Your business should support your life… not drain it.

Your time is your most valuable resource. How can you protect it?

If you want to protect your time, you have to be discerning about the projects that receive your attention. You can’t spend time on everything. You have to choose how to spend your time at the office wisely—so you can love your job and still have time to love your life. The answer is easy in theory, but difficult in practice:

Say no.

The old cliché is true: when you say NO to one thing, you are saying YES to something else.

When you say yes to a new collaboration or client project, what’s the tradeoff? Could you have said yes instead to time with your loved ones? Could you have used that time to work on a bigger dream for your business? Could you have said yes to balance, contentment, and restfulness?

Reasons you might decline a project:

– No capacity
– Not aligned with your style
– Not aligned with your services
– Not aligned with your values
– Not creatively inspiring
– Not a high enough budget
– Red flags in the inquiry (asking for discounts, communication issues, weird vibes)

You simply don’t want to! YOU are in charge of your business. You get to decide which clients you take on. Trust your intuition—if you don’t want to take on a project (for any reason), you don’t have to!

Saying no is the only way to protect your valuable time. But it’s not easy!

Here’s the best advice someone gave me when I started my business: you don’t owe anyone an explanation.

You can simply say no.

People don’t need to hear personal reasons, lengthy explanations, or flimsy excuses. Explanations also open the door for questions or negotiation—especially if you’re fibbing. (if you use “I don’t have time” as an excuse… they’ll ask when you do have time).

Be honest, but direct. Just say no. Say it politely and firmly.

Sometimes we struggle to find the words.

We live in a “yes” culture. (Can it be delivered in two hours? YES!) We’re honestly not used to saying (or hearing) no… so we don’t really know how to phrase it. It’s hard to do, but it gets easier with practice. And remember: with every no, you are saying yes to bigger and better things—not just for you, but for your potential client as well.

Your leads will be best served by connecting with someone who genuinely feels like they are a dream client. When you decline to work with them, you’re actually helping everyone. They deserve to work with someone who is enthusiastic about their project—someone who can give their project the time, attention, and qualifications it deserves. If that person isn’t you (for any reason!), it’s best to decline their project.

When you take this philosophy to heart, it becomes much easier to decline projects that aren’t a good fit. Remember, declining the project is a win-win-win. You win by protecting your boundaries and reserving your time for dream clients. The potential client wins by ultimately connecting with someone who values their project and can bring it to life with enthusiasm. And the person they decide to work with wins as well—they get to connect with a client that may be a great fit for them, even if that person wasn’t a great fit for you.

It is possible to be gracious and professional… while at the same time, being direct and firm.

I’m constantly learning, but I’ve been trying to practice saying no for awhile now… and I’d love to share some swipe copy with you!

I save these snippets as templates for my emails. When I open my inbox and see an inquiry for a project I won’t be able to take on, I use a pre-written template to say no. It helps me respond promptly and professionally without tempting myself into taking on more than I can handle.

Feel free to grab this copy and make it your own (or just copy and paste—it’s yours for the taking!). My hope is to empower you to say no, so that you can say yes to protecting your time. Yes to the very best moments life has to offer.

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How to say no when turning down client work (for any reason):

• Thank you so much for inquiring with me! Unfortunately I am not able to take on this project at this time. You might check with one of these talented referrals: [referral list]. I wish you all the best!

• Hi [client name], It’s been such a pleasure to connect with you and hear more about your vision… however, unfortunately I won’t be able to move forward on this project at this time. Instead, I’d love to connect you with a talented referral who will be better able to give your vision the time and attention it deserves: [referral list]. Thanks for understanding and best wishes on the project!

• Thanks for reaching out! As much as I would love to help, unfortunately I don’t have the capacity to take on this project at this time. I invite you to reach out to one of my trusted referrals for assistance: [referral list]. Thank you again for your consideration—good luck with your project!

• Thanks again for getting in touch! After hearing more about your style and vision, I couldn’t help but think of my talented friend [referral name]. He/she offers services that more closely align with your vision, and I think you would be very happy working together! You can get in touch with them here [insert contact info].

• Thank you so much for reaching out! I sincerely appreciate your interest in working together. However, as I’m looking over the details, I don’t think this project aligns with our brand. I want to make sure you work with someone who feels like this project is a great fit for their style and capabilities—and I think [referral name] might be the perfect [job title] to help you with this. I hope you’ll reach out to them, and I can’t wait to see what you two create together!

• After talking more about your vision, I’ve come to the realization that I may not be the best fit for this project. In order to best to serve your needs, I want to recommend working with one of my trusted referrals. [Referral name] is a talented [job title] who can offer more than I can in this area. I think you two will really connect, and he/she is uniquely qualified to help you achieve your goals. Thank you for your time and consideration—best wishes as you move forward with this project!

How to say no when asked about services you no longer offer:

• Thank you for your inquiry! Unfortunately I am not offering xyz at this time, but I’d love to point you to a few of my trusted referrals who may be able to assist you with this project. [referral list]

• Hi [client name], thanks so much for reaching out about this. However, in an effort to best serve my clients, I am no longer offering xyz services… allowing me to focus on my abc services instead. If I can assist you in that way, please don’t hesitate to reach out!

How to say no when asked by a friend:

• Option 1: Treat them like any other client. Hi [friend name], it’s great to hear from you! I’m so honored that you would think of me for this project. I’m attaching a few more details about our services and package rates for you to review. If you think we would be a good fit, I’d love to hear from you. Let me know if you have any questions!
  
• Option 2: Decline working with them. Hi [friend name], thanks so much for reaching out about this! I’m honored that you would think of me, but I prefer to keep my professional and personal relationships separate. Because I value our friendship so much, I would feel more comfortable referring you to [referral name]. He/she does exceptional work, and I feel confident they can help bring your project to life beautifully. Thank you so much for understanding—drinks on me next time?

How to say no when asked to work for free:

• Thanks for your interest! We are only accepting paying clients at this time. If you think we’d be a good fit, I can prepare a customized proposal and invoice for your review!

• Thanks for inquiring with us! We are not currently offering complimentary services, but we’d love to work with you as a client. I’ve attached our rates for you to review; if it’s a good fit, I’d love to hear back from you!

• Thank you for your email! We appreciate you thinking of us, but we do not offer complimentary services at this time. We’ll have to take a rain check here!

• Thanks for thinking of us! As much as we would love to partner with you, our availability is currently reserved for paying clients. We’d love to secure your date on our calendar: can we send you a few more details about our packages and investment?

How to say no when asked for a discount:

• Thanks so much for your interest in working together! We do not offer discounted rates, but I’m happy to prepare a proposal and invoice for you to review.

• Our package rates are firm, and we stand behind the value of our services. If you are willing to invest in this project together, we’d love to work with you!

• We appreciate you reaching out about this project! We do not offer discounted rates, but we do offer a payment plan that may help ease your investment. I’ve attached a proposal and invoice, where you can see what our payment plan installments look like. Let me know if I can answer any further questions.

• We understand that this project is a considerable investment, but we stand behind the value in our work. We don’t offer discounted rates, but we do make every effort to honor your investment with our time, skills, and expertise. We feel confident in the value we can deliver on this project, and we hope you feel the same way! We look forward to hearing from you.

*If you want to be a little more firm about this…

• Thank you for your interest, but we are not offering discounted services. We believe in fair compensation for creative professionals, and it is important to us that we work with clients who value our time, skills, and expertise. Of course, we understand that financial investment is a major consideration for any creative project; for that reason, we recommend reaching out to the following designers who may be able to assist you at a rate that suits your budget [insert referral list]. We wish you all the best in this project!

• Thank you for reaching out about this project. Our design rate is firm at $xxxx. It sounds like our services are outside your budget, so we may not be a best fit to help bring your project to life. We can highly recommend the following designers who may be able to assist you at a lower investment [insert referral list]. We wish you all the best!

• As much as we appreciate the opportunity to work together, our services are not aligned with your budget. Please feel free to reach out if your budget changes in the future. Thank you!

How to say no when turning down collaborations / styled shoots:

• Thank you for thinking of me! This looks like a dream project, but unfortunately I don’t have the bandwidth to take on any non-client work at this time. I hope you’ll keep me in mind for future opportunities, and I wish you the best of luck with this project!

• I’m so honored that you would invite me to be part of this collaboration! Unfortunately, I’m going to have to take a rain check on this one. I appreciate you thinking of me, and I wish you all the best on this project!

• What a dream collaboration! This looks like an amazing collaboration, but unfortunately I won’t be able to participate at this time. Thanks for understanding! I’m grateful for the opportunity and look forward to the next time our paths cross.

* Bonus: for responses to ad agencies, non-profits, and friends, take a look at Jessica Hische’s interactive “Client Email Helper.”

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