Cookie-cutter marketing advice works great—for cookie-cutter businesses. But if you’re reading this, you’re probably not running a one-size-fits-all operation.

Your business is unique.

Your clients are unique.

And yet, the advice we’re often given treats every business like a carbon copy of the next.

In the world of freelancing and entrepreneurship, every project and every client represents more than just a paycheck. For many of us, it's about building something meaningful, creating relationships, and ensuring the work we’re doing aligns with our values. This is where “crush clients” come in—clients that make us genuinely excited to do our work, the ones who give us energy rather than drain it.

Sometimes, it feels like we’re walking into sales calls or posting on social media only to get the side-eye from people who’ve been burned by slimy sales tactics before. Even if you’re committed to ethical selling, you might still feel like the target of someone else’s bad experience.