The freelancer glossary

In SaaS, churn refers to the proportion of customers that canceled their subscriptions. A simple formula for calculating churn is by dividing the total number of people who canceled by the total customers at the start of the period.

Click-through rate (CTR) is often used in advertising to show how many people actually take the time to click your ad. The formula for CTR is total clicks divided by the total impressions that your ad received.

A client is a person or business who purchases a service from a third-party vendor, such as a freelancer. Most client relationships are not merely transactional—many are ongoing and collaborative.

A client portal is a secure, virtual space that clients can log into in order to view files, project updates, and more. Some popular client portals include Zendesk and Huddle.

Closed lost refers to a sales opportunity that has rejected a contract and/or has been marked as such in your sales pipeline tool. Reasons can vary as to why an account ends in a closed lost.

Closed won refers to a sales opportunity that has signed a contract and is officially a customer. It is the final (and ideal) stage of the sales pipeline.

A cohort is a group of customers that share a common interest, behavior, or other trait. Companies can perform a cohort analysis to identify which cohorts generate more revenue or which ones tend to churn (as examples).

A cold call is when a salesperson reaches out to a person who has not previously expressed interest in a product or service. Cold calls are sometimes made via an auto-dialer

Confidentiality is the act of keeping sensitive information private between two parties, unless there is written agreement that says otherwise. A confidentiality agreement or clause is also known as a nondisclosure agreement.

A conflict of interest is when a party has competing loyalties or interests that could compromise the fairness, quality, and/or motivations behind their decisions.

A content management system (CMS) is a software platform—like Wordpress—in which users can create, edit, and publish digital content.

A content marketer leverages media like blogs, ebooks, and webpages to engage potential customers. He or she is often well-versed in SEO, writing, and overall inbound marketing.

A content mill is a company that creates and sells a high volume of articles or blogs at a low price. Writers are typically paid very little at content mills, adding to their poor reputation.

Content writing involves penning text that’s intended to inform, educate, or entertain the reader. It’s often used in relation to blogs, ebooks, or other long-form pieces.

A contract-to-hire job is a short-term role that has the potential to become a full-time position in the future. The length of the short-term role can vary from job to job.

Conversion rate optimization (CRO) is the process of improving your website or landing page to drive more signups or any other desired action.

Copy editing is when you check a piece of writing for grammar, spelling, and other criteria before publishing it. At this stage, you’ll want to check that the text also aligns with branding.

A copyright is a form of intellectual property that gives the owner exclusive rights to publish, copy, and distribute creative work—or to authorize others to do the same.

Copywriting involves penning text that’s intended to sell a reader on a product or service. It often refers to text on an ad, website, email, or other short-form piece of content.

Cost per lead (CPL)—not to be confused with customer acquisition cost—is the amount of money spent to acquire a new contact, which can then be nurtured or passed on to your sales team.

A creative brief is a short document outlining the goals, requirements, and other essential details of a creative project. This could include projects like a video, ad, or webpage that involves the magic touch of a designer.

Crowdfunding is when you raise funds for your business or project by asking a large number of individuals to donate money. Crowdfunding is often facilitated through a third-party platform.

Customer acquisition is the process of attracting new buyers. An acquisition strategy usually involves a mix of organic and paid marketing campaigns and/or offline and online tactics.

Customer acquisition cost (CAC) refers to the amount of money spent to convert a new buyer. A basic formula for CAC is total marketing expenses divided by total number of customers gained from that effort over the same period.

Customer expansion is a term often used by SaaS companies that are looking to upsell their current users. As an example, companies may promote features or add-ons that require users to purchase a higher plan.

The customer lifecycle involves all the stages of a person’s relationship with your business. This includes the point at which they become aware of your product to when they become an advocate of your brand.

Customer lifetime value represents the total revenue that a business can expect to earn over the course of its relationship with a customer.

Customer relationship management (CRM) entails all the tactics and tools used to acquire and retain customers for your business. CRM systems provide one place to manage customer data and interactions.

Customer retention refers to the process of earning repeat shoppers or (for SaaS companies) avoiding churn. Customer retention strategies focus on delighting, engaging, and supporting existing buyers.

The customer satisfaction (CSAT) score is used to measure how happy customers are with a product, service, or the overall company. CSAT is measured through customer ratings and surveys.

Customer success refers to a company’s effort to ensure that its customers are satisfied with their product or service. Companies often have a dedicated customer success team.

A customer touchpoint is any type of interaction that someone has with your brand. This could include everything from talking with an employee to seeing an ad.

In law, damages refer to money that is paid, either for punitive or compensatory reasons. In the latter case, money from one party is owed to another as compensation for an injury or loss.

A data processing agreement (DPA) is a contract between a data controller and a processor that states the terms and conditions of handling data, such as personal info.

A deliverable is any piece of work that must be completed for a project to be considered done. It can be internal or external-facing, and can come in various forms (product, service, document, etc.).

Demand generation is the process of building interest around your brand. It is an umbrella term that refers to various marketing and sales activities, like content marketing or emailing.

A demo refers to a stage in the sales cycle when the company gives a prospective customer(s) a walkthrough of the product. The demo is meant to show a product’s full capabilities, as it relates to the prospect’s interests and needs.

Demographics are the distinct characteristics of a certain group of people. Demographics can include age, race, income, occupation, hobbies, and more.

A deposit (aka retainer fee) is a type of partial payment that freelancers may require prior to starting work. A deposit helps to show that a client is willing and able to pay for your work.

DevOps is a shorthand for software development and operations. It refers to the methodologies used to optimize the development process so that the company can build and improve products faster than its competitors.

A developer (aka software engineer, coder, or programmer) creates and maintains software systems, apps, sites, and/or other tech. He or she may specialize in one or multiple programming languages.

A direct deposit is a type of ACH transfer in which money is sent straight to your checking or savings account. Payroll employees are typically paid via this method, as are some freelancers.

Direct response is a type of marketing strategy in which you seek to immediately move a person to act. For example, you may send an abandoned cart email to get customers to complete their purchases.

A discovery call is the first phone call that a salesperson has with a prospect to collect more information about the lead’s goals, company, and challenges.

Dribbble is a popular destination for designers and creatives who want to find a job, create a digital portfolio, and/or connect with other design professionals.

A drip campaign (aka drip marketing) refers to a series of automated emails that’s intended to drive a certain action and keep your target audience engaged.

“Due upon receipt” means that a client must pay the full amount owed as soon as he/she receives the invoice. This is often a vehicle for getting paid upfront or establishing trust with a new client.

An early adopter refers to the first set of users who try a new product (usually technology) before it becomes mainstream.

Early payment is when a client completes payment (partial or full) before its due date. Freelancers may offer early-payment discounts in order to get paid faster.

An ebook is a short, digital book that users can download and read whenever they choose. It's intended to educate readers as well as demonstrate your brand’s expertise in a topic.