NOTE: This article was written by Mike, featured on .Net Magazine on August 5, 2011.

Any project manager or business executive would say, “Mike, going continually outside of scope and working for free is no way to manage a project.” And to an extent they’re right--going out of scope is a major project management faux-pas. Everyone in the industry has been trained to keep the project on-time, within budget, and within scope. But maybe that’s why taking the road less traveled isn’t such bad advice. Know your clients. Know their likes. Know their dislikes. Know everything they are and everything they can be. Know them like your one true love, and you’ll know their needs before they even know them. Do whatever you can for them (within reason) and worry about money later. They’ll be your biggest fans. Connections will be made, deals will be closed and money will be made. In the end, the sum of your relationship will be more than its individual parts (or costs).