{"id":71,"date":"2026-10-04T11:12:30","date_gmt":"2026-10-04T11:12:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.sevigram.com\/?p=71"},"modified":"2026-10-04T11:12:30","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T11:12:30","slug":"keep-your-receipts-why-your-past-work-is-your-best-reference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.sevigram.com\/?p=71","title":{"rendered":"Keep Your Receipts: Why Your Past Work Is Your Best Reference"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Think about the last job you did really well. A wedding cake that made the whole family go quiet. A website that finally made a client&#8217;s business look serious. A kitchen you fitted in three days with no drama.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now ask yourself: where is the proof?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For many skilled Nigerians, the honest answer is &#8220;in the client&#8217;s phone&#8221; or &#8220;somewhere in my gallery between memes and screenshots.&#8221; The work was excellent, and it has already disappeared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Your past work is the strongest thing you own. A stranger can&#8217;t know how careful you are from a bio, but they can see a before-and-after, or read two lines from someone you served last month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.sevigram.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pexels-photo-30970394-30970394-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"A focused adult man working at a cluttered office desk surrounded by books.\" class=\"wp-image-72\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.sevigram.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pexels-photo-30970394-30970394-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.sevigram.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pexels-photo-30970394-30970394-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.sevigram.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pexels-photo-30970394-30970394-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.sevigram.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pexels-photo-30970394-30970394-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blog.sevigram.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pexels-photo-30970394-30970394-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some habits that cost almost nothing:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Take the photo before you hand it over.<\/strong> Finished work looks best on the day it&#8217;s done.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Ask for a line while the client is still happy.<\/strong> &#8220;Can I use a sentence from you?&#8221; is an easy question right after a good delivery.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Write down the numbers.<\/strong> &#8220;Delivered 120 cupcakes in 4 hours&#8221; says more than &#8220;fast and reliable&#8221;.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Keep it organised.<\/strong> A folder per client takes five minutes and saves you from hunting through old chats.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Do this for a year and you will have a record that speaks for you in rooms you are not in. Build the habit now, and the next time someone asks &#8220;can you show me something you&#8217;ve done?&#8221;, you&#8217;ll answer immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Think about the last job you did really well. A wedding cake that made the whole family go quiet. A [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":72,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tpgb_global_settings":"","_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growing-your-craft"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/blog.sevigram.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pexels-photo-30970394-30970394-scaled.jpg",2560,1707,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/blog.sevigram.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pexels-photo-30970394-30970394-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/blog.sevigram.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pexels-photo-30970394-30970394-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/blog.sevigram.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pexels-photo-30970394-30970394-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/blog.sevigram.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pexels-photo-30970394-30970394-1024x683.jpg",1024,683,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/blog.sevigram.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pexels-photo-30970394-30970394-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/blog.sevigram.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pexels-photo-30970394-30970394-2048x1365.jpg",2048,1365,true],"tp-image-grid":["https:\/\/blog.sevigram.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pexels-photo-30970394-30970394-700x700.jpg",700,700,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Ayomide","author_link":"https:\/\/blog.sevigram.com\/?author=1"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Think about the last job you did really well. A wedding cake that made the whole family go quiet. A [&hellip;]","tpgb_featured_images":{"full":["https:\/\/blog.sevigram.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pexels-photo-30970394-30970394-scaled.jpg",2560,1707,false],"tp-image-grid":["https:\/\/blog.sevigram.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pexels-photo-30970394-30970394-700x700.jpg",700,700,true],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/blog.sevigram.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pexels-photo-30970394-30970394-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/blog.sevigram.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pexels-photo-30970394-30970394-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/blog.sevigram.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pexels-photo-30970394-30970394-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/blog.sevigram.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pexels-photo-30970394-30970394-1024x683.jpg",1024,683,true],"default":"https:\/\/blog.sevigram.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/the-plus-addons-for-block-editor\/assets\/images\/tpgb-placeholder.jpg"},"tpgb_post_meta_info":{"get_date":"October 4, 2026","get_modified_date":"October 4, 2026","category_list":{"category":[{"term_id":7,"name":"Growing Your Craft","slug":"growing-your-craft","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":7,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"}],"post_tag":false,"post_format":false},"author_name":"Ayomide","author_url":"https:\/\/blog.sevigram.com\/?author=1","author_email":"ayomide@sevigram.com","author_website":"http:\/\/167.71.190.95","author_description":"","author_facebook":"","author_twitter":"","author_instagram":"","author_role":["administrator"],"author_firstname":"","author_lastname":"","user_login":"Ayomide","author_avatar":"<img alt='' src='https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/00fd8f18b5a0e1200b450eb01893e8c4ed7bcc2f6364cc6d1c5678148bca1f9c?s=200&#038;d=mm&#038;r=g' srcset='https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/00fd8f18b5a0e1200b450eb01893e8c4ed7bcc2f6364cc6d1c5678148bca1f9c?s=400&#038;d=mm&#038;r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-200 photo' height='200' width='200' decoding='async'\/>","author_avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/00fd8f18b5a0e1200b450eb01893e8c4ed7bcc2f6364cc6d1c5678148bca1f9c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","comment_count":0,"post_likes":0,"post_views":0},"tpgb_post_category":{"category":"<a href=\"https:\/\/blog.sevigram.com\/?cat=7\" alt=\"Growing Your Craft\"  class=\"category-growing-your-craft\">Growing Your Craft<\/a> "},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.sevigram.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.sevigram.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.sevigram.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.sevigram.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.sevigram.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=71"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.sevigram.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73,"href":"https:\/\/blog.sevigram.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71\/revisions\/73"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.sevigram.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/72"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.sevigram.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=71"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.sevigram.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=71"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.sevigram.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=71"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}