I have a tendency to spoil my clients. I’m such a people pleaser that I bend over backwards making them happy and making their outsourcing experience as easy as possible. Sometimes that means I don’t look out for MY best interest, which can be detrimental.
Last summer I was doing some writing work for a client who I really liked and he asked if I had time to do a writing assignment for a friend of his. This was easy – 5 blog posts – so I said yes.
All freelancers reading this, PLEASE learn from my mistake!
Being the trusting soul that I am, I did not require payment up front nor did I even think to ask for half payment upfront. I was more focused on doing the job and getting that extra $100 into my bank account that it never crossed my mind. Afterall, I had never had issues with clients and non payment before so why would it start with this client?
Foolish attitude!
After I completed the 5 blog posts (which fortunately did NOT take that much time) I heard from the client that she loved them. I was thrilled that she was happy because I was hoping for a regular gig. So I went along and sent my handy dandy PayPal invoice.
Weeks went by and I received no payment. After sending some friendly inquiring emails, I got the standard response, “Oh, I missed seeing the invoice.” Then I heard, “The company doesn’t have a credit card; can we send you a check?” Figuring this would be the only way to get my money, I agreed and sent her my mailing address.
Needless to say (and I’m sure you’ve probably guessed by now) I’m STILL waiting for that check.
Lesson learned.
Here are some tips so you can avoid this exact situation. You work too hard to be stiffed!
1. Develop a payment policy and stick with it! Paypal is the easiest way for freelancers to accept online payments but you can’t force someone to pay that invoice. Many freelancers require half payment upfront before any work is started and then bill for the remaining 50% upon completion of the job. If a client is willing to give some payment upfront, they are most likely serious business people.
2. Discuss this payment policy with each client. Just as important as having a policy is making sure ALL your clients KNOW about the policy and agree to it. Don’t just put it somewhere on your website and “assume” that your clients will see it. Tell the clients about the policy either in your contact email or phone call, direct them to the page on your website to read, and have them sign a payment agreement before you start the job.
3. Consider charging a late payment fee. While it’s unlikely to receive payment within 24 hours of sending an invoice, freelancers shouldn’t have to wait longer than 10 days to receive payment. Sometimes a late fee will be a percentage of the total bill or it could be a flat dollar amount. Again, let your clients know about this ahead of time and send followup emails prior to charging the late fee. This might be the incentive they need to get the invoice paid.
4. Develop a collections plan if no payment is received. So, what’s your plan to get paid if your client disappears? You can register a PayPal grievance but that only works if your client has a PayPal account (mine did not). You can also pursue payment through small claims court or, if the amount is substantial, you can hire a contingency fee-based collections attorney.
No one likes to think of doing work with unscrupulous clients but sometimes things like this do happen. Thinking of these problems and solutions when you BEGIN your business can only help you in the future.
photo image by bertop
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Christina Lemmey is the mother of two school-aged girls, a wife, and the owner of 
What a mess for you! Thanks for the reminder to get all the details up front–and don’t forget to agree on the currency! I made that mistake myself just recently.
I hope you get your check soon Christina!
I always ask for full payment upfront from new clients. Old clients pay me after tge work is completely.
The problem is when an old client starts having issues, which has happened to me once. I did evebtually get paid, but fired the client afterwards.
Christina, I’ve gone to bat for several work at home moms who have had trouble with clients stiffing them – if a threat of public disgrace would have any effect… LOL!
I’ve been blessed. I’ve had to wait for a few payments in unusual circumstances, but for the most part I’ve had faithful people to work with and got paid on time.
These days, I do very little without getting paid up front!
Always a bummer not to receive payment!
In addition to the 50% up-front payment, an alternative suggestion is to prepare a set of conditions for the work. For example, in this case, they were requesting five blog posts. The conditions for your agreement could have been to provide two blog posts and, once those were accepted and paid for, you would complete the final three. If you had provided a couple of posts, requested payment and had not received the money, you would have been out less money. Often, when dealing with longer assignments and several drafts, setting various stages allows the writer to receive payment during the process and keeps the contractor on the same page as those hiring the contractor.
Thanks for sharing your story and warning!
Elizabeth
I had a web design client do that to me once, so I disabled their website from the server. I guess you can’t do that with writing though.
I hope someone refers you to the writing newsletter lady who hunts down deadbeats, she usually gets results.
Bah! They can’t afford to send you $100 within a year? Pretty sad, aren’t they?
I don’t ask for payment upfront from regular clients. I send an invoice within a week for most projects, or within 30 days for others. I also don’t use Paypal since I’m not doing a lot of really short, regular projects (i.e. SEO articles). But I’ve heard horror stories like this before, and it makes me think that I will think long and hard about perhaps asking for some type of payment upfront when dealing with new clients in the future…
I offer discounts for pre-payment (retainer). The bigger the retainer, the deeper the discount. Not paid by invoice due date? Lose the discount. Then it’s 10% of the balance per month. I send out a document explaining all thus to each new client! So far, only one “bad” client…and I used to work for them!
Hello,
I am grateful to have found your blog. I am a freelance writer/journalist and also the mother of a wonderful toddler.
Having just graduated from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University, my life has been a bit chaotic. Now I am trying to figure out ow to work from home and hope to learn tricks from you all.
I do have one question though, and it’s something I’ve noticed often in blogs: AP style says numbers below 10 should be spelled out (unless age, date etc.) and I see the number “5″ is used instead on one of your posts.
I’m just wondering if there is a different protocol for web-writing.
Thanks, and again LOVE your site.
-Barbara
Hi, Barbara. In general, blog writing is more informal than writing for print. Bloggers don’t really worry too much about style manuals or “the rules” in general – it’s more just about getting your point across. Of course, that doesn’t mean that you should change how you write; just don’t be too surprised when you see lots of non-AP style writing online
No matter how long I write for the web, I will never be able to shake off the AP rules! They’re just permanently imprinted on my brain! But it’s nice to know that if I slack off, people will cut me some slack…I hope.
(Barbara, was Chris Callahan dean at your J-school? He was at Maryland when I was in J-school.)
I had a prospective client say after a phone meeting:
“Ok so, I have a homework assignment for you. Show me what you can do- See what you can come up with! Alright? Ok send me something, bye!” and hung up rather quickly.
The red flags went up, and I realized that this prospective client did not understand that he would need to hire me first before i would produce any work. This is usually when I would have provided a quote for sign-off. I decided not to pursue the project, so I told the client that unfortunately, I did not have time for his request.
I always invoice 25%-50% up front before work even begins, and make sure you get them to sign a contract!
I am also like you, Christina. I just trust people when they give work to me. I focus only on the quality of work done till it is completed. Till now everything is going fine. Anyway I will try to follow some of the tips you suggested. Thanks.
Hi Jennifer,
Yes, Chris Callahan is our dean. What a small world! I think he is one of my reasons for being such a stickler for AP style. ASU’s J-School is transitioning journalists to write for the web and ensuring they follow the same standards online as they would in print.
Anyway, I found your blog and will add it to my list of blogs.
Thanks for letting me know I’m not the only one out there sourcing my AP style guide…lol!