Comments on: Getting Paid for your Freelance Writing

By: akhlis

akhlis — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 06:16:37 +0000

I’ve just started blogging a couple of months ago and thinking of making money online. I tried once to get a freelance writing job on a freelance jobs site but it didn’t end well. The client I was working with was a bit unclear about the follow-up things. My client sent me 5 titles to develop as a starter and then I discovered writing about topics I’m not interested in really painful. I just finished two titles of five given. And up to now, I am not informed about how this business is going to be.
Based on this, I turn a bit skeptical and pessimistic about freelance business in the Internet. But there is part of me saying I simply have to go on, give another shot, and somehow make some money with trusted clients.
So far, the issue has been almost always about trust. Doing business in person is difficult, doing it online is even more challenging. But seriously, how should we settle some legal or payment issues when the client and freelancer do not exist under the same law or live in different territories/countries? International court or what?
I am so new to the whole new freelance business world and would be glad to have someone able to transform my skepticism into optimism. Thanks.

By: Arwen Taylor

Arwen Taylor — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 17:07:47 +0000

Hi Phil,

Thank you for the advice. Surprise of all surprises, I woke up yesterday and found they had paid the invoice. Something to do with an incompetent A/P person. I don’t know if it’s true or not but dealing with this made me change my payment policy. Upfront payment required before any work starts.

It is against the FDCPA laws to threaten to sue and not follow through. I had to do research on an article about collection laws.

By: Phil

Phil — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 16:54:08 +0000

Arwen,

You could offer a strongly worded letter. But, if you threaten to sue if they don’t pay, (a collector once told me), you have to follow through with the suit. You could also go to a collection agency (I write for two collection publications), but you would give up a good amount of the revenue as part of the collector’s fee.

By: Arwen Taylor

Arwen Taylor — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 02:47:44 +0000

Yeah, I’ve run into this already. One client refuses to pay. The crazy thing is that they are on Elance and subcontracted out the project to me. I’ve already sent them several emails and am not getting a reply. I’m contemplating what my next step is.

By: Phil

Phil — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 15:33:30 +0000

Couple of other suggestions:

1) Letter of agreement instead of a contract. Still legally enforceable, doesn’t sound as intimidating to some clients

2) If unsure about a client, get a partial payment in advance…offer a partial discount in exchange. Not many will go for this, but I’ve had a few, particularly if project is longer term. In the same vein, if a project is very pricey and long-term, seek partial payments for hitting certain project deadlines (e.g., first draft). Or if it’s a project where there will be some outlay of cash, get those supplies paid for in advance. These all help minimize risk and improve case flow.

By: Freelance Writing Jobs for September 22, 2009 : Freelance Writing Jobs for Web and Print

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:46:38 +0000

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