If you’re a new freelance writer, you’re so focused on getting writing gigs that it’s a real letdown when you find that some of your clients are slow payers.
It can come as a nasty shock. Whenever I have time to browse the freelance writing forums, there’s always one poor soul asking: “It’s been eight weeks and I still haven’t received my check. When is it OK to ask when I’ll be paid?”
Big companies are the worst offenders.
Get clients to pay on time confirms that: “for many large companies it (slow paying) is a deliberate strategy. They demand payment owed to them promptly, but string out their payments to others. They will use the cash gained for short-term investment or internal purposes.”
You need payment policies in place from the start of your freelance career
Whether you write full time, or hope to write full time, the payment for your writing is what puts food on the table. So you need to have policies in place to ensure that you get paid on time.
Here are some tips:
* Avoid “pay on publication” gigs. You have no control over when publication occurs. Some magazines develop a huge inventory. Your piece may not be published for years. Do you have the patience to keep checking whether they published it? You probably don’t;
* Send an invoice when you send the first draft – don’t wait until the final draft- with luck it may be the final draft;
* Follow up on an unpaid invoice immediately, and then once a week until you’re paid;
* For business clients, set your own payment terms: a retainer up front, with the rest of the payment due immediately on completion on invoice;
* Always write under contract – send your own writing agreement if the client doesn’t have a contract.
With your payment policy in place, you can relax about payments owed to you. You know that you’ll be paid even if you have to follow up several times.
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