I had a similar situation recently. I always ask for 25% up front, 25% at the halfway point, and the remaining 50% once the client has signed off on the project. In December I had a project which I pursued, the client signed the contract and sent along the entire payment, up front. First thing I said to my wife was, “This guy knows how to butter me up.”

I can understand leeriness in paying up front, but I consider milestone payments to be mandatory. I would never expect a client to pay more than 50% up front, but I have to admit…with the guy who paid me 100% up front I knew not only that I had made a good impression over the phone, and that he actually read my resume, but I also knew that I was going to work my ass off for him to make 150% sure he was pleased with his product.

On my last job after asking for a 25% advance she paid 100% in advance. Talk about a way to ensure your freelancer works her heart out for you. For that woman I would have bent over backwards to complete on time and to specifications. Perhaps potential employers should consider that side of things when they talk about payments and advances for their freelancers.

For instance, the commentor who worked on the book proposal and the client didn’t pay the rest because she was going through a divorce and someone else published a similar book. Too darned bad. The writer did the work, and a contract would have clearly stated that the writer is paid no matter what the client decides to do or not do with the proposal.

I would NOT fax my license to a client. If it’s a high paid gig and they’re putting me on payroll for a period of time and taking taxes out or plan to 1099 me, I’d give my social security number, providing their accounting dept. sent me the appropriate form. But I don’t toss around ID lightly. Too many cases of identity theft for me to be comfortable with that.

Then she asked me to help her with a book proposal that a major pub house was waiting for. I asked her for half up front and she paid it. Then I worked on the proposal over the summer and returned it to her in September. She complained in an email that I had changed the book and that she would call me. She never did. I sent follow-up emails about how I had only changed the order of some of the stories and it would be easy to change them back and that I had added info in the marketing section that could be left out. No answer. Another email. No answer. Finally before Christmas, she emailed me to say she had been going through a divorce, someone else had come out with a book similar to hers, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to do it any more.

I guess she thinks that because she isn’t going to use the proposal, she doesn’t have to pay me the rest of the money. I haven’t given up yet but I am sure glad I got half up front – especially since I took less than I normally would have since she was a repeat client.

And, of course, I live in New York, she lives in CA.

In your case, you might want to see if Angela Hoy can help you.

I posted about a month ago in a different discussion that I’d been asked to fax a copy of my driver’s license and I wasn’t willing to take that risk. I’d specifically told the “client” that if I had to provide that information, I wanted to black out my driver’s license number, signature and month and day from my date of birth, I didn’t feel this person needed that information at that point. As soon as I emailed that response, he never contacted me again. It would have been a really decent job – $25 for every 100 words for music reviews from CDs provided to me. They claimed they needed the license as proof of my age in case there was mature content on the CDs. I understand their need to protect themselves, but there are too many scam artists out there.

Great post, as usual!

I have a question for everyone though. I’m about to design a website for a small client (couple hundred $$). From my conversations with him he doesn’t have too much experience. Think: small guy who’s just started his own business.

When I spoke to him last week I brought up payment terms and he immediately offered me a 30% deposit. However, he wants me to fax him a copy of my driver’s license, for “his own protection”.

I can see where he’s coming from, but I’m a little uneasy about faxing any sort of id to just some guy. Has anyone been asked to do this before? Is there any reason why I should be worried about identity theft? If so, then which specific piece of information can I just black out?

I don’t write for companies I haven’t heard of before, and I don’t answer blind ads.

I guess if I did write for someone I was unsure of, I would request a deposit. It has never occurred to me though. Even when I was doing copywriting, I always got paid.

Deposit is slightly different, as it’s essentially paying for services up front and not applied to the last invoice.

@ Julie – That looks fine. Just remember, you’re not “asking” for a deposit. You’re stating your business terms. Difference

Though I agree, deposits don’t work for magazine and newspaper industries, I think.

The client gave a reputable New York address and a very professional request. He asked for a 24 hour turn-around because he had to meet with clients and I delivered. The check he offered to cut and send never came and when I sent a request for payment he had deleted his e-mail address. It was a small assignment, so not much to lose.

So, I tested and what I learned was that when both client and writer are professional, no one gets ripped off.

Jon, on a side note, could you get in touch? I’m looking for the meaning of two Swedish words, and if you could help, I’d appreciate it. )

Amusingly, two of the three times I’ve had a client try to stiff me, it’s been when they’ve already paid a deposit. Both times I eventually got them to pay the balance, but only after notifying them that I was going to report them as a non-paying client.

I’m saying this because there is indeed a line that is crossed when you become a professional service provider, and there may be ways that any writer can pump up their image a bit. This is just a thought on my part, not anything specific or direct.

Now, they shafted me on over $400 at the end of the summer, and communication also ceased. They didn’t respond until I threatened them with a lawsuit, where they responded once to tell me there site was having “problems with funding” and i would be paid in Sept.

I have yet to receive a cent, and he no longer responds to correspondence. It was for a site called AmericanBlog.

Any advice? Is this a lost cause or can I fight this in any way?

If a writer has no clips, no links, nothing to show experience, I can see the client not wanting to work with a deposit. I’ve seenwriters like that go flaky. But, many of us do have clips and links.

One question:
If you blog for a client outside of a media network, what is a good way to ask for a deposit? I haven’t had but one problem with an individual owner…it is something I would like to consider, though. This is a rough draft of how I might ask, but would much appreciate tips!

“Before we continue with the mechanics of how the blog should be handled, I would like to mention that I have a policy of a one time %25 deposit. After the first month, we would continue on the agreed invoice and payment schedule.”

With clients that have required more expense on my end (newsletter clients), I’ve required expenses (printing, graphics). Not much luck with others, but I think that has to do with the nature of the clientele (pubs rather than small businesses).