Give Them the Benefit of the Doubt

It may look fishy to not receive payment, but things happen. Your client may have internet problems, been in an accident or simply forgot. Regardless, the best way to handle the situation is to contact the client. In most cases it was a simple error or the payment was just delayed. By approaching the situation professionally, you can prevent losing your client by going off the handle.

Call Them

If you’ve tried emailing the client and haven’t gotten a response, it may be time to escalate the issue. A quick phone call can give you a better idea of what’s going on. You can usually find the contact information of a client that has paid you through PayPal in payment details. If the client seems to be avoiding the issue, or won’t take your calls, you may have a serious problem.

Know Your Rights

If you are selling the client the rights to your work, remember that he only has those rights once you’ve been paid. If your client doesn’t pay up, publish the content elsewhere, if possible. If the client uses the content, send them a cease and desist notice explaining that he does not have the rights to the content because he did not pay for it.

Get a Lawyer Involved

If a client owes you a large sum of money, and refuses to pay up, it might be time to get your lawyer involved. In most cases, simply mentioning that you will take the issue to your lawyer will get the client to fork over the funds, but if not a lawyer can help you take the client to court. Remember, this tactic is only worth while if the client owes a large sum. Otherwise, you’ll pay more for the lawyer than you’ll get from the client.

No one likes to deal with late paying clients, but it sometimes happens. The key is to first understand that things happen and sometimes they are beyond the client’s control. Second, call the client in order to get a better answer. You should also know your rights and where you stand on the content that you’ve not been paid for. Last, but not least, only get a lawyer involved if the client owes a large sum.

Guest poster Diedre Fleisner is a professional writer who knows how much it can sting to not get paid for her hard work. She enjoys writing about bankruptcy and loan issues and enjoys researching sites.

Don’t Take Complaints Personally

It’s easy to think that every complaint a client has is specifically about you. It almost never is. Your client isn’t saying anything bad about you as a person, just about a particular thing you’ve written for them.

Clarify Precisely What the Client Wants

A lot of complaints come down to miscommunications. This is the best time to get specifics in writing, along with detailed explanations. This way your client can’t double back and get twice the work for a low price. While most clients won’t do such a thing, there are some who will. Only give a client one piece of free work before you cut them off for good.

Clarify the Nature of the Complaint Request

Sometimes a client has already mentally moved on to the next project when they see the finished draft of what you’ve been working on for awhile. Simply asking this question occasionally gets a surprised moment followed by the fact that it’s actually the latter. There is no shame in this mistake — if all else fails, it’s more paying work

Consider Your Rates

The fact of occasional corrections and rewrites needs to be factored into your pricing. Corrections happen, as do miscommunications. For that matter, difficult and nitpicky clients (who tend to operate more at the lower price ranges) also need to be kept in mind when you’re pricing your work. If you charge too little, you’ll get people who don’t consider your time valuable.

Remember – It’s Not About You

Often you’ll start out writing a piece as if it were you who was going to use or sell it. This goes back to clarifying what the client wants. They’re picking up the tab, so they need to be satisfied. You can think it’s utter crap, but if the client likes it everybody’s happy.

There are lots of ways to react when a client complains about your work. Just seek to understand their problem without getting emotional over it, and you’ll be fine.

Guest post by Latosha Eckler who loves writing about finances, technology and anything that has to do with money. Most of the time her clients are happy, but on the occasion they’re not she knows not to take it personally. Just rewrite and move on.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for saving money, but here is the question that always pops into my mind when I see this suggestion:

Shouldn’t writers support other writers?

I’m not suggesting that writers never use the library, never search for information online for free, and instead head over to Amazon and purchase every book and publication ever printed.  Although I’m sure I’ll get comments on this post saying that I’m suggesting every extreme scenario one can think of, that’s not my point at all.

My point is this — if writers can’t even support each other by purchasing books, magazines, newspapers, and other publications that we’re interested in, then why should anyone else?  Writers are having trouble finding assignments that pay reasonable amounts, yet the first thing I see suggested so often when a writer asks for books to help them get started is, “don’t pay for them – get them at the library or buy used on eBay or find a site to download it for free.”

Am I the only writer who is surprised that other writers advise people who are asking for book suggestions that they should not buy books but rather find any other possible way to get those books than actually purchasing them first-hand?

What do you think?  Of all people, shouldn’t writers support other writers rather than suggest that people find other ways to get the same information without having to pay full price for it — particularly in response to requests for book or publication recommendations?  Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

Image: stock.xchng

I’m looking forward to reading some great books this fall.  I’ll be traveling during September and October on a speaking tour for my next book that is coming out in November, 30-Minute Social Media Marketing, so I’m already lining up a list of books to have on hand to get me through the boring times at airports and in airplanes.  I’m actually considering buying a Kindle, but I’ll save that internal struggle for another post.

At the top of my list is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series by Stieg Larsson, which I’ve heard so many great things about.  My husband is listening to the audio version of this trilogy during his commute to and from work, and he’s really enjoying them.  I’ve been spending the majority of my time recently reading nonfiction books, so I’m looking forward to getting lost in some great stories!

What’s at the top of your reading list right now?  Leave a comment and share your recommendations with the Freelance Writing Jobs audience.  I’m sure I’m not the only one looking for new books to read!

Note: The above Amazon links used in this post are not affiliate links.

It’s time to dust it off.

The truth is, I miss discussing social media. I know I touch upon it here from time to time, but you’re here to learn more about writing than anything else. So I decided to revisit Kommein for those who don’t mind talking about social media all the time. I can’t promise that I will blog there every single day, but I’m making it my mission to visit it at least several times a week to talk about my other passion.

Some of it will be sharing what I learnd and some of it will be rambling as I discuss issues or news. Basically, it’s the same Deb talking about stuff I enjoy, just at a different location.

Will you join me?

I hope you’ll drop by Kommein and participate in the conversation. The name means “shared by all” and I’ve sure enjoyed sharing with you all these years.

Jim has been sitting in front of a mic in a radio studio in San Diego for the past twelve or thirteen hours to raise money for Haiti. When he’s done, he’ll have been on the air for 24 hours. Lots of the blogosphere’s biggest names are joining him – and they’re offering great tips for getting the most out of your blogs and social media.

Here’s how you can help:

• Listen
• Tweet about the telethon using the #HART hashtag.
• Donate

Today, any revenue coming into the Freelance Writing Jobs network will be donated to Jim’s cause. If we don’t reach $100, I’ll make up the difference. I hope you’ll support his efforts as well.

• “My dog is chasing my cat” If your cat has claws, he’ll take care of that in a heartbeat.
• “Bunny slippers”
• “Map of the Caribbean”
• “How does Deb Ng pronounce her last name” It sounds like “ing.”
• “I’m retaining water.” I can’t help you with that.
• “Items”  I need a little more to go on…
• “Deb Ng is a man.” Ummm…no.
• “Coffee is hot” Actually I need to stick mine in the microwave…
• “Excuses to tell my client” That is so getting off on the wrong foot.
• “What do bloggers get paid for sitting on panels?” Sadly, nothing.
• “Why fridge stinks?” This is just a stab in the dark but I’m thinking maybe you need to clean it out…

Hah! Caught your attention, didn’t I?

The title of this blog post is also a search term recently used by someone landing on this site.  This isn’t the first time someone has publicly wondered how much I earn, either.  The truth is, it’s none of your business. When you’re a professional blogger or person who shares writing tips on a regular basis some people feel it’s good transparency to disclose their income. I think there’s a difference between being transparent and keeping personal information personal. I’d never walk into a CEO or co-workers office and ask how much they earn. I don’t ask other freelance writers and professional bloggers how much they earn either. It’s none of my business.

However, I can tell you this.

• In 2006 I was featured in a Salary Stories profile as earning $20,000 – $30,000 per year. However that was as a freelance writer and didn’t include any of my income from this blog.
• For three years in a row I publicly made it my goal to earn $10,000 more each year than I did the year before. In each case I reached or exceeded my goal.
• In 2008, I gave up most of my writing clients to take on a full time community manager gig. So I earned less as a freelance writer, but more as a professional blogger (with this blog and a couple of others). Both of these income streams supplemented my full time salary.
• When I no longer had a full time job in mid-2009, I didn’t return to freelancing full time. I only took on a couple of clients and instead focused my attention on my own projects. I’m earning more with my own projects now than I did as a freelance writer.

While we’re discussing these things, let’s bring up some other questions asked of or about me in web searches and emails.

Is Deb Ng really a freelance writer?

I still write for clients, yes. Do I write as many for clients now as I did in 2003? No, because this blog is a full time job and I’ve taken on many personal projects. Right now I have a total of two freelance writing clients.

Is Deb Ng qualified to give advice?

Is anyone who blogs qualified to give advice. I really don’t claim to be an expert.  What’s going on here is that I’m sharing the tips that worked for me. When I talk about cold calling, or researching the places in your area that may hire writers, I’m speaking from experience. Things I don’t know about like writing press releases or grants, I don’t pretend to know anything about but I’ll hire writers to discuss them with you here. I wore a variety of hats in a couple of NYC publishing houses for almost fifteen years, had a regular newspaper column, and a variety of web and print based clients. I’m a freelance writer for ten years and a professional blogger for just as long. I have many happy former clients and I’ve been the sole breadwinner for my family since July. If you find all of this useful, I’m qualified. If you don’t, there are plenty of “experts” out there and one or two are sure to share your vision.

Is Deb Ng an expert writer?

Nope, and I never claimed to be. I’m a successful writer but I’m no expert.

What else would you like to know about me? You don’t have to Google it – ask away…

Thanksgiving is only two days away and the inevitable Thanksgiving happenings are, well, happening. These are the things you can expect every year, whether you like them or not. They’re traditions even though many of them aren’t on the family schedule.

Let’s go off topic for a while to explore the the things we can expect this year, and every year.

10 Things That are Inevitable This Thanksgiving

1. Airport Updates: Each year reporters converge on their local airports to report about how crowded the airports are. Of course they’re crowded. It’s Thanksgiving and everyone is flying home. If it’s the same thing every year, and if you report on it every year, it’s not news. I ask you, does this make a compelling interview:

News person: Hello. What are you doing here today?

Person in airport: I’m flying home.

News person: Why are you flying home this weekend when it’s so crowded?

Person in airport: Umm…because it’s Thanksgiving?

News person: Fascinating.

It’s almost as brilliant at the reports from Home Depot during snow storms to say people are buying snow shovels and rock salt.

2. “Why I’m Thankful” Posts: If you’re an American blogger, you probably already wrote your “thankful” post. Mine is ready to go too. I have lots of reasons to be thankful and I’m sure you do too.

3. Bad TV: There’s a reason I stay away from Lifetime and the Hallmark Channel at this time of the year. Predictable holiday movies. If they’re not variations of a Christmas Carol they’re filled with depressed people looking for their will to live.

4. Traffic on the BQE: So I’ll be traveling to Queens this year as I do every year to partake in holiday cheer with the inlaws. I don’t look forward to the holiday traffic on the Brooklyn Queens Expressway. In case you’re not familiar with the BQE, there is always construction happening. Always. Not sure why they can never get it fixed for once and for all but I’ve been commuting back and forth to New York City for the past 30 years and nothing has changed.

5. Leftovers: Admit it. You want to host Thanksgiving so you can keep most of the leftovers. Is there anything better than after your guests leave and you have that cold turkey and mayo sandwich? Thanksgiving leftovers rock.

6. Not Enough Leftovers: If you’re like me and don’t usually host Thanksgiving, your mother in law may send you home with some leftovers, but it’s never enough. It’s even worse if your husband gets to it before you do. One turkey sandwich and it’s gone. Sometimes I host a second small Thanksgiving dinner on the weekend so I can have more leftovers enjoy hosting duties too.

7. Football: I despise football, yet every year on Thanksgiving I have to sit through a day of football because that’s what everyone else is doing.

Let me weight this out: Football…Hallmark Channel. Football….Lifetime. I’m bringing a book.

8. The Diet that Wasn’t: Every year we pile food on our plates and say, “I’ll work out harder tomorrow.” or “I’ll diet tomorrow to make up for this,” and never do.

9. Black Friday: I don’t get it. I do everything I can to avoid crowded malls during the holidays and some people willingly wake at 3:00 a.m. to get to the stores to fight over Cabbage Patch Dolls and video games. I don’t find this to be a fun or productive use of my time and will gladly pay more money to stay away from all that.

10. Good Intentions: I have good intentions every Thanksgiving weekend. I say I’m going to work ahead of time and I don’t. I say I’m going to take the weekend off, and I don’t.

What are your Thanksgiving inevitables?

Behold, some of the more unusual search terms leading to FWJ. My comments are in italics.

• “Is my husband clueless?” Something to hide?
• “Should I call my boyfriend if we’re on a break?” There’s a reason it’s called a break, Rachel.
• “Deb Ng has warts” Um…not THIS Deb Ng
• “Freelance writing on flower cards” WTF?
• “How come I’m not rich” I ask myself this same thing every day.
• “Next week on Entourage”
• “Working on coffeeshop tax deductible” I’m not quite sure where we’re going with this. Are we wondering if working from a coffee shop is tax deductible? I’m pretty sure it isn’t.”
• “I don’t want to pay freelance taxes.” Don’t worry, in prison you won’t have to.
• “Meatball sub” We don’t make those here.
• “Write dirty stories for Playboy.”  I’m so telling your wife.
• “Simple blogger inviting words.” Me either
• “How much does Deb Ng earn for FWJ” It varies
• “Deb Ng’s unhappy client.” Looking for some dirt,eh?
• “Man who married goldfish”  That so didn’t happen.