I use the word employer when I really mean client. I mostly do this because I’ve been rocking the thesaurus and I don’t want to use “client” every other word. There’s a difference, though. Clients and employers are two separate entities, and each treats the people who work for them differently.
What to Do If Clients Are Not Paying You Right Now + 5 Common Scenarios
Clients who don’t pay are nothing new. Even without a crisis, we have encountered at least one client who knows all the delaying tactics in the world when it comes to paying for work we’ve done. And then there are those who don’t pay up at all.
In this time of crisis, the problem is even more pronounced. Clients are likely facing financial issues themselves, and while we sympathize—we are truly in the same boat—we also need to keep food on the table.
So what do you do if clients are not paying you right now? [Read more…]
7 Ways to Source Clients as a Freelance Writer
Clients are the lifeblood of freelance writing. A steady stream of clients is the reason freelance writers keep their one-man business going.
What to Do When Terminating a Freelance Contract
In a freelancer’s work life, the only constant is change.
While some freelancers enjoy working for a small number of reliable, well-paying clients, others work on multiple small projects drawn from a large client base.
Client Onboarding: A Freelancer’s Guide to Strong and Harmonious Relationships
The relationships between you and your clients can make or break your business as a freelancer. Not only do harmonious relationships lead to business growth, but they can also help you work to your full potential.
10 Questions to Include in a Copywriting Client Questionnaire
Using a copywriting client questionnaire is an essential step of the client onboarding process and something that should never be skipped. Writing copy for a client has its challenges, and when you start working with a new client, you’ll want to get all the information you can about who the clients are and what they value.
How to Handle Losing a Major Client
You’ve been writing for a client for a while, and suddenly, they no longer require your services. It doesn’t matter whether or not it was your fault – it’s still a troubling situation to be in. Take a few deep breaths before you hit the panic switch. It can be hard to remember that losing one client is not losing your entire career, and you should be able to successfully rebound from your loss. Once you’ve calmed down about the loss, it’s time to figure out where you should go from here. [Read more…]
5 Tips to Ensure Maximum Performance When Working for Multiple Clients
There seems to be two kinds of freelancers when it comes to the beginning to a career: those who are afraid to take on more than a single project at a time and those who jump in so deep that they are drowning in orders before they know what they are doing. Most commonly, it is the first type that we see. While freelancers have the ability to do more than one order at once, they are terrified of the risk or missing a deadline to take the chance.
But here is a secret that most freelancers who have been in the business for a while are aware of: You won’t reach full earning potential until you move past this fear, simply because you waste time that could be broken up among multiple orders trying to find one new project at a time.
If you are thinking of finally getting more than one client at a time, here are five tips to help you do so more smoothly. [Read more…]
5 Legal Questions to Ask Before Turning in An Assignment
Turning in an assignment is the goal of pretty much every freelancer. It’s the moment where they can send their invoice, collect payment and, generally make a living. If you don’t reach this point regularly, you’ll likely soon find yourself looking for another career.
That being said, the moment you turn in your assignment is also something of a point of no return. Once you send the email, share the Google Doc or otherwise turn in what you have completed, you’ve not only submitted that work for revenue, you’ve also distributed it to a third party, an important step legally and it is generally the final step before the work is sent out to the much broader public.
As such, before you click “submit”, it’s worthwhile to take a moment, evaluate your work and make sure that you don’t find yourself in any legal trouble for your work.
After all, the last thing you want is for something you submit to come back and bite you and/or your client after it’s published online. With that in mind, here are five questions you should ask every time you get ready to submit a new article, just to make sure you’re on the right side of the law. [Read more…]
How Do You Handle Unresponsive Clients?
Recently Carson Brackney wrote this wonderful article about getting more work from existing clients. The advice he gives is excellent, and I have followed most of it unconsciously for some time, but it got me thinking about what happens on the opposite end of the spectrum when we must deal with an unresponsive client.
This has been on my mind recently because I have been worrying about a client who suddenly dropped off the face of the earth. Fortunately, he went incommunicado shortly after he paid the balance he owed me on our latest project, so I’m not concerned about chasing down my money. But now I can’t reach him through email or the phone, and he hasn’t returned my messages. Of course, I haven’t been pestering him; I’ve kept my correspondence polite and professional, and it has been just enough to let him know that I’m thinking of him and his business.
But still, I’ve been frustrated with the potential loss of more work and income. When the client and I first discussed working together, he described three other projects that he wanted me to help him accomplish, one of which sounded like a steady weekly gig, and so I had looked forward to the future income. I’m still hopeful, but every day that my messages go unanswered my hope weakens.
So, at what point do you tie up the loose end and amicably severe the relationship? At what point does the worrying about the client become more than a simple worry? Naturally, several factors will influence your decision. You must evaluate your other projects, their current income, and their earning potential, and weigh it against this current problem project. If you have other clients from whom you feel you can expect future work, then perhaps your efforts should focus on them and you can take a loss here. Also, you should consider the professional relationship you had with the silent client. Was he or she a joy to work with on past assignments? Did you collaborate well on projects or were you mostly on your own, struggling to understand your client’s needs? If the client was someone with whom you worked well, it might be worth it to stick it out a little longer. After all, everyone goes through weird slumps once in a while. And finally, how could severing the relationship harm your ‘brand,’ especially if you work in a specific niche? Could you get away with not severing the relationship, but merely leaving the ball in the client’s court?
In my case, I have decided to write the client one last email and let him decide what to do. I’ll be sure to thank him for his business. I’ll tell him that I’m currently ready to begin work on the other three projects, and that he can contact me when and if he wishes to pursue those projects. I’m happy with the current state of my freelance business, so I’ve decided to no longer worry about this one project. I like to think that I’m not cutting the link; I’m simply unhooking it for now.
By-line
This guest post is contributed by Olivia Coleman, who writes on the topics of online colleges and universities. She welcomes your comments at her email Id: [email protected].
Photo Credits: Photo by RW Photobug.
