Do you Trust your Freelance Writing Clients?
No matter what industry you are in, trust between you and your clients is important. Not only do you need to be able to trust your freelance writing clients, but they should be able to do the same with you. Of course, it is not always easy to trust everybody that you work with. This is especially true if you are new to the freelance writing game, and still trying to get your feet wet. As time goes by, you will begin to find clients that you can trust while also knowing what traits to look for when seeking additional work. In other words, bad clients are not hard to spot once you become familiar with the way that the industry works.
By working with clients that you can trust, you will be able to take advantage of the following benefits:
1. Trust makes for a better relationship. This holds true for you, the writer, as well as your client. Remember, your client is every bit as worried about the “trust factor” as you. Keep this in mind every time you are communicating with a client, or setting up a new project.
2. When you have full trust in your clients it will help to cut stress out of your work related life. As you probably know, working for a client that you do not trust to pay you, for instance, can be quite stressful. Am I going to do all of this work for nothing? What if I do not get paid? Is this all a waste of time? These are all questions that you will probably ask yourself if you do not trust your client.
3. If you trust your clients you can move forward with each project quickly and with gusto. It is hard to fully get behind a project when you are not sure that your client is trustworthy. In the back of your mind you will always have doubt. In turn, this will slow down your progress immensely.
All in all, you always want to make sure that you can trust your freelance writing clients and that they can feel the same way about you.
June 28th, 2008 at 10:31 am
And then the client that just… disappears! I’ve had this happen once, quite fortunately, actually.
I suggest making legal contracts, too. That way if they breach their end of the deal without payment you are locked in legally to get your money, even if it happens through the courts. Don’t let your clients mess with you!
June 28th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
Paper it up, baby!
Seriously, contracts protect everyone’s interests. Same thing with using an escrow service, like on Guru. This way both parties know they’ve been clear about expectations, which is even more important when you’re working together for the first time.
June 29th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
Justin/Sue - You are totally right. I use contracts in many instances and it saves a lot of hassle for both me and the client. That being said, there are times, unfortunately, when this is next to impossible. But I agree, anytime you can get a contract in place you should do so.