When Upfront Payment is a Good idea
As a freelance writer you need to protect yourself as much as possible. It is unfortunate, but there are many people “out there” who will try to scam freelance writers as well as many other online professionals. One of the best ways to protect yourself it to request upfront payment. There are times when this is a good idea, times when it may not work, and times when you don’t have to even think about it. Do you know what you are doing in this area?
The best time to request upfront payment is when you are working with a client for the first time. This does not mean that your new client is trying to rip you off, but by requesting payment upfront you can put your mind to ease. Remember, the client may be as apprehensive as you so they may put up a fight if you request 100 percent of the money. To solve this problem you can meet in the middle by asking for 50 percent upfront and the other 50 percent upon completion.
Although it is a good idea to receive upfront payment there are some situations when this is not going to be possible. For instance, most magazines are not going to pay you upfront for your work. In fact, it may take a few months to receive any payment at all. And while this may be a hassle it is not as bad as it seems because most magazines want to uphold their reputation. For this reason they are not going to scam you. It could happen, but it is not common. And since you don’t have a good chance of receiving payment upfront anyway it is a risk you will have to take.
Once a client proves they are reliable you don’t have to continue being paid in advance. Instead, you can get on a schedule in which the client pays when you complete the work. But of course, if they want to continue to pay upfront you shouldn’t argue.
Payment upfront is a good idea when working with a new client. Once you establish a relationship you can forget about this and know that you will get paid for the work you complete. There is nothing better than having clients that you can trust to pay on time.
December 16th, 2008 at 9:42 am
I charge all of my new clients in full up front. Most of my repeat clients also pay up front, even for large contracts. It’s not common for me to make exceptions (oddly, only twice now I’ve been stiffed by a client, and in both cases they were long-term clients and not new ones, so I don’t really break them down in that way).
The only times where I don’t charge up front are generally where I either forget (it happens especially with repeat clients where I just get the details and start working, in which case I just send the invoice afterwards), or where it’s such a large project that I offer to break it down into two or three payments (but that would probably never happen for a contract under $1k or maybe even 2k depending on how well I knew the client).
I look at it this way - you pay for a new car up front; you pay for a new computer up front; you pay for your business flights up front; you can pay for your content or copy up front as well. While things are different with magazines, you know that before you choose to get into that area. With other freelancing, your rates and payment terms are completely your own to determine.
There’s nothing wrong with choosing to negotiate case-by-case, but no writer should ever feel pressured to do that (and frankly, it simplifies the admin side of things a lot when you’re a bit more consistent).
For me, specifically, my work can rarely be reused. You can’t get your time back once you’ve invested it into a project. Your client can file Paypal disputes, credit card disputes, etc. so they have options to protect themselves that you don’t. I can’t re-use a press release if a client doesn’t pay me for it. I can’t simply re-use marketing copy I wrote that’s specific to their website. If they want my time, they generally pay for it up front.
Other things to consider are:
1. Your own experience - if you’ve spent years building up a reputation, you have far more flexibility in how you choose to bill your clients.
2. The demand for your time - if you have the luxury of being able to be choosy in the work you take on, you also have the ability to keep stricter payment policies (because if someone doesn’t agree to them, you can turn down the project and take on another).
December 16th, 2008 at 10:15 am
Jenn - You went above and beyond with this comment! Thanks so much for adding all of this information. You make some great points that most freelance writers can put to good use.
December 17th, 2008 at 9:10 am
[...] Bibey wrote a great post recently about upfront payments for freelance writers. I commented there with some of my own views, and I wanted to share those comments here and get [...]
December 18th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
Great comments, Jenn! I usually require a deposit with new customers. That way, if I don’t get the rest of the money owed, I am not completely screwed. I did have a guy with a great reputation in the business community completely drop the book I had finished without any explanation. He had paid a $2,000 deposit, but I spent far more time on research and writing than that. It can be difficult to tell who is going to stiff you and who won’t. This gives me more food for thought, though, on how to approach new customers in the future.
December 19th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
[...] When Upfront Payment is a Good idea - What’s your policy regarding upfront payment? Read Chris’ article and also Jenn’s comments. [...]