Will Clients really pay Upfront?
Lately, a lot of people have been asking for my advice on getting paid for their work. It seems that more and more freelance writers are completing work for “so-called clients†but never getting paid. I am a big believer in asking for payment upfront. This protects you from those who want to take your hard work and run. This leads to the question: will clients really pay upfront?
There is no denying that when you receive upfront payment that the client is going out on a limb. After all, they don’t know if you are going to take the money and never send the work. This is what can make asking to be paid upfront so difficult. Of course, this is something you definitely need to talk about no matter how you or the client feels.
Finding a happy medium for the first project can often times be the best option. For instance, you can ask for half payment. This helps to ensure that you are getting some money for your work without asking the client to put out the entire amount. Additionally, I have found that most clients that pay half upfront will immediately send the remaining balance upon delivery of the completed project.
You will never know if a client will pay upfront until you ask. This is something that I do with every new client. When they pay upfront once they usually do so from that point on. After one project they trust me to deliver, so they have no reason not to send the money from the get-go.
Not every client will want to send 100 percent of your payment before receiving the work. You should be ready to negotiate. As long as you receive at least 50 percent of the agreed upon price you should be happy.Â
