After my post on dealing with angry clients, in which I talk a bit about getting paid in advance, I have had some inquiries as to whether or not this is a good idea. If you want to check out that post, head over to https://www.chrisblogging.com/dealing-with-angry-clients/
Anyway, there are two ways of looking at getting paid in advance. Whereas there are many benefits of this, there are also some downfalls that may or may not bother you. And in some cases, you are going to have to work with your client to find a happy medium that is mutually beneficial.
First off, let’s talk about the benefits of getting paid in advance. Obviously, it is nice to have the money up front because you know that you will not get scammed in the long run. For a lot of people, this is the number one reason that they like to ask for an upfront payment; and I do not blame them. If you have ever completed a large freelance writing project, just to get stiffed in the end, it can be a huge disappointment. Not to mention the fact that it can greatly affect your income.
Another benefit of up front payment is that you have the money available to you if need be. If your freelance writing career has yet to take off, the more money that you have access to the better off you are going to be.
On the other side of things, you need to be aware that getting paid in advance for freelance writing has some downsides as well. For instance, what happens if you get paid in advance, and the client hates what you send them? Sort of like what I chronicled in the blog post listed above. When this happens, you are sitting in a bad spot. It is nice that you have the money, but if your client is angry you will be forced to work things out with them. And if you do not, they are going to want refunded right away. Again, this opens up a whole new can of worms. Should you have to refund the entire amount? What if you already spent the money?
A lot of freelance writers are in the habit of wanting to ask for payment in advance. Personally, I play this by ear. If I have been working with a client, and am confident that they will like my work, taking prepayment is something that I will feel comfortable with. But with new clients, I usually like to hold off until the job is done.
I have found over the years that breaking payments down is a great way to agree on terms with your client. If you have a $500 job, ask for $250 up front and then the rest upon completion. This will keep both you and your client safe, and will start the relationship off with mutual trust.
As a freelance writer, you need to decide whether or not prepayments are something that you want to deal with. It is not a decision to take lightly!
There are a couple of reasons that the majority of bloggers fail, time and time again. First off, they simply get tired of making posts, marketing their site, and everything else that goes along with being successful. Another reason for failure is that most bloggers run out of things to say. After all, it takes a creative person to regularly update a blog with unique content. If you are running into writer’s block as far as your blog is concerned, there are some things that you can do to better your situation.
1. First off, you should know that writer’s block is a common problem; this is not something that only you are dealing with. Instead of getting down on yourself over this, you should look for new ways to drum up ideas. This can include anything from reading other blogs that are similar to yours, looking at past posts that you have made, etc. Anything that gets your creative juices flowing will help you to get over writer’s block.
2. If writer’s block has become a huge problem, why not find some guess bloggers who are willing to help you out for a few days? This will give you time to rest your mind, and more than likely get your thoughts straight. You may be surprised at what a few days off from writing can do for your mind.
3. Just write! If you think about it, writer’s block is something that you should never have to deal with. Even if you are running low on ideas, just write. You may not want to post everything to your blog, but the more you write, the more ideas you will formulate. Remember, even if you take a break from writing, you are going to have to pick up again sooner or later if you want your blog to succeed.
All in all, you should never let writer’s block slow down the overall progress of your blog. There are going to be times when you feel like you have hit a wall. It is at those times that you should follow the tips above so that you can keep going strong!
I hate to call anybody a liar, but some of the people that place jobs on freelance writing bidding sites are just that. Over the past several years I have been burnt several times by these people, but finally, I am beginning to see through their simple tactics. The fact of the matter is this: there is nothing wrong with what these people are doing (within reason), but at the same time, they are lying to writers who may not know any better.
The most common lie that I have seen is this. A buyer posts a job stating how many articles they need as well as a tag line that reads, “This is a low paying job, but the next one will be double the pay.†Like many, I fell for this several times thinking that I would eventually get a raise in pay. Do you think that this ever happened? The answer is no. Although there may be some buyers who honestly plan on paying more, the majority have no intentions of doing so.
Another common lie is the ever popular, “Write me a sample article on a specific topic, and if I like it, I will give you more work.†This may sound fair enough, but this is far from the case. Do you know what these people do? They get as many samples as they can, and then they simply use those instead of actually paying to have the work done. This is a deceitful act, and one that is going to get these buyers nowhere in the end.
Bidding sites are a great place to find freelance writing work, but unfortunately, there are some buyers who have to ruin it with lies. The best way to avoid these buyers is to be extremely cautious with the jobs that you accept. And of course, never agree to write an article unless you are going to get paid for it!Â
