On Money Matters | Freelance Business Chat | Writing Forum

I'm sure you'll get different opinions on some of this (and each can be valid). But here's what I'd say:

Accepting Payments -- I personally prefer Paypal for client payments. I can get paid immediately, which means I can start on a client's project sooner because I get paid up front). Invoicing is built right in. And I can very easily segment that income by withdrawing it to different bank accounts (paying myself to a personal account, putting some in business checking, some in business savings, etc.). Plus, clients don't have to have a Paypal account. They can pay via e-check or credit card if they prefer, right through your Paypal invoice. You just have to keep the fees in mind. Factor them into your rates up front and you won't have a problem. 

Contracts -- Most colleagues will likely tell you to get a formal contract. While I don't have anything against having a contract, I almost never use them. And it's never hurt my business. That's because I get project details in writing via email first. Remember, a contract does not mean a formal document. Contracts can be casual. They can even be oral (although better in writing). A simple exchange of emails is often enough. As long as you have both an offer and acceptance, you have an enforceable agreement. Of course, I'm not a lawyer, so you might want to check with one first to make sure the standards here also apply where you live. Different countries and states can have different rules.

Invoices -- In the vast majority of cases, I just use Paypal invoices. In rare situations when Paypal isn't an option for the client, I send a simple Word document invoice. 

Up Front Payments -- There really is no way to "guarantee" payments short of charging clients in full up front. Most freelance writers I know don't do this. I do. Benefits? You don't get screwed over. And you don't spend extra time on a project trying to chase down payments after the work is complete (time you aren't paid for). Does that cost you clients? I'm sure it's a turnoff for some people. I just don't choose to work with those people. When you build your reputation and you have regular demand, you have much more flexibility. I can do that because I can say "no" if a prospect insists on paying later. If you're starting out and you have few people coming directly to you with projects, you might want to be more flexible. That said, my clients don't complain about it at all. And for prospects I offer to do a smaller project (still up front pay) to show them what I can deliver before they commit to something like a minimum blogging order. It's like a trial to build trust. And if you have something like an ongoing monthly contract, you can let them pay you up front weekly instead of monthly if the workload is predictable from one week to the next. They just pay at the start of the week for that week's portion of the work. Even if you're not at a point where full up front payments make sense, I'd absolutely insist on an up front deposit before you start any work. Personally I'd suggest nothing less than 50%. But you can tailor it to each client or type of project (such as breaking some into two payments while larger projects are broken into three). 

Hope that helps!

Jenn

I don't use the payment buttons for services because I don't often have openings for new clients. So I don't want them paying for an order online only to have me refund it due to availability. But I do use them for product sales (like e-books). They seem to be pretty much the norm for that kind of thing.

First of all, I'm sorry your comment got put in moderation. That's only supposed to happen for someone's first post. So the forum's acting a bit wonky. 

As for bulk rates, their "normalcy" depends on the market. While you probably won't see it for print writing, many clients are used to seeing Web content advertised that way (either for blogging or SEO content). Personally I'm not a fan of it and don't recommend it for freelance writers. That said, I used to operate that way (not my most brilliant moment), and two of my long-term regulars operate under old bulk-centric agreements. 

Whether or not it works for you will depend on your own market. If that's what they expect, you can get away without offering them for sure. But know that if competitors are largely doing it, that's what prospects will expect. In particular I've found that webmasters and marketers fall into the group that often expects bulk discounts for Web writing work. If your starting rates are high enough that you've left room to run sales and promotions (something I do recommend), then you could either stick to your guns and tell them that's not an option for you or you might offer them a one-time discount on their first order instead. 

That said, no promises of long-term work should ever be taken seriously unless you've already been put under contract and paid. And long-term gigs are very different than bulk orders.

The only benefit of bulk discounts on your end is that they force the client to commit to a larger current contract -- not promises for more work later. For example, one of my client pays my normal rate for 1-4 blog posts ordered per month. If he orders 5-9, then he gets a small discount. If he orders 10 or more, he gets a slightly larger discount. So in most months, I get an order for at least 10 by the start of the month. It's good for him because he saves a little money. It's good for me because larger order from him means it's less work I have to take on in smaller projects that month, and it's more pay coming in up front. And if he orders less than 10, the higher per-piece rate means I don't lose as much money month-to-month. Still, I wouldn't go the bulk rate route with any new clients.

In every case, I can still earn at least the minimum hourly rate I set for myself. If you can't do that, don't offer discounts. And obviously you'll want to consider how badly you want to work with this client. The vague promises don't sound terribly enticing to me though.

Hmmm. It's possible I tightened security before I went on vacation just to minimize spam. Anyway, they should go through okay now (possibly after one more post being approved due to current settings). I won't require all posts to be approved unless we need to lock down due to a spam attack or something. 

That's similar to what I do. There are general terms on my site which they agree to by entering into a work agreement. And we hash out project-specific details via email. 

I'm glad to hear you're getting more up front now!