One of the services offered on this website is freelance writing, all within the niche related to this website. My journey to become a freelance writer has been a long and sometimes tedious one. There have been many hurdles that have largely arisen from lack of budget to invest in taking the necessary courses in order to get ahead more quickly.
How much control do we have on our journey in life?
As one explores articles and courses related to becoming an entrepreneur and working from home, you will find a trend that you can manifest whatever kind of life you want, I don’t believe that! Yes, I know some will come back with my lack of belief in manifesting by insisting it’s a limiting belief. I have a few reasons for disagreeing. Firstly, I believe that G-d is in charge, not us. Yes we have to put in the work but the outcome is up to G-d not us. Secondly, I come to the work that I do with a bit of a handicap. I have a chronic illness that is one of the causes or incentives for my striving to work from home. It is also a reason for draining my income, making taking expensive continuing education courses impossible and settling down to have my own home a challenge too. My chronic illness also impacts on the amount of hours that I have available to devote to learning, researching, pitching and progressing.
I hear those who tell me that this is all an excuse. However, I share my challenge not to complain but to offer hope to those who might be in the same situation. You see, the truth is that 30 years ago, I was told that the only hope I had to enable my body to heal and to reduce the harsh prognosis was to take a year off for complete bed rest. At the time I was about to begin my final year of occupational therapy. I knew that if I took time off at that stage, I would loose my bursary, scholarship and ability to pay off my bank loan. Since my father had died while I was in school, I had no-one to turn to for help. I had to push on to complete my degree and work to pay off my tuition.
What is the measure of success?
Contrary to those who believe I don’t want to succeed, I come and ask what is the measure of success? Is it that you race to the finish line in the shortest time possible and obtain a huge win or is it perhaps that you show the ability to stick with the journey despite and perhaps in spite of enormous setbacks. You see, I might not have become the success that most presume a qualified professional should be, however, I have defied the odds of what doctors and my diagnosis states I should have been able to accomplish.
So it has taken longer, but I have learned a lot in the process. In this post I would like to share some tips related to finalizing how you will work with freelance writing clients. Lessons learned from problem clients that I have come across along the way.
1) Always work with a contract
There are some freelance writers who say that they have managed to work without a contract. From my challenging clients I would like to recommend, don’t go that route. Always work with a contract. The reason is quite simple, a contract makes sure that you are both on the same page. It sets out in black and white what the project will be, how many words, what time frame, what pricing, method of payment etc. All the details are outlined in full and this frees up your energy to focus on researching and crafting the best work that you can, with the peace of mind that if there are any questions, they can be ironed out by referring to the contract.
2) Do your research and set your rates
Have a range for this and NEVER go below your minimum. There are a few times that I have given in and decided that at least some income is better than nothing and so taken jobs that were below my minimum rate. The hard lesson is, those clients who refuse to pay your minimum mostly will refuse to pay all together. If a client wont pay what you are worth, then they are not the right client for you. You will save much time and energy in moving on to find clients who will pay than in having to fight to be paid for an amount that is lower than your minimum in any case.
I have not yet figured out how small claims works if your client is in a different country so a lawyers letter might become necessary. Keep in mind that seeking legal assistance to ensure you get paid costs. If you accept jobs that are below what you are worth, you wont even cover the legal fees to ensure that your payment is received.
3) Make sure to have a writing portfolio
3a – Make sure to have a writing portfolio and refer potential clients to your writing portfolio to see the quality of your work. If a client refuses to view your writing portfolio, my experience is that they are not worth working with. Move on to find a client who will respect you enough to follow how you work. Make sure to find a client who understands and can discern from your writing portfolio what your skills are and will move forward to outline the project, details and payment. Sadly, my experience has shown that those who refuse to review your writing portfolio probably will find all kinds of reasons why not to pay for a test too.
3b – Include a sentence that your writing portfolio is a collection of examples, not free offers.
I would have thought that this point is a given. However, I have had some clients want to make use of articles they see in my writing portfolio. Make it clear from the outset that the portfolio is examples of your work for the purpose of demonstrating the quality and style of your work and is ABSOLUTELY NOT an offer to help yourself.
4) Take note of the style and tone of the initial email.
Quite a number of my clients have found me mostly via my website, sometimes on social networking too. Believe it or not, the style and tone of the initial email or message is very significant. Reflecting on the clients who have found me, as opposed to my having to pitch to them, there is an interesting and important pattern that is evident right from the initial contact.
Those who take the time to begin the email or message with Dear or Hi or something similar followed by my name, content of the email and then sign off with their name are more likely to be respectful and good to work with. Those who send an email or message with no name, no greeting, a demanding and arrogant tone to the content and no ending or name at the end, guess what? Their true colours have shown from the outset.
The style of email and message makes a very big difference. I have seen over and over that those who refuse to address me by name or to end off their email have some kind of lack of respect that follows through to their working relationship. Quite often these are the clients who refuse to pay, delay payment, try to bargain down your rates. There will be something.
Try it out for yourself. Be aware of the style and tone of correspondence, especially in the initial contact. Personally I have reached the stage that anyone who can not address me by name and end of their email or message with their name is not worth replying to. Let’s face it, my name is very clear on my website in many places. The most logical place to find out who I am is on my about page. If you view my videos you will find in the intro of every video that I greet my viewers with my name. It’s really easy and takes just a few seconds. It shows that you have respect for the person you are making contact with.
5) Make sure to get at least 50% upfront. For overseas clients 100% upfront is best.
When it comes to payment policies, make sure to get at least 50% of the pay upfront before you begin to work. If a client has viewed your writing portfolio and agreed on an article there is no reason to withhold pay. If you are working on a fee per word or per hour it’s not always easy to know exactly how many words your article will come out to be or how many hours will be spent on research, meetings, writing, proof reading, editing. When it comes to receiving the outstanding percentage, make sure that you have specific data to quantify when that payment will happen. Whatever you do, do not leave the payment open as it is too easy for the client to avoid paying all together.
An example of an open payment date would be, “when the article is published” That is too vague! Without a date or time frame there is nothing to ensure that the article will be published. As a result if your article is not published according to this kind of agreement you don’t’ get your final pay. A better option is to set a limit e.g. 14 days after receipt of the article.
If you need help with content for your blog, email newsletters, successful case studies or other marketing material do be in touch. If you are just starting out to work from home and would like some assistance with the process, you are welcome to be in touch for strategic coaching to help you navigate this process more successfully.