Freelance Writing Mistake No 1: Not Asking For Your Money
It has been 2 years since I first started freelance writing. I started with a bang, but somewhere along the road, I lost the enthusiasm that I initially had. I also made several mistakes along the way, some of them cost me much – financially and professionally.
One of the mistakes has been not updating this blog as much as I would have liked to. I have no excuses, I just didn’t do it. And it has cost me.
I am thinking of breathing life back into this blog again by writing about some of the mistakes that I made in the past two years. The first one is about money.
Why do you write? Is it because you feel happy when you write? Or is it to earn a living?
I want my money. I am not ashamed to say it. The ability to write is a skill that I have and I am using it to earn a living. The pieces that I write for money are not artsy-fancy-creative outpourings of my anguished soul. I have a personal blog for that.
When I started working, I had a client who gave me monthly assignments. It was easy work and regular income. I developed a good rapport with the client and things went well for a few months.
Then the company ran into some financial trouble. Like a nice accommodating little housewife I let them defer my pay for a month. Then it became two months, three, four… before we knew it they were about 9 months behind and they owed me a considerable amount of money. By that time, they were in deep financial trouble and the parent company pulled out. The company wound up and I was left in the lurch.
I followed up a few times asking for them to pay up, but was unable to press hard because we had become too familiar with each other by then. They still owe me a lot of money, and I still haven’t made it rich, so it is not an amount that I can write off as a silly mistake. I was stupid to not ask them to pay up and to continue working for free.
So my advice to aspiring freelance writers is this:
- It is okay to be friendly with your clients. But remember, they are your clients and you are working for them. It ain’t free.
- If your client is in a bit of a spot, should you help out by not accepting payment and continuing to write for free? Umm… I don’t know. Are you writing for your Dad? Then yes, perhaps you should consider that option. Otherwise, don’t. Just don’t.
- If you have become best friends during the course of your work engagement, perhaps you could consider lowering your rates temporarily.
- If the client’s financial woes continue, as heartless as it may sound, look for another client who can adequately compensate you for your time. Give your client sufficient notice to find another writer.
- It is best to keep clients as just clients. Find your best friends elsewhere.
Help your clients by all means, but don’t close your eyes to the fact that if you make yourself available for exploitation, you will be exploited. Not all clients are made equal, there are at least a few who will think nothing of taking you for a ride. Don’t hop on that pony.
