Getting paid is often one of the hardest parts of business for those who work on a freelance basis.
People will often undervalue your work, especially if it is creative, and this can make it extremely difficult to get them to pay you for the work that you do.
Thankfully, taking the right steps can make this process much easier, giving you the chance to solidify your position and leave no question about your right to be paid.
Let’s jump right in.
The Initial Agreement
The initial agreement you make at the start of any project is crucial to the payment you receive at the end of it.
No one likes being given a surprising bill, and this makes it worth taking the time to make sure that your clients know exactly what they will have to pay you before you start working for them.
This can be essential to the process of getting paid, as many people will be unhappy to cover a bill unless they were well aware of it before the job is completed.
Confirmation
Next, once the project has drawn to a close, it will be time to confirm that they are happy with your work and ready to receive an invoice. This part of the process is more crucial than many people anticipate.
People like to feel as though they are in control when they are working with a freelancer, and giving them the chance to approve your work will show that you care about providing the right service for the money they are paying you.
People will often want small changes or alterations and won’t feel comfortable paying you until they are made.
Sending A Traceable Invoice
It’s very common for clients of freelancers to claim that they haven’t seen an invoice after it has been sent. There are many reasons for this, from struggling to afford to payment to trying to keep money in their bank accounts to collect as much interest as possible.
Thankfully, many modern invoicing software systems give you the power to see if your clients have opened their invoices, giving you evidence that can help if you get into a dispute about payments.
Subtle Reminders
While getting paid will always be a priority for you, the people you’re asking for money won’t be quite so excited to be sending it to you. Of course, this doesn’t matter, and you need to get paid; it just means that you may need to send some reminders to get them to cough up.
This sort of reminder should be subtle, calm, and professional, and it can be a good idea to include other information about the project to give them more than one thing to read about.
As you can see, the work that you have to do to get your invoices paid is simpler than you may have expected. This process doesn’t have to be unpleasant or difficult, but you need to take the right steps along the way to achieve this. Thankfully, most people are happy to pay when you’ve done a good job for them.
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