Freelance Writing Jobs: You Don't Have To Do What You're Not Paid For

Working as a freelance writer can be an enjoyable, rewarding experience. Freelancers are generally able to set their own schedule, work from home and choose their clients. Like most things in life, there are some negatives associated with the writing industry. Overly demanding clients and unspecific contracts can end up wasting a writer's time. As a rule, writers should only do work that they are paid for. Unless they are compensated for it, It is not the writer's job to create a marketing plan, change the website or do multiple revisions. To earn money in this industry, writers must learn how to say no.

Consider the Client

Before doing anything, writers should always research their client. Reviews on a bidding site or a scan through the search engines will generally show any unfavorable reviews. If the client has a number of bad reviews, the writer should stay away. Even a couple of negative experiences could be enough to turn down a client. If the client has had problems with other writers, they are too much trouble to work with.

Put Everything in Writing

Contracts exist for a reason. In a contract, the scope of the work, deadline and payment milestones should be clearly set. This legally protects the writer from the client running off. During the project, the contract can also be referenced by the writer. If the client asks for something that is not in the contract, the writer does not have to do it. All the writer has to do is politely quote that section of the contract and continue with the rest of their work.

Upfront Payments Are the Best

Writers may have issues trusting a new client to actually pay up. One of the easiest ways to ensure payment is to require a percentage of the final payment upfront. Even if the client takes off with the remainder of the balance, the writer is compensated for at least a portion of their work. In general, most upfront payments consist of a quarter to half of the total payment. Since clients are also taking a risk by paying the writer upfront, they will generally not want to pay out the entire balance until the work is finished.

Instead of requiring an upfront payment, writers can always use an escrow account. Basically, these accounts hold the funds until the client agrees to release the money. Since the funds are held in escrow, the writer will ultimately receive their payment once the project has been completed.

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