All posts with the ‘ practical advice ’ Tag

Have you ever felt like a jerk because a client asked for something you hadn’t originally agreed on and you said no? Even though you were totally in the right?

Or because a client, who was over a month late in paying you, got upset about the late fee you charged them?

If you have, or if you feel intimidated when you have to enforce … Read More

Most freelancers don’t start working for themselves because they want the opportunity to be constrained in their work. They aren’t looking for limits or extra hurdles to jump.

As a result many freelancers don’t have policies for their business. They don’t have rules about what their business will and won’t do, what they’ll accept from their clients and what they won’t.

But what they don’t … Read More

If I’ve learned one thing in the last year it’s how much freelancers love administrative tasks.

The joy and satisfaction they get from organizing meetings, filing paperwork, and dealing with contracts! Watching their faces light up at the opportunity to pay quarterly taxes, again, can just about break your heart.

And if there is one task that stands out from all the rest as the … Read More

Happy 2015 everyone! I hope your new year’s celebrations were festive and suitably rejuvenating because, friends, it’s time to get back to work.

And you’re gonna start by registering your copyrights.… Read More

You’ve read all the Very Best internet articles about putting a contract together.

You collected five different copies of contracts and painstakingly stitched together a contract that does exactly what you need it to do: no more, no less.

You proudly send the contract off to a client, patting yourself on the back for being a professional with her own legal documents. You are confident … Read More

Because of the limits of time and space, I can’t help all the freelancers who come to me needing a contract. But I hate turning people away without other options, so a while ago I started searching out low cost, quality alternatives for creating contracts for freelance work.

One of the resources I found and was impressed with is Shake, a contract drafting application … Read More

This past weekend I moderated a panel on pricing at the Creative Clubhouse. The event was a blast and the insights the panelists shared shed light on the often confounding algebra that is pricing creative work.

Here is some of the great advice they shared:… Read More

A check was due two days ago, but the client’s really nice and has never been late before….

The invoice is due in three days and you haven’t heard from the client since it went out….

You can’t bill the client until they sign off on the last round of revisions but no one will respond to your emails…

…when should you start worrying about … Read More