Freelancers, Stop Getting Burned by Your Clients

It seems like every designer has a horror story or two (or seventeen) about getting ripped off by a client who refuses to pay.

Once it happens, there’s not too much you can do. It sucks, but it’s the simple truth.

If you didn’t get a contract or a clear payment process established in the beginning, a lot of the time you’re just going to have to eat the loss. You can’t sue someone without a legally binding document, so the only thing you can do is plead, pester, threaten, or try something possibly illegal like a CSS kill switch (only use this in extreme circumstances!). That ain’t a pretty picture.

You Got Screwed – Now What?

You’re probably going to want to slap me for this, but I’m going to say it anyway: I suggest learning from your mistake and preparing to do things better next time. I think I may be turning into the agony aunt of the design community: “Learn from your mistakes!” “A penny saved is a penny earned!” “Don’t eat your dessert with a salad fork – what are you, some kind of barbarian?”

But really, it’s often the only thing you can do if you find yourself in an unfortunate money situation with a client. Perhaps you can’t afford to hire a lawyer or debt collection agency to get your money back from the jerks who stiffed you (although if you can, it can be a good “last straw” solution for a really stubborn client). After you stomp and wave your arms at your cat and/or spouse, it’s time to draw up Plan B.

Image Source: Young Angry Man via Shutterstock.

The bright side to dealing with deadbeat clients is that there’s always a next time. And what should be the first thing you do with your next client? Negotiate. There are plenty of resources if you need some tips on how to negotiate a client contract, like this one or this one.

But since getting paid has been an issue for you recently, I would start by getting an upfront deposit, ideally 50% if possible. Yes, it can be awkward and require some negotiating skills. But is a little awkwardness really worse than getting stiffed again? I think it’s preferable to letting someone get away with being unprofessional and terrible to you.

Choose Your Clients Well. I Mean It.

You should be picking your clients as carefully as you would pick the person you want to marry. It sounds weird until you actually think about it – you’re entering into a relationship with this person. Relationships have rules and each person has a responsibility to clearly communicate their needs to the other person.

Don’t try to make a bad client into a good one; as I’ve mentioned in previous articles, it will never work out. Ever. Any client who exhibits the telltale signs of crappiness is only going to get worse and worse as a project drags on. You know this already. Don’t do it to yourself. Prevention over cure is always the best way.

Don’t Give Them A Reason To Get Annoyed

Let’s be honest here. Designers aren’t always noble warriors of integrity, put upon constantly by big, bad clients looking to rob them blind. I know because I’ve hired them. There’s rarely an excuse for non-payment, but sometimes, a designer’s conduct can leave a client desperately looking for one.

What do I mean by this? Oftentimes, designers are genuinely unaware of how they’re coming across to their clients, and believe that a particular client’s decision to get funny with the money comes out of nowhere, when in fact, the designer has been communicating poorly, or sometimes not at all.

I promise I’m not going to start attacking designers (I’m a designer too), since I know the industry is full of hardworking folks with integrity, but I’ve hired some people who were just flat out unprofessional no matter which way you cut it. I always paid, in full and on time, but boy did I feel crummy about it sometimes.

Image Source: Ethics via Shutterstock.

One designer who shall remain nameless and genderless actually took an unannounced, four-day ski trip with their significant other right in the middle of the work week! I couldn’t reach them at all; my messages and emails were met with dead silence. For four days – a week before deadline. I was so shocked I couldn’t even think of what to say when they returned, all rosy-cheeked and oblivious (oh, how shall I fire thee? Let me count the ways).

Of course, that’s an extreme example, and I’m sure none of you here would ever do something like that. But I wanted to provide a bit of context for those who might not realize that their actions are aggravating a client who has appeared perfectly reasonable up until now. Probably the biggest issue I have with many freelancers, as a client, is that they over-promise and under-deliver.

Too Much Confidence

Under-promise and over-deliver. Always. Never the other way around. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve hired designers who claimed they’d have a website ready for me in some ridiculously short amount of time, and then not only failed, but failed spectacularly to do so.

Instead of the “48 hour” or “3-days, max” ETAs I was promised, I waited for weeks; sometimes even months, before I got any work. It was dreadful. Eventually I got smart, and learned to stop working with designers who made impossible claims, because 99.9% of the time, people who promise you the moon end up delivering nothing but stinky cheese.

Image Source: Just Some Smelly Cheese via Shutterstock.

Designers, if you make wildly extravagant claims to prospective clients, you are shooting yourselves in the foot. Even if you think the time period you’ve given is “reasonable,” it’s usually not, and you’ll end up grossly underestimating the time it will take you to complete a task. You’ll be attracting all the wrong kinds of clients to yourself, and driving away all the right ones.

Good clients know that if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Be honest with yourself and figure out how long it’s actually going to take you to complete a project. Then multiply that number by three. That’s the time period you give to your client. Then make sure you finish under that time. Under. Not over, guys. Seriously.

On Time, Every Time

Okay, time to switch back over to freelancer mode. As a freelancer, I have never had a client who refused to pay me, or who was abnormally late with payment. Why? Perhaps some of that is due to luck – sometimes a payment issue can truly come out of left field. It’s happened to big name designers as well as the little guys. Mostly, though, I believe my 100% payment success rate is due to me always taking the same precautions I’ve outlined for you today.

I never work with anyone I feel sketchy about, and you shouldn’t either. Don’t be so desperate for work that you’re willing to overlook a client’s red flags. Draw up a set of non-negotiable rules in your contract, and (this is important) stick to them no matter what. It doesn’t matter if you’re doing business with your grandmother, your head or state, or your pet bullfrog – if any prospective client complains about the rules, politely show them the door. You work hard enough for your income. Don’t work even harder just to get it in your bank account.

What Do You Think

How do you fare when it comes to collecting payment from your clients? What precautions do you take to ensure you get paid?

The post Freelancers, Stop Getting Burned by Your Clients appeared first on Speckyboy Web Design Magazine.

No related posts.

Freelancers, Stop Getting Burned by Your Clients

5 Remote Worker Myths You Need To Stop Believing

What is the first thought that you have when you hear the term "remote workers"? Do they wake up at noon, work from the couch in their pajamas, and hardly get anything done? Or are they moms with hordes of children running in the house with the sole purpose of keeping them from being effectively focused?

While these thoughts maybe common, they are also very limiting – as in, they limit an entrepreneur’s perception of remote workers who could possibly be the right people to help their business thrive. By taking a closer look at actual data about remote workers, it becomes clear that most of the myths we have had about remote workers are far from the truth.

Recommended Reading: 8 Things You Need To Know About Hiring Freelancers

Myth 1: They’re Parents, Mostly Women

First, it’s important to clarify that there is no hard data indicating that parents who work remotely are less effective than individuals without children, nor do women as a demographic group do inferior work to men. Even if your remote worker is a mom with two kids at home, there’s no reason to prefer another worker who’s a single male living alone, purely on that basis.

via Jeffrey Smith

If you do, be careful, because in many cases, even asking about parental status in an interview or choosing employees based on gender is illegal.

The actual demographics of most remote workers busts this myth wide open: in the United States at least, most people who work remotely are men. Women tend to work more office hours overall and are less likely to pursue a purely remote job.

Myth 2: You Get What You Pay For

There’s as much variation in talent as there is in pay when it comes to remote workers. Many independent contractor – especially the ones that work with startups or remote company owners – pitch their own pay rate to their clients based on their perception of their skills and experience against what they think the going market rate should be.

It’s easy for their perception of their skills and of a fair market rate to differ from reality, for better or worse. Instead of looking at a contractor’s requested pay rate as a direct correlation with their quality of work, ask for examples and references. Interview them and get a feel for their expertise before you hire.

A good candidate for remote work will be happy to provide this information because they understand it’s important to provide results when working remotely.

Myth 3: They Work Less

Among remote workers who are hired full time, there’s a strong incentive to fill their weekly hours and have substantial work to show for it: there’s no facetime involved in their job.

There’s also much less separation between their work and personal lives because they can (and sometimes do) literally turn on their computer and begin work within 5 minutes of waking up. Of course, if you hire a remote worker and cap their weekly hours at 15 or 20 per week, they will work up to that limit and not over, most of the time.

However, studies of companies that employ remote workers have not found a correlation between remote work and lower productivity. In fact, the opposite may be true.

Read Also: 10 Tips To Make ‘Working From Home’ Work For You

Myth 4: Domestic Talent is Better Than Overseas

If domestic talent is uniformly better, that would mean that education in the United States is no. 1 worldwide and that no one in the United States has ever been fired for under-performing. That’s simply not true – top talent is top talent, no matter where in the world they’re located. Plenty of highly skilled and in-demand virtual assistants, developers, and graphic designers work from many other countries around the world.

It’s hard to come up with a compelling business reason to prefer a poor or mediocre local developer to someone with a proven record of high quality work from another country.

The bigger question is how to know if a remote worker is a high performer before hiring them. In the worst case scenario, we’d probably like to know if they are over-promising what they can do before they have billed us too many hours. Time tracking and productivity tracking tools are essential for this.

On top of that, carefully checking a contractor’s previous work before they’re hired, then establishing automated check-ins that let you see how a new hire is performing, are great ways to overcome this remote worker myth and get the best talent worldwide.

Myth 5: They Are (Or Have to Be) introverts to work remotely

An extrovert is an ideal candidate for remote work because communication is vital to their success and their employer’s success. Remote employees should never “go dark” – best practices for communication involve checking in regularly via email, chat, video, or any other method of virtual communication. This is natural for extroverts but might be more of a challenge for introverts.

Extroverts will still get the socialization they need by working in cafes, coworking spaces, and any other public place with an internet connection.

Wrap Up

Working remotely can be extremely valuable not only for employees, but also for companies. By really taking the time to understand how to make remote organization work within their company, an entrepreneur can add more value to their business in many different ways.

Trusting remote workers, enabling remote communication and giving them collaboration tools, and implementing procedures that work, all depend on letting go of these common prejudices against remote workers.

Editor’s note: This is written by Dave Nevogt for Hongkiat.com. Dave is an online marketing consultant. He’s also the co-founder and CMO of Hubstaff, a wholly remote company headquartered in Indianapolis, IN.

No related posts.

5 Remote Worker Myths You Need To Stop Believing

5 Remote Worker Myths You Need To Stop Believing

What is the first thought that you have when you hear the term "remote workers"? Do they wake up at noon, work from the couch in their pajamas, and hardly get anything done? Or are they moms with hordes of children running in the house with the sole purpose of keeping them from being effectively focused?

While these thoughts maybe common, they are also very limiting – as in, they limit an entrepreneur’s perception of remote workers who could possibly be the right people to help their business thrive. By taking a closer look at actual data about remote workers, it becomes clear that most of the myths we have had about remote workers are far from the truth.

Recommended Reading: 8 Things You Need To Know About Hiring Freelancers

Myth 1: They’re Parents, Mostly Women

First, it’s important to clarify that there is no hard data indicating that parents who work remotely are less effective than individuals without children, nor do women as a demographic group do inferior work to men. Even if your remote worker is a mom with two kids at home, there’s no reason to prefer another worker who’s a single male living alone, purely on that basis.

via Jeffrey Smith

If you do, be careful, because in many cases, even asking about parental status in an interview or choosing employees based on gender is illegal.

The actual demographics of most remote workers busts this myth wide open: in the United States at least, most people who work remotely are men. Women tend to work more office hours overall and are less likely to pursue a purely remote job.

Myth 2: You Get What You Pay For

There’s as much variation in talent as there is in pay when it comes to remote workers. Many independent contractor – especially the ones that work with startups or remote company owners – pitch their own pay rate to their clients based on their perception of their skills and experience against what they think the going market rate should be.

It’s easy for their perception of their skills and of a fair market rate to differ from reality, for better or worse. Instead of looking at a contractor’s requested pay rate as a direct correlation with their quality of work, ask for examples and references. Interview them and get a feel for their expertise before you hire.

A good candidate for remote work will be happy to provide this information because they understand it’s important to provide results when working remotely.

Myth 3: They Work Less

Among remote workers who are hired full time, there’s a strong incentive to fill their weekly hours and have substantial work to show for it: there’s no facetime involved in their job.

There’s also much less separation between their work and personal lives because they can (and sometimes do) literally turn on their computer and begin work within 5 minutes of waking up. Of course, if you hire a remote worker and cap their weekly hours at 15 or 20 per week, they will work up to that limit and not over, most of the time.

However, studies of companies that employ remote workers have not found a correlation between remote work and lower productivity. In fact, the opposite may be true.

Read Also: 10 Tips To Make ‘Working From Home’ Work For You

Myth 4: Domestic Talent is Better Than Overseas

If domestic talent is uniformly better, that would mean that education in the United States is no. 1 worldwide and that no one in the United States has ever been fired for under-performing. That’s simply not true – top talent is top talent, no matter where in the world they’re located. Plenty of highly skilled and in-demand virtual assistants, developers, and graphic designers work from many other countries around the world.

It’s hard to come up with a compelling business reason to prefer a poor or mediocre local developer to someone with a proven record of high quality work from another country.

The bigger question is how to know if a remote worker is a high performer before hiring them. In the worst case scenario, we’d probably like to know if they are over-promising what they can do before they have billed us too many hours. Time tracking and productivity tracking tools are essential for this.

On top of that, carefully checking a contractor’s previous work before they’re hired, then establishing automated check-ins that let you see how a new hire is performing, are great ways to overcome this remote worker myth and get the best talent worldwide.

Myth 5: They Are (Or Have to Be) introverts to work remotely

An extrovert is an ideal candidate for remote work because communication is vital to their success and their employer’s success. Remote employees should never “go dark” – best practices for communication involve checking in regularly via email, chat, video, or any other method of virtual communication. This is natural for extroverts but might be more of a challenge for introverts.

Extroverts will still get the socialization they need by working in cafes, coworking spaces, and any other public place with an internet connection.

Wrap Up

Working remotely can be extremely valuable not only for employees, but also for companies. By really taking the time to understand how to make remote organization work within their company, an entrepreneur can add more value to their business in many different ways.

Trusting remote workers, enabling remote communication and giving them collaboration tools, and implementing procedures that work, all depend on letting go of these common prejudices against remote workers.

Editor’s note: This is written by Dave Nevogt for Hongkiat.com. Dave is an online marketing consultant. He’s also the co-founder and CMO of Hubstaff, a wholly remote company headquartered in Indianapolis, IN.

No related posts.

5 Remote Worker Myths You Need To Stop Believing

10 Things We Should Stop Doing In Group Chats

It’s probably safe to say that most of us do our texting on messaging apps instead of SMS nowadays. The few of us who still SMS are however besieged with requests to download this or that app to save on messaging costs and because messaging apps can let you do a lot more, such as send messages to a large group of people simultaneously.

via freepik

Unfortunately, group chat brings about its own set of problems, particularly what we should or should not do when we are part of one. As much as a group chat can make sending a message so much easier, it is important to also not abuse those privileges. Here are 10 tips on how to have better group chat etiquette when on messaging apps.

Recommended Reading: The 10 Sins Of Mobile Device Addicts That Annoy Everyone

1. Don’t Create Massive Groups

Most messaging apps that let you create groups have a member limit in the double digits. But don’t take that as a challenge you need to fulfil. Even if WhatsApp caps it at 50, WeChat at 99, doesn’t mean we should add just about any Tom, Dick and Sally into the group.

Even if you are using the group chat to send notifications or bulletin updates, can you imagine if everyone posted a note of acknowledgement for every notice released? A "Meeting next Friday at 9.30pm" may get 99 "Got it"s and "Okays". And while we’re on the subject…

2. Don’t Include Unknown People Into Groups

It is best to only include people who everyone else in the group chat knows. I don’t know about you but I most definitely do not want an unknown person having access to my number.

While it may help save you time from having to send the same message to multiple people, there is no stopping an acquaintance from piggybacking on this new list of numbers you conveniently offered him, and what’s to stop him from offering a bank loan, insurance or any other product he is selling to the rest of the group?

(Image source: SAYS Tech)

3. Don’t Talk To Just One Person

You know why you made this chat right? To talk to everyone, not just to that one person who shared your inside jokes from last night’s party where you were both wasted. We don’t care what goes on between the both of you.

If you have something specific to bring up with one person, you are better off having a separate chat outside of the group. Spare the rest of us all the nitty gritty details, thank you. Plus, if you want to ignore the rest of the group, do consider shutting down the group chat – don’t make us an audience to a concert we didn’t want to see in the first place.

(Image source: India Times)

4. Don’t Bring Up Irrelevant Topics

On a separate but related note, keep to the purpose of the chat. Is the chat made to discuss a group project? Stick to the scope of your assignment until the job gets done; you can fool around once the goal has been achieved.

Are you discussing on a possible college class reunion? Stick to that and leave news of how everyone is doing for your gathering. Anything else outside of the chat’s purpose can be dealt with in a private chat, or better yet, in person.

5. Don’t Send Dubious And Unnecessary Content

As you are chatting, do keep in mind to keep your content clean, appropriate and more importantly spam-free. Seriously, keep all those NSFW jokes for private chats and quit sending us forwarded messages that "have not been checked but are forwarded – just in case".

Chain mail has been reincarnated into email, SMS and now via messaging chats. Don’t make it worse by spreading this via group chats as well.

(Image source: India Times)

6. Don’t Spam. Period.

Seeing as how a group chat is supposed to help you type fewer instances of the same message, don’t make the purpose redundant by repeating the same thing over and over aka spamming the rest of the group.

On the other side of the fence, read through the whole chat to find out if there is already an answer to the question you want to ask the group. This will prevent repetition of the same points while proving you understand the concept of group chat history.

(Image source: Naldo Tech)

7. Don’t Stay Silent

Make sure you say something if you are added into a group. You are added there for a reason, perhaps for your input and contribution on an issue. Try to be part of the group by adding in your opinion.

Also, understand that although opinions may differ and disagreements will probably pop up, staying silent means you take yourself out of the decision-making process – so don’t complain when things do not happen your way if you prefer to keep your opinions to yourself.

8. Don’t Send One-Word Answers

As an extension from #7, don’t just leave one-word or one-letter answers, k? Ok – or k for short – can mean a lot of things. Ok, you saw the message, or Ok, you agree with the statement, or Ok, the direction we’re heading at is good? Which k are you okaying?

This image perfectly describes the frustration with single-word answers.

(Image source: Daily Edge)

9. Don’t Message At Unearthly Hours

If you’re not going to call someone at 3.30am in the morning, why in the world would you send everyone a message in such an ungodly hour? If you know it is not okay to text someone off working hours, then apply the same logic to messaging apps as well.

Unless it’s an emergency that involves life and/or death, don’t distrupt everyone’s sleeping hours just because you can’t wait until the next morning to send your text.

(Image source: Behind The Basics)

10. It’s Time To Say Goodbye

Once the reunion is over, or the company event has ended, it is time to take your leave and exit the group. Group chats don’t really last forever especially once college is over or you have switched jobs. As much as you want the camaraderie to last, sometimes it is better to meet up face to face, than to hide behind a screen and express your emotions… via emoticons.

Oh yeah, I don’t care if you think emotions should be a language, don’t overdo the emoticons just because messaging apps make it ridiculously easy for you to do so.

Related posts:

1. The 10 Sins of Mobile Device Addicts That Annoy Everyone

10 Things We Should Stop Doing In Group Chats