You will face all kinds of situations as a freelance writer. There are clients who will love your work and everything you do, and some who won’t be as happy with what you send them. Dealing with an angry client is never easy, but it is part of the territory. If you are going to succeed as a freelance writer over the long haul you need to realize that you will probably face an angry buyer at some point in time. Are you willing and ready to deal with this?
When dealing with an angry client the first thing you must do is assess the situation. Why is the client angry? Once you answer this question you can then move on. If you are not 100 percent sure of why the client is upset, you need to ask. Believe it or not, some clients will spew venom but make no mention of what is going on. In this case you definitely want to ask in no uncertain terms what the problem is.
If a client is upset with you it is easy to get defensive and argue with them. But is this the best thing to do? I never argue with clients no matter who is “right.†Instead, I make it my goal to resolve the problem and calm the situation as quickly as possible. This will calm the client down, while also giving you the chance to move past the situation and onto other projects as soon as possible.
Don’t let one angry client scare you away from your dream of becoming a freelance writer. This happens in every industry, and you should be ready for it to happen to you at some point in time.
How do you organize the payments you receive as a freelance writer? If you work for a company as a regular employee you probably receive anywhere from one to four paychecks per month. And most of the time they are directly deposited into your bank account. As a freelance writer you don’t have this benefit. Instead, you will receive many more payments each month and all of them will come direct to you in some way, shape, or form.
To stay on track it is important to organize your payments as they arrive. For instance, I have one folder for checks that come in the mail and another for payments that are sent via PayPal. With PayPal, you will also receive an email stating that a new payment has arrived; I have found this to be quite useful from an organizational point of view.
When should I cash checks? In the past I was a bit lazy about cashing checks that came in the mail. Instead of heading straight for the bank I would hold onto these checks until the next month. I stopped this practice a few months back, and now head to the bank once per week on average. While this means I have to take time out of my day, it is beneficial in the way that it helps me to stay organized.
I have never found it difficult to organize payments for the most part. After all, this is one of the most exciting parts of being a freelance writer. Does it get any better than receiving a PayPal payment or check in the mail?
