How to Negotiate Upfront Payment as a Freelance Writer
To protect yourself against deceitful clients it is important to negotiate for upfront payment as a freelance writer. In fact, this holds true for every type of freelancer. If you are not going to ask for payment up front you are putting yourself out there to be disappointed. This is not to say that every client is going to take your work and run, but as of late I am hearing more stories about this than ever before.
How do you negotiate for upfront payment? After all, the person hiring you needs to stay protected as well. First off, you do not necessarily have to ask for 100 percent of the payment upfront. In most cases, I ask for half payment and then leave it at that. Most clients will agree to this, and in the majority of cases they will send the entire payment because they do not want to deal with paying two separate invoices.
You cannot be afraid to ask for some money upfront. Many freelance writers are afraid to do so because they think that it will scare the client away. As a general rule of thumb, if asking for payment upfront is going to scare a client you would be better off without them. This is part of doing business, and both parties should be willing to negotiate until a mutually beneficial payment is agreed upon.
Once you complete one project for a client you may not need to ask for upfront payment any longer. After all, you should know at this point if you can trust the buyer to pay you. In my experience, once you ask for upfront payment one time many clients will continue to do so with all future projects.
You may not always be able to negotiate getting paid before you start a project, but most clients will agree to accommodate you in this area.
