How to Send a Payment Reminder
Even if you get along with all of your freelance writing clients there is going to come a time when a payment is taking entirely too long to arrive. This is not the most fun part of being a freelance writer, but it comes along with the territory. Remember, you are more than a writer. You are also in charge of many other aspects of running a business including accounts receivable.
If a payment is late you will know it. In this case you need to send a payment reminder to the client. That being said, you don’t want to go overboard and accuse them of trying to rip you off. Not only will this anger the client, but it may harm your relationship as you move forward. Remember, just because a payment is late does not mean the client is trying to stiff you. They may simply be running behind for one reason or the next; this does happen from time to time. In fact, I have found this to be the case more times than not with some of my larger corporate clients.
Since you probably send most of your invoices via email this is the best way to send a payment reminder. Believe it or not, you can be quick and to the point when doing so. Take the following, for example:
Good morning:
I wanted to send a quick note to checkup on the most recent invoice. I wanted to make sure you received it, and that there is no problem with processing my request. Please let me know if you need anything else from me.
Sincerely,
Your Name
As you can see, the above is friendly while also getting the point across. I never accused the client of holding out on me, or came across as rude and/r disrespectful. In many cases all it takes is a quick reminder to push the client to immediately send the payment.
Sending payment reminders is part of running a successful freelance writing career. If you customize the note above you should not have any issues sending a reminder if the time comes.Â
