Ensuring You Get Paid Your Worth

     In my previous posts I have looked at the costs of being a freelancer as well as the biggest part of setting a price, which is choosing to either charge at an hourly rate or a project rate.  However, there are many other smaller decisions that can be made that can help one earn more and help ensure a client accepts the price you give them.  An article on Freelancers Union titled “Everything You Need to Know About Freelance Rates, Pricing, and Fees” gives us a list of good practice as well as links to articles with more info on each topic covered.

 

SOURCE: amazonaws.com

Don’t Use Zeroes When Giving a Client a Project Cost

    The idea here is that when you are giving a client a proposal that includes the project cost, you don’t use zeros.  For example, instead of saying a project will cost $500, you should try saying something more like $580.  Providing a cost that isn’t rounded out makes it look like you have thought about the costs more and have tailored the price to the client’s needs rather than just giving your standard price.

Learn How to Negotiate Well

    Negotiating is something many new freelancers struggle with because they are more interested in the doing side of the work rather than the money side.  But, it is essential to know how to negotiate well in order to get paid the full value of your work.  One of the most important parts of negotiating is knowing what the value of the project is to them.  This can be done by interviewing your client, asking them about their business goals, etc. When you do this, you can get a much better sense of the value of the project as well as possibly learning information that can help the project run more smoothly.  

     Another important part of negotiating is understanding that you are a business and not an individual.  By understanding this, you are able to distance yourself from your work and can than be able to talk yourself and your work up a little bit easier.

Important Contract Provisions

     A contract can help protect you if client relations go bad or can also help ensure there are no misunderstandings.  Some important provisions to include in a contract are:

Scope of the Work

     This is essentially where you spell out what you are actually doing for the client and for the project.  It is important to be as specific as possible so that your client knows exactly what they are getting as well as ensuring the client doesn’t come back later down the road saying your work doesn’t meet their specifications.

Ownership of the Work

    Who, between you and your client, actually owns the work you produce.  For the most part, either full ownership is given to the client, or you can license the work to your client.  By giving the client full ownership, they can use it anyway the please as well as modify it.  Licensing the work to your client allows you to keep ownership of the work.  This allows you to say how it might be used, how long it can be used, etc.

Revisions

    This includes how many revisions are included in the price.  You should include the cost of additional revisions as well.  Including this ensures that you are not doing additional work for no additional pay.

Deadlines

    Including deadlines in your contract can help ensure that a client doesn’t move a deadline up.  It can also include multiple deadlines if a project has multiple steps.

Payment Amount

    This is where you state what you will be paid for the work you do.  Whether it is an hourly rate, per project cost, or another arrangement made between you and your client, it should always be included.

Payment Timing and Late Fees

    Include whether you expect to be paid when you complete the work, whether you will invoice the client, and whether you will have an upfront payment.  If you are going to invoice a client, indicate how much time they have to pay the invoice.  Including a late fee, such as 1.5% per month of the total payment, can help ensure that a client pays on time.

Early Termination

    Early termination is when a client decides to cancel a project.  If you have already completed some work for the project, you could suffer.  This section basically ensures that you get paid for the work you have done.  This could be a “kill-fee”, which is a pre-determined amount that the client pays if they decide to cancel a project.  Another option is to include that a fee will have to be determined in the future for the work that had been completed up to the termination date.