TUNE IN: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Stitcher

Looking for closed captioning or a transcript? Watch the episode on YouTube!

A Sneak Peek at the Episode

[2:00] Nicki and Kate start off with the “old school” method of receiving paper checks (remember those?!). While paper checks are becoming less and less common, some companies still go this route.

[4:30] Other companies and businesses go a different route with direct deposit. Nicki and Kate chat about how that works and also the importance of good bookkeeping for yourself.

[8:30] Our hosts dive into the world of electronic payment platforms, such as PayPal, as well as allowing clients to pay you via credit card. They also address how to cover those fees while remaining professional. You do not want to make your clients feel like you’re charging for every little thing, so if you’re going to pass along the processing fees, roll the fee into your project price.

[13:00] As we’ve heard in previous podcasts, Nicki and Kate reiterate the importance of being careful with purchasing software and services. You want to invest in purchases that will pay for themselves and make your life easier (not more complicated).

[16:00] When working with a client, ask if they have a preferred payment method. You should do this after you’ve agreed to work on the project. Ask if they have a set payment cycle (net 15 days; bi-weekly; monthly, etc.). That way, you can remain cognizant of their timeline when sending an invoice. Send a gentle reminder if you haven’t received you invoice within that timeline.

Related Links

• The Best (and Cheapest) Way to Track Freelance Income

Mentioned in this Episode

• Tax and Bookkeeping Tips for Freelance Copywriters
• How to Deal with Clients That Don’t Pay
• How to Know If You Should Charge Copywriting Clients Upfront

Tell us what you love about the podcast and what you hope to hear next! When you do, you can get access to an exclusive bonus recording featuring five wildly successful entrepreneurs who share what they do (and don’t!) look for when hiring copywriters. You do not want to miss it! 

Get all the details on how to get your recording here »

About the Build Your Business Podcast

Ready to turn your love of writing into a successful copywriting career?

Join professional copywriters Nicki Krawczyk and Kate Sitarz to get the tips, tools, and training to help you become a copywriter and build a thriving business of your own. Nicki and Kate have 20+ and 10+ years of experience, respectively, writing copy for multi-billion-dollar companies, solopreneurs, and every size business in between.

Whether you want to land an on-staff job, freelance full-time and work from wherever you want, or make extra money with a side hustle, the best place to start learning is right here.

See Previous Episode

Ep. 56: What is a Copywriting Test and Should You Do Them?

The post Ep. 57: 4 Ways Copywriters Can Accept Payments appeared first on Filthy Rich Writer.

Every freelancer’s fear (apart from not finding work) is that their clients won’t pay them. For the record, it’s very, very rare that a client will just never pay you. In the course of my nearly 20-year copywriting career, it’s never happened.

Remember: clients are human. And, as such, it does happen from time to time that they put off paying invoices longer than they should. Sometimes they simply forget.

You know how flight attendants go through the safety lecture and say, “In the unlikely event …” Well, think of this blog post as the safety lecture. It’s very unlikely you’ll face this scenario, but bookmark this blog post just in case payments aren’t forthcoming.

Step 1: Ask Your Clients If They Have an Existing Payment Process

The first step is to know what you’re working with. Some of your clients may have a formal payment process, particularly with organizations that have a finance department. Many established organizations that work with various service providers and/or vendors (like copywriters) will be used to paying invoices.

After you’ve completed the project and are ready to invoice, you can say, “Hi [client name], I am prepping my invoice for [insert project] and wanted to quickly check to see if you have a certain process for invoicing. Is there anything in particular you need me to include on the invoice that’s specific to your organization? If not, I’ll use my standard invoice template. Should I send you that invoice directly, or someone else? And, finally, do you have standard payment terms? I generally include “Net 15″ on my invoices, but please let me know if you have a different process. Thanks!”

Net 15 (or Net 30, Net 60, etc.) simply means the payment is expected within that number of days after the invoice is sent.

Some clients may have you carbon copy the person you’re working directly with but include someone on their finance team on the “To” line. Others may have you include a specific work order number on your invoice. Some pay invoices immediately upon receipt. Still other clients pay biweekly, monthly, or even net 120! Some have no process at all.

Knowing what you’re working with up front can save a lot of anxiety about where your invoice stands, especially if you know they have set payment cycles.

Step 2: Send a Gentle Reminder Email

Unless your client has a track record of not paying your invoices (in which case, why are they still your client?), you want to give them the benefit of the doubt. We’ve all forgotten something from time to time and your clients are busy. If your client does not have an established payment process and if you haven’t heard anything about a week after you’ve sent your invoice, you can send them a gentle reminder email.

If you know they generally pay monthly and a week into the month you don’t see a payment, you can send a reminder, too. Basically, you want to take into account what you know, and then send a gentle reminder if they’ve missed the deadline by a week.

Your email can be as simple as, “Hi [insert name of client], I just wanted to check in about that invoice I sent you on [insert date]. Please let me know if you have any questions.”

You can even reply using the original email you sent them so it’s all part of the same thread and simply pops back to the top of their inbox.

For most clients, that will be enough to jog their memories and remind them that they need to pay you.

Again, most clients are good people, so you want to be polite your first email. There’s no need to get tough.

Step 3: Send a More Direct Follow-Up

Now, let’s say that another week goes by and you still haven’t heard anything. Or, more likely, they promised to pay, but haven’t sent you a payment yet.

At this point, you can be a bit more direct. Still, though, you don’t want to burn bridges. So be straightforward, but polite.

This email could say, “Hi Jim, it’s been two weeks since I sent my invoice and I haven’t seen payment come through. Could you let me know when I can expect it?”

When they receive this email, the majority of the small percentage of clients who haven’t paid you after your first email will feel embarrassed and send out payment right away.

Step 4: Pick Up the Phone

Let’s say, just to cover all bases, your client still doesn’t pay you after the two reminder emails.

Again, let me emphasize, this is exceedingly rare.

Your next step is to get in contact and let your client know that you won’t be able to do any further work for them until your invoice is paid. This is tough, but fair.

You could send this as an email, but if you’re feeling brave, it will be even more effective if you pick up the phone and make a call. Stay calm and stay polite, but be direct.

You can’t do work if you don’t get paid, right?

At this point, you may be wondering what you can do to get your money. Do you threaten them with small claims court? Have an attorney send a letter?

Well…you could…but I wouldn’t recommend it. Small claims court takes a lot of time and isn’t especially effective. And hiring an attorney is expensive. Basically, you’d be spending more time and money; throwing good money after bad. (Yes, that’s even if you have a contract with the client.)

Look at it this way: It’s not worth paying $400 to get paid for a $300 invoice. And it’s not worth five hours of your time to get paid for a $300 invoice. That’s five hours you could spend working and earning money.

Your best course of action, instead of trying to revenge or force a payment, is just to focus on finding new clients and new work. It will be hard to let it go, but do it anyway.

You won’t gain any advantage by trying to exact revenge. But you will by moving on and finding new work. And you never know…one of these days, you might just find that check in your mailbox, after all.

If you’re worried about a client not paying you, bookmark this page so you have it for later. That way, you’re ready with a game plan in the unlikely event it happens.

Watch More: What To Do When a Client Doesn’t Pay

On episode 113 of the Build Your Copywriting Business podcast, Nicki and Kate offer more tips on what to do if a client doesn’t pay. Watch to feel prepared and as a reminder that this isn’t likely to happen to you.

Read More: Prevent a Project From Going Off the Rails

Besides not getting paid for your work, there are other ways projects can fall through. Here are some of them and ways you can avoid this from happening to you.

Your Turn

Have you ever had a client that took especially long to pay you? How long? And what did you do? Let us know in the comments below!

The post How to Deal With Copywriting Clients Who Don’t Pay appeared first on Filthy Rich Writer.

Once the project is complete and the job is all wrapped up comes the good part: getting paid. Yet, many copywriters over-complicate creating their copywriting invoice and the process of invoicing itself. Even worse, some put it off indefinitely. (None of that is very good for business.) So, let’s buckle up and get this invoicing conversation on the road. Ready?

The first thing to do after you wrap up a project? Celebrate! You got a client, you delivered the work, you made them happy and you’re done! The absolute, very, very next step? Invoicing.

You may have noticed I place a teeny bit of emphasis before “next step” there. The reason for that is that the vast majority of creatives, copywriters and designers alike, drag their feet when it comes to invoicing.

Believe me, it makes absolutely no sense. Invoicing is how we get paid! It should be the part of the job that we do fastest! But more often, it isn’t. So take a tip from me and cultivate a good habit: As soon as you get the A-OK on your project from your client, open up a word doc, complete your invoice and send it.

What Your Copywriting Invoice Needs to Include

The invoice, itself, doesn’t have to be complicated at all. Open a word doc and write something along the lines of “Invoice for Copywriting Services”.

Below that, create a “To:” section and write the name of your client, the company and any contact information like phone number, email address and/or address.

Below that, create a “From:” section and write your name, your email address, your address and your phone number. (If they have questions about your invoice, you want to make sure they can find you!)

Below that, create section that says: “Project” and write a short description of the project; something like “Copy for holiday print campaign.” Try to keep it to less than seven or eight words.

Below that, list out all of the work you did for the project. If you’re billing by the project, describe the project in the left column and put the amount you’re billing for in the right one. This might be something like, “Four magazine ads and two brochures” in the left column.

If you’re billing by the hour, you can list the task you did and the rate in the left column (Magazine ad at $50/hr) , create a middle column for hours (4.5) and then the right column can be the cost for that task ($225)

At the end of either one, write “Total Due” and the total, followed by “Payable upon receipt. Thank you!” The “payable upon receipt” lets them know they should pay you right away and the “thank you” is, well, nice.

Copywriting Invoice Template

Here’s an example of what a project billed by the hour invoice might look like:

Invoice for Copywriting Services

To: Michael Smithson, ABC Company
Invoice #:       7
Date: February 25, 2012

From:          Joyce Johnson
123 Main St
Anytown, MI 02123
555-555-5555
email@emailaddress.com

Project:
ABC Company promotional pieces for trade show

Rate:
$50/hour

Services Rendered:                                                   Hours:           Payment Due:         

Direct mail for trade show                                          10                    $500

Pre-show email                                                             4.5                   $225

Bio for show brochure                                                 2.25                 $112

Total Due                                                                                          $837

Payment due upon receipt. Thank you!

Other Copywriting Invoice Options

It’s that simple, really. A lot of copywriters like to overcomplicate this. They think just because it’s simple means it’s not professional. But, trust us, your client does not care what your invoice looks like. More often than not, you’ll send your invoice to your point of contact at the company, and they’ll immediately forward it on to the finance department.

So, if you want to add some color, go for it. But is it necessary? Nope. And, often, focusing on tasks like jazzing up your invoice are a form of resistance. That’s not what’s going to move your business forward.

Your turn! Do you have a different invoice layout? Let us know in the comments below!

Need help with your business finances? Here’s more info:

• By the Minute? The Hour? The Word? How You Should Charge
• How to Negotiate Your Salary
• Why Work Bidding Sites Are Bad News
• Freelancing? Contracting? Which is Which?

The post The Right Way to Invoice Your Copywriting Clients appeared first on Filthy Rich Writer.