Hi there!

I’m glad you found this helpful – and thanks for sharing!

Nicki

Hi David,

Great questions! Generally, my clients pay me through PayPal – it tends to be the easiest for them and for me. PayPal can also give you the ability to accept credit cards. You can use Stripe, but you do need some coding ability to be able to set it up for each client. Other options like Samcart and Gumroad are easier to use than Stripe, but probably have more features than the average service provider needs (they’re better for ecommerce) and, as such, have more cost involved. There are also, believe it or not, clients who still pay by check!

As for your question about contracts/agreements, here’s a Facebook live video I did answering that very question:
https://www.facebook.com/FilthyRichWriter/videos/271622887070791/

Thanks for commenting!
Nicki

Great article, and extremely helpful as I get started in my copywriting career. A couple questions, which you may have other articles to refer me to:

– What’s the best way (method) for your clients to pay you? (Some say Stripe, Paypal, etc.)
– Do you ever draw up an agreement with a client before starting work (to guarantee they’ll work with you)?

Thanks for the article!
David

Hi Laura,

Great questions! So, yes – all of those services *are* different and, in an ideal world, would be billed differently. However…that sounds like a big pain in the rear to me. What I would do if I were you would be to come up with an hourly rate that works for you for whatever he has you working on. This may mean that he pays a bit more for the proofreading and editing than he would if he hired that out separately, but remember too that he’s paying for your time. Any time you spend with him could be time you’d spend with other clients. He’s paying for your skill but he’s also paying to reserve your time. If you could make, say, $60 per hour with another client, it’s not totally unreasonable to make that your hourly rate no matter what service he has you perform. Remember, too, that your skills in one area will come in handy no matter what you’re working on – you can’t compartmentalize your skills. You might be “editing” but your copywriting skill is going to come into play as you think of more effective or persuasive ways to say things. Does that make sense? Let me know how it all turns out!

Thanks for commenting!
Nicki

I am working with a VP who originally reached out to me to help him write his book.
However, during our meeting, he brought up several things for me to do. He asked me to help him “proofread” his Action Plan and Company Manuals.
He is also wants me to help with this book by first “proofreading” in Spanish what he has already written, and then by “translating” into English.
Then, he gave me his company Action Plan and future meeting agendas and asked me to “edit” them and look for structural and grammatical mistakes; make it clear and readable for clients. The text is very technical, so he’d like me to rewrite it in simpler terms for everyone to understand.

He agree to initially pay me an hourly rate; but upon working on all this … I am wondering…

What do you recommend?
Should I prepare different invoices for the various things he is asking of me?
Do I treat everything (except the translation) the same?
There are different fees to each of these tasks, correct?

Hi Corky,

I’m glad you found this helpful! Invoicing can definitely be an easy process—the hardest part is just getting ourselves to sit down and do it right away. 🙂

Thanks for commenting!
Nicki