How to Get Paid Safely as a Freelancer: The freelancing industry is versatile and accommodates thousands of fields from freelance writing, web design, building contracts, career coaching, editing, and more. The sector offers multiple benefits, which are also equivalent to the risks. Freelancing provides the power of autonomy and flexibility as one can work from anywhere at any time.
Though fun and flexible, Freelancing offers a fair share of problems such as late payment, data insecurity, and lack of payment from clients. The challenges are demotivating, incur serious dents financially, emotionally, and waste the freelancer’s time. Most freelancers incorporate third-party platforms such as Paynco to handle the payments, agreements, and contracts to curb the different issues. This provides a safe work environment and payment plans. However, a freelancer should to adopt several freelancing tips to maintain safety during payment.
Adoptive tips for safe payment plans
Proper background check
The digital market offers scammers a great platform to pose as potential clients. It’s challenging to uncover illegal sites and illegitimate clients online. This leads to freelancing scams and loss of money through unpaid tasks. Before investing your time and resource in projects, conduct a background check on the client.
The review process applies to all clients, whether from agencies, freelance sites, or referrals. This provides surety about client existence and payment plans. A background check gives insight into clients’ past and how well they pay for their projects. The internet can assist in conducting background checks using the following tips.
- Use Google or Bing to search for the client or company.
- Reviews from other people on different platforms.
- Search their social media account such as Twitter, FB, etc.
- Visit the LinkedIn profile (POC )
The search help unveil any negatives for you to accept or reject the projects.
Work under contract/ agreement
A contract is a vital tool for freelancers to get their pay on time and safely. The legal agreement abides the clients to pay for their project in a certain period after delivering the work. The freelancer and the clients can also agree on deposit terms (upfront) where the client offers half the amount and clears after the project. The deal is fair and motivating to the freelancer as their pay is guaranteed.
What to include on the contract
- The type of work and service required.
- Enter a reasonable project timeline.
- Describe the cost or working rates to avoid inconveniences during payment.
- Provide the payment mode or platforms.
- The end products proprietorship rights and licenses.
A contract helps save freelancers huge trouble, especially during pay time.
Provide secure payment platforms
The internet offers various payment platforms for easy payments schedules. The freelancer must choose convenient payment services. Freelancers can select some renowned freelance payment methods such as PayPal, Escrow apps, bank checks, bank transfers, credit cards, and more. The payment modes should protect your banking details to avoid data leaks or fraud. For example, don’t expose your CVV or log-in details to the client for data safety. Most payment apps allow freelancers to get their payment safely. The platform keeps the payment history; this helps users trace any balances from previous payments.
Create good invoices regularly.
A strong and clear invoice encourages good payment habits. Most clients pass the invoice to their account department for payment services. To get a fast response, make simple, clear invoices for better understanding. It’s also advisable to invoice regularly and avoid a payment backlog once you’re done with a particular project request for payment by sending a detailed invoice.
Conclusion
The freelancing field is tricky to understand but requires small smart tips to maneuver around. Though there are fraudulent cases, most clients will pay for their projects. However, you need to review and design legal agreements that state your payment strategies for better and safe payment plans.
