Client wants to pay on completion of project. What should I do?

I presume he's a new client? Where did you get the client from? If it's freelancer.com or elance.com, you wouldn't hve to worry abt payment issues as you can ask for escrow. If you got him from somewhere else, then I would suggest writing sets of 5 articles, then ask for payment. You would have to discuss this with him.

Having been on both sides, I like to implement progress payments.

The number of payments depends on the size of the project, but for something like 30 articles, I think it would be fair for 50% payment for the first 15 articles and the remaining amount on completion of the rest of the articles.

I wouldn't go for that with a new client, progress payment is fair procedure, you don't want to make that much work and at some point he change his mind, you will be stuck.

I normally never accept anything but full payment before I begin work, though on larger orders I have been known to do half and half.

For an order of that size I would ask him for payments after each set of 5-10 articles.

Another option, one that I have used and is my preferred method for clients that don't want to pay up front so they can check the quality of the work, is offer to write 5 articles so he can check the quality and then ask for the full payment before you work on the others.

No matter how much you could use the business, it isn't worth being taken advantage of. Sure, he could pay, or he could just run off with your articles. If he is asking for an order that large and isn't willing to pay anything up front or do progress based payments, that sends up a lot of red flags.

having outsourced for about 15 years, i can tell you that the more demanding people are about stuff like this, the more likely it is they are up to something.

do them in small groups, if that wont work for them, then you really have to ask yourself why? if he needs 30 articles and is willing to pay for them, why cant you do five and he pay for 5.

Yeah, probably 75% of the time in the past that I've accepted anything but at least 50% payment up front I've ended up regretting it.

I would say that if they're adamant about not paying you anything up front that they will probably also be adamant about not giving you your money if they don't think they should have to. Or just running off. Or cancelling their order half way through.

If you do decide to not demand up front payment and it's any serious amount of money (And I'll let you define serious), then I would highly recommend a contract that clearly dictates what 'completion' means. If it were me though I would probably stay away, more so the more money you're dealing with. You should be the one to offer payment on completion, not vice versa.

Just my 2 cents.

Kindly,
- Stephen

Payment IN FULL upfront or put in escrow ONLY or go find yourself another client.

It would be better to lose the client than to lose all that time and effort and then not get the money and lose the client anyway.

Get a signed contract before you write one word.

Do number 2; explain to your client what you want. I think we need to appreciate our skills and ask for our rights...

I'm just going to echo everyone else...

Don't do it!

I have been burned several times (Yeah, I'm a slow learner..) with promises of payment after work is completed.

As my friend used to say:

"Fool me once, shame on you...
Fool me twice...shame on me..."

I finally figured that one out.

50% payment upfront. If he a good client, he is easy to accept your request. If he's not, let hem go.

I vote for doing the articles in batches of 5. Write, get paid, write, get paid, write, don't get paid, drop client and move on.

When I was writing content I advertised no upfront payment for Warriors with over 100 posts.

I was only let down once. I informed the client that I retained the copyright until the full amount was paid. He didn't pay so I put all the articles on EZA (after putting up a landing page to a relevant affilate product) and sold them later as a PLR pack.

But, in this instance I would go with the suggestion of doing 5 then getting paid. If the client doesn't like this - move on to someone who will pay you upfront.

Regards

Karen

This sounds like a very risky transaction on your end. I can easily see the client not paying upon receiving the articles, especially if this is the first time you're working with them. I'd structure it either pay half the amount now, then the other half upon receiving the articles, or just do payment after every couple written articles...if he's serious one of the two options should be viable...

Definitely agree with most of the sentiment here. He should easily be able to judge the quality and content of your articles after seeing 5 or so. Staggered delivery / payment would be best.

If he's an established business, and you have his full name, address and phone number, AND he is in your own country, AND there are methods of sending him to a debt collection agency if he doesn't pay, then go for it.

Otherwise, you probably shouldn't be doing business with him anyway (what if he was from Africa and demanded a total refund anyway?)

I wouldn't do it. 50% up front or go away.

Or you could just deliver one article at a time and after payment, work on the next article. Tell him you're not willing to write 30 articles with no upfront payment, but you'll do one at a time.

I've always gone for at least 75% up front. I dislike dealing with clients who have an insane desire to renege on deals.

Took some time for me to learn to value myself enough to demand this, but it was definitely a wise decision.

Re writing and getting paid.

I have two questions for you:

1. Who are you?

2. Who's the client?

The "who are you", is important because you need credibility. If you have a website, with testimonials, writing samples and many happy customers, that's one thing.

You know who you are and so do others. You've created a Terms of Service (TOS) policy which states something like: "All projects under $300 are payable in advance. Larger/ longer projects require milestone payments."

If you're just starting out, and have yet to get your first five testimonials, that's something else again. Decide on your Terms of Service policy TODAY, and stick to your terms.

Either way, whether you're new, or experienced, learn what the words UNSECURED CREDITOR mean. :-)

OK, next, "who's the client?"

Is the client credible? Does he have a company website, which shows that he's been in business for a few years and is reliable?

Do a Google search for the company name, and see what comes up. It's a good idea to do this, even if you have money in hand. When people know who you are, you also need to get information. Information is power. :-)

In a nutshell: create a TOS policy, and post it prominently. Then you won't have to think about what you will do, and what you won't, because you'll know, and people won't ask you to operate outside your TOS.

P.S. Operating outside your TOS...

Sometimes you want a gig so much that you'll operate outside your TOS... For example, you might want to write an article for a major magazine or website, and of course, they won't pay you up front.

That's fine, because you KNOW WHO THEY ARE. The benefits of getting your article published far outweigh the small risk. They'll pay once you've completed the article and revisions, and that's fine.

Hope this helps.

Angela

Get paid up front for a batch of 3 to 5 articles. Then up front for the next batch. This way both you mitigate risk.

I've been burned witha 50% up front once.

I also hire people and I know what it's like on both sides, so I offer up front payment for a small batch at a time.

Ask for 50% upfront and don't budge. You have to set rules for yourself and your business and stick to them. Good luck.