New clients: upfront.
Existing Clients: "in good standing" ... invoice and wait.

To us, "in good standing" means pay their bills on time, and we haven't had to chase a payment.

In my business, we normally ask for a % up front, then the rest after completion. It all depends on the job, but usually its 50% up-front, then 50% upon completion.

I advice charging up front, you can then leave the doors open by offering refunds if they are not satisfied with your work.

Charge a set-up fee (25%?) and then invoice them monthly using an automated system like Freshbooks.com!

I charge upfront whether it is a web design, video production, seo work or content creation or coding.
First, I talk to client over the phone and write down what client wants (people call me). Some may talk about marketing goals they have or a product idea, some tell me what they want their site(s) to look like, functionality, etc. Then I tell them to wait a day or two for my reply and I send them a proposal and we get on the phone where I in details explain what would work best for them and why and give them my quote and also request money upfront, even it is a recurring client. I explain them that I have to manage my time because of the workload and only can start on their project when money is in the bank. Only a couple of times I had people tell me "ok, I will call you later."

Actually, its a good thing because if someone is shopping around and not sure what they want I would rather not have them as my client. Now, all of my clients are referrals, so I guess it is easier for me. It allows me to be selective, I tell my clients upfront that I am very busy, which is true. I haven't had the time to update my own site for over a year.

Even if you just starting, you would have to be selective because bad clients is bad business. Being polite and most importantly sharing the knowledge and helping people by offering your experience should bring you clients you want because people who want to succeed online prefer working with someone who knows what they are doing even if the price is higher, this is my experience.

Hope that helps.

Up front is a statement of a work. it also proved that the client have sufficient balance to complete the work. 25% upfront is more for any work, i hope.

StevieJK - To date we have only done 50% deposit and balance upon completion or Net30 depending on the services. It works well for us.

thanks guys. looks like charging a percentage up front is the most popular. thanks everyone!

if you're offering services typically webdesigns, I do agree with some posts above

new clients: upfront (if its a websites like service), 50-50% if its a SEO kind of services

Ultimately recurring clients (in good standing): you could either way ask them directly to pay via payoneer.com or invoice them and wait

Beginners take note:

When you offer custom work to businesses, you are offering to engage to work as a contractor. They expect you to ask for a deposit of 50% to begin the work and to tell them that you will collect the balance upon completion -- just like any other contractor does.

When you don't do that, they will have second thoughts about hiring you because you've shown them that don't know even the basics of doing business. If they still hire you anyway, you may have difficulty collecting any balances owed you for the same reason.

I agree that full payment at time of purchase is best for standardized products or services.

Go for 100% up front and if it doesn't work, settle on half up front, half upon satisfactory completion, which is pretty standard for every contractor I've ever hired.

Get SOMETHING up front to cover your costs or outsourcing the project, then get it done ASAP for the backend payday. You deserve money up front and I am suspicious of people who won't pay at least something.

I follow Andrew Cavanaugh's philosphy. "Get enough money upfront so that even if you NEVER get paid another dime you'll be sastified."