| Availability | Clients | Testimonials | Biography | Jokes | Articles | Products | Personal | Contact |
"How to get paid more promptly!" by Roy Sheppard How many full time staff would be prepared to work for a company and wait for anything up to 4, 5 or 6 months for their salary? Very few I would guess.Not being paid promptly can be a crippling problem for many freelancers. But what can be done about it? Some late payers behave in this way because they believe that freelancers have little or no influence while other production companies suffer the pressures of dealing with their clients’ purchasing departments. Freelancers tend to remain at the end of a long queue when it comes to being paid and involves wasting valuable time trying to persuade the release of outstanding cheques. As a freelancer I am not in the business of providing the cash for others to run their businesses nor should any other freelancer. Few freelancers have the confidence (or stupidity!) to make an issue out of this very real problem. It would be unfair to mention just one company when there are so many companies which have a reputation amongst freelancers for slow payment. In 1995, I had such difficulties with a large and well known conference production company. I was attending a pre-production meeting for a forthcoming conference which I was going to facilitate - payment had not been received for my previous job with this production company (which was for the same client) - I held my breath and calmly ‘blurted’ out that I needed a cheque before I was willing to appear for the next conference which was only a few days away - a signed cheque appeared within 10 minutes. Following this incident (for which my production colleagues were deeply embarrassed) I wrote to the company’s financial controller asking for him to provide me with details of their payments policy for freelancers. I did not receive a reply. It is sad that a company which relies so heavily on freelance labour to deliver its services to high paying clients can treat this workforce with such disrespect. This is unfair but it is partially the fault of the freelancers themselves. We deserve this disrespect because so rarely do we formally agree in writing with clients our own terms and conditions of business before accepting the assignment - because we are so grateful for the work perhaps? As I keep repeating at the "Secrets of Successful Freelancing" seminar, successful freelancing is about increasing the number of choices you have available to you. Word often gets around about those individuals and organisations which seem to be particularly slow or non-payers. So, keep your ear to the ground. It takes self-confidence, but if you are in doubt, ask for some or all of your fee upfront. Other techniques can include the following; only recently I was engaged by a video production company who I have worked with many times before. The people are a joy to work with, their projects are well organised and interesting. However, they are incredibly slow at paying their invoices, (I have waited as much as 6 months) so I insisted on the following arrangement - there was one price for prompt payment within 30 days, but if it was not paid on time they would be sent a second invoice for an extra 15% for the same job. This they agreed beforehand. It is a good idea to include this in a written agreement beforehand, especially if using this method on a new client. A cheque duly arrived in less than 5 weeks - and a major improvement! Another alternative on the same lines involves offering a 3-4% discount for payment within 30 days. Many accounts departments like the idea of saving money and will often take up such an offer. Smart freelancers will charge 3-4% extra in the first place! But the best way to improve the speed you receive payments - is simple - invoice immediately. So many freelancers leave invoicing for weeks after completing jobs wrongly believing that they will appear too keen for their money (its YOUR money), or thinking they are too busy for paperwork -these attitudes guarantee slow payments.
Roy Sheppard has produced a 6 part step-by-step audio course on how to market your services as a freelancer, free agent or consultant - especially useful if you HATE to market yourself. Called The Secrets of Successful Freelancing it can be ordered safely and securely on-line. We know the ideas in this programme work - because so many freelancers have told us they do. We guarantee your mind will be buzzing with so many new and profitable ideas when you listen to this programme.
This programme is the same price to everyone in the world. Yes, this costs us extra money to ship it to 'out of the way places' but we don't believe you should be charged more, simply because of where you live. The internet is global therefore each customer should be treated with the same respect and pay the same price - regardless of their post or zipcode. However, we can only accept payment in pounds sterling, so the price you are charged will be determined by the current rate of exchange which is outside our control. The programme costs £49.95. This is approximately US $75. If you wish to purchase this audio tape programme you can do so in one of 3 ways;
Please don't forget to include your name and the address you want the programme sent to - some people forget to do so. Because we have no way to contact the customer, we then have to wait for an irate phone call, fax or email wanting to know why we are being so inefficient! It's only when we explain that an address would help..... If you use a Switch card we also need the Issue number. We cannot accept "Charge Cards" such as American Express (its a banking thing!) We look forward to
sending you this programme. Roy Sheppard can be contacted on: Tel/Fax 00 44 1761 414676 Centre Publishing, Croft House, Clapton, Midsomer Norton, Somerset, BA3 4EB, England Email: roy.sheppard@virgin.net Back to Previous Page |