freelancing

Answers to all your questions about life as a freelancer — contracts, tricky clients, getting paid, and more.

how can I tell our freelancers they should charge more?

A reader writes: One aspect of my job involves hiring short-term contractors. Their pricing can be all over the map and some are hourly, but most charge a lump sum. Those rates typically start at about $1,500 but it isn’t uncommon to pay over $10,000 for someone in demand. While I’ve run into times when […]

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my client refuses to pay my cancellation fee

A reader writes: I have a friend, Frank, who I met because we both enjoy certain sports. I only see Frank when I am involved in this sport, but it’s a small community so everyone knows each other. Because my business caters to this sport, Frank decided he would like to use my service. And […]

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my client is always late paying me

A reader writes: One of my clients, a creative agency, has always had issues paying my invoices on time, but it’s getting worse. Every single time I send an invoice, I have to go back and remind them to pay me. It’s a great company, but I’m starting to get frustrated that I can’t send […]

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I accidentally ghosted a client

A reader asks: I recently took on a freelance web design project at an hourly rate. However, I ran into some issues that I hadn’t anticipated having to deal with, and my anxiety got the better of me after we had to cancel a meeting a few weeks ago, and I haven’t responded to any […]

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how to deal with a client who’s always late

A reader writes: I run a professional services consulting business. I work from home and all of my clients are elsewhere, so our meetings are always over the phone or Skype. For the most part, I love my clients, but one of them has a chronic problem with being late or simply blowing off our […]

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