Ask FreelanceSwitch #3

In this issue of Ask FreelanceSwitch, Travis King and Thursday Bram look at what to do when a client goes AWOL and when they drag their feet during a project.

Ask FreelanceSwitch is a new regular column here that allows us to help beginners get a grip on freelancing. If you have a question about freelancing that you want answered, send an email to askfreelanceswitch@gmail.com.

Let’s rock!

Question #1

Recently, I was contacted by a company when I replied to a job posting. We signed an agreement and everything but now I can’t get in touch via email with him, and I didn’t get paid (as said on the agreement). The big problem is that I’m in Brazil and I really don’t know who or how to ask for my rights…I already sent an invoice via PayPal to him but still got no answer.

- Miguel

Thursday: Your options depend on a couple of details — like where your client is based. In a worst case scenario, if you’re working with an international client, you would likely have to sue the client in their own country to get paid. That kind of option is prohibitively expensive, unfortunately. If they’re local, however, you may have the option of taking them to court in Brazil.

Before you escalate to legal action, it’s worth trying a couple of different ways to get in touch with this client. If the agreement you signed had a mailing address or another method of contact, it’s important to use it. There’s also the option of trying to find the client through social networking sites. You may be able to find the person you specifically signed the agreement with or, through a search on a site like LinkedIn, you may be able to find someone else working at the same company. I would suggest exhausting every method of communication you can think of to try to get in touch with this client.

Unfortunately, if you can’t find your client at all, you may not get paid at all. It’s an awful situation to be in, but not as uncommon as freelancers hope. The only suggestion I would have at that point is to mention the situation when you’re preparing your taxes: in many countries, there are options for writing off unpaid invoices on your taxes.

Travis: Boy oh boy Miguel, that’s certainly an annoying situation. Recently, that same thing happened to me when a client walked away near the end of the project and refused to pay up. Multiple emails went unanswered and legal action was threatened. It took me a few days to calm down, but eventually I got over it. It also helped when I burned down his business.

As Thursday mentioned, unless you live in Brazil, it’s going to be near impossible to track this dude down and get your money. If you ever get a whiff that a client is going to be trouble, get your cash as soon as possible and never give over your files until you’ve been fully paid.

If you like, use this as a learning experience. Print out the invoice and pin it to your wall. Every morning, walk into your office and reenact the scene from Taxi Driver:

“You talkin’ to me?”

“You talkin’ to me, Invoice? Well I’m the only one here Invoice! Who the heck do you think you’re talkin’ to?”

Really get into the role. It will help you to remember who’s boss and how no one’s going to take advantage of you again. When you’ve done that, do a reenactment from Spartacus…I’m Spartacus! No, I’m Spartacus!

That won’t help you with your problem, but it’s a great scene.

Question #2

I seem to be a magnet for clients who drag their feet (in every aspect of the process). They start off super excited about the project, but quickly lose momentum and it ends up taking weeks and weeks to get information I need or approval for anything. I hate having to try to keep these people interested in their own business affairs. Is it better to cut these types of clients loose? Is there a way to sniff them out ahead of time?

- Matthew

Thursday: I’ve wound up with my fair share of clients who didn’t seem exactly enthusiastic about their own projects. In my experience, it seems to happen more often with longer projects — clients feel like the end of the project is so far off that they don’t need to worry about it immediately, although there aren’t a lot of consistent warning signs for this sort of thing. I’m not saying that you should try to work faster — but it is a somewhat common problem in long projects. How you handle it can depend on just what the client is dragging his or her feet on.

For me, one of the most frustrating problems is if a client doesn’t get me the information I need to work on a project in a timely fashion. I’ve tried to explain that delays push back the deadlines for each step of the project, but I’ve found that adding a timeline to my standard contract — along with details on what will happen if a client doesn’t stay on top of things — helps keep some clients focused.

An invoice can make a difference in how a client thinks of a project. When there’s money on the table, it can motivate some people. I try to structure long-term projects so that I’m sending along an invoice every couple of weeks. I get a lot of responses alongside payments. It’s also a form of protection: if a client does entirely lose interest in a project, I’ve still been reimbursed for my time. I’ve been known to charge for the extra time it takes to get a client to send me the necessary information, as well. It has only taken one extra invoice to get most clients moving along.

I’m generally not one to ‘fire’ a client as long as he’s not late with payments. But if it’s a situation that frustrates you, it might be worth focusing on projects with shorter timelines for a while. It’s not a guaranteed fix, but it can at least give you an opportunity to work with clients who won’t have time to get distracted by other things.

Travis: Clients dragging their feet is nothing new. I once had a client take over a year to get their content together. That’s why we get a sizable chunk of coin upfront. It’s a lot easier to wait when you’re getting paid up front.

A lot of designers require all the content up front before they’ll even look at the design. This is a great idea, and it’s something that I recently started doing. You can reason with the client that it’s presumptuous of you to put together a layout without even understanding what their business is.

As far as your current client goes, you’re kinda boned until they decide it’s important enough for them to send you some content. Remind them once in a while that you’re still waiting, and maybe even suggest a copywriter if they’re having trouble putting the content together.

Two final words of advice to make the time pass when waiting around for client content: Gin + Ginger.