Now if you’ll excuse me I have a migrane… X(

This person never paid half first but I went ahead and uploaded the
site. Agh. A few days later she informed me that the site was “funky”
and had reverted seemingly by itself to its previous state, which was
a generic template that she had made using the template builder
provided with the web host. Hmm. This time she made a $50 payment,
which was 1/2 of the ‘half first’ or 1/4 of the total payment;
requesting me to again upload the site, and informing of the new
password to the account, which had inexplicably been changed. Ok-? In
an effort to be helpful I stated the obvious in asking this person
whether she had used the template builder, which still had the old
copy of the template stored, which the client denied as if being
accused of something.

It was only a few days later when no further payment or instructions
appeared from the client that I realized what was happening. Ms.
Menage had waited for me to upload the site, then promptly changed the
password to shut me out. The client then stupidly attempted to use the
template builder to modify the new website, inadvertently reinstating
the old one by mistake. I sent a two-page email, which went
unanswered, patiently explaining the differences between the template
editor and alternative means to edit the site, something I had
contacted her about two weeks earlier, requesting to set a time when
we could put our heads together to implement a customized solution; a
request that also had gone unanswered. I then wrote another two emails
over the course of two days patiently explaining my position in our
agreement, all the things I had done and were willing to do for the
benefit of her website, and explaining that the agreed upon fee for
the site was more than $50.

After a few days this person responded. This time I had apparently
crossed the line and been irrevocably disrespectful in some way with
my ’smart comments’; and no further pay would be forthcoming. Two
separate conversations are presented below.

Sadly, it is apparent that THIS CLIENT NEVER INTENDED TO PAY ME. It is
unfortunate that so many take advantage of Craigslist’s open market
system to cheat and connive their way through the system. Thank you
for taking the time to listen.

On 2/17/08, I wrote: (this is a small part of a 2-page letter)
Okay. Please don’t confuse content management with that Globuild
template builder they have got up on there. Templates are very limited
in that they can only allow you to change pictures and stuff around
within the look and style of a premade layout.
——————————— (etc.) ————————-
Because this is kind of starting to drag on and it seems we haven’t
been communicating very well and time has been getting wasted. I have
been trying to do everything you wanted me to do but when I asked you
a couple of weeks ago if we could set up a time to hook you up with
the content management you never got back to me; then last week you

On 2/17/08, Tanisha Clayton wrote: (apparently replying to a
completely different conversation)
> no. Any what else is new with this?

On 2/17/08, I wrote:
What part of what I said are you saying no to? I don’t know what else
is new with this because I don’t know what you are expecting me to do.

On 2/19/08, Tanisha Clayton wrote:
I dont even remember what this email was about. What’s with the bad
attitude? I spoke with Danielle and she says that you are very rude.

On 2/18/08, I wrote:
> Please complete payment for the site this week. You have my ongoing full support for minor issues such as technical problems with Globat, in addition to the number of pages in the Cover section, ad placement, and anything else relating to content management; in exchange for the extra space on the server I will be here to continuously support and update the site. But this is dragging on for too long and I really don’t know what more you expect from me. Please don’t dole out payments at me $50 at a time like that. This is a business and I am worth more than that.

On 2/19/08, Tanisha Clayton wrote:
I know that and I really don’t need all the smart comments. For all
that you can keep the $50 and take down the site. you and I both know
why I asked to only pay $50 and further you saw for your self that
something was funky with the site. Now that it’s up I have no problem
paying the remainder balance. The problem that I have is the smart
attitude further irritating me is the fact that I just got my email up
and running only to see emails like the one below.

But here’s what you can do to get around that: I put “Payment due upon receipt” on my invoices to those type of companies. That way, the Accounts Payable clerk pays it right away. It works like a charm! Just be sure that your contact at the company is OK with you doing that. (Your legal agreement can still say 30 days, etc.) Which leads me to my next point. I have the following paragraph in all of my agreements:

Payment of each invoice is due within thirty (30) days from the date of invoice. All invoices forty-five (45) days outstanding, or greater, will result in an immediate hold on all Satterfield-related projects, programs and services. Services will remain on hold until client has paid in full all issued and unpaid invoices. As a courtesy, Satterfield will provide written notification to the client on the invoice due date.

Jessica Satterfield
http://www.TheSatterfieldAgency.com

Also, if the invoice remains unpaid, ask for a contact in the Accounts Payable department. Your general contact doesn’t want to/doesn’t have time to deal with financial issues. AP will be much more up to date on whether a check has been issued, etc. Always get an email and a phone number for AP if possible.

The trick is, don’t allow yourself to be placed in the position where somebody owes you a lot of money, unless they’re firmly committed to you for one reason or another. It’s you’re business and nobody should be dictating how you run your business or your terms of payment, within reason.

@riki: Awesome advice, particularly the part about no one dictating how your business runs.