Modes Of Payment
We’ve established that freelance writing can earn you obscene amounts of money, let’s now discuss payment modes. Most clients prefer to pay online and PayPal is the most popular choice for both clients and writers alike.
Creating a PayPal account is very simple — you only need a valid email to start. Initially you will be restricted in terms of the amount of money you can send and receive until you verify your account to remove the limits. To verify your account, you will need a valid credit card.
PayPal enables you to send and receive money from anywhere in the world for a fee and if you have something like a Freelancer.com debit card you can easily transfer funds to your debit card from PayPal. You can also order direct checks from PayPal with a timeframe between 1 – 3 weeks.
Every freelance writing website has money transferring facilities where clients pay and that payment is then transferred to your account. Such transfers don’t usually deduct from your payment which is why most freelancers prefer this method in addition to the issue of security which will be discussed shortly.
Other payment options for the freelance writer are as follows:
- Money order (sent through FedEx which costs slightly higher than a normal postal delivery)
- Direct wire transfer
- Transferring funds to someone else’s account (ideal for if you have to pay a writer who’s also a member of the website you’re doing this from — with no additional charges for the transfer)
While it is mostly safe to send and receive money online, you still need to be careful since you can still be potentially cheated but the good news is there are various payment procedures in place to keep this from happening and ensuring your security.
Secure Freelance Writing Payment Procedure For Both The Client and The Writer
You’ve done a great job, you delivered on your promise and now it’s time to get paid. While getting paid online and doing electronic transfers are the most convenient methods of payment, the fact remains that you still have to make sure you actually receive your payment and that the client also needs to be assured that you are able to get the payment. Here’s how you can be sure that happens:
1. Set Up An Escrow Payment
An escrow account is when the client keeps the payment for the writer until the work is completed. Upon completion, the funds are released into your bank account.
Setting up an escrow account is easy. Suppose you are chosen for a project with Client XYZ on ScriptLance.com and the assignment is for $600 to be completed in three days. Before starting on the project, the writer will request that an escrow of $600 be made in their name on ScriptLance.com.
This is verifying that the client has the funds to pay you when the project is done and indicates to ScriptLance.com that the project has started and that the payment has been decided and agreed upon by both parties.
Once the escrow has been made Client XYZ cannot retrieve the money from the account unless you cancel the project and Client XYZ is also protected against mediocre quality work. This is how you are protected from potential cheating.
When the project is done, you deliver your work to Client XYZ, who will check it for revisions within 24 hours and if found in good order, they will release the payment from the escrow and transfer it to your account.
Setting up an escrow is a safe way especially since you don’t know anything about the client who hired you. It guarantees you get paid at the end of the day.
2. Invoices
There are some websites that use the invoicing system and while not as safe as the escrow method, we are including it here so you know what it is.
Invoicing is also done upon completion of the project. If you have written articles for the client, you fill out an invoice form indicating the number of articles written, payment for each and the completion dates and other important details then send it across the freelance website.
This is how the website knows that a payment has been processed and once the client get the invoice, they will be obligated to make the payment within a stipulated timeframe unless they have questions or disputes.
This method is not something we would recommend since it doesn’t indicate if the buyer has enough funds to pay for the project and in fact, there are some instances when clients actually bailed and when this happens, there is nothing that the freelance website can do.
However with websites like Guru.com, they indicate the number of pending invoices a client has so it will give you an indication of how well that client does business which is more preventive than protective but effective nevertheless.
3. Setting Up Milestones
Elance.com strongly suggests setting up milestones before starting a particular project. Milestones are good for long term projects because both parties decide in advance how the work is going to be submitted and how much payment will be due for the work.
The way it works is the writer agrees to submit a portion of the work within a specified timeframe then the client agrees to make a payment accordingly for that installment. By setting up milestones, both parties are assured of getting the work done and not sustain any heavy losses in case someone decides to drop out of their committment.
There is always an element of risk whenever you deal online and you should be especially careful if you are doing this for the first time. It is always a good idea if there is a written contract that you can sign just to be sure but then a word of advice – never sign up for a long term project.
This is because you can never tell when the pay rates may go up and you’ll be stuck at what you signed for until the project ends and lose out on getting a bigger and better compensation. Learn how to protect yourself as much as you can by learning as much as you can on dealing online.
We have discussed how you can get the most out of freelance writing online, both emotionally and financially. Now use all that you’ve learned to launch the most successful freelance writing career of your life.
