Ever blown your budget?

One of my New Year resolutions was to invest in my business. I’d been saving for the past two years to have a budget that would allow me to do so.

I bought a new theme and hired a web designer/developer to make the changes I wanted, wrote an ebook and had it professionally designed. Everything was on track. Then I started buying ebooks I knew would help me in my business. I also joined a membership site and bought new software.

Before I knew it, my budget had blown out of the sky.

Looking back, it’s obvious to see that my budget derailed when I started buying without asking myself a few very important questions.

Will this help my freelance business right now?

If the answer to this question is no, then you shouldn’t buy the product. If you’re getting the product because it will help you sometime in the future, you’re better off buying it in the future.

Unless there’s a discount going on, the price will remain the same so you can always buy it later. And even if there is a time sensitive discount, chances are hight that there will be another in the future.

Plus there are always sales. Before my recent spending spree, I used to wait for sales. I’ve gotten ebooks on 50% discounts. You just need to wait it out and before long, a sale will happen.

For products that say the price will increase after a few days, it will still be useless to you if you won’t use the product within the money back guarantee period.

You might as well wait a few months and get to a point where you can afford the higher price instead of paying a lower price that you can’t afford right now.

Will I ever read/use it again?

If you’re not going to read or use a product again, don’t buy it. Even if you’re paying $20 for it, the product needs to be used more than once. In my book, if I only read an ebook once, it wasn’t worth its salt.

I buy a product so that it can help me again and again. That is why I bought ‘How to Launch the **** Out of Your Ebook’, ‘Blogger’s Guide to Freelancing’, and ‘How to Get Your Sales Page DONE!’

Every time I have to write an ebook, I open How to Launch. When I need help with freelance blogging, I open up Blogger’s Guide to Freelancing and whenever I’m writing a sales letter or page for a client, I have ‘How to Get Your Sales Page DONE’ open.

Granted, you won’t know if the product is any good unless you buy it. Go through the entire sales page and see what the book covers. Most sales pages list the contents. Ask your peers if the product is any good. Do your homework before making a decision.

Does my freelancing business really need this?

Suppose you’re running a company blog but you don’t need to make money off it. Buying an ebook on making money through your blog might seem like something you should know but it’s not something your business needs right now.

So before hitting the ‘Buy Now’ button, ask yourself if your business really needs the product.

Can my business afford this?

No one knows your finances better than you do. Sure, you have a certain amount set aside for investing in your business but a software, ebook or any product for that matter can add up to a lot – as I found out too late.

A membership site automatically deducts payments from your account so keep in mind the yearly cost instead of the monthly cost. Bundle packages may seem like a great save but take the time to figure out how many of the products in the bundle you’ll actually use. It might be that you’re paying $99 for 3 products (that you’ll actually use) out of the 25 that came with the package.

It’s not about what you can afford, but what your business can

The thing with online products is that they’re released every week. Even if you buy an ebook from someone, they’ll come out with a new product and send you a discount code that you’ll find hard to resist.

So the next time you’re tempted, ask yourself the above questions and you’ll have your answer.

Have you ever bought things on impulse that blew your budget? How did you get back on track?

Infuriate your muse into cooperation

Anyone who’s written for more than 5 minutes has faced a writer’s block. To beat writer’s block, you read about it, you write about it and you tweet about it. But what you don’t read, write or tweet about is your writing muse.

Here’s the thing. You face a writer’s block because your writing muse decides to stop talking to you.

Now if you think I’ll tell you about ways to keep your writing muse happy to avoid facing a writer’s block – you’re wrong. I’m here to tell you how to rile your writing muse into cooperating with you and making you type out of some of the best writing you’ve ever done.

Read crappy writing

Nothing pisses off your muse more than crappy writing. So read the crappiest writing you can get your hands on. All the while you’ll be reading, your muse will be screaming in frustration.

Have you lost your mind? This is the crap you read to polish your skills? The writer used the the word ‘longing’ thrice in a 3 sentence paragraph! Why couldn’t she have used yearning? or pining? Or even aching?

My writing muse loses it if I read the Twilight series. She goes absolutely berserk.

You’re reading Stephanie bloody Meyers for God’s sake! I’d like to smack that Edward Cullens and his wanna be vampire girlfriend. What is wrong with you?! You’re reading about a guy who “shimmers” in sun light. Do I need to say more? Put that down right now! We’re going to write about some ‘real’ stuff. Come on, get typing!

Stop Writing after one sentence

I read about this first on Daily Writing Tips. It’s is the most effective way of infuriating your muse into cooperation.

When you stop writing after one setence, you’re the one controlling your muse instead of the other way round. When you stop after one sentence, your muse gets a rude awakening.

What happened? Why have you stopped? I haven’t finished yet. Heck, I haven’t even started!

No one likes to be stopped from doing something. It creates an immediate desire to do just that. Before you know it, your fingers would be itching to type because your muse has decided it wants to write after all.

How do you cure your writer’s block?

Unpaid invoices

This is the final post in the ‘Talking Money With Clients’ guest post series by Jennifer Mattern.

Her previous guest posts taught us how to discuss pay rates with clients initially and raise your freelance writing rates.

Today’s post deals with unpaid invoices

Another frequently dreaded financial discussion for freelancers is contacting clients about unpaid invoices. Nobody likes to be paid late. If you do the job and meet the client’s deadline, there is no good reason for them not to do the same when it comes to paying you.

If you’re uncomfortable with the idea of demanding payments that have exceeded your payment terms, here are a few ideas that might help you avoid the situation or make it easier to deal with.

Use an invoicing service

Use Paypal or another payment service provider that offers “reminder” options for overdue invoices. If a client hasn’t paid on time, you just click a button from your Paypal account and an automated reminder is sent to the client. You don’t have to leave any personal messages that bring your frustration into it. The default is usually good enough.

Require full or partial up-front payments

Personally, I require full upfront payments for most work (and always for new clients). This means I don’t have to worry about clients not paying me after I’ve invested billable hours that I can never get back. Not all freelance writers are comfortable doing that (the more experienced you are and the more demand there is for your services, the easier it becomes).

Even if you don’t want to bill entirely up front, you could make sure you don’t get stiffed on an entire project by requiring a 50% deposit before you start with the rest due on completion. You’ll know the client is capable of paying, and even if there is a dispute later you’ll wait around on less money.

Follow up

Sometimes invoices just get late. The simple solution to that is to follow up about your unpaid invoice. Keep the tone friendly  and phrase it as a simple case of touching base to make sure they received your invoice that was due on such-and-such a date.

You can also use it as an opportunity to ask for feedback on your submitted work, asking if they have any edit requests to make sure they’re satisfied before paying. Maybe there’s a delay because the client is backlogged and hasn’t had a chance to review your work yet.

If you’ve followed up at least twice already, then don’t be afraid to get tougher about it. If they’re a regular, let them know their next project will start when this invoice is cleared up (that you won’t do further unpaid work). If you absolutely cannot get them to make payment, then look into your legal options if the amount is worth it to you.

Don’t Stress

There’s no reason to stress about reminding your clients about unpaid invoices. You shouldn’t feel embarrassed or frightened to ask for the money due to you. If anything, they should be embarrassed by the fact that they haven’t followed through on their obligations.

When it comes to talking money with clients, you sometimes need to be firm. But that doesn’t mean you should go into those conversations being fearful. Remind yourself that if one client can’t deal with your rates, another will. And if you come across a deadbeat client who tries to get out of paying, they’re not the kind of client you want in the long run so there’s little to fear anyway.

If you still can’t get comfortable with discussing pay rates, increasing your freelance writing rates or going after unpaid invoice then take off your writer hat. Stop thinking of yourself as a writer, and start thinking as a business owner – which you are.

Thinking like a business owner who has to watch the bottom line, just might be what you need to overcome your fears of talking about it.

Jennifer Mattern is a freelance business writer and professional blogger who writes about freelance writing, social media, indie publishing, and small business. She also publishes e-books for freelance writers and is scheduled to publish her first nonfiction book, The Query-Free Freelancer, early next year.

Raising your rates

This is the second post in the ‘Talking money with clients’ guest post series by Jennifer Mattern of Allfreelancewriting.com

In her previous post, she talked about discussing your pay rates with clients in the beginning of the relationship. Today, she talks about raising your freelance writing rates.

It’s not enough to be able to talk about rates up front with a client. You have to be able to talk to your clients about increasing your rates too. Again, some freelancers fear having this conversation with clients. They worry that clients will drop them for a cheaper writer if they increase rates.

As your experience increases, so should your rates. You deserve to earn more. A clear sign that it’s time to raise your rates is when you have to rush through a gig to make it financially feasible. If that’s happening to you, raise your rates or get out and find something better.

Here are a few things you can do to earn more without worrying so much about losing a gig in the process:

Learn to walk away

The most important thing is to understand that not all client relationships are going to last forever. As a business owner you have to be willing to walk away from a working relationship (on good terms preferably) when it’s no longer the right thing for your business.

Letting go of a client makes room for a new client who is willing to pay your new rates.

Keep networking

Keep other offers coming through the pipeline by building visibility and a strong network. You should do this until you’re getting more offers than you can take on — and actually, you should never stop. Then, when you lose a client, you know the next gig isn’t far away.

Don’t feel guilty

Don’t let anyone guilt-trip you into staying with a gig that’s financially unfeasible for your business growth. Have a list of competent writers on-hand who you can refer clients to if they choose to move on because they can’t afford your new rates.

Clients who choose to take their business to other freelancers with low rates don’t always find happy endings. You might be surprised at how often clients will try a less expensive alternative only to come back to you willing to pay the new rates to keep the service they enjoyed.

Reevaluate – you might be earning more per hour already!

You might already be earning more per hour without realizing it! As you get to know a client’s business better over time, you can often finish projects faster than you would be able to for a new client.

Maybe it took you two hours to finish a client project in the beginning. But after 6 months, you can finish it in an hour. So you’re already earning double your hourly rate by finishing the work early!

Increase rates for new clients only

Telling your increased rates to new clients is easier than telling them to your old ones. You simply tell them what you charge and they’ll either take it or they won’t. If they do ask for a discount, make sure the final number is still more than what you were earning before.

Hold a promotion for existing clients

One way to tell your existing clients of an increase in your freelance writing rates is to tell them that you’re raising your rates from a certain date. Offer them the option to book you for more work at the current rates before the said date.

This way even if they choose to go to another freelancer afterwards, it’ll give you time to find new clients. Your income stream won’t suddenly dry up.

Have you raised your rates? How did you tell your clients about it?

About Jennifer Mattern

Jennifer Mattern is a freelance business writer and professional blogger who writes about freelance writing, social media, indie publishing, and small business. She also publishes e-books for freelance writers and is scheduled to publish her first nonfiction book, The Query-Free Freelancer, early next year.

Don't work for peanuts

When I heard that Jennifer Mattern was going on a blog tour I immediately asked her include The Writing Base in her tour. She agreed and we decided upon talking money with freelance writing clients as a topic.

The guest post I received from her was a gold mine of information and divided into three sections that I felt deserve a post of their own.

Her post has now turned into a guest post series –  the first of which ‘Discussing Initial Pay Rates’ you can read below.

As a freelance writer, you’re a business owner. Dealing with money is an important part of running a business. Yet some freelancers enjoy the writing side of the business but aren’t comfortable talking money with their clients. Fortunately, there are a few things you can do to make this process less nerve-wracking.

Typically, there are three common situations when freelance writers need to effectively talk money with clients: Discussing initial pay rates, increasing their rates and dealing with unpaid invoices

Today we’re tackling the first financial hurdle freelance writers face.

Discussing Initial Pay Rates

The one financial issue I see most freelance writers struggle with is naming their rates. Either they set rates lower than they should or get nervous when they have to quote prospects with higher rates.

Here are a few tips to get over the fear:

Set your rates according to your needs

Set your rates based on what you need to earn and what you can realistically charge as a premium based on your experience and credentials. Then don’t worry about what the masses charge.

Not all writers are your competition, and someone is only in your target market if they can afford to pay your rates. Focus on finding those prospects and talking about rates up front won’t be such a worry.

Know the value of your work

Know what value you bring to the table (the benefits you offer the client — not just a service list). When you can convey value and show that your work is more valuable than work provided by a low-end freelancer, you’ll find much less resistance to your rates.

For example, a sales letter writer could convey value by sharing past conversion histories. A press release writer could do that by mentioning major media pickups their releases have gotten for clients. A blogger could show value by noting traffic and subscriber increases a client’s blog saw after they began writing authoritative content for the site.

Publish your rates

Publish your rates on your professional website (and for that matter, have a professional website). I’ve found that when I publish rates online it weeds out most of the low-paying clients. I’m contacted by people who know my rates going in, know those rates are fair based on the services provided, and who are prepared to pay them if they hire me.

If you fall into the “but all rates are different for different projects” group, that doesn’t mean you can’t post rates. Post a range instead — like “$2100 – $4500 per white paper” — so you still have flexibility to make a quote based on project specs.

Do you have trouble talking money with clients? How do you do it?

About Jennifer Mattern

Jennifer Mattern is a freelance business writer and professional blogger who writes about freelance writing, social media, indie publishing, and small business. She also publishes e-books for freelance writers and is scheduled to publish her first nonfiction book, The Query-Free Freelancer, early next year.