The next WordCount Last Wednesday writer chat takes on a familiar – though not necessarily favorite subject: collecting on overdue fees.
Join us Wednesday, Feb. 27, at 10 a.m. Pacific/1 p.m. Eastern. Use #wclw to follow the conversation
Collect on overdue fees
In all the years I’ve worked for myself I’ve needed outside help collecting an overdue payment exactly once, and fortunately for me, I eventually got every penny I was owed.
Not all freelancers are so lucky.
When it comes to getting paid, writers too often are among the lowest rung of suppliers. In what other industries can companies get away with contracting for services then not paying the supplier for months after the work they provided has been completed? Yet, publications and other clients think nothing of waiting months — or years, in some drastic cases — to settle up.
During the #wclw chat, we’ll share collections horror stories and strategies we’ve used to get clients to pay.
Feb. 27 chat questions
For the chat, we’ll start by introducing ourselves, answers some pre-set questions, and save room at the end for other questions, tips or advice you want to share.
Here are the questions:
- What’s the longest you’ve waited to be paid for freelance work?
- What’s the most you’ve been owed – and did you get paid in the end?
- What recourses have you used to go after late payers?
- What writing or other professional groups have you used to help collect overdue fees?
- If you’ve taken clients to small claims court, how did it go? Advice?
- What do you do now to minimize late-paying clients’ affect on your business?
How to join the #wclw writer chat
To join the #wclw writer chat, log onto Twitter account and use the hashtag #wclw to follow tweets related to the chat.
Although it’s possible to use the standard Twitter interface , you might find it easier using a Twitter application such as TweetGrid, TweetChat or HootSuite. Of those three, my favorite is TweetChat, which you can log into using your Twitter account.
You might want to alert followers that you’ll be tweeting more than usual during the chat, and suggest they use Muuter.com to temporarily mute your tweets if they don’t want to tune into the conversation.
If you can’t join us, look for a complete transcript of the chat on Wednesday afternoon.
Got an idea for a #wclw chat? Would you like to participate as a guest speaker? Send your idea or bio to me at wordcountfreelance@gmail.com.