I generally make it a point to send an invoice to my clients on the date I’m supposed to receive my payment, and barring that, I like to harangue them about it–within reason, of course, but I’ve never exactly been shy about asking for money. It gets curious how some companies would be in constant touch the whole time you’re completing the project and suddenly be unavailable most of the time when it’s time to pay you.

I have no other advice for fellow freelancers other than to get everything in writing, send an invoice, and ask aggressively for the money you rightfully deserve. Fortunately, Melissa Brewer has a fine article entitled When Clients Don’t Pay, Pay Late…And Another Anomalies of Freelancing that you will learn a whole lot from. At the very least, you’ll learn that you’re not the only freelancer out there whose clients are wimping out on you.

I’d complain about the workload, except I’m really just happy even getting any number of writing assignments. Plus, I said yes to all of them anyway, so I can’t blame anyone else.

The strange thing is, even if I get exhausted with all the writing, I can’t seem to be able to say no to projects. Most likely it comes from a fear of not having anything to do and therefore not earning any money. Maybe one of these days, I’ll say no to any job for a whole month so I can spend my time and energy working on all the projects I’ve pushed to the back burner.

Again: E-zine as in e-magazine. E-zeeeeen. I cannot stress this enough.

I just had to let this out, because this is a total pet peeve of mine.

Another freelancer, Elaine, served as a graphic designer and website manager for an environmental group. She was told that she didn’t have to follow any particular working schedule, which suited her just fine. In retrospect, she shares that it might have been a good idea to pin down a certain number of hours and the time as well, because the clients then called her every time she didn’t reply to e-mails quickly, expected her to keep working even at 10 p.m., and sometimes even told her to work Sundays. “That wasn’t what I signed up for. I was a contractor, not their employee,” she said.

It’s not unheard of for freelancers to be at the beck and call of their clients all throughout the day, but that doesn’t mean that this should be the case. If you’re new to freelancing, you might be scared to lose the clients you have and think that setting guidelines about work hours will antagonize them. But it’s a good idea to do this, or you risk spoiling them and making them think that they can run to you every time they need you. Let them know how much time you spend on their projects each day, if you have to, and you can also turn in a progress report detailing your work for the day. Keep a firm hold over your schedule. If you work six hours a day and never during weekends, make sure that you work in a way that ensures timely completion of the project. Hopefully, that will keep clients from breathing down your neck. You became a freelancer to have control over your schedule after all, not to spend 24 hours working.

What do you do to discourage your clients from forcing you to do what feels like a 24-hour work day?

Yep, believe it or not, it does happen, though for various reasons. It could be that the freelancer was displeased with the terms of the contract and didn’t know how to rework the agreement for a more favorable setup in his or her favor, and opted out without consulting the client. The freelancer could also have the impression that since he or she isn’t holding down the job on a full-time basis that it’s something that could be easily shrugged off. Worst of all, the freelancer might just think that the client is the most horrible person on Earth to be avoided at any cost; the experience of working with such a client may be so unpleasant that the freelancer just wants out, never having to deal with the client ever again and reputation be damned.

It’s probably a lot like the fantasy of telling you’re boss that have HAD it and that you never want to see his face again; it’s satisfying, but ultimately leaves a poor impression of you. Some people already think that freelancers are flaky, and putting on a disappearing act will ruin things for everyone else. It will only make people think twice about hiring freelancers again, and at the same time, you’ll be seen as unprofessional and unreliable.

Before taking on a job, you have to figure out whether you are capable of performing the duties and if you can submit the project on time. If you have too much on your plate, then you shouldn’t take on any extra work. If it’s the client itself that’s the problem, however, you might want to take the honest approach and let them know exactly how you work and what your schedule is. If things don’t improve, however, you can write to them to let them know that you’re unable to complete the job and direct them to another freelancer who can finish their project (don’t forget to give the freelancer ample warning about the client!). Another option? Suck it up and just get through the work. At least you can be grateful for the fact that you don’t have to deal with them face to face on a daily basis. Just complete the job as quickly and flawlessly as possible to minimize the amount of time you have to spend with them.

Just remember that it’s always best to end things on a positive note. You may need to work for that client again in the future (like when you’re really desperate or a better person is in charge of the project) and you will also need them to give you glowing recommendations should other clients ask you for references.

I’m not really counting myself among them, though, mainly because I did not leave a high-paying job to strike out on my own, but one that made me feel like a useless pawn for three years. Now if the article talked about twentysomethings who rejected cubicle life in lieu of working in cafés, restaurants, and at home, then I should be on that list!

Anyway, it’s interesting to see how these people place more importance on their interests than their high-paying jobs, and not just because doing what they love will make them more money in the long run, but because they find it more inspiring and meaningful. When I was working, I often wondered if I’d have stayed at my old job if I got a massive raise: “Would being paid 30,000 a month make me happier and push me to wake up every day for this job?” I realized the answer is a resounding NO–not only will that P30,000 never happen, much less P20,000, but no amount of money would have diminished the annoyance of being a mere cog and feeling demoralized practically every day.

Careerbuilder has a list of 13 of the most overused phrases used in résumés. Looks like I seriously need to update mine pretty soon.

Her post enumerates the reasons why any freelance writer isn’t actually required to have a graduate degree, and that one good reason to actually pursue further studies is to improve your knowledge about the topic you’re most interested in writing about. Which makes perfect sense, because it’s important for you to learn as much as possible about a field in which you plan to specialize.

So that post pretty much bopped me on the head and diminished my desire to go to graduate school. Instead, I’ve chosen to look into taking the Editorial and Proofreading course at the London School of Publishing in the future. That is certainly more in step with my plans.

Of course, when I started freelancing, I had fewer meetings to go to. Of course, I had to meet all-new potential clients and go to follow-up meetings for any projects, but on the whole, I’ve managed to avoid them. One of the worst meeting experiences I’ve had as a freelancer involved a very…meticulous person who wanted a website done according to his specifications, no matter how ugly the end product turned out. He would call two to three meetings a week, and each meeting lasted four to five hours. It was not an economical use of anyone’s time, especially since he spent a lot of time talking about how we were all young and inexperienced, while he is older, more mature, and therefore has much more to offer than we do.

It wasn’t just the meetings that took up too much time. There was also the commute, which took two hours back and forth. So that’s nearly half a day wasted just for one meeting.

I didn’t want to go through that sort of thing ever again, but luckily, my other clients weren’t like that at all, and brief meetings in person, just to formally introduce ourselves to one another and really talk about the project, were all that took place. Otherwise, we left each other alone and communicated mostly through Y!M and e-mail. And you’d be pleased to know that it’s a setup that works very well.

Clearly, in my experience at least, being able to work with clients doesn’t mean having to spend hours with them in meetings. It’s all just a matter of being able to communicate expectations and instructions well.

Related stories:

• Every Other Meeting is Unproductive
• Spend less time in meetings