How To Make Sure You Get Paid As A Freelancer

After you’ve filed your assignment, posted your article on social media, and taken a victory lap, you now have to worry about what is unfortunately, often the hardest part to freelancing: getting paid. Although it can definitely be frustrating to try to get paid for your hard work, there are methods to ensure that you get paid as seamlessly as possible. 

Here are some tips from seasoned media workers:

Contracts, Contracts, Contracts 

Some publications will require you to sign a contract prior to even starting the reporting or writing process. However, it’s also fairly common for freelancers to have their own contracts that contain clauses regarding payments. Within these contracts, you can state when you expect payment to be completed and if there will be any added fees for late payment. For instance, some freelancers add a clause about an increase of 10% if payment isn’t fulfilled within 30 days. 

Spreadsheets, Spreadsheets, Spreadsheets

As you get more assignments and clients, it can be difficult to keep track of it all. To keep things organized, you should keep a spreadsheet tracking payments. Jordan Gass-Poore, a freelance journalist with bylines at Mother Jones and CNN, keeps a spreadsheet and utilizes Google Calendar to notify her if she hasn’t been paid 30 days after she filed an invoice. Even though she says that she hasn’t had much difficulty getting paid on time, she’s grateful for these organization tools. “If you’re working on a lot of different assignments, things can get lost,” she says.

Invoicing Tools 

With invoicing tools, you can streamline the process of sending and then notifying editors if an invoice is late. For instance, Hannah Macready, a freelance journalist with bylines in Fast Company and Ambrook Research, uses Quickbooks. “All of my invoices are organized in one piece of software and then I have it set up to automatically send reminders to editors or whoever, my clients if the invoice is missed,” she says. 

The best part of those automated tools? You don’t have to write the copy yourself and bother writing those pesky “hey where is my money” emails. 

“It comes off as an automated reminder the way that it reads, so I never feel as if ‘oh, they’re gonna get annoyed that I keep asking,’” Macready says. 

If she doesn’t get her payment after those automatic reminders, Macready follows up personally inquiring whether the outlet has all the necessary paperwork to pay her on time. You often never know what’s missing on their end. 

Escalate Strategically 

Let’s say you’ve tried telling payroll repeatedly that they owe you money, and yet, for some inexplicable reason, the money isn’t coming your way.

Don’t freak out! There are still other options.

Pearse Anderson, a freelance journalist who has been published in Teen Vogue and WIRED, recommends that you let the person  you’ve been emailing with know that you’re willing — and able — to get other team members involved. 

“Warn people that you can escalate the situation,” he says. “I have often said, ‘I’m going going to contact the CFO at this organization if I don’t hear back in the next week.’”

Stay Away From Outlets That Don’t Pay On Time

Within communities of freelancers like Study Hall (ahem), there’s often a word-of-mouth chain effect that informs media workers about outlets and companies that either don’t pay on time or don’t pay at all. 

“Certain publications I purposely stay away from when I see that there’s been numerous issues with payment,”  Gass-Poore says. 

Withhold Future Work Until You Get Paid

When it comes down to it, any company or outlet that relies on freelance labor needs you. Anderson stresses that he gently reminds editors that he’d like to continue to work with them, only if he’s compensated for his work. “I’ve often said, ‘I’d love to continue to pitch you but my procedure is to pitch once I am paid,” he says.

 

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