How to ask for money as a freelancer

After working hard, the end goal is payback.

Nevertheless, asking for money has never been easy and certainly not always appropriate. As a freelancer, you might end up feeling awkward or guilty asking for money from certain clients such as mothers or students. Here is how you can politely ask for money without feeling guilty.

1. Send an Email Reminder

Casually send an email update to your client on what you have done and remember to include an invoice. As you progress with your project, it's common to be doubtful of your client's payment especially if you are dealing with cryptocurrencies. Unlike in fiats where you can have a chargeback, you need to have enough confirmation since the process is irreversible. Sending a reminder will put set things moving, and you will be much more at ease if the client shows sign of payment.

2. Ask on a Clients Perception Value

While most freelancers charge the quality of their work based on their perception, they forget to consider the other party. The best way to overcome guilt is to turn the whole situation around. Ask yourself if you would pay such an amount for the service you offered. That way, it is less awkward, and you won't end up overcharging or undercharging your client.

If you are a fair freelancer, it is inevitable to feel sorry at some point for a client — much more like any other business. However, tell yourself you are doing what needs to be done. Besides you also have responsibilities to your family and that’s the way to feed them

3. Drop it in a Conversation

I once worked with a college whose favourite motto was on’t ask, don’t get’. Whenever he completed a task, he would always demand compensation as a payback. Later I learnt that it is even harder to ask for payment and some people take advantage of this situation to avoid paying.

Similarly, if it gets harder to confront your client for payment directly, you could cleverly drop in the payment topic in your discussion on what next. That way will have politely request for money, and you will feel less guilty.

4. Get your Client to Name a Price

If you are unsure of how much to charge your client, then lead your client with witty questions that may get them to reveal their budgets. There is nothing more important than getting to know what your client would be happy to pay. Although they may not necessarily give a figure, they will assist you in charging within their budget, unburdening your guilty conscience.

Beware of cunning clients who are out to exploit others. Make sure your client’s budget is within reasonable pay so that you are not disadvantaged. As much as you want to make your client happy, you can't please everyone.

5. Include a Payment Plan in Your Contract.

One of the smartest ways to avoid being scammed or feeling awkward is to have a prior payment plan. Instead of agreeing to default monthly payment, you could request your client for partial payment upfront in your contract. Of course, not every client would be willing to do so, but it is nonetheless up to you to remove the hesitation. One of the safest ways is to use escrow which involves a third party. If your client is still hesitant, showing a list of previous satisfied client’s confessions would also help.

With an upfront payment, your final invoice will be less in value, and you may not feel as much guilt as you would have to charge the whole lot at once.

Bottomline

The best ways to avoid guilty feeling while invoicing your client is to make changes in the way you get paid. Start having partial payments if you are used to monthly payments. Alternatively, you can charge per project, and you will feel more comfortable writing only one invoice.

If writing an invoice makes you feel ashamed, it is probably because you don’t do a good job and you think its wrong or cheeky to as for too much. Asking for money is money is not easy. But when you know your value, and you provide the best available service, you will find it a lot easier requesting for what you deserve.

Where is FreelanceForCoins in all of this?

FreelanceForCoins is the place where buyers and freelancers using cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (or Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Monero and stablecoins) can find each other. We believe that every freelancer in the future will have had at least one project done for crypto. Every year cryptocurrency adoption grows with no stopping in sight.

However, it's really hard to find freelancers accepting cryptocurrencies. It's a hard task even for us. We plan to take it slowly and attract users and earn their trust over time, adding new features and making this site more and more usable every day.

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