All freelancers have been there: clients not paying the invoice. You do the work, you do it well, spend so much time and effort, and then you need to beg for your money? How do you make clients pay you? Let me share with you the best tips to prevent this scenario, along with some advice on how to deal with it if it’s already happened.
Freelancing Jungle
I’ve been freelancing for six years in London, and let me tell you—it’s a jungle. You need to be very direct and mentally prepared to be tough. Before freelancing, I worked as a videographer for a company, but I also did some freelance work on the side. During that time, I learned the most valuable lesson: most (not all!) businesses are not fair. If they get the slightest opportunity not to pay you, they will take it. I’ve got so many stories—you better buckle up.
My First Bad Experience
Let me start with the first bad experience I had. Imagine me being a shy 22-year-old girl entering the workforce. I found this great job, and to be honest, I loved it so much I would have done it for free. Another company hired me through my employer for a day to help them with audio and video equipment. As it happens, the event ran late, and they really needed me to stay longer than agreed. The boss promised to pay me extra in cash if I stayed. I agreed, of course. However, before we finished, he disappeared, and I couldn’t ask for my money. I knew I’d meet him again in a week, so I waited.
When I did meet him again, I remember being in a car with him and feeling so embarrassed to ask for the money. I thought maybe he just didn’t remember, but I had a strong gut feeling he was waiting for me to ask. You might think I’m stupid, but I was raised to believe it’s rude to ask for money, even from someone who owes you. We said goodbye, and he never paid me. At that time, I hadn’t yet developed a shark instinct. Keep reading…
Restaurant Shoot Gone Wrong
An agency hired me to do food photography in a restaurant. The whole organization was already unprofessional—different timings, just red flags all around. I did the job, sent the pics, and got awesome feedback. The CEO told me invoices get paid at the end of the month. Okay. The end of the month came, the start of the new month arrived, and still no payment. I called the CEO, and he said, “Oh yeah, invoices get paid at the end of the month.”
I reminded him that it was already last month, and I hadn’t been paid. He literally emailed me, saying he was sending the payment now. Forty-eight hours later, nothing. He even called me asking to do another job because someone had cancelled on him (I wonder why). I told him I still hadn’t received the payment, so I wasn’t doing any more work. Fast forward—it took me ten more days to get paid, and that was only after I told them I was contacting my lawyer.
Friend of a Client
After moving to London, I started freelancing and became more cautious about getting paid, especially upfront. Always ask for a booking fee! On this specific occasion, I didn’t, and here’s why. I got approached by a friend of one of my clients at the very last minute—two days before the event. We finally agreed on the price, but it was already the evening before the event.
I hadn’t sent the invoice for advance payment, but I thought, “Well, it’s a friend of my client; why wouldn’t he pay?” When I was filming the event I decided not to send any material over until I got paid.
I did such a good job that the CEO who hired me for the event tried to hire me full-time. He offered me a ridiculously low salary (wasn’t even minimum wage) and had an attitude I didn’t like. After the event, I sent the invoice and waited. Three days later, I got an email saying they needed the photos and footage that day.
I replied that I was still waiting for payment. The next day, he replied, saying he really needed the footage because he was promoting another event.
I replied, “I’m still waiting on the payment.” I complained to my client, who was his friend, and he just said, “Oh, what an asshole.” I received phone calls and messages, but I stood my ground and said I would send everything once I received the payment. At this point, I knew he never planned to actually pay me. However, he needed the footage, so he did—eventually.
To boost your confidence in speaking to clients, I have created an online course that will help you. It’s How to talk to a camera like a pro but very much going through confidence body language and the right ways to speak without hesitation.
COVID Fee Fiasco
I started working with an agency, and soon enough, COVID hit. They emailed me, saying my fee had to be 40% less than usual. If I didn’t like it, they wouldn’t book me. I agreed because I was happy to have work, but it was not a very good deal. They said it would only last four months. After five months, one day I realized that I’d been invoicing them the COVID fee even though four months had passed. I thought they would email me to say my invoice was wrong—nope.
They probably just thought, “Oh, what a stupid freelancer.” I emailed them, explaining the situation, and they replied, “Oh yeah, you’re right, we owe you money.” They paid, of course, but the trust between me and them was forever lost.
Cancelled Shoot
This one is a good one! Advanced payment done! I was supposed to do a 360 walk-through video in one of the London offices of my client. I got there, and I was told that they did not own the premises, so I couldn’t film there. They sent me home. I had spent time traveling and had booked half a day for this, so I emailed the CEO, told him what happened, and also said I would keep the advanced payment as compensation for the day. He agreed. I never went back to do the job due to the lack of organization and professionalism of the company.
Testimonial Disaster
A college hired me to go and interview one of their graduates, who agreed to film a testimonial for them. They handled the initial conversation, and I was supposed to just go there, film, and edit. And that’s exactly what I did. As a videographer, you always film your A-roll first to get the interview done. However, due to construction outside, I had to film all the B-rolls first. Then I filmed the interview, and it turned out the person actually hated the college and the course. She wanted to do the video to promote her business, and that’s all. She basically didn’t say anything good about the college.
I was flabbergasted. I emailed the manager who told me to film this person, as well as the boss. The manager played dumb, and the big boss said he was happy to pay for my expenses but not for the filming. I had spent my whole day working my ass off filming, doing exactly what they hired me to do, and they just casually wrote that they wouldn’t pay me because of their internal error. With this particular client, I had to invoice them monthly—they didn’t accept any advance payments.
I decided to include the filming in the invoice because the invoice reflects what I had done, not what they decided to pay me for. Especially, when the error was on their side. If I didn’t record high-quality audio, for example, I would not invoice my work. But in this case, if they want to keep working with me, they need to pay me.
The invoice was approved.
Never-Ending Project
Another set of interviews with a different client. I had worked with them before, so again, I didn’t ask for advance payment. You see, I keep making the same mistake but somehow always get paid—lol. But it’s always unnecessary stress! I finished filming and editing and sent the invoice. Two weeks later, they sent me edits. I incorporated the edits and sent all the videos back within four working days.
Two more weeks passed, and they sent me more edits. It had been over 30 days, and my invoice still wasn’t paid. I emailed them, and they said they only pay once the project is finished. In three days, I incorporated all the edits and didn’t hear from them for another ten days. They finally approved and paid, but I had to wait forever because they took forever to review the footage.
Ghosting Client
A big influencer’s assistant hired me for a day of filming. I rescheduled a different client (never, ever do this), and when I was about to send them the invoice, they canceled on me. I emailed them to choose another date, and they ghosted me.
Government Ghost
Here’s an absolute madness example. This is a fully government-funded company. They hired me for a set of consultations for a huge amount of money. I delivered two of them, and the last email from them was asking me to send dates when I’m next available. The invoice was already approved but set to be paid in four months due to budgeting. They ghosted me for four months, and the invoice still hasn’t been paid.
No, I haven’t completed the work, but it’s because they ghosted me. And if they eventually send the payment, it makes no sense because I haven’t done the job. But can you imagine booking a freelancer for a sum of money that pays half a year’s rent, making them send the invoice, doing all sorts of online forms as it has to go through so many agencies to be approved, then getting the invoice approved, and delivering two consultations, and then… nothing?
Were they not satisfied with me? Impossible, because they hired me due to previous consultations and training I had delivered for them. Now, I’ve received an invitation for a tender as they need a videographer. They were basically begging me to join the tender. Why would I agree to do more work when I still haven’t been paid for something I haven’t completed? I mean, freelancing is confusing.
The Bottom Line
The absolute bottom line is to never trust anyone. Yes, freelancers need to build relationships, but they need to be paranoid when it comes to money. I have been backstabbed by clients I worked with for years. Always ask for advance payment if you want to save yourself unnecessary stress.
If you own any incentive, a design, or videos, never send them over before you receive at least some amount of money. And if you find yourself in a situation where you haven’t been paid, just email them saying you’re contacting a lawyer who is one of your clients. A little white lie never hurt anyone.
By the way, if you’re wondering how I get and find my clients (I also have good ones!), you need to read my blog on this topic. It’s called How to find and get clients as a videographer.
Comments are closed