Freelance Writer

Archive for the ‘Freelance’ Category

Next week I have a visa run to Cambodia planned, and then Nuth, Leon and myself pile into the sarleng for a seven day road trip to Koh Phangan. One of the things I love about being a freelance writer is that I have the freedom to do things like this whenever I please.

Whenever we do something like this it is always hard to be productive, usually after riding our three wheel scooter come shopping trolley for a few hours in the blistering sun, I’m pretty tired. This time around I have planned my work schedule much better, and only have around three hours work per day on the books for the entire three weeks we are travelling.

Of course, I know what will happen, all of my regular clients will suddenly throw tons of urgent work at me and I’ll be forced to burn the midnight oil once again on the journey.

It has been quite a month for me this month, firstly I have just completed some work for a particularly prestigious client, I have been writing press releases and articles for notorious art collector Charles Saatchi, and his new Gallery that is opening in Chelsea next month. The new Saatchi Gallery will house one of the most world renowned collections of contemporary art. Secondly I am now fully booked with work for the next six weeks, apart from the little time I have set aside for my repeat clients, as I do not wish to turn any of them away.

So I really must be doing something right I guess, although its been a long haul getting the ball rolling, it has taken me over a year to get to this stage, but I think it has all been worth it when I see where I am today. So a big thanks to all my clients who have helped me so much over the last few months, many of you have been extremely supportive and helpful.

As a freelance writer, it can often be difficult to gauge the integrity of new clients. The problem arises from the fact that I often find myself working for people who are on the other side of the globe, this makes chasing a bad debt impossible.

Recently, following a spate of dealings with blatantly crooked customers, who had placed orders, accepted delivery and then promptly disappeared without a trace, I have begun to insist that all of my clients use an escrow service to handle project funding.

Escrow is a great way to protect both the buyer and the provider. By using an escrow service, the buyer is no longer required to make any advance payment, which could theoretically be lost. For me, the main advantage lays in the fact I know for sure the project funds are available and ready to be released to me once the project is completed. All in all a much safer situation for everyone involved.