Thursday, March 08, 2007

It's a love/hate kinda thing

I hate money!

By that I don’t mean I ‘hate’ what money can do, because I like that. Money can buy me things, pay the mortgage and bills, enable me to travel, and give me more freedom and comfort than I would have if I didn’t have any money.

What I hate about money mostly is asking for money.

In my various salaried careers asking for money wasn’t an issue. I would go to work. Do what was expected of me. Then, almost as if by magic, every two weeks there would be a payday. There would be money that would be mine because I’d earned it. I didn’t need to ask for it. It was just automatically there. That was a pretty good deal, now that I think about it. Money in return for service. What a system.

Well, now I still need money in return for my services and talents, such as they might be. The only problem is, now I have to ask for it. I detest doing that. For whatever reason I seize up prior to submitting an invoice, especially if there hasn’t been an a priori agreed upon fee for service. Sometimes with freelance writing I have no idea what is going to be involved in a project. This is especially true of business writing, or website writing (which I do a fair amount of.) I mean, at the outset I really have little idea of how long it will take, how my skills will be put to the test, how many meetings I’ll have to have with the client, web designer, what changes I’ll have to make, how clear the client has been in his or her instructions, how nitpicky the client is, and so forth.

Right now I am on the verge of sending an invoice to a guy whose website copy I’ve just completed. I think it’s good copy. In fact, the web designer referred to it as “beautiful” material. So, now I have to go cap in hand, and with plaintive look on my face, and say, “Pay me, please.” I invariably end up feeling like Oliver Twist asking for another serving of gruel.

In this particular case the guy who hired me is a friend of long duration. I don’t like doing jobs for friends usually, mainly because they’re friends, and that is a complicating factor. At the same time I think what I have done for him is worth a pretty good rate of remuneration.

I was agonizing about this to Wendy the other evening, saying how I hated to invoice for too much, since the guy is a friend, etc.

“He’s a very successful businessman,” Wendy said. “Do you think if you sought his services he would hesitate to charge you the going rate?”

Of course he wouldn't. You don’t get to be successful by being shy. I could not argue the point.

So, therefore, trepidatiously, I will ask him for the sum my mind is comfortable with, based on the aforementioned criteria.

Hopefully he'll agree with what I ask.

Then, of course, there is the other side. What if what I submit in my invoice is much lower than he’d anticipated paying? That’d piss me off.

“I can’t believe what he invoiced me,” I can hear him saying to his wife over coffee tomorrow morning. “What a sucker,” she replies, sadly shaking her head. “No wonder he isn’t rich like we are.”

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8 Comments:

Blogger Jazz said...

There, in a nutshell is why I couldn't be a freelancer.

But hey, we don't exist, so no problem!

9:05 AM  
Blogger geewits said...

I sold my minivan to my in-laws and felt awkward. I said, "Just pay me $100 a month for 15 months." Then when I realized how hard they had saved for a vacation I felt bad and told them to wait until April (this was two Februaries ago). Then that November I told them to just skip their December payment for Christmas. It was all just weird to me. If I ever got freelance work (graphic artist) I would just charge a flat hourly rate and keep up with my time.

10:10 AM  
Blogger Moof said...

Ouch Ian! I can relate your post - acutely! My husband accuses me of being afraid to "earn money."

I'm far more comfortable when things are neatly laid out - this is what I expect, this is what you expect, and this is the amount of money which will be exchanged.

But - life isn't always that simple ...

Good luck on the transaction with your friend!

10:45 AM  
Blogger heiresschild said...

i think your friend must be open to whatever amount you're charging him, otherwise he would have talked about costs upfront. the fact that he didn't says whatever you're charging him, he's willing to pay. that's just my opinion, of course. i have no problem paying, and no problem charging. as donald trump would say, "it's just business."

11:36 AM  
Blogger Tai said...

He didn't hesitate to ask for your hard work, so you shouldn't be concerned about asking for his cash!
Your work is worth the money paid to get it.

1:17 PM  
Blogger Janice Thomson said...

I Agree with Tai , Ian. Whether he is a friend or not is of no concern. You have a service he needed therefore he is willing to pay the going rate. If he was on a limited budget then maybe there would be concern but then if he was on a limited budget chances are he would have never asked for your services in the first place. If he is a good friend then he knows the value of your work and would never use his friendship against you.
I understand how you feel as the same thing arose when selling my art to friends.

10:05 PM  
Blogger Ellee Seymour said...

I am waiting for a large invoice to be paid right now, but I do knew it is always paid, just always late.

It's harder for women, I don't think we deal with money in such a forthright way as men.

5:42 AM  
Blogger CS said...

I hate dealing with money, period. I hate talking about it. I hate asking people for their co-pay. I hate arguing with insurance companies about paying me. The whole subject seems so fraught with unpleasant meaning.

9:17 PM  

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