Why I charge in advance for my content writing services
I always ask my clients to submit an advance from my content writing services. Sometimes, this puts off some clients because they think that content writing being a service, and since they don’t know me yet, why should they pay?
This is a valid question, and I can totally understand their point of view. This is why I’m writing this page to let you know why it becomes necessary for me to take an advance before I start writing content.
It has a historical context.
Most of the time I’m working alone. Writing is a time-consuming activity, especially considering that if I write for your website, blog or email, you intend to use the content to generate business.
When I’m writing for your website, it is not a Facebook post. This is serious stuff. Your business depends on it.
I can’t take your writing lightly.
An average blog post of 800-1000 words (or web page) takes around one hour and this is when most of the information is readily available and I simply have to put it professionally.
If I include research and information-gathering, it can easily go beyond two hours.
Even if sometimes, some clients, send me a reference link, and then want the 500 words present on the link to be converted into a 2000-word web page or blog post, they blissfully ignore the fact that the remaining 1500 words involve research and then creating unique content out of that research.
I always have multiple projects in the pipeline. If I’m working on a project, it means, there are a few other projects I’m not working on.
Many clients, although they think that they need to hire a content writer, haven’t yet made up their minds, but still, due to whatever reason, perhaps since they are not sensitive about another’s time, they casually contact me and request me to start working.
Previously I didn’t use to mind that. I would start working and spend a few hours on a project, only to find later that the client isn’t interested.
Then this unproductive activity began to eat into the time that I could have spent on the projects for which I had already been paid.
Due to this, a few times I had to refund the money that I had taken because I had spent a considerable amount of time on projects for which I hadn’t yet been paid, in the process, neglecting the projects for which I had been paid.
Is it unsafe to pay an advance for my content writing services?
I have been providing content writing services for more than 14 years now. There isn’t a single instance when a client paid and didn’t get his or her content.
On the other hand, there have been many clients who either changed their mind midway or simply vanished once I had delivered all the documents, without paying.
I’m not saying everybody is happy with my content writing services, but it’s a difference of opinion and not because I hadn’t delivered.
These days you can find everything on Google. You can do research. Try to find anything negative about me. I’m 100% sure you won’t.
I normally have a clear idea of how much work I can do in a day and accordingly I take up new assignments. I don’t overcommit. There might be a delay of 4-5 days, but not more, unless I’m sick or going through some hardware problems.
I can make available plenty of samples and sometimes even a unique sample so when you are paying, you know that I will be able to deliver.
Is it unsafe for me to start writing content without taking an advance?
My past experiences tell me, yes.
Don’t take it personally but it’s been my experience that clients who are reluctant to pay an advance are neither serious about getting quality content for their websites, nor do they respect my time and effort.
Aside from being able to pay, there are two qualities I’m looking for in a client when I’m taking up his or her work:
- Seriousness: He or she is serious about getting quality content for his or her website and understands the value of professional content writing.
- Appreciation: He or she appreciates my work and this means making sufficient effort to find out how I write, before committing.
When these qualities are present, the client anyways feels that he or she should pay in advance because he or she wants me to commit.
What if you don’t want to pay an advance for my content writing services?
This is perfectly fine with me.
Even if you are serious about getting quality content for your website or blog, just as a principle, you may not want to pay an advance, or maybe it is your company policy.
In such situations, I work on a hunch. I can’t say how I decide, but sometimes I can make out that the client is going to pay, and I take up the assignment even if I haven’t yet been paid.
Having said that, I am gradually moving towards a consistent policy towards taking the payment before committing. I’m taking this decision because I have enough number of clients contacting me who are gladly ready to pay an advance. So, it is unfair to them if I agree to work with clients who don’t want to pay an advance.
