I’m pretty sure I’m not the only freelancer who is expected to offer telepathy as a form of client communication, either. Actually becoming telepathic isn’t particularly likely, but there are a few ways to get a better idea of what a client is actually thinking.

1. Ask every question you can think of

Every client has different needs — and it seems like the clients who expect us to read their minds always have a few out-of-the-ordinary requirements. That means asking every question you can think of will pay off: if you can get the answers that will tell you what your client is thinking, you’ve eliminated the guesswork. Even questions that seem like they should have obvious answers can have surprising answers.

There’s one question in particular that I’ve found crucial — asking a client what his goals for a project are can provide an immense amount of information, especially if you’re working with a client who isn’t quite sure on the details of what he wants yet. Goals are often the key to knowing whether the design or copy you have in mind will actually be what your client wants. If a client comes to you asking for a website and offering no other information, for instance, it’s easy to assume that the client wants something that provides his customers a way to find him online. It takes more of a leap to automatically assume that a client wants to sell products through this new website. Knowing that information in advance will make the design process much easier.

2. Ask for work examples that the client likes

I’ve had clients who weren’t happy with a project simply because it didn’t look like a website operated by someone else in the industry — a website I wasn’t even aware of. Simply knowing what those clients really liked ahead of time would have lead me to take a very different approach to the project, rather than having to try to graft a few elements on to my design at the last minute. It doesn’t have to be much, either: a website or two can be enough to give you insight in to what your client likes. I also make a point of asking exactly what the client likes about a particular design or piece of copy.

You do have to be a little cautious of how closely you follow an example your client sends you. I’ve actually had a client ask me to copy a site pretty much intact and just swap in their information. Trying to explain that you can’t do that — especially after you’ve specifically asked for examples that the client likes — can be difficult. But making a point of explaining that having an identical website, brochure, or other project won’t actually help a client set himself apart from the competition seems to do the trick.

3. Provide extra drafts or mock-ups

If you’re still uncertain about exactly where your client wants you take a project, it can make sense to create a mock-up or draft earlier in the process than you might otherwise. On a blogging project I did recently for a client, I wrote up a list of a month’s worth of titles, with a short description of what each post would include. The time spent writing those descriptions was minimal — but wound up saving me a whole lot of trouble and grief down the road, because the concept my client had of what her blog should include was very different than what I had understood from our discussions.

It can slow down a project a little bit when you add in extra drafts or mock-ups: it’s very tempting to just get in there and get the project done, rather than offering a client lots of opportunities for revisions. But offering at least one chance for the client to review what you’re working on early in the process can reduce the number of times you hand a project over to a client only to hear complaints that they hadn’t gotten what they wanted.

As freelancers, it’s easy to get excited about a new gig and want to automatically accept it, but you should set some boundaries to make sure you don’t get wrapped up in your client’s drama—or get yourself into a tizzy!

See if it’s a real “rush.” Some clients want to give you an hour or a day to complete something but don’t consider that a rush. Other clients will come to you stating that they have a “rush job.” My best piece of advice if the client doesn’t specify the job to be a “rush project” is to determine on your own if it’s a rush. That is, get the full scope of what’s entailed and ask the client for the deadline. (If they don’t have one, it’s likely not a rush, just something they want done promptly.)

If you need to decide if it is a rush job (to therefore charge a “rush fee”), you can do that by looking at your schedule to see if the project and its deadline will force you to hurry. If so, it’s okay to charge a rush fee. Make sure to include time for things like getting a signed contract or a deposit. Many freelancers sometimes waive these important must-haves in order to simply get the job. Then they simply get screwed.

Determine if you can make the deadline. You may want the job terribly but have other obligations in the way that you can’t rearrange. If you know in your heart that you are not sure if you can turn around the work by the client’s deadline, it is not fair to accept the job. I never take a rush job if I think I can’t complete it in time. I have to know that I can get it done, even if that includes a little overtime. I have to make sure I’m comfortable with the timeline, and I think all freelancers should do the same.

You don’t want to wind up fried—it’s not fair to yourself or the client. If you get too frazzled, the work will not be your best and you may not want to claim ownership of the project, not to mention the client will be ticked. Be fair to yourself and the client as to whether or not you can accept a rush project.

Set the “rush rules.” Let’s say that you’ve been told or have decided that the project is a “rush job.” Clients who come to you and know they’re pushing it will likely be more apt to pay a rush fee, while clients who just think they’re giving you a “tight deadline” may be more apt to put up a fight when you include a rush fee. I have found the best way to deal with these things is to establish open and honest communication with the client. If I think I can complete the project in the time allotted and want to accept the job, I let the client know all of my specifications and what I need from him or her to get the job done.

For example, if it is Monday and the client wants the content Friday and I know I can deliver it by then, I let them know if there will be a rush fee, how much it will be, and what time they can expect the first draft by Friday. I also let them know that I will need the deposit by the next day, for example, and the contract faxed back that evening. (I always try to get the contract first if I know the money will be naturally delayed in the mail.)

You do not always have to let the client know there is a rush fee—you can simply add it into the quote and have the client approve it. It is, of course, up to you based on how you do business, but many freelancers include rush (or pain-in-the-butt) fees in their quotes. If the client asks why the fee is higher than normal, I let them know that I’ve included a rush fee based on their imposed deadline. I have never had someone ask what the fee is for, but if they did I would simply tell them that the fee ensures that I will stay up all night if I have to in order to deliver their project on time. I do not think I would get many arguments.

Take time for project processing. It’s important to allot time for project processing, as in, getting a signed contract returned to you and a deposit if you require one. If you find about a project on Monday that is due Friday and it takes till Wednesday to get everything you need to start, you really only have two days to finish when you thought you had four or five. Let the client know that you can complete the project by the deadline provided that you have everything you need (background material, signed contract, deposit, etc.) by a specific day.

This is why it’s important to assess the full scope of the project. If you’re waiting on other people to give you material in order to start the project, that could delay the project and you could wind up causing tension between you and the client. When you set the rules, be sure to let the client know about everything you need in order to get started and deliver the project on deadline—including the red tape.

Say no. If you have to say no, it’s okay to say it. You are not obligated to complete a client’s every request. Just be sure to give them a prompt response. If I need time to decide if I can take a project, I simply ask them when they need to know by. This is basic common courtesy. Being open and honest—even if you have to turn down a project—will likely earn you trust and respect with a client, which can be beneficial for jobs in the future.

So you’ve taken the rush job. You’ve got everything you need to start and the only thing ahead of you is to complete the task and submit the work on time. Now that everything is set, there’s one more thing you’re likely to need: coffee.

Kristen Fischer is a copywriter and author who lives at the Jersey Shore. To learn more about her, visit www.kristenfischer.com.

So here’s what we want to know: how many of our readers are doing well despite it all, and how many of you are facing difficulties? Is the depressing and rather biased NY Times piece accurate or just another story written to sell? Cast your vote in the poll and then feel free to vent your economy frustrations in the comments.

Today I’m very happy to unveil the latest iteration of FreelanceSwitch which introduces a bucketload of new features including a directory of freelancers complete with search facilities, profile pages for users, unified logins for the forums and the rest of the site, a resource directory and of course a fresh design for the whole site.

Accounts, Profiles and the Freelance Directory

The biggest change in version 3 is that we’re introducing a much more robust user account system. Previously we used to have forum accounts and job board accounts. We’ve now merged the two into a single FreelanceSwitch account system.

There are two types of accounts:

Free Accounts …

If you sign up to a free FreelanceSwitch account you’ll be able to:

• Chat on the forums
• Create a basic Profile page with contact details, description, external URL and a couple of skills tags
• Appear in the Freelancer Directory

Paid Accounts …

For $7 a month you get to:

• Apply for jobs on the job board
• Additional Profile features including extra URLs, extra tags, testimonials and work samples
• Appear at the top of any searches of the Freelancer Directory and have more details shown with a larger profile image

What the Profile Pages look like

You can see a sample profile page that I’ve made for myself:

The New Design

The new design is an evolution of the previous look and retains many of the same elements, just repackaged with a bit of freshness.

Some things you might be interested to note are:

• The whole site from forums to job board to blog has the same unified design now
• We’re pulling in fresh jobs into the sidebar
• We’ve got a fairly unorthodox comment layout which emphasizes big text for readability
• We’re using sIFR to render out the FreelanceSwitch font in our headings. It means a slight lag in page loads, but it just looks so damn neat!
• We’ve added a welcome panel to the homepage to help clients use the site
• The site is designed so it looks like the old site … but newer!

Here’s a little look at how FreelanceSwitch has evolved over the years:

New Forum Skin

6 months ago we moved the forums over from Vanilla (which was having some problems) to BBPress – a neat forum app made by the same people who make WordPress.

Because it was done in response to a sudden crisis, we didn’t have time to skin the forums. I wanted to take a moment to thank all our community for putting up with the bare bones BBPress theme for half a year!!

It’s taken us a long time, but finally we’ve got a nice new outfit for you all. And we won’t be reverting to the birthday suit ever again!

Resource Directory

Some of our most popular posts here on FreelanceSwitch are posts listing useful web resources for freelancers. That’s why we’ve compiled a special resources directory of useful links to services and sites that freelancers can benefit from.

We’ll be adding to it over the coming weeks to get it really complete. If you have a suggestion, feel free to Submit a Resource.

The directory is built using a custom WordPress plugin which we’ll be making open source via Nettuts+ later this week!

Features, Features, Features

Along with all our other changes you’ll see a few new minor features and tweaks including:

• Subscribe to Comments via Email
• Search Jobs, Directory, Forums, Resources or Blog Posts from the header
• Recent Jobs in the blog sidebar
• A Press page
• A listing of all our fantastic contributors and authors
• Tweet This counter on posts
• Better author profiles on posts
• Related articles that doesn’t break!
• Threaded comments

And doubtless there are a few more features that I’ve forgotten all about!

What We’re Working On Now!

While the new site is up, we are actually still working on more features and upgrades. In particular we’ll be working to integrate the blog comments system with the new account system. We’ll also be adding a little user badge system so you can figure out who has complete profiles, who is a writer and more.

You can also look forward to more features and utilities in the Paid Account system as we work to increase the value you get for your hard earned cash.

Bugs, Fixes, Feedback

If you notice anything which doesn’t appear to be working as it should leave a comment below, or send us a ticket. Because of the complexity of the site structure and the fact that we’ve had a 24 hour shift getting the site launched, there’s bound to be a few teething issues but we’ll get them within the next couple of days!

The Freelancers Who Worked On This

As it always has been FreelanceSwitch has been put together by a team of freelancers. So I’d like to take a moment to say awesome job to:

Derek Herman who coded up all my Photoshop work, the guys from Instinct who built the Resource Directory plugin and Mathias Meyer who is not only a FreelanceSwitch writer, but also a very good Rails developer!

The site is a really tricky mix of WordPress, WP Plugins, BBPress and Ruby on Rails, and it’s taken a very talented and dedicated team of freelancers spread over four different countries to pull it off!

This theme has a close friend called “The Worst Economic Downturn Since the Great Depression.” I’m skeptical about that line, because I’ve seen worse.

Back in 1980, I was just a year out of college, and I found myself unemployed. The grant that funded my job had run out, and I was living in the state of Michigan. Even then, Michigan was developing a reputation as the Unemployment State. Which meant that if you wanted to find work, you’d best go elsewhere.

Since I had some savings in the bank, I decided to indulge my passion for bicycling before settling back into the job world. I spent a good bit of the following two years exploring the United States by bike.

By June 1982, I’d had my fill of life on the road. Or so I thought. I’d decided to move back to the city where I was born, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. From the old hometown, I’d launch my professional career.

Only problem was Pittsburgh’s economy. The unemployment rate was edging up toward 20%, and jobs of any sort were hard to come by. I quickly grew discouraged and all but gave up looking.

This didn’t go unnoticed. A family friend thought that I was getting so depressed that I needed to see a therapist. And she knew depression when she saw it — she worked as a psychiatric nurse. Only problem was, I didn’t have the money for a therapist.

The turnaround came in a most unexpected way. I’d been renting a room in a house owned by a recently divorced lady, and she kicked me out shortly after Christmas 1982. Her behavior had become increasingly bizarre during the month that I lived with her. I later heard that she started 1983 by having a mental breakdown.

After I left the lady’s house on New Year’s Eve, I moved my stuff into the basement of a church across the street. Then I took the bus Downtown and rented a room in a hostel. The rule was that I could only stay there for three nights.

New Year’s Day in Pittsburgh wasn’t the sort of day with lots of things to do. But the church I’d started attending had an informal communion service, so I went. After the priest gave the final blessing, I took him aside and explained my plight.

Turned out that one of the altar guild ladies had an extra room in her apartment, and if it seemed okay to me, we’d talk business. We went over to her place, and that tiny shoebox of a room looked like heaven to me. I ended up renting that micro-space for a year and a half.

She had two of her other rooms rented to a couple of young women. Neither of them sympathized with my hard luck stories from the job-hunting trail. They didn’t think I was trying hard enough. And they had the audacity to tell me that, at the end of each day, they wouldn’t be letting me back into the apartment unless I could tell them what I’d done to find a job.

Took me less than a week to find one.

Okay, it was a dishwashing job. With part-time hours and minimum wage pay. But, hey, it was a J-O-B.

The restaurant owners, who fancied themselves as big time entrepreneurs, also owned a hardware store and a catering business. But they had a generous side. If there was any leftover food, it was offered to the employees. And I noticed that the manager was quite insistent about seeing that I got some.

After six months, my hours got cut to the point where I had to find another job. Pittsburgh Job #2 was in a food co-op, where I stocked shelves and ran the cash register. Not the most exciting use of my bachelor’s college degree in economics, but the manager had a pretty effective way of putting things in perspective. He had a master’s degree in economics, and managing a food co-op was the only job he could find.

Since it was a small store, we employees were expected to understand all aspects of it. Phrases like “gross margin,” “daily cash report,” and “per unit cost” started creeping into my conversations. Ever so subtly, I was gaining business experience.

My mental state was still down in the basement, and it was during my employ at the co-op that I sought therapy. Since I was without health insurance and a lofty salary, the therapy sessions were free. Although the therapists were well-intentioned, I found that forming a circle of caring friends was much more helpful. I owe my life to those people.

The business experience gained through the co-op paid off when I self-published a book about my bicycling adventures. That little book made some money, and it also proved helpful when I interviewed for a job in the field I really wanted to be in, publishing.

The job was at the University of Pittsburgh, and my main task was to annotate recently published books in academic economics. My biggest challenge was staying awake. My boredom didn’t go unnoticed by the boss, who had come from the Attila the Hun school of management.

Her favorite method for motivating subordinates was the blistering tirade, and I was on the receiving end of quite a few. They proved to be quite motivational. The worse things got at work, the more money I saved from each Pitt paycheck.

The final straw came in early 1987. During one of my boss’s tirades, she told me to start looking for another job. I replied by saying that it was time to start looking for another city.

That took her by surprise. She assured me that I didn’t need to anything that drastic. But my mind was made up. I was tired of things going wrong in Pittsburgh. It was time to leave. I tendered my resignation on Friday, February 13, 1987.

During my last six weeks in Pittsburgh, my coworkers remarked on how relaxed and happy I’d become. It sure was fun to hear those comments. It was even more fun to watch my boss seethe with jealousy. I knew that after I left Pittsburgh, she’d hold no further power over me, and that’s exactly how things worked out.

The first three months of my post-Pittsburgh life were spent on the road. After putting my worldly possessions into storage, I caught a one-way flight to Phoenix, Arizona with my bike. From Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, I made my way down to the Mexican border and then I headed up to Canada. After exploring the Canadian Rockies and the American Northwest, I put myself and the bike on a plane to Tucson, Arizona. And, 22 years later, I’m still here.

Now, I’ll admit that there are times when I worry about the state of the economy, how it affects my studio, and a whole bunch of other things. But my Pittsburgh experience taught me five valuable lessons, and here they are:

1. If you’re young, fresh out of college, and relatively inexperienced in the work world, you may have to start out at the bottom.

But, even on the bottom, you’ll find generous souls who are more than willing to help you out. Recall that restaurant manager who made sure that I got some leftovers.

And the restaurant owners. Yes, they thought they were real players, but I’ll never forget what they did for one of my coworkers. He was a photography student at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. The owners asked him to take some advertising photos of the restaurant. I don’t recall if they paid him – the staff consensus was that the photos weren’t very good – but they did give the guy a chance to show his stuff.

2. Even crummy retail jobs provide the opportunity to gain business experience.

As much as I didn’t enjoy my time in the food co-op, I learned things that my college classes never taught me.

In addition to basic business accounting, I learned a lot from the customers. One day, a guy came in and we got to talking about his background. Turned out that he’d worked at a horse racetrack, and he knew how to figure correct change in his head. He taught me how to do that, and I still do it. Comes in handy when I’m in a checkout line. Or doing volunteer work as a cashier.

3. Take advantage of free things.

I was poor and uninsured enough to find no-cost therapy. As mentioned before, I found that forming a circle of caring friends was much more helpful. Far be it from the therapists to be against that. If anything, they were quite enthusiastic about seeing me emerge from my depressive shell.

4. If you have a big mouth like mine, it helps to have a stash of cash saved up.

Having that cash-stash enabled me to walk away from that lousy Pitt job with my head held high. It also financed three wonderful months of bicycling.

5. Don’t give up.

Yes, it’s tempting to do so, but please Don’t. Do. It. You may need to find a couple of work-seeking butt-kickers like my two apartment roommates. And your butt-kickers may not volunteer for the job like mine did. But do find them. You’ll be glad you did.

1. In this current economy it’s always a good idea to be looking ahead for new revenue opportunities.
2. I must be pretty dull at parties.

Lately I’ve been putting together a new travel and information site called I Heart Japan. And while it has been coming together I’ve been looking at good ways to add advertising revenue streams to the site.

What’s out there for advertising?

Back in the dot com days I was part of a network that made a good deal of money with advertising sponsorship. But anyone will tell you, advertising isn’t what it used to be. With meager CPM rates, it has got people wondering if they should even bother with advertising.

Google Adsense is pretty popular – and while people may be starting to filter it out and click less – it still makes sense to have a few Google ads sprinkled throughout your site. Please note that I’m talking about your content driven sites. I don’t believe in advertising on your personal portfolio or freelance business web site.

Of course, I also looked into Buy Sell Ads. They’re a great source as long as your web site falls within their focused market of design and freelance related sites. My site didn’t, so I had to look elsewhere.

After doing some more research, I found some good recommendations for program called OIO Publisher.

What’s OIO Publisher?

OIO Publisher is ad management software that can either be used as a stand-alone product or as a WordPress plugin. It allows you to customize where you want your ads, what size you want them, and how much they cost. It also integrates with several payment options like PayPal and 2Checkout.

What can I do with OIO Publisher?

OIO Publisher basically allows you to place ad spots throughout your web site and then go out there and sell those ads.

There’s plenty of customization with the program. You decide how many ad spaces you want to make available. Do you want the ads to rotate? Will you offer purchasers the opportunity to buy several months of advertising or month by month? All of this is done through the straight forward administration panel.

When a purchaser clicks on one of your Advertise Here links, they’ll be taken to your sales section. Here they can fill in their information, upload their advertisement, and choose their payment method. Once you’ve approved the advertisement, OIO Publisher will run the ad for the agreed upon time and will email out statistics on how the ad is doing to the purchaser.

There are also options for offering pay-per-post, digital downloads, affiliate programs, and link exchanges. All at rates you set in the administrative panel.

What’s not to like?

OIO Publisher is a great product that’s very easy to implement and use. Saying that, however, it doesn’t mean that by just installing the program, you will have sacks of cash dropping from the sky. There’s still plenty of leg work involved in bringing advertisers to your door.

Services like Buy Sell Ads have a pretty large advertising base behind them and they can drive potentially interested advertisers to your sites. While OIO Publisher does have marketplace section on their website, you will probably end up having to either go out and pitch your web site to advertisers, or wait until advertisers take an interest in your web site on their own.

The one plus side to a method like this is that you get to keep 100% of the profits from selling the ad spots.

Conclusion

OIO Publisher has you up and running quickly, and while the burden of selling your ad spots is entirely your own, it’s an inexpensive way (only $49) to try your hand at adding an advertising revenue stream to some of your web sites.

Unfortunately, it still won’t make you fun at parties.

Travis King is a freelance designer who has trouble sleeping at night.

Don’t Take it Personally

Usually it has nothing to do with you or the quality of your work. I recently parted ways with a client because he wanted someone who would commute to his office (two hours away from me) at least one day per week. Some freelancers would have bitten the bullet and done it, but a short commute is one of my favorite perks of freelancing. Other times a client relationship may end because the client’s needs change or there’s a personnel change. Whatever the reason, don’t let any negative feelings spill into your other projects. Clients come and go as a natural part of the freelance cycle.

Evaluate the Client Relationship

Not that you should take things too much to heart, but losing a client is a good time to think about how you approach client communications and what did (or didn’t) work. Last year I lost a client and realized there were several red flags I should have addressed before the stuff hit the fan. Lesson learned. This is also a chance to re-examine the direction of your freelance business. Maybe you’d like to pursue more work in this niche or perhaps you’re itching to try something else. Here’s your chance.

Contact Other Clients

Hopefully you haven’t grown complacent and you’ve been marketing your services on a regular basis. If not (or if you need a quick fix), then now’s the time to get in contact with past clients and find out it they have any projects coming up. This is often the fastest way to land new projects, because they already know you and your work. No need to tell them the whole sob story about how you lost a client and now the bills are piling up, yada, yada. Instead, simply say, “I have some openings in my schedule, and I’d like to discuss new projects.” This is often effective, but you don’t want to grow too dependent on too few clients, so also work on cultivating relationships with new potential clients.

Leave on a Positive Note

Check your contract to see what’s required when the work relationship ends. Return any equipment owned by the client and be sure to submit your final invoice. If the client is nasty or unprofessional, resist the temptation to be nasty back. You want to be remembered for all the professional work you did, so be gracious and thank them for their business. If the reasons are purely financial (or something similar), then ask if you can use them as a reference and get a client testimonial. And, of course, you might also leave the door open for future projects if you feel you worked well together.

Have you lost a steady client? How did you react? Would you have done anything differently?

Susan Johnston is a Boston-based freelance writer and blogger.

Question 1: What type of projects would your ideal client purchase?

If you’re looking for clients who are interested in website development, be sure your portfolio and printed samples contain web-related pieces. It’s wise to show one or two brochure or logo samples to show your versatility, but be sure web work is your main portfolio focus, if such is the case. Also, gear your marketing efforts towards a demographic that may be in need of site development.

Question 2: How much is your ideal client’s budget?

Budget is often, but not always, related to the size of the client. As such, you may have a passion for helping start-up companies. Or perhaps your prefer to help out large in-house design departments. Whichever the case may be, advertise to those respective audiences. Try a small business website/blog or magazine for reaching small business owners, if that’s your niche. Don’t waste your efforts where your ideal client wouldn’t see your ad.

Question 3: What is the client’s work ethic?

Match your work ethic to a client with a similar one. For example, say your client is one of those “work to live, not live to work” kinds of folks and operates on a very relaxed schedule. If such is the case, they may take longer than the norm to return your correspondence and give project approval. But say you’re the type of designer who’s quick to get things done. You get anxious waiting for client feedback and aren’t comfortable working in such a capacity. This may not be the best fit for you. While we, as freelancers, are good at adapting, picture the type of client you’d like to work with and how efficient they may be.

Question 4: What type of industry are they in?

Do you have a knack for working with medical practices? Do you really enjoy designing for restaurants? Perhaps, if you specialize in a niche market, advertise or network in those areas. For a designer who may prefer to work with law firms, advertising in law association journals and magazines would be wise.

Other questions to consider asking yourself are:

• Where would your ideal client hang out?
• What age range is the client you’re looking for?
• Who would your ideal client talk to or network with?
• Is there a certain city or state where your ideal client would work/live?

By answering these questions we begin to form a marketing strategy. We’re teaching ourselves where and how to best reach these customers. Your dream client may be much more within reach than you thought.

It’s the clause related to the governing law under which the contract can be disputed. These clauses can also be referred to as ‘choice of law’ or even be incorporated into dispute resolution.

Contracting With International Clients

I’ve got contracts in my files that list British Columbia, Hong Kong and most of the U.S. as the governing law. While it’s nice to have clients all over the world, there are some drawbacks to enforcing those contracts. If something were to happen — a client didn’t pay me, or somehow I was on the hook for non-fulfillment of the contract — the legal dispute is expected to take place wherever the governing law clause says it will. To try to enforce the contract, I’d have to at least dig up representation in that state or country. Depending on local laws, there may be an expectation that I show up in person, as well.

Needless to say, this isn’t a particularly practical situation — for either side. If a client doesn’t pay, pursuing international legal action is usually more trouble than it’s worth. If I were to violate some other clause, such as an NDA, it’s just as much trouble for them to try to track me down. Even if you’re only crossing state lines, trying to enforce a contract outside of your own geographic area is tough and expensive. So where does that leave us?

The Real Value of Contracts

Since my contracts seem next to impossible to actually enforce, the thought has crossed my mind that perhaps they really aren’t worth the bother. That really isn’t true, though: contracts do have value. Most contracts don’t become a matter for the courts. Instead, they’re a way to set out terms and make sure both you and your client are on the same page. And even if something does happen, having a signed contract gives you a little more freedom when it comes to straightening the matter out. A contract offers a certain amount of legitimacy to your claim — after all, no one wants to get a reputation for violating contracts.

Contracts can even provide a few avenues of protection, allowing you to negotiate terms that will minimize your risk from working with clients outside your own area. For instance, I typically ask for a payment schedule to be listed in the contract: it requires payment each month or at specific milestones, depending on the type of project. This approach lets me find quickly if a client doesn’t have any intention of paying at all, allowing me to pull the plug on a project quickly. And if a client does decide to go against our contract part way through a project, I’m out only a month’s worth of work at most. That’s still not a great situation, admittedly, but it’s still much better than losing out on even more.

How Much Do You Know About Contracts?

When it comes to contracts, freelancers are often on our own. While we’re constantly advised to have a lawyer look at each contract we even think about signing, it’s rarely practical to actually do so. That makes it necessary to be pretty well-informed about the law. I’m not suggesting that freelancers should go to law school by any means, but it’s worth reading up on the contract laws for your area (and perhaps the areas you have clients in).