Regular readers of this blog will know there's a bit of a recurring theme around how to ensure people pay you on time when you are self-employed.
I heard some great stories today about the way two media freelances successfully extracted outstanding payment from tight-fisted clients.
Freelance 1: One day the company rang up to book him, and he said he'd love to do the job but would have to turn it down because they hadn't paid him for the last few so he couldn't afford the petrol to get there or the hotel for the necessary overnight stay. They paid him straight away.
Freelance 2: Another was owed over £12k from a six week intensive foreign shoot, and after being told several times that the cheque was in the post, he turned up on an Outside Broadcast they'd booked him for, put his feet on the desk, and said he would start work when he'd been paid. As the Senior Supervisor on the job, they were stuffed without him, and biked the cheque over within an hour.
It's a good reminder of how valuable your skills are. When the skills were withheld, payment quickly followed. But how sad that people have to go to these lengths.
Got any other stories? Do share.
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