Two challenges of working any freelance job are determining rates and communicating payment expectations to clients. Some freelancers are uncomfortable with money issues; others are unsure how much their skills are worth. Additionally, if you are a freelancer, it’s important to be aware of what your clients prefer. If your clients are confident you truly understand their needs, they will choose you every time they require a service. Finding the right pricing strategy is especially hard for new graduates of technology colleges. With a little forethought, those entering the field can find fast success.

Fixed Rate

A fixed rate is the most common and preferred method of charging. A recent non-scientific survey showed that both clients and designers prefer a fixed rate by an overwhelming margin. The fixed rate has a number of advantages over hourly rates or daily rates:

• Clients know exactly how much they are expected to pay.
• The price is easier to break down for upfront partial payments.
• You probably can estimate how long a project will take to complete and can price accordingly.
• Invoicing is easier.

Partial Upfront Payment

Clients are happy with making a partial payment when they hire you for the job and paying the remainder upon delivery. This is an especially good system to use when the client is new. When you are doing repeat business for the same client, you may feel comfortable receiving full payment on delivery, but this arrangement is a good way to protect your own interests.

Payment Timeliness

Laws may vary according to region, but you should expect to be paid within one month of delivering the invoice. Most clients will pay quickly, but it seems there’s always someone who needs to be tracked down. Make your expectations clear up front, and state explicitly in your contract when you expect to be paid.

Accounting

A number of excellent billing software programs are available should you choose to go that route. If you are great at record keeping, you may decide to simply track billing manually. Either way is perfectly acceptable, and people are evenly split on their preferences. Whichever way you choose, however, make sure that up-to-date and accurate billing is a priority. Your business depends on it.

Late Fee

What about late fees? If you are planning to use these as incentives for your clients to pay on time, it is crucial that you are consistent about them and that they are mentioned up front. Arbitrarily deciding to tack on late fees could put you in a legal bind.

Discount

You may also wish to reward clients who pay their bills promptly or who pay by a preferred method. For example, a client paying cash within the first 10 days of receiving the bill might receive a 5 to 10 percent discount. Like late fees, though, it’s important to keep this reward consistent and be up front about it.

The most important thing to remember is that your work is valuable. Your graphic design skill is a commodity, and one that people will pay good money for. Don’t sell yourself short. If you don’t take your billing procedures seriously, neither will your clients.

Obviously, you guys already know that I make money online and from my blogs through advertisements. From time to time, I get direct advertisers contacting me about placing banner or text link ads on my blogs with a fee we have agreed on. And just yesterday, I got another email which raised suspicions that it could all just be a scam. It’s from a representative of a certain Jino Agency who claims the ad is for Lacoste. Her name’s Killian Blanchard. Here’s a screenshot of the email:

It made me suspicious because, first off, it’s for our food blog. Why would Lacoste be interested in placing an advertisement on a blog that’s completely unrelated to fashion? I continued on to see what will happen, already wary that it’s another one of those phishing scams. They said they have different ad banner sizes and would like to know the rates we offer for each.

By this time, I already checked their site – www.jinoagency.com.  I’m a web designer so I know that their site was pretty easy to come up with.

The site’s language is in French so I had no idea what the contents were. I was hoping to see a list of accounts or brands they handle, but found none. I was hoping to translate their site to English using Chrome’s integrated translate feature, but it wasn’t an option.

So, I ended up using Yahoo! Babel Fish which worked like a charm. The translation may not be perfect, but it’s obvious that their contents don’t sound like they come from an actual PR or advertising company.

I continued on to send them my rates to see if they would accept it. The thing is, I gave them very high ad monthly rates (scroll down for the screenshot of how much they’re willing to pay for a month!). Surprisingly, they liked my prices. So, they continued on sending me instructions on how to publish the advertisement.

As it turns out, I need to login to their site with the info they provided and then install a plugin on our blog. The only time I installed a plugin was for a reputable third party ad network and I only have it up and running on THIS blog. I’m just not comfortable installing any script or plugin on any of my high traffic blogs, most especially our food blog.

What I did next was to search Google for any post about them. I only found one link, but it was filled with all the necessary information that would conclude it was indeed a scam – Devious Scam Aimed at Bloggers.

The author and a couple of the comment posters on this certain blog post were very suspicious too of this ad placement. Having been very careful with putting malicious scripts on my blogs, I always make sure to check the code of any plug-in I install on my WordPress blogs and I do my research first. This time, I guess it more than paid off. And I know how important it is for me to share this to everyone just in case they got the same email and were hoping to earn a decent amount of money from these scammers.

Apparently, based on the comments, they won’t pay you afterwards. The codes may seem harmless now, but malicious plugins can give access to your WordPress blog or site to unauthorized people. So, you have to be VERY careful with what plugins you install.

Here’s a screenshot of the site they asked me to log into:

And the instructions on how to install the plugin:

Did they contact you too? If yes, please share your experience. And please, be careful. There are a lot of online scammers out there now and they get more creative everytime.

I’ll be posting more about dealing with direct advertisers here next time. Stay tuned!

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UPDATE: A fellow blogger mentioned about Mana Agency, a company one of the comment posters on the blog post I mentioned earlier revealing this as a scam too. Well, look at their website… doesn’t it look so fricking familiar?

I’ve been a member of Hits4Pay for the longest time (since 2008) and I really thought they’ll never pay me. But, guess what?! Yesterday, I got this in my Paypal account:

Yes, dear. That’s my first Hits4Pay payment proof of $26.01. That only means Hits4Pay is a legit and paying site!

Now, don’t get your hopes up too much. Like what I’ve said, I’ve been with them since 2008 and I only got paid, what, after almost 3 years?! It’s simply because I don’t get as much ads from them as other PTC sites. I consider myself lucky if I even get one ad in a month from them.

Hits4Pay paid emails are mostly targeting members in western countries, particularly in the USA. And I’m just glad that I got myself some direct referrals, otherwise, I’d be 90 before I even see a cent from Hits4Pay.

By the way, they redesigned their website. They look cooler now. I just wish we’d get more ads though.

If you’re not a member yet and you’d like to try Hits4Pay, click on the banner above or here to sign up under me (please? ).

Also, if you’ve noticed for the past months, I haven’t posted any new payment proofs here. I decided to quit doing that and focus more on actual contents on this blog. But, I’ll try my best to share with you some proofs that I do make money online.

A lot has happened recently which caused my absence here and on my other blogs. Don’t worry, all positive. But, I’m trying to my best to still keep all my blogs (yes, I’ve got 6!) updated as much as I can since I know there are people who do read what I’ve got to share and write about.

But, I’d be focusing more on other ways you can make money online other than PTC sites because, let’s admit it, it’s really time-consuming clicking all those ads. Good thing there are some that are still existing that can truly be trusted and even offer unlimited referrals. You can find their links on my sidebar.

I’ll be updating the list of my trusted sites. So, keep posted for more updates right here. And if you have any questions or something you’d like me to try before you do, let me know at the comments section, aight?

In my last post back in April (oh my, it’s been that long?! ) about making money online through online contests, I have laid out some facts, reminders and tips about participating in these promos. I also shared my success stories and some outtakes while joining some of the contests over the web. So, if you haven’t read that post yet, click here. I bet I can convince you that joining online contests is fun. Think of all the free stuff you’d get!

Now, if my post about how you can make money online from joining online giveaways didn’t influence you enough, I’m hoping that with my next posts about this topic, I’d be able to encourage you to jump in and participate too. I’d be telling you about my experiences in joining contests, including the frustrations of not winning or being cheated in the hopes that you’d be better educated when you do join contests.

By the way, before I start, do you know that there’s now a term to refer to online giveaway joiners?

Professional Contest Joiners

I can’t really consider myself as a professional contest joiner. This title is usually given to those who have a dedicated blog, Facebook, Twitter or email account for participating in online giveaways and really spend most of their time (and, sometimes, even money) and wide network to enter.

Some giveaway hosts though frown upon the practices of these professional contest joiners that’s why they have strict qualifications for the participants. They’re also usually the ones who have multiple, fake or spam Facebook or Twitter accounts.

I’m not a hater. I know how fun it is to win something so I understand why they do what they do. But, I’d usually not allow them to join in my major giveaways so I can provide quality exposure to my sponsors.

Online Contests Post Series

This will be a series of posts so I hope you stay tuned for the next parts:

• Part 1 – This will focus on my most expensive prizes SO FAR. This will be updated from time-to-time. Read my stories about my experiences as well as I share tips on how you can increase your chances of winning.
• Part 2 – Prizes that are priced Php 500 or lower and some that I didn’t bother or haven’t claimed or received yet. Will be updated too whenever I win something new.
• Part 3 – Stories from my fellow online giveaway / contest joiners.
• Part 4 – Hosting your own giveaway / contest where I’ll give tips on how to gather sponsors (especially when you’re just starting), and everything else you might need to know about holding contests, all based on my experience and some inputs from friends.

Without further ado, let’s start with my major winnings…

Part 1 – My Top Prizes

These prizes may range from gadgets to gift certificates from different online contests I’ve joined.

Nokia 5230 – DJ Mo Twister’s Twitter Giveaway

Me and a friend were avid blog and Twitter followers of DJ Mo Twister of Magic 89.9. When we saw him hosting a giveaway, I jumped right in. It was a daily giveaway for a month, I think.

After a couple of disappointments, I thought that possibly, if I blog about him and his giveaway, I’d get his attention. So, I did that and informed him through Twitter, not really expecting he’d notice ‘cause of the hundreds of participants.

Guess what… I won! Eerrr… okay, it might just be coincidence and I was actually picked at random, but still, I was ecstatic. Well, it was mainly because my old phone just gave up on me and it was the PERFECT timing that I won this new phone.

TIP: Yes, a little brown-nosing may help you win SOME contests / giveaways. Remember that whenever you write or prepare your contest entry.

In my second to the last post, I shared with you how I make money online by joining online contests. I haven’t posted all the prizes I’ve won so far but that’s coming up next.

For now, I’d like to invite you all to join Certified Foodies, our food blog’s first anniversary giveaway where we’re giving out a total of Php 30,000 or $700 in prizes! Here’s the list just to tease you…

Certified Foodie Photo Contest

We’ll be picking 3 winners who will win the following prizes:

• First Prize: $30.00 cash
• Second Prize: $20.00 cash
• Third Prize: $10.00 cash

 

Gift Certificates Galore!

• Php 500 at Buon Giorno! Gift Certificates (1 winner)
• Php 300 at Figaro +  Php 600 SM Sodexo Gift Passes (1 winner)
• Php 500 at Magnolia Chicken Station (1 winner)
• Php 2,000 LJC Restaurants Gift Certificates (1 winner)
• Php 1,500 Joey Pepperoni Pizzeria Gift Certificates (1 winner)
• Php 2,000 The Stock Market Gift Certificates (1 winner)
• Php 1,000 KFC Gift Certificates (2 winners)
• Php 1,000 Kenny Rogers Gift Certificates (2 winners)
• Php 1,500 Yellow Cab Gift Certificates (1 winner)
• Php 500 Gelatissimo Gift Certificates (2 winners)
• Php 1,000 Pancake House Gift Certificates (2 winners)
• Php 500 Starbucks Gift Certificates (2 winners)
• Php 500 Dairy Queen Gift Certificates (2 winners) 

Food for the ♥

16-piece Bento Box from My Pink Wasabi (3 winners) *

Php 500 worth of Fedhz Polvoron (2 winners)

The Cookie Jar Gift Pack #1 (1 winner) *

Box of 8 French Macarons + Triple Chocolate Cookies

The Cookie Jar Gift Pack #2 (1 winner) *

Cookie Mix – Oatmeal Chocolate Chip
French Macarons – Box of 8
Triple Chocolate Cookies – Can of 10

 

 

Pringles 6-can Gift Pack (1 winner)

 

Doritos, Cheetos, and Lay’s Gift Pack (2 winners)

 Food Trip with US!

We’ll pick 1 winner in random who’ll get TWO (2) invites to go on a food trip with us, Mhel and Ken. OUR TREAT!
Yes, you can bring a +1 (friend, bf / gf, family member, etc).

You can end up as the big winner and win lots of prizes. Last time I had a giveaway like this with that many prizes, there were a couple of participants who won multiple prizes.

Special shout out to our partners:

Join now!