How Not to Get Shafted

"I've learned to be careful around the hustler who says, 'If you're so good at what you do, I'll give you a commission instead of a flat fee.' If the client offers you a commission, clearly he has very little capital. And who's going to keep the records? Who picks the lists? The copywriter has no control over a dozen elements that could affect the outcome."
—Don Hauptman

"Listen to your instincts when a client wants you to do something on spec and names two other top freelancers who are already working for him on spec. I fell for this only once."
—Dennis S. LeBarron

"If I'm working for someone I know by reputation or referral from a trusted source, or because I've worked for him before, I bill on completion of the assignment. If someone I've never heard of raises his hand, I want at least half the money up front."
—John Francis Tighe

"When they ask for the 'volume discount,' as though they're giving me 10 packages to do, watch out."
—Pat Farley

"If the client tells you that if you'll do the job for 1/3 less now, there will be plenty more work later on; take this only if you are very hungry."
—Joan Throckmorton

"Sometimes you hear about freelancers who have been hired to do a job and have turned away other work as a result, only to have the client cancel, leaving them high and dry. For that reason I have added a line to my letter of agreement that says, 'Should the project be aborted or postponed, the advance may be forfeited.' That makes them realize that there's a commitment being made when they hire me."
—Don Hauptman

"I get a reservation fee of $2,500, applicable to the job, to hold a slot in my schedule. Once it's in my bank account, it's never coming out."
—John Francis Tighe

"Be careful with startups—especially new ventures from a former sports figure with $10 million and cheap polyester suits. This well-known figure hired me to write a package for an invention of his, and all I got was two autographed copies of his book."
—Harry Walsh

"Be very suspicious when a client asks for 'just concepts and roughs.' They want the most valuable part—your best thinking and the benefit of your expertise—at a bargain price."
—Barbara Harrison

"I won't work on just concepts. That's 95% of the value. If I give them concepts, then anyone can write it."
—John Francis Tighe

"Beware of brain-pickers. They ask a lot of questions but don't deliver any work. You can end up doing in-depth consultations as freebies to freeloaders who don't have the best of intentions."
—Jerry Gaylord