How to make sure a freelance job is legit
Thinking about going freelance but afraid to take the next step because you’re not sure how to know if a freelance job is legit?Not sure if you will get paid or not? You’ve done all the hard work and decided you are ready to take the leap into freelancing but you need advice. We want to help make sure you don´t have to suffer due to late payments, endless revisions and spec work. Well have no fears! We got you from our own experience at KeepCoding. As a freelance web developer you put yourself in a high value position with the freedom to chose your own hours, but only for as long as you can hold down your business and be able to develop trustworthy and high quality clientel. Starting off as a freelancer can be scary not knowing how to differentiate between high quality projects and people just trying to use your skills.
Do Your Research
Its extremely important to research your potential client before agreeing to work with them. Just like how you would basically FB stalk your blind date before meeting them. You need to know what you can expect, the client´s past, and their social media presence (Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.) should also give you insight into the kind of client you’re dealing with. If it’s a smaller startup company, you can look up their profile on Crunchbase to learn about their funding and review their press coverage.
Instant Red Flags
Asking for a discount: There is no reason a client should be asking for a discount. If they do, that could be a big red flag that they won’t respect the work you do. Never negotiate your rates.
Shady details: When a client approaches you with a new project but doesn’t have any info whatsoever or limited info
Not wanting to sign a contract: You don’t do work without a freelance contract. Period. Even if you are doing a small project for a friend or family member, you still need a contract. Don´t let yourself get screwed. Contracts allow will give you piece of mind knowing that if someone trys to scam that you have a legally binding contract.
Not wanting to pay a deposit:Never give any client anything without a deposit.If the client can’t pay you for 30 days, tell them that you can start the project as soon as the check clears.
Samples for Free:
Client: Can you send me samples of your work?
“You mean my portfolio?” “No, something specific to your project? And you want it for free?”
Always Sign With Caution
A contract doesn’t have to be a PDF download. It can be a simple email agreement confirming you’re doing a certain amount of work due by a certain date along for a certain price. You must always make sure that contracts always have these three things: an offer, an acceptance of that offer, and a “consideration,” which means an exchange of value. Make sure there are terms for the project and that you identify a clear scope, and that you create a plan for when things are outside of that. Don’t forget to include a ¨terminantion fee¨ in your contracts stating that in order to cancel all copyright of artwork is retained by the designer and the client needs to pay for all work done up to that point, even if it surpasses the amount from your deposit.
Shady Project Description
Make sure that your client gives full well detailed descriptions of their projects, job description, and what they expect from you. If your client is giving you very shady or limited project details this should be taken as a warning sign. Serious and professional clients will make SURE that their freelancers are very well briefed about all aspects on the project.
Personal Information
If a company or client starts asking for personal information such as your personal address, family information, bank account info, etc this is also a MAJOR red flag and should not be given. Some “fake” clients simply post jobs on popular freelancing sites to acquire personal information in order to commit illegal activity. If you ignore their questions or explain that you are not comfortable revealing such information and they persist its time to stop communication with this client. Politely decline and walk away.
The most important thing we need to keep in mind is that as freelancers, we often work with companies that we never set foot in and people who we will actually never meet face-to-face. This puts us at the disadvantage, since it is much easier to tell if someone is lying or trying to scam you when they are standing in front of us.
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