This post is a warning, so none of you must endure what I have.

I was naïve, too trusting.

And I paid the price for not taking advice and flouting the processes I’ve put in place for every piece of work I’ve produced.

The advice?

Ensure you receive payment – or at least half of the total sum – before you complete the work.

Here’s what happened.

I was approached in the last few months to produce a couple of blogs, a video script and a couple of other pieces of longer-form content for a marketing company, based in Chile. They had a client that required a copywriter who could adapt the content for a UK market and breathe some life into the copy.

I offered my quote and even introduced a discount for rounds of edits. I produced the content and worked through the edits in a prompt fashion and sent my invoice when asked.

After a week without payment, I spoke to the account manager at the Chilean marketing company, who sympathised with my situation and told me that her boss said I would be paid when their client paid them…

I informed them that this isn’t how paying for services works. I had fulfilled my obligation and regardless of their situation, my invoice should be paid.

That was more than a month ago – and there seems to be no solution.

I’m now looking into legal solutions to ensure I’m paid for the work I’ve completed, but if I had stuck to my processes – this would never have happened.

So, to summarise, ensure you get paid before you send the work back.

Don’t get burned like I did.