c/freelance-survival

My main client's payment system just crashed for a week

Honestly, it happened right after I sent a big invoice for a project I finished in March. Their whole accounting portal went down and they said it would take 7 days to fix. I had rent due and no other money coming in that week. I had to quickly message three past clients to see if they had any small tasks I could do for cash. One of them gave me a 2-hour logo tweak job that paid $80, which at least covered groceries. Ngl, it showed me how risky it is to rely on just one or two big payments a month. What's a good way to set up a backup cash fund for when stuff like this happens?

That one client revision loop that ate a whole week

A client asked for 'minor tweaks' on a logo design, which turned into 23 back-and-forth emails over 7 days. It started with changing a blue shade and ended with them wanting the original file back. Has anyone else had a simple request spiral into a massive time sink like that?

I tried charging a flat $500 for a simple website and got ghosted by three clients in a row

Just realized my friend was right about not taking every job

My buddy Mike told me to stop accepting $500 logo gigs from clients who argue about every revision. I finally said no to one last month and landed a $3k branding project with clear terms the next week. How do you guys decide when a client isn't worth the hassle?

Everyone says you need a fancy website, but my old school flyer got me 5 new clients

I was struggling to find work in my city, so I printed 500 simple flyers and put them up at local coffee shops and community boards. In one month, I booked five solid projects just from that, spending under $50 total. Has anyone else found that going offline actually works better sometimes?

Remember when you could just show up with a portfolio?

Three years ago, I landed a decent branding gig in Denver just by walking into a small agency with a binder of my print work. Last month, a similar place asked for a case study video, three client references, and a breakdown of my 'process' before even looking at my stuff. Last week, I spent a whole day just filling out a security questionnaire for a website project, stuff about data handling I never had to think about before. It feels like the bar to even get a conversation started keeps moving. The work itself isn't that different, but the hoop-jumping to prove you can do it is getting wild. Anyone else feeling like the upfront 'prove yourself' tax is getting heavier every year?

Question about a coffee shop in Portland that only had freelancers working

Was in Portland yesterday for a meeting. Stopped at a place called The Daily Grind on 3rd Ave. Every single person had a laptop open. Heard two people talking about client invoices and project deadlines. Felt like a free co-working space. Anyone know other spots like this for getting out of the house?

A client's 'simple' logo revision ate up my entire Tuesday

They wanted the blue 'just a bit warmer', which turned into 47 back and forth emails over 8 hours. Anyone else have a tiny request that exploded into a full day?

A client in Phoenix told me to never work for free, even for friends

Honestly, this was about two years ago at a coffee shop on Central Avenue. I was telling a fellow freelancer about doing a small logo for my cousin's new business as a favor. He looked me right in the eye and said, 'You're killing your own value. That logo is worth at least $300.' He explained that my time and skill had a real price, and giving it away made it hard for me to charge others later. Has anyone else had a friend or family member get upset when you finally asked to be paid?

I thought cold email was a waste of time until a $2,500 project landed in my inbox.

I was sending maybe 5 emails a week for months with no replies and felt like a fool. Then I got a lead from a company in Boise who said they kept my email for 6 months before needing my web design work. The key was I stopped sending generic pitches and started talking about their specific site issues. Has anyone else had a cold email finally work after changing their approach?

I tracked my time for a month and the numbers were a shock

I always thought I was billing for about 30 hours a week, but I logged every single minute for 4 weeks. Turns out I was only doing 22 hours of actual paid work on average. The rest was admin, chasing invoices, and looking for new gigs. The biggest time sink was email, which ate up almost 10 hours a week. Now I batch my email to just one hour in the morning and one in the afternoon. Has anyone else done a time audit and found a specific task that was stealing way more hours than you thought?

I keep seeing freelancers charge way too little for rush work

I've been doing this for about five years now, and a pattern I keep spotting is people charging maybe 10% extra for a 24-hour turnaround. That's a huge mistake. Last month, a client needed a full website copy rewrite in a single day, a job that normally takes a week. I quoted them triple my normal rate, and they paid it without a blink. The stress and the fact you have to drop everything else for one client is a real cost. If you don't price that panic button high enough, you end up burned out and resentful, working all night for peanuts. I learned this the hard way after my third 'rush fee' project left me exhausted for days. It's not just about the hours, it's about the mental toll. What's the highest rush fee you've ever successfully charged?

Appreciation post: Finally got a client to pay a 50% deposit upfront

I kept getting ghosted after sending quotes, so I started using a simple contract from Bonsai that requires half the project fee before I even open a file. My first client with this new rule just sent over $750 for a website redesign, no questions asked. It feels like a huge weight off my shoulders knowing the project is already half paid for. Anyone else have luck with specific contract tools or payment terms that actually stick?

I was undercharging for rush jobs for like 2 years and didn't even know it

A client casually mentioned they'd have paid double to get their website live before a big trade show, which made me check my old invoices. Anyone else have a wake-up call about their pricing structure?

Just hit $5k in a month for the first time doing copywriting

I've been grinding at this for about eight months, mostly taking small jobs under $200. This month I landed two big website projects back to back, and my invoice total hit $5,127. It's a weird mix of relief and panic, like I actually have to figure out taxes now. How do you guys handle the jump from small gigs to bigger, less frequent paychecks?

Question about my old way of tracking time versus what I do now

For my first two years freelancing, I just wrote down my hours in a notebook and guessed at the end of the week. Last month, I finally started using Toggl to track everything by project. The difference is crazy, I was undercharging by like 15 hours a month because I'd forget small tasks. I switched after a tax bill showed I made way less than I thought. Has anyone else found a specific app that made their billing way more accurate?

My accountant told me to raise my rates by 30% and I almost didn't do it

She said my Denver-based web design work was way under market after looking at my books for a quarter. I finally bumped them up for two new clients last month and they both signed without a second thought. Has anyone else been shocked by what they can actually charge?

Shoutout to the $150 retainer I started asking for before any project talk

I tried it on a new client last week and they actually agreed, which filtered out the time-wasters and got me paid for the initial consultation I used to give away for free.

Rant: Everyone says to use a contract but mine took 3 weeks to fix after a client changed their mind.

I paid a lawyer $400 for a standard freelance contract, but when a client suddenly wanted to pay half upfront instead of the full project fee, it took me 20 hours over three weeks to get the payment terms and scope adjusted correctly with my lawyer's help. Has anyone found a faster way to handle contract changes without losing a week's work?

Vent: I spent $500 on a 'must have' freelance course that was just repackaged blog posts

I saw an ad for a course on getting high paying clients and bought it on impulse last month. It promised a system to land $5k projects, but the videos were just basic tips you can find for free online, like 'make a good portfolio' and 'send cold emails'. The so called 'templates' were copied from a free site I already use. I wasted that money and a whole weekend going through it. Has anyone found a course or resource that actually gave you new, useful info for finding better work?

My uncle told me to never work for free, and I should have listened

When I started freelancing last year, a client asked for a 'small test project' to see my skills. My uncle, who's been a contractor for 20 years, told me flat out, 'Never do spec work, not even a little.' I did it anyway, thinking it would lead to a big job. That 'test' turned into three weeks of unpaid revisions, and they ghosted me. I lost about 40 hours I could have billed to paying clients. Has anyone else gotten burned by a 'quick trial' that went nowhere?

Shoutout to the client who insisted on a detailed contract for a $2k project

Honestly, I used to think a simple email agreement was fine, but having every deliverable and revision spelled out saved me from a massive scope creep argument last month. Anyone else have a contract template they actually like using?

Overheard a guy at the coffee shop say he charges $150 an hour for 'strategy' and nothing else

It made me think about how I price my own project work. Do you all have a clear line between doing the work and just planning it?

Finally got my invoice system to stop being a total mess

Six months back, I was still typing every invoice by hand in a word doc and emailing it. It took me like an hour a week and I'd always forget something. After a client took 90 days to pay, I signed up for a free FreshBooks account. Now I just click a button and it sends reminders automatically. I got paid for my last three jobs in under two weeks. Has anyone else found a simple tool that fixed a huge time sink for them?

Overheard a guy at the coffee shop say you should never turn down work, but I think that's how you burn out.

He was telling his friend to take every single gig, even the tiny $50 ones, to 'build momentum'. I turned down a low-ball offer for a full site audit yesterday because the scope was huge for no pay, and I felt way better. When do you all decide a project isn't worth the stress?