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Hey Tom, I just realised we’d spoken before when I saw your name, sorry to hear this has happened to you.
Regardless of how much was owed Tom, I think the best thing you can do from this point forward is to take your money up front before any work is completed.
My business has grown a lot and I still take this approach, if a customer can’t pay for at least a deposit to cover your initial work then chances are they aren’t a good fit anyway. All new customers are required to pay when they come on-board and our contract states that campaigns will be put into “credit hold” should future invoices become 7 days overdue.
For your business you might want to look at X amount of dollars for two paragraphs or something, see if it’s a good fit. If yes then they pay the full amount or 50% of the remainder. Then the final could be paid within 30 days or on completion, whichever comes first. It depends how expensive but I’d sure that most would be happy to pay it all upfront – if $460 was the total, this is definitely an upfront payment.
Single biggest thing I did wrong in business at the start Tom was letting clients determine when I got paid, that’s not the way it should work. I’ve read your copy tom, you’re a talented guy and offer a great service, either clients are onboard with that, and your upfront charges, or they aren’t a good fit for you.