5 tips for getting paid

Jan 25, 2011Anthony Caruana2 CommentsMoney, Workbusiness, finances, invoicing, pay rates, payment, work value

The thrill of the job is great, but getting paid is what it’s all about

Contracts – model contracts

Jan 21, 2011Anthony CaruanaWorkbusiness, contracts, freelancing, getting paid, payment

Having reviewed some of the key components of a freelance contract it’s time to look at a couple of actual contracts. I’m not saying that these are the contracts you ought to use (I’m not a lawyer – you should get legal advice before signing a contract) but they’re examples of the sorts of contracts

Contracts – copyright, ownership and intellectual property

Jan 20, 2011Anthony CaruanaWorkbusiness, contracts, copyright, customer service, freelancing, getting paid, intellectual property, ownership

When you complete a piece of work and deliver it to a client can you re-use it with another client? Or, can the client then use it over and over? Can they on-sell it? Can you resell it to another client? All of these questions have, at their heart, the basic principles of copyright, ownership

Contracts – defining the scope of work

Jan 19, 2011Anthony CaruanaWorkbusiness, business management, client management, clients, contracts, pay rates, payment, scope

It’s amazing but so often I hear of freelancers who end up in dispute with clients over what seems to be obvious – neither party understood what the other understood the work to be. In today’s instalment on freelance contracts I’m going to be short and sweet. As a freelancer – before you agree to

Contracts – liability, indemnity and risk management

Jan 18, 2011Anthony Caruana1 CommentWorkcontracts, indemnity, insurance, liability, risk management

Who wears the risk if something goes wrong? That’s the subject of today’s instalment on freelance contracts. While we all have the best of intentions, there are times when things can turn out unexpectedly. But before we can look at the issues of liability and indemnity, it’s worth starting with few definitions and basic principles. Disclaimer –

Business basics = looking like a professional

Jan 17, 2011Anthony Caruana1 CommentWorkbusiness, professionalism, relationships, setting up

You want to be taken seriously don’t you? If you’re self-employed you may think it’s impossible to have all the shiny and expensive infrastructure that folks working in large companies have. Well, that’s simply not true. I’m going to share something with you. It’s possible to look like a professional without having a massive budget. In fact, you can

Contracts – setting payment schedules

Jan 17, 2011Anthony Caruana2 CommentsMoney, Workfinance, money, pay rates, payment

For freelancers, one of the most annoying parts of the job is getting clients to pay. A good way to reduce the pain so that everyone knows what they’re doing is to set the expectation of when payments are expected. Let’s start by looking at some of the payment options. 1. Pay on delivery This

Freelance contracts – a guide

Jan 14, 2011Anthony CaruanaWorkbusiness, clients, contracts, insurance

Many of freelancers I talk to are excellent practitioners of their chosen craft. However, when it comes to understanding the obligations and responsibilities for the freelancer and client, there’s lots of confusion. That’s why it’s important to understand a little bit about contracts.
Contracts are an insurance policy. If everything between freelancer and client goes well you’ll never need to look at the contract. However, when you get started the contract is important because it make clear what each party expects from the other. That way, there are no surprises for either party.

The iPad as your only computer

Jan 14, 2011Anthony Caruana2 CommentsReviews, Workconferences, iPad, toolkit, tools, travel

Recently, I attended Tech Ed – Microsoft’s major technical education event for IT professionals. I attended as a member of the media at Microsoft’s expense (just laying out the appropriate disclaimers before I start). I was away for four days on the conference, having left home on a Tuesday and returning on Friday afternoon. For

Quick Tips – getting PR to communicate with you

Jan 12, 2011Anthony CaruanaWorkcommunication, customer service, PR, productivity, service, tips

It’s happened to every journalist I know. You need to talk to a PR person to get some piece of critical information and they don’t respond to email or messages promptly. How do you get PR to communicate with you and respond in a timely manner? Here are two tips. One was passed on by a colleague and