It's always important for freelancers to get agreements in writing.

When you work as a freelancer, you have to be proactive about not letting others take advantage of you. People who work on a freelance basis may get stuck waiting for months for a payment. Meanwhile, they need to eat, pay their bills and put the rent check in the mail. When a company or an individual contracts with a freelancer, they might be tempted to make a lot of demands of the person's time. As one freelancer recently found out, standing up for yourself and valuing your own time are critical to maintaining a professional reputation and personal sanity.

A freelance site designer reported that a friend of theirs who owns a business contracted for services. The freelancer has a policy of a 50 percent down payment before beginning the work on any project. This is a typical requirement in many industries, regardless of the length or complexity of the work. Because the freelancer was friends with this company owner, they did get started on a site map before any deposit was made.

Nearly two weeks later, the business owner was harassing the freelancer and demanding proof of work. No deposit had been paid. The business owner had provided little in the way of details as to how certain aspects of the project needed to be done. After thinking about the situation, the freelancer canned the project. Not long after making this decision, the business owner got downright rude and threatened the freelancer's reputation in the community.

The freelancer wanted to know if other freelancers have ever experienced a similar situation, and if they had, what they did about it. A few people wrote back with their experiences and advice. One person noted that a lot of business owners simply have no idea about software or site development processes. Another person commented that it has happened to them and to every other freelancer that they know. This person said that the freelancer did the right thing by cancelling the job and that the business owner was probably angry because their attempt to get something for nothing did not work. For more information click here https://www.reddit.com/r/web_design/comments/b1lz9s/just_dodged_a_bullet/.