Great question. You do risk running into some friction, but hopefully not as much as you’re anticipating. A few thoughts:

-Letting them know “I’ll start work when you pay the deposit” sends a signal that you’re serious. The lead contact — a front-line departmental manager usually — is eager to get work going because they have problems they need your help solving. If it’s important to them, then they’ll communicate to their colleagues in procurement or billing that it’s time sensitive.
-They may have a stated policy about paying “freelancers” but they almost certainly have a mechanism to pay other people and organizations quickly. Deposits via purchase orders are common for any contractor that has supplies, for example. If their offices have ever been painted, they paid a deposit to the painting contractor.
-Many front-line managers (or their immediate bosses) have a certain amount of purchasing authority via credit card. If so, Paypal is a quick way to get you paid. The fees might be a bite, but to secure the deposit you might feel the fee is worth it. If you’re using a subscription invoicing software like Quickbooks, you might have the option to receive payment via credit card already.
-On one occasion I did do something in-between for a project with a tight timeline. When the lead contact assured me the invoice for the deposit had been routed for payment, I started work even though the check hadn’t gotten to me yet. That worked out okay. It’s a risk, but if a couple weeks in the payment still hadn’t arrived, I’d be able to say “We agreed . . .” and have a rationale for pausing work.

Practically, though, it doesn’t often come to that.

Overall — and this ties into the articles about raising rates also — don’t assume you’re asking too much. I have yet to meet the truly accomplished and experienced freelancer who doesn’t have more sway with their clients than they think.

Thank you Jessie. I hope you can check out the new rates calculator we developed and see if the results makes sense to you.

Thanks Carol. Now that I think about it, a better way to put it might be that many of these tools (i.e. WordPress.org) don’t require *coding or programming* skills. But that’s not the same as not requiring tech skills. They aren’t all designed for a simple user experience, as you are discovering. Let us know what services you end up with. (There are some discounts for some services and hosting packages on our toolkit page.)

Thanks so much Carol. I notice you happen to make this comment the day before taxes are due. Yikes! I assume if you are relaxed, you are thinking about next year. 🙂 Be sure to check out our toolkit page for some resources that might help. And let us know what questions this doesn’t answer for you. We’ll keep working on it.

I’m working on developing my freelance website now, and have also been involved in developing another website, mostly through trial and error. Your article helps me know what I’ve already done right, and what I need to work on. Thanks!

On the ebook idea, my approach is to think of it as a “leave behind” as they used to call them in the old days. I want some kind of impressive asset that I can put directly into the hands (or inbox) on a 1-1 basis of my strongest prospective clients. Picture the thing that will make them go, “Wow. I like how this person thinks. They have a lot of insight. We should work together.” That’s the ebook or white paper or other asset to focus on developing. (Personally, I’ve settled on a propriety high-value tool.) It has to be so valuable that if only 10 prospective clients read it, it still pays off because it will convert some of them. If it gets wider distribution than that, then it’s a bonus. Incidentally, I think this should be the approach to guest posting — so high quality that I would send this 1-1 with personal messages to prospective clients saying, “I hope you find this valuable.”

Thanks for stopping by, Michelle. Guest blogging is, without doubt, one of the best ways to find new clients. We’ve actually pitched a couple guest blogs and found clients direct that way, simply because they loved our writing style and wanted to commission us for their own blogs.

Ebooks are great, too, but they’re hard work. Make sure you’ve got a clear plan and topic that’s unique, or you could end up writing for months only for your ebook to go unread!

Thanks Michelle. I’m often struck by how clients are really focused on finding marketing help from freelancers who have domain expertise. The comfort threshold before you can engage them in buying your services is “Do you know this industry?’ Having your own platform where you can build up a reputation as “micro influencer” gets you permanently across that threshold.

By the way, we became of Max because of an excellent article he did on how to guest blog effectively. Everyone who is pursuing this approach should check it out.

Thanks Susan. I know you do work as a graphic designer and that you do a LOT of pro bono work for nonprofits. If you have a second, let us know about your experience writing off that pro bono work. If I understand right, you can’t write off the hours, but you can write off any materials expense and any transportation expenses.

So the easiest way to create your writing sample about your niche is to create a blog about the niche and give the link of your blog post to your client.

I recommend creating a free blog or website with the specific niche

Thanks Alexandra. Good point. I’m adding to my wishlist/to-do list writing a primer on using Google analytics and tag manager features to level up your marketing chops in ways that are effective at getting more freelance clients.

If any reader wants to helps us out with that reach out to me through the contacts page.