There is nothing that boils my blood more
than douchey scam artists who try to take advantage
of fresh freelancers, hungry to begin
their entrepreneurial journey.
In this video, I'm exposing six common freelancing red flags
to watch out for, so you can get paid and not played.
(upbeat music)
Hey guys, it's Alex, and this week
I'm addressing a growing concern
in the freelancing community when it comes
to landing jobs on common marketplaces,
like Fiverr and Upwork.
Yes, I am talking about freelancing scams.
They are not exclusive to copywriters by any means,
but it has affected some copywriters I know,
including one of the students inside
my Copy Posse Launch Pad.
And if you mess with one of my students, you mess with me.
So to help keep you guys safe while running
your businesses online, I'm recording this video
to share six major red flags to watch out for
while navigating freelancing gigs.
Now we are all aware that working from home
has fast become the norm over the years.
And especially in recent months,
since the pandemic has put most of us on lockdown.
And I am sure I don't need to convince you
of the perks and benefits of running
a freelance copywriting business from your laptop.
It is the best job in the world after all.
And that's why I'm committed to sharing the techniques,
tools, and tutorials you need to start
and scale your business with crazy good copywriting,
branding and marketing.
So if you're brand new to the crew,
go ahead and subscribe to my channel
by clicking the button below
and ring that bell to be notified
when my next video goes live.
I keep it fresh every single week
and coming up very soon,
I'll be covering two requested topics from my Global Posse.
The first, a day in the life of a copywriter,
and the second, how to do a sales page copy critique.
All right, and now back to today's topic,
when it comes to sourcing gigs
and landing new clients, notable platforms
like Fiverr and Upwork are great for finding work,
especially at the beginning of your freelance career,
before you start getting jobs by referral.
However, these giant platforms
are also notorious feeding grounds
for online scam artists looking to take advantage
of new and naive freelancers.
Many freelancers out there have fallen victim
to these scams and have been defrauded
of thousands of dollars, and often not
in one shot transactions, but comprehensive schemes
that drag on for weeks or even months at a time.
To make matters even worse since the COVID-19 pandemic,
these scammers have been on the rise.
According to a report by NBC News,
in the US alone, the AARP fraud tip hotline
has been receiving over a hundred more calls a day
than it did before the pandemic.
So it is extremely important that while
you work on building your freelancing business,
you also supercharge your intuition
and practice due diligence to make sure
that the job you land is legit and more importantly,
that you get paid and not played.
So here they are, six red flags to watch out for
when looking for a job as a freelancer.
Red flag number one, it sounds too good to be true.
Ah yes, the thrill and excitement
that comes from a job opportunity.
So charming that you forget reality for a hot second.
Now I am not poking fun at anyone
who has been through this.
I myself have fallen for clients
that have totally over promised and under delivered,
even though fortunately none of them turned out
to be actual scammers.
But when you see a high paid ad for simple work,
go ahead and be on guard.
Granted, there are nuances to this scenario.
For example, it could mean that
the client simply wants quality work.
It could mean that the job involves time consuming research
or the kind of wisdom that only someone
with years of experience can do.
But if they're offering a suspiciously generous rate
from the get go without clearly offering
the scope or illustrating the kind of experience
they require in detail, as the old maxim goes,
it's probably too good to be true.
This actually happened to one of my students.
Fortunately, she didn't end up losing any money,
but she did waste a lot of time
doing the actual work and jumping through hoops.
And that is time that she could have spent
working on a legit project and actually getting paid.
So the client boasted that they'd pay her $1 per word
for content, putting the project at over $2,500.
Her intuition told her that it might be too good to be true,
but she was excited about getting
her first client after graduating
from my copywriter coaching program.
Enter red flag number two, unusual payments.
After doing the work, the client
then sent my student a cheque for double
the amount of the project quote,
claiming that they were paying in advance
for a potential second phase of the project.
What that never happens,
especially without first talking
about the potential of more work.
So she got the cheque, she put it in her bank account.
She assumed it was clear and all good,
money in the bank cha-ching.
But then the client suddenly decided
that they were just gonna cancel
that imaginary second phase of the project
after all and ask my student to wire them back
the extra cash, that's when the alarm bell rang.
She spent hours on the phone with her bank
only to find out that the cheque was fraudulent.
Thankfully she didn't end up wiring any money back to them
because she was smart enough to investigate first.
But take this as a cautionary tale.
In other cases, the scammer might send you
a larger payment and it actually clears.
Then they'll request for you to send
the extra balance back to a third person
under the pretense of wanting to simplify paperwork
or documentation, and chances are
that money came from a stolen credit card
or a hacked account.
And then you're the one who has fraudulent money
in your bank.
And you're the one that has to deal with the report,
the lawyers, the paperwork, and the headache.
So it's simple guys.
If the client doesn't send you the exact amount
on your invoice, investigate, ask questions,
make sure the cheque, the transfer, the wire,
actually clears before any further work is promised
or the money is sent back.
Although in my decade of writing copy,
I have never had a client accidentally overpay me.
It just doesn't happen.
All right, red flag number three, large test projects.
So it's a common practice for a client
to ask for a portfolio sample before
they decide whether or not to hire you.
And in some cases they may ask you
to complete a brief test for free
to gauge whether or not you'd be a fit
for their brand.
Now, while online marketplaces
like Fiverr and Upwork don't actually allow
for this because it is asking for free work.
It's something that many businesses
do when referred to freelancers
and writers outside of these channels.
To avoid ever devaluing a freelancer's work,
I always, always, always offer a discounted fee
for copy tests so that even if I don't end up hiring
that particular writer, they are still paid
for their time and their work.
With that being said, doing free test projects
can in fact lead to paid work
and a mutually beneficial longterm client relationship,
as long as, and this is very important,
as long as the test is reasonable.
Like a single ad, email, graphic, or video clip.
If the test project is something really heavy,
like a huge chunk of the actual project
they're considering you for, be wary.
You might end up doing a ton of work
only to have the client come back to you and say,
sorry, we've decided to go with somebody else.
And then next thing you know,
you see a slightly refined version
of your work published online.
So be smart about how much work
you're willing to do for free.
And I will say it is an entirely different situation
if you are the one approaching a dream client
and offering to do the work for free.
In that scenario, you're the one with the offer
and you can decide how much or how little
you're willing to do in exchange for the experience
and a possible invitation for a paid project.
All right, red flag number four, cutting out the middleman.
Platforms like Upwork and Fiverr are huge for a reason.
They've invested a ton of money
and resources into creating a sophisticated
and secure communication and payment system.
They've made it painfully simple
for you to liaise with your client
from start to finish on a project,
completely removing the need for you
to exchange email addresses, personal contact details,
or bank info.
And let's be honest, if this is the first time
you're working with a client,
it's the best way to do business.
It protects both you and them
from potentially fishy behavior.
So I highly recommend you keep comms
and payment on the native platform you're using
until you've established an ongoing
and trusted relationship with your client.
It makes it easier to file complaints
and report abuse if things do go south.
When you take things outside the platform,
you run the risk of a potential scammer getting access
to your private details through the guise
of sending you payment, or verifying your identity.
And you lose the official paper trail
for the platform's customer support team
to actually assist you in resolving your case.
So just stay in the system guys
until you develop a strong working relationship
with a client.
And if you do decide to take it outside,
use a separate email address for your business
instead of one that you use for your banking
and other personal, private, and financial matters.
Red flag number five, no online presence or reviews.
You'd be surprised by how many of us
tend to totally trust strangers
and skip the simplest active investigation
like a Google search.
Are they who they say they are?
Listen, I'm an inherently trusting person
and I like to give people the benefit of the doubt,
but when it comes to online strangers
who can easily hide behind the veil of anonymity,
I do my due diligence.
It can be really easy to trust a stranger
when they communicate eloquently,
are friendly and polite and have a story to tell
that really yanks the heartstrings.
Hey, scammers can be good copywriters too,
so even more reason to be careful.
They have probably run this racket so many times
that they know exactly what to do and say
to make you ignore your gut for just a hot second.
But one of the best ways to tell
whether a client is legit, is just see
if they have an online presence.
Is their profile completed?
Do they have any reviews?
Granted they could be brand new
to the freelancing platform you're using.
So in that case, do they have an official website
or any social media platforms
that have activity and engagement?
If the client's profile only has a name,
but no website or address, that is a huge red flag.
So it is always super helpful to just
do a quick Google search guys, in this day and age,
nobody is a complete ghost online,
unless they don't exist by the name they're giving you.
Red flag number six, refusing to sign a contract.
Now it may seem petty to use a contract
for a $500 job, but if you're dealing
with a client for the very first time,
it really shouldn't be a big deal
for them to agree to sign a freelancer contract
or a statement of work.
Unless you know the client well,
have worked with them before,
and are 100% sure they will pay you,
always, and I mean always,
get the project signed, sealed, delivered.
All aspects of the job from the payment
to the scope to the timeline should be laid out
before the work starts so that you can
not only prevent yourself from getting scammed,
but also prevent scope creep.
Now if you want my free statement of work template
that you can download and customize
to use for your own projects,
you can get that by clicking the link
in the description below.
And if your potential client doesn't agree to sign it,
say sayonara and move on, all right.
Now give me a thumbs up below if you found
this video helpful.
As always, I would love, love,
love to hear from you, so drop your comments,
video suggestions, and questions below.
Remember, I am here for you guys.
It has been a doozy of a year,
but our industry has not faltered or slowed down.
So as long as you add value, lead with integrity,
and stay smart, you have got this.
There are so many incredible businesses
out there looking for brilliant writers like you.
And if you wanna learn the best way
to onboard new clients,
I share my own six step client deduction process
in my video on how to make new clients fall
in love with you.
You can watch that next by clicking right here.
Thank you so much for watching and subscribing.
I will be back next week with a brand new video
until then I'm Alex, ciao for now.