Invoicing. That's the ugly side.
Or, more specifically, telling a client with annual revenues of, oh, $8 billion that you can't continue to work on their projects until the payment for that 7-day invoice you gave them a month ago lands in your account.
That yes, they will be missing the precious Tuesday deadline they had in their mind but hadn't communicated to you until now, since, ahem, they owe you more than a few lazy gs and have done for weeks despite your repeated requests for immediate payment.
That yes, this most certainly is a change of tack from your previously lap-doggish eagerness to please, and your unrelenting commitment to meeting their tight deadlines with outstanding copy time and time and time again.
This is the ugly side of freelancing: being a hard arse. It doesn't come naturally to almost anyone as far as I can tell. It is much easier to just happily continue on, writing pretty things and talking sweetly to stakeholders you want to impress with your professionalism and understanding. Believe me, it really is.
If only that were the way to get paid. If I were feeling philosophical about it, I'd say that sometimes we must be who we are not in order to do justice to ourselves. But I'm not feeling philosophical—just disgruntled—so instead I'll make a cocktail* and write something devastating for a client who does pay.
*Yeah so it's only 3pm. But it is Friday.
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