As I mentioned earlier this week in a post about why writers need to list more skills than just writing, it’s not uncommon for businesses to undervalue communication to cut financial corners. Many businesses will add company communications to other positions as a way to save money, especially if it’s not the businesses primary product or focus. Please keep in mind that I’m not talking about writing reviews or blogging here, because there may be instances where writing for free makes sense to build your online presence.

As writing and content strategy professionals, we may specialize in fiction or non-fiction because that is what defines us. Writing is our “product” that we deliver to clients in a timely fashion. We expect to get paid for what we do, because we don’t want to work for free.

Unfortunately, there is a darker side to writing that I wanted to share with you today. That darker side is what happens when we isolate ourselves from one another and don’t do our homework on the businesses we work for. It’s what happens when we chase the rainbow because we want to get those elusive writing credits and get ahead. The result? We don’t get paid.

Consider this scenario. Say you are a publisher that has a reputation for putting out licensed products. (By “licensed” I mean Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, etc.) The license is expensive, so to offset your costs you realize that you’ll have to hire cheap writers and artists. Among the professionals, you’ve burned a few bridges because your rates are not in line with industry standards, so you go the route of getting cheap writers and artists who are new to the industry until eventually, you don’t bother paying them. Instead, you sell the “dream” that these writers and artists are privileged for working on such a project. Green and hungry, these freelancers believe that they are doing the right thing for their career and don’t know any better. I’ve seen this happen over and over again, and it’s very disappointing.

There are dozens of other situations where businesses get away with not paying their freelancers that range from not providing a contract to mismanaging their business. Business mismanagement can be challenging to spot, because many publishers keep that information close to the chest. Some tier their business structure so that they pay higher rates for well-known professionals which sometimes causes them to short-change little known freelancers. In many cases, a tiered pay structure based on writing quality makes sense, but when a company’s financial picture isn’t that great, sometimes it’s the inexperienced writer that suffers.

You may ask yourself why more people don’t publicly warn other freelancers what they went through, and the answer is very simple: If you want to remain a professional, keep these matters private. There is a time and a place to discuss how you are being treated, and in many cases you’ll have to find a mentor (or two or three) to help you navigate through sticky situations. Being public about these sorts of issues online will damage your reputation (whether you like it or not) because you are airing your dirty laundry for all to see. You don’t want a future client to read about your dirty laundry, because they’ll wonder what would happen if you had a misunderstanding with them. However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to communicate with the publisher. Remember, good communication isn’t about throwing words around — it’s about using the right words at the right time.

What You Can Do To Ensure You Get Paid

The first thing to do to ensure you get paid, is to take on the right kind of assignments. I know this may sound like common sense, but it’s really not. In my experiences, if you take a crappy assignment don’t expect to get treated well. This is especially true if you work with friends or without a contract of some kind.

Another thing you can do, is work out a different type of pay structure with the publisher if its within their means to do so. Maybe you could get paid a “good faith” payment like a small deposit of your total contract up front, with the rest due upon publication.

Even though you don’t want to air your dirty laundry, the good news is that some freelance newsletters do provide warning listings, like Writer’s Weekly. However, there are other things that you can do to check a business’ reputation. For starters, don’t be afraid to Google them. If you aren’t satisfied with the information you read, contact writers that the business had worked with in the past.

A good rule of thumb is to make sure that your reputation is spotless, too. Just like there are clients that don’t pay, there are freelancers that don’t deliver. Stay focused and honest, professional yet humble and you’ll be able to manage difficult financial trends and keep working. Now more than ever, no professional can afford to work “for free.”