As a writer turned Internet Marketer, your talent is writing. Although you may want to give up ghostwriting altogether, you may find that you need to complete a few projects for clients in order to finance your internet marketing endeavors. If that is in fact the case, don’t fret. Here are five rules to ensure that you effectively deal with your ghostwriting clients and that you get paid well for your efforts. 1. Do not negotiate your price (especially for a new client). If your client attempts to negotiate at the beginning of a project for a lower price, you may or may not want to work with them. Often times those prospects who try to negotiate for lower payments at the beginning are the very same clients who don’t pay at the end. Therefore, if a prospect tries to negotiate your price, you may want to see this as a red flag and move on to the next client.2. Get a deposit. Always make sure that you get a deposit from your client or, better yet, get paid up front. This ensures that you are working with a client who not only values and respects your writing craft but is in a financial position to pay you for your services. Typically, I recommend that you receive payment up front for projects under $100, or 50% down and the balance upon completion of the project.3. Don’t give out free personalized writing samples. If a client requests a sample article or chapter, then make sure they pay for it in advance. As an Internet Marketer Writer, you are not in the business of doing free work. You must get paid for your efforts. There is nothing wrong with completing samples, just not free ones.4. Be clear about your payment terms. For instance, if you require payment up front, say so. If you require milestone payments, indicate this as well. In addition, clearly indicate if you’re selling all rights or only PLR rights.5. Secure your copyrights and only transfer those rights when you get paid in full. When you submit drafts make sure that you only send the client a PDF format and not an editable document. Also, make sure that you include your copyright information as a background. In addition, you may want to use the lock feature so that the document can only be viewed and not printed or copied. (This is available on Adobe Acrobat.) Trust me, this feature alone will encourage your clients to pay you quickly, as they will only be able to review the documents and not edit them.

Related posts:

1. Why Internet Marketing is Better than Ghostwriting