I’ve been following a thread on my Women Designers Group mailing list where one of the designers shared some language from their contract, and a number of others commented that it sounded apologetic. Like ‘if I do this for you I will have to bill you for it.’

One of the respondees was dead on - saying that hey - this isn’t a hobby! This is a full-time (or more than full-time) professional job. There’s no need to apologize to someone you’ve worked for when it’s time to be paid.

I’ve struggled lately with billing for hourly work. Do I charge up front? Do I invoice on the back end? I’ve found that I have a few clients that I always invoice that pay extremely promptly - no worries there. I have a few others that I’ve invoiced once that took weeks and weeks to pay; that won’t happen again. I hate having to ask for money that’s owed me and sound like I’m apologizing for troubling them again, and again…

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If you’re looking for new ways to grow your business, and make more by doing less, join me on Wednesday, August 27th when I interview Sheri McConnell

Founder and President of the Association for Web Entrepreneurs on her secrets for turning what you know into cash.

Ever thought about writing a book or ebook, starting a membership organization, or doing your own coaching programs, seminars or teleseminars? Then you won’t want to miss this info-packed interview.

Because whether you want to create a new, home-based business, or just add another revenue stream or two to your current business, Sheri is going to show you what it takes make it happen during this one-hour teleseminar.

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There are so many different ways to use social media in this newly connected internet world, and as a social media agency it’s our job to make sure all of our clients understand how to best utilize the space. Yesterday, I stumbled upon a fantastic guest post on Social Desire by Mark Hayward. Mark and his wife Terrie own the Palmetto Guesthouse, a small bed and breakfast in Culebra, Puerto Rico. His post–What the hell can social media do for me?–begins with a conversation he had with another small business owner.The short story: Mark asked this small business owner if he had a website and was shocked when the answer was “No”. The small business owner explained that he had run a successful magazine for over 20 years and he didn’t see the point in changing anything now.

What’s the point of changing now?

Today, over 70% of the US population is online, and in 2006 a study on social media participation by Charlene Li of Forrester research found that nearly 50% of these internet users actively participate online. This means they connect with each other, read or write blogs, create or watch online videos, listen to podcasts, and participate in social networks.

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