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Okay so i reached out to a guy over linkedin. He have a legit looking profile, assistant professor, IIT graduate and few achievements. So i never did a freelance work with a stranger i just know online. So he is ready to pay the advance amount right now. And i asked him to wait till tomorrow. Idk i was like how can someone pay a stranger (me).
I am making a website btw so he have his Domain and everything already. I am lil afraid because what if he do something illegal or anything bad on that site i designed for him. How should i document it? Should i make a invoice after getting a payment and send it to him. And ask him to share the payment screenshot also.
How can i stay safe and earn money through this.
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What the client does with the website has nothing to do with you. Assuming you’re not intentionally designing it for some illicit activity.
Otherwise, take the payment and deliver the site. That’s the end of the transaction, and your business with them.
What’s the real concern?
Have you set up a call and gone through the brief in detail? At the moment the project sounds a little vague. If you’re inexperienced with handling projects, it’s better to be overly detailed and map out everything in clear transparent detail.
Fail to do this and you can run into problems and end up doing too much / or not fulfilling what you are expected of.
Getting a Websites freelance projects from strangers is normal activity you can sign a contact with him with getting min 50% upfront of total cost, however make sure he have discussed with you all the projects requirements like scope of the work should be clear before starting. trust me these projects will help you to build a strong portfolio and at the end they can refer you to their circles like friends and family if everything works according to plan.
Might be a good idea to draft up a contract to cover yourself from any legal issues.
Think you’re overthinking it because it’s your first job. It’s normal to feel anxious. You need to learn to “manage expectations” if you both want to be happy of this transaction. Mind to document everything that isn’t “part of the deal”, and also the “deliverables” for the money agreed upon. The professional way would be to only ask for 50% of the money upfront, and the rest upon acceptance & delivery (i.e. working site somewhere he can also control).
To start, need to clarify as much as possible of what he wants. Let him show example sites/designs of the things he likes as reference to you, and as a way to “scope” tasks and get a sense of how much work there is to do. “Package deals” for clear and well defined tasks. Per-hour costs for fuzzy ones. For fuzzy stuff, try to explain why things are the way they are beforehand and why the effort/costs to achieve them. Be transparent, friendly, honest, put in their shoes to try to solve their problem. Try to be seen as an ally, and not just there for the money.
It will be alright.
Get paid in full in advance if possible and if not, 80% with 20% on go live.
Put them on direct debit so that when you raise the invoices you’re guaranteed payment in a swift manner.