The most important thing for most of freelancers is that they get paid. It is such a pain for freelancers that get robbed, most of them quit freelancing right after the experience.

As a freelancer, you may have to deal with current clients and new clients for the jobs that you do. You may meet clients over the internet, through emails, in forums, job websites or even clients referred from friends.

For the security of your contract/job with the clients, you have to do a background check. It is important to know if the client is who he/she says, if he/she owns a company, background check the company also.

As a freelancer you value your reputation. Freelancers value reputation so that satisfied clients may refer more client to the freelancer.  Clients as you might not know, also value their reputation for many reasons.

Some clients are very unpleasant to work with that some freelancers might also quit before finishing the job. If you knew how to background check you may never had to deal with such clients. You could have saved time, saved effort and earned money from another client.

Things to do in a background check for a client/company:

Run a Google Search:
Search for your contact’s name, company name and reputation. Search for reviews, employee experiences, company policies that may affect your job with them.

Run a search on Blogs:
There is a high possibility that some freelancers that had contracts/jobs with your client are blogging about their experience. Do a search on the client’s name, company or reputation using Google Blog Search and Technorati to find out what they’ve said.

Other tools:
Besides Google and other search engines, there are other tools used to check people, phone numbers, usernames and emails. Here is a very detailed guide to go through and will provide you tools like Pipl, Wink and more.

Other freelancers:
If you know other freelancers or you are a member of a freelancer forum, ask questions about your client. Other freelancers may have experiences with your client and may share them.

Too good to be true:
If the offer is too good to be true, then there is a probability that it might have a catch or worst you won’t get paid. Ask other freelancers for their rate so that you can have a feel if the offer is within the range of regular rates. If the rate is too high compared to other rates, the risk is also high.

Tip: Be diligent in background checking your clients old and new. This could save you time, effort and even money.

The following two tabs change content below.

• Bio
• Latest Posts

Bien

Founder at Peso Exchanger

Eldest brother of 6 brothers, father of 2 daughters, husband to 1 loving wife, programmer, gamer, entrepreneur, freelancing advocate, financial planner, practical spender except on food, anime lover, and your internet savvy friend. I want to help build/convert more freelancers, independent workers, entrepreneurs in our country(Philippines).

Latest posts by Bien (see all)

• Peso Exchanger – Temporarily closed - February 14, 2014
• An important update December 23, 2013 - December 22, 2013
• Our holiday schedule for staff availability – December 2013 - December 10, 2013

Related posts:

Why I love being a freelancer The Checklist: What I need to do before I start a home-based job? Freelancers: Tips for Keeping a Good Relationship with your Client/Employer Peso Exchanger Shirts are ready for pick up! Happy Holidays Peso Exchanger Clients!