Author: signordal

Client Refusing To Pay Invoice? 5 Ways To Deal With Non-Paying Clients

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One downside of being an entrepreneur is clients who pay late or not at all. Small business owners are most likely to face this problem. It’s usually because they are unsure about how to pursue these clients.

Are you a small business owner tired of having your invoices ignored? These tips can help you deal with a client refusing to pay an invoice.

Contact the Client

email clients

Email your clients and remind them that you haven’t received payment. If they don’t respond within a week, then send a follow-up. The person responsible for invoices might have been out of town, had an emergency or accidentally deleted the message. You can also try contacting them via social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.).

However, if these methods yield no results, then it’s time to place a phone call.

Talk to the client. You may need to call every day for a month and act like an absolute pest, but hey, you need the money. Make sure to leave a voicemail each time, explaining that the invoice is past due and you want to resolve the issue. This is a good time to ask if there was a problem with the service or product you provided. If the answer is no, then they should have no problem paying.

Offer Options

Sometimes, clients put off paying their invoices because (1) the payment method is inconvenient or (2) they’re having trouble with the payment system. In this case, often all they need is a friendly person to reach out and guide them through the process. If there is a problem with the system itself, offer another way they can pay you.

The client may also put off paying their bills because they’re having financial trouble. Be flexible in this scenario by working out a payment plan (a certain amount per month over a certain time period) or requesting a good faith payment now and the rest later. When you’re understanding with your clients, they’re more likely to stick around.

Settle for Less

If worst comes to worst, you can discount the bill. They’re likely to jump at the chance to pay less for the service and you’ll get money in your pocket sooner than the alternative. You may want to avoid potential future invoicing headaches by dropping the client, though.

Hire a Collection Agency

Emails, phone calls, and reminders have gone unanswered. In this case, business to business collections is a possible solution. A professional collection agency could contact the client and attempt to get your payment. This type of agency deals exclusively with business debts.

As long as your debt is business-related, then this type of agency can be your next best option. If you’re hesitant to go that far, a warning letter from a lawyer generally elicits a speedy reply.

Small Claims Court

small claims court

Small claims court allows you to present your case directly to a judge. Some states, such as Michigan and Nebraska, don’t allow lawyers in small claims court. If you live in one of those states, then it’s mandatory for you to represent yourself. But, in most states, legal representation is an option.

The cost of hiring a lawyer for small claims court is usually not cost efficient, so most people choose to represent themselves. However, using an attorney instead of a debt collection agency can result in a quicker resolution to the outstanding debt and the preservation of your business relationship.

Each state sets its own limit for the maximum amount you can request. The limit can be anywhere from $2,000 up to $10,000. Check with your state to see if your claim is eligible. If your claim exceeds state limits, then you need to file your case in another court.

See Also: How to Sue in Small Claims Court

Moving Forward with Problem Clients

Once the client has finally made the payment, you may want to make some adjustments to how you bill them in the future. For example:

  • Ask for a pre-payment or retainer, especially for larger projects.
  • Make them sign a contract before getting started. That way, if they go AWOL, you have a more straightforward route in place to go after them.
  • Ask for payment based on project milestones rather than dates. This makes sure you’re paid in full before the project is finished.

Conclusion

In a perfect world, you’d get every invoice paid in full and on time. in reality, however, you have to take action against a non-paying client. So, don’t hesitate to ask for the money you’re owed; you’ve already earned it.

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Nightmare in Berlin

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In the Foreword to his penultimate novel, Nightmare in Berlin, Hans Fallada concludes, “The book remains essentially a medical report, telling the story of the apathy that descended upon a large part, and more especially the better part, of the German population in April 1945.” He admits that “the author, too, is a child of his times, afflicted by that same paralysis.” The dateline is “Berlin, August 1946.” Six months later, Fallada died of heart failure. Addicted to morphine and mentally broken, he had, astonishingly, completed the two works — Nightmare in Berlin and Alone in Berlin — that crowned his literary reputation. And now Nightmare in Berlin, first published in 1947, is available in English, in a supple and graceful translation by Allan Blunden.

A compressed epic of despair, venality, shame, and endurance, this “strong book about a weak human being,” like most Fallada novels, mirrors its author’s travails. “For twelve years he had been bullied and persecuted by the Nazis,” Fallada writes of his protagonist, Dr. Doll, “they had interrogated him, arrested him, banned his books some of the time, allowed them at others, spied on his family life.” And Nazi defeat brings only a different despair. So it was for Rudolf Ditzen. Born in 1893, he assumed the pen name Hans Fallada in 1920, when Young Goedeschal was published, a novel of psychosexual turmoil, clearly inspired by real events. (In high Romantic German fashion, Fallada, at eighteen, had fought a mock duel with a fellow student — in fact, a suicide pact — in which he accidentally killed his friend and then tried to kill himself.)

Fallada’s youthful tragedy brought the first of many confinements. Imprisoned more than once for embezzlement; denounced and briefly jailed in 1933; hospitalized repeatedly for mental breakdowns, for alcohol and drug addiction, he nonetheless continued to write. Success arrived with the 1932 novel Little Man, What Now?, which Richard Simon, of Simon & Schuster, described in a 1933 letter to Fallada as “perilously close to a masterpiece.” And for a time Fallada’s novels, (the best known, perhaps, being Every Man Dies Alone), were as popular internationally as those of Thomas Mann and Hermann Hesse. Decades later, it is easy to see why. Fallada’s urgent, laconic style plunges the reader into the quotidian detail of lives deformed by the struggle to survive. Nightmare in Berlin, for example, sets us down in a tranquil, domestic landscape that is saturated with fear. “Well into the night,” Fallada writes, “after a day filled with torment, they stayed sitting by the windows, peering out into the little meadow, towards the bushes and the narrow cement path, to see if any of the enemy were coming.”

In April 1945, in a small town in northern Germany, Dr. Doll, his young wife, and their neighbors await the arrival of the victorious Red Army. Eager to welcome the Russians as liberators, Doll spends hours tidying his garden, “clearing the last tangles of wire and rolling them up neatly.” For surely appearances will matter. But when three soldiers enter the house and Doll salutes them with a clenched fist and “Tovarich” on his lips, he is regarded blankly, as a thing. “All his cherished hopes for the post-war future lay in ruins, crushed under the withering gaze,” he admits. “He was a German, and so belonged to the most hated and despised nation on earth.” Soon the Nuremberg war crime trials will dispel any remaining illusions. “Had I known then what I know today about all these horrors,” Doll confesses, “I probably still wouldn’t have done anything — beyond feeling this powerless hatred.”

The novel is driven by these surges of emotion, but Fallada keeps our gaze on everyday details, on petty betrayals and intimate crimes. There’s “the mail clerk who had been a sergeant in the local Volkssturm . . . the landlord of the station bar, a bully, and, as it now turned out, another Nazi spy.” Hoping to reclaim their city apartment, the Dolls leave for Berlin on a freezing, overcrowded train that reeks of desperation. “We’re probably going to die soon anyway,” Doll consoles his wife, “but you can do it more discreetly and comfortably in the big city. They have gas, for one thing!” Fallada’s corrosive wit — used sparingly in this novel and to devastating effect — is oddly affecting. It draws us closer to these characters even as they surrender to the oblivion of morphine or to the macabre regimen of the sanatorium. “He loved the place,” Fallada writes of Doll in the asylum, “this corridor with its rust-red linoleum, onto which so many white doors opened, but all without door handles.” (Outside lies Berlin, “a nocturnal stone jungle . . . a dark sea of ruins” from which Doll eventually sees courageous survivors emerging. “Life goes on, always,” he concludes. But Fallada’s tightly constructed novel — a snug nesting doll of horror within horror — makes even that bland assertion seem foolish.

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5 Really Simple Tips On How To Stay Energetic For Your Goals

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Substance abuse can affect your life in more ways than you imagine. I was an addict for the greater part of my teenage years and a chunk of my adulthood and it cost me a lot of opportunities. It got to the point where I thought I would be a failure my entire life.

Fortunately, that wasn’t the case at all.

My substance abuse started when I was only 9 years old. I got drunk at a family party on some liquor I stole from the kitchen while my parents weren’t watching. It only got worse as time went by and I got hooked on other substances. I started with marijuana and slowly moved on to more hardcore drugs.

At 23, I got sentenced to two years in prison and that was when I realized I had to change. I had to get clean.

As soon as I got out of prison, I checked into a rehab. After completing my treatment, I found a job which I started getting really good at very quickly. I was working too hard. I had no energy and was constantly under a lot of stress. The anxiety and depression this situation caused me led me to relapse.

There I was, at 27, feeling like I had wasted my life, feeling like a complete failure.

But I didn’t give up.

I went back to rehab, determined to fix what remained broken the first time I was there. When I finished my second treatment, my AA sponsor encouraged me to take some classes at a community college. I took an HTML course and found out I was really good at it. I took some more courses and started acquiring more and more knowledge.

Fast forward to today, 9 years later, I own a website development company. I’m successful and happy. There were many elements that helped me achieve this success.

I want to talk about one key aspect that I think is highly overlooked: energy.

Not having enough energy to complete a task or a project can interfere with your long and short-term goals, so I want to share something with whoever is reading this right now. These 5 tips are the best ways on how to stay energetic. They ultimately led me to my success.

Reduce stress

Anxiety is common among addicts and this results in high levels of stress. Studies show that there is a correlation between anxiety and fatigue since both use up a lot of energy.

When you’re under a lot of stress, even if you’re well rested, you will feel physically and mentally exhausted. This can interfere with your productivity.

So, the first thing you need to do in order to be more energetic is to reduce stress.

There are many ways in which you can achieve this and it’s important to note that you will not get an immediate result. You have to keep working on it in order to start feeling more relaxed and energetic. What worked for me the best was meditation.

It’s a very simple practice that anyone can try. It only takes you a few minutes every day.

Get enough, good quality sleep

sleep quality

Not sleeping enough or not sleeping well can make you feel tired throughout the day, no matter how many cups of coffee you drink to try to make up for it. This can result in less concentration and mood swings throughout the day.

While the general rule is to sleep approximately 8 hours each day, everyone is different and some people may need more sleep than others.

I always had trouble falling asleep and I would wake up several times during the night. Sometimes, I wasn’t able to fall back asleep.

If you can relate to these problems, there are a few things you can do that may help you. Keeping a consistent sleep schedule (waking up and going to bed at the same time every day), can help regulate your internal clock. Also, it turns out that the effects of caffeine can last up to 12 hours, so try eliminating coffee from your diet after 3 p.m., so it doesn’t give you any troubles falling asleep at night.

See Also: Five Ways of Overcoming the Problem of Getting Sleep

Exercise regularly

You should be exercising regularly for a number of reasons. For one, it can improve your overall physical health. It can boost your confidence, make you happier and make you more energetic. Exercising helps your lungs and heart work more efficiently, resulting in higher energy levels. In addition to this, it creates discipline which is also an essential element of success.

The best part is you can choose any type of exercise you like. I chose hiking since I love being surrounded by nature and being reminded of how beautiful the world is. You can start with small routines and build up from there. Soon enough, you’ll start noticing results in your energy and mood.

Eat healthy

eating healthily

Our diets today consist basically of processed foods and sugar, which don’t have any essential nutrients. These foods can cause fatigue among many other health problems. You need to identify your eating habits and if you recognize you’re not eating healthy enough, make some changes in your diet.

Leafy greens contain antioxidants, which are great for boosting your energy. Also, high-protein foods such as beans, eggs, and lean meat can help stabilize your blood sugar levels. These types of food are great for keeping you energized and preventing cravings throughout the day.

This doesn’t mean you can’t indulge in your favorite junk food every once in awhile. I still eat fried chicken once every two weeks. I just keep it measured.

See Also: Foods That Will Help You Keep Your Family Healthy

Do what you love

The way I see it, there is only one way to experience higher levels of productivity and success and that’s by doing something you love. There’s no point in making a lot of money if you’re not enjoying what you’re doing.

True success is loving what you do. So, I strongly encourage you to find something you’re really passionate about and give it everything you’ve got.

It doesn’t matter how bad you think things are as long as you’re willing to try. We all have the chance to be successful. Reducing stress, sleeping well, exercising, eating healthy and doing something you love are just some of the best ways on how to stay energetic for your goals.

If I could do it, I’m certain you can do it, too!

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Four Tips To Ditch Your Smartphone Addiction for Good

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You’re reading Four Tips To Ditch Your Smartphone Addiction for Good, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

How to Get Rid of Your Smartphone Addiction

The modern world has brought to us an unparalleled quality of life that our ancestors could have never dreamed of.

Instantaneous communication with other people, information at the click of a button, and on-demand movies are just a few of the offerings on the modern buffet table.

For most people, all or most of these conveniences are accessed through their cellphones.

There’s no problem with this…until it gets to the level of a compulsive behavior (i.e. an addiction).

Why Cellphone Addiction Is Overlooked

Many people think addiction only comes in the form of a pill or a powder, that is mainly through external substances.

Parents have a good laugh amomg and say “Hah, hah, he/she just can’t put down his phone no matter what!”.

It seems innocent at the outset, but compulsive behavior is just one step from addiction (which is the end result).

Addiction is addiction regardless of the behavior or origin. Addictions still work on the neurotransmitter system within the brain.

There are many neurotransmitters but the main one involved in behavioral addictions is dopamine.

Dopamine is the neurotransmitter responsible for reward-motivated behavior.

Certain activities release more dopamine than others. These are activities related to sex, food, drugs, etc.

The Internet is a big stimulant of dopamine because the Internet contains a lot of novelty.

Social media, shopping, porn, email – these are all novel experiences only found on the Internet.

To us humans, novelty is rewarding because it tells the brain on a subconscious level, “hey, this might be useful for your survival”. New information releases dopamine. This is very good because our ancestors would not have made a majority of discoveries without this tendency to seek out novelty.

As of November 2016, over half of the world’s population accessed the Internet through a cellphone. What does this ultimately mean?

Cellphone addiction is inherently an Internet addiction, which is turn is driven by novelty seeking.

Smartphone addiction has no physical effects like drug addiction, so all’s well – right?

Wrong.

Why Smartphone Addiction Is Detrimental to Your Self-Development

You’re dedicated to self-improvement since you are reading this article.

One of the easiest ways to destroy your self-improvement efforts is to be addicted to your smartphone or the Internet.

Smartphones provide an endless assortment of stimulation. Games, Internet, chatting, text, the list of goes on and on and on.

But here’s what no one is saying: you are essentially wasting time. You aren’t doing anything inherently productive.

You can spend an entire day spiraling down the Internet-based rabbit hole making absolutely no progress on your goals, whatsoever.

Eventually, you will question where the time went – because you spent it on a smartphone.

This is especially dangerous to kids and teenagers, who have a greater tendency to develop addictions and compulsions because their brains are still growing at a fast clip.

If you’re trying to get better at a skill or manage your time better, being addicted to your smartphone will absolutely destroy the chances of that happening.

You may not think you’re addicted, but if you experience separation anxiety or withdrawal – those are strong signs that you are.

4 Tips to Stop the Madness

The Power of Habit - Habit Loop

In the Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg states that for any habit, addiction, or compulsion you have, there is a cue, a routine, and a reward.

In this case, the cue is hearing or seeing your cellphone ring or buzz.

The routine is picking it up and fiddling with it.

The reward is the sense of satisfaction from using your phone.

All of these cascade to build up to smartphone addiction.

Use these four steps to hijack the “habit loop” before you can even start it.

1. Remove the stimulus

There’s a saying that goes: “cut the head off of the snake and the body dies”. This is true for smartphone addiction. Out of sight, out of mind (in a way).

If you have trouble with your smartphone use, keep it out of sight. Since it’s out of sight, there’s a lower chance that you’ll reach for the phone.

Put the phone in a lockbox until you are finished with work. This will train your mind to associate “work” with “not touching the smartphone”.

2. Buy an alarm clock

For many people, the first thing they do is reach for their phone…because their alarm rings and they go and turn it off.

Since the phone’s in your hand, might as well check the news right?

You are already starting the first five minutes of your day with a phone in your hand, mind you when the subconscious is still largely active.

What impact will this have on your psychology?

Bypass all of this with an alarm clock. When the alarm sounds, turn it off – not your phone.

3. Delete certain applications

If someone who’s heavily addicted to prescription medication can’t throw away the bottle – they can at least throw away the pills.

In this case, you can’t really throw away the “bottle” (phone) but you can throw away the “pills” (apps).

Instead of seeing an app and clicking on it (like a knee-jerk reaction), you can remove the cue entirely. That way, you won’t have to wrestle resisting the urge to go ahead and use the application.

In order to do this, you first have to have the willpower to actually delete the application from your phone. That take some degree of self-discipline.

Then again, if you have a smartphone addiction – your sense of self-discipline may be compromised in that area.

4. Revert to a flip phone

This is a “final solution”. If you find it hard to do all of the above, then you can return back to a flip phone (pejoratively known as a “dumb phone”).

Flip phones contain no shiny apps, no ability to rapidly connect to the Internet, no ability to play high fidelity games.

Flip phones are also workhorses. Their battery life is longer than the average smartphone.

Besides, you won’t be alone. Millions of people around the world still use flip phones and they function perfectly fine.

To wrap this up, it’s quite clear that cellphone and smartphone technology has changed our landscape to a significant degree.

As we progress further into the 21st century, the numbers of people who have a smartphone addiction will increase.

You don’t have to be one of them. By using the techniques here, you can break your dependency on smartphones and get on the high road to high achievement.

It’s a much better path to take and your future self will thank you.

You’ve read Four Tips To Ditch Your Smartphone Addiction for Good, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

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Photographer Spends 9 Years on One Street Corner Capturing Same Commuters Every Day

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42nd Vanderbilt - Peter Funch

For 9 years, from 8:30 am and 9:30 am, Danish photographer Peter Funch stood at the southern corner of 42nd Street and Vanderbilt Avenue. In the rush of commuters, what he found was a glimpse of universal habits and the long trek to work. From 2012 to 2016 Funch carried out his project 42nd and Vanderbilt in which he captures the same person twice, mid-commute, leaving the viewer to wonder if they were photographed days, months, or even years apart.

This simple surveillance exercise lets viewers ponder the small daily rituals we take for granted and also invited them into as an observer, picking apart each image to discover what has changed and what remains the same. In these stolen moments, we see Funch’s subjects lost in thought, fraught with worry, even eyes closed as if in divine ecstasy. Within a sea of people, they tend to isolate themselves, holding on to the last bit of solitude before entering the workplace.

“The corner of 42nd Street and Vanderbilt Avenue…what’s that? It’s a patch of nowhere that hides, like similar patches of nowhere, in all cities everywhere,” writes acclaimed novelist and artist Douglas Copeland of the work. “It’s the space of Edward Hopper. It’s the real estate equivalent of a Styrofoam packing peanut. It’s blank, and it’s in this blankness that we circle back to Warhol and repetition and the aesthetic experience we enjoy when we look from one Marilyn to the next to see which screened face has what kind of silkscreen printing error.”

Shocking in its raw vision of the banality of our morning routine, it’s both amusing—and telling—which details viewers immediately focus on. Whether it’s wearing the same outfit or not donning a happy smile. Though Funch’s subjects aren’t “picture perfect,” they are real.

See more of Peter Funch’s insightful street photography series in his new book 42nd and Vanderbilt.

For 42nd and Vanderbilt, photographer Peter Funch spent 9 years documenting the morning commute on a street corner in New York.

peter funch candid photography
peter funch photos of people going to work
photographs of people going to work
peter funch documentary photography
photographs of people going to work
candid photography in new york peter funch

His work leaves us wondering if these people were captured days, minutes, weeks, or even years, apart.

peter funch candid photography
peter funch new york street photography
peter funch 42 and vanderbilt
peter funch candid photographer
candid photography in new york peter funch
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photographs of commuters peter funch
peter funch 42 and vanderbilt
peter funch documentary photographer
peter funch documentary photography

Peter Funch: Website | Instagram

My Modern Met granted permission to use photos by Peter Funch.

Related Articles:

Powerful Occupy Wall Street Photography

Photographer Takes ‘Then & Now’ Photos of Women Met on London Streets 30 Years Ago

Interview: Photographer Captures Voyeuristic View of People on London Streets After Midnight

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Mid-Century Modern Homes That Shaped the Future of Architecture Design

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Mid Century Modern Architecture Mid Century Modern Homes

During the 20th century, architects turned their attention from traditional designs to more original aesthetics. While many Modernist movements capture this interest in the experimental, Mid-Century Modern architecture has resonated over decades to remain a popular style today.

Though inspired by the unprecedented designs of Frank Lloyd Wright and the avant-garde approach of Bauhaus artists, Mid-Century Modern put a novel spin on architecture. Here, we explore the groundbreaking genre, highlighting its unique look and key characteristics.

What is Mid-Century Modern?

Mid-Century Modern denotes a style of design that was popularized from the 1930s through the 1960s. Characterized by a contemporary, seemingly futuristic aesthetic and an emphasis on function, the Mid-Century Modern movement influenced many types of design. These include interior, product, industrial, and graphic design, as well as urban planning and architecture, which remains the most well-known Mid-Century Modern example.

Originating in Europe, this style was brought to America by Marcel Breuer, Walter Gropius, and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, architects who also played key roles in the Bauhaus movement.

Mid Century Modern Architecture Mid Century Modern Homes

Photo: Carol M. Highsmith [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Defining Features of Mid-Century Modern Architecture

Most Mid-Century modern homes showcase three predominant characteristics: a clean, minimalist aesthetic, an emphasis on bringing the outdoors in, and the presence of angular structures.

Minimalist Aesthetic

In the middle of the 20th century, many artists began working in an abstract style, re-imagining traditional art and pioneering a new aesthetic. This interest in abstract forms is also present in architecture of the time, as demonstrated by Mid-Century Modern’s minimalist appearance.

Flat planes, clean lines, and little ornamentation characterize both the exteriors—which often feature monochromatic brickwork and pops of color—and the matching interiors of Mid-Century modern homes.

Mid Century Modern Architecture Mid Century Modern Homes

Photo: Zachary Groz (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

This no-fuss approach to design exhibited both the movement’s unique aesthetic and its focus on functionality.

Emphasis on the Outdoors

Another key characteristic of the Mid-Century Modern house is a relationship with nature. Architects working in this style often incorporated large windows and open floor plans into their designs, which provided scenic views and let in lots of light. Additionally, sliding glass doors enticed and encouraged residents to go outside and explore their surroundings.

Mid Century Modern Architecture Mid Century Modern Homes

Photo: Grant Rimbey (Own work) [Attribution], via Wikimedia Commons

Angular Structures

To showcase their unmistakably modernist approach to everyday architecture, Mid-Century Modern architects employed geometric forms and asymmetrical compositions in their designs. Unlike structures built in popular preceding styles—including Beaux-Arts and Arts and Crafts—Mid-Century Modern homes exhibit little historic influence and lack visual formality.

Mid Century Modern Architecture Mid Century Modern Homes

Photo: Caroline Culler (User:Wgreaves) (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons

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Wow! What an amazing sunset over Death Valley National Park in…

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Wow! What an amazing sunset over Death Valley National Park in California. The shadowed ripples and stark, graceful curves of Mesquite Flat Dunes cover a vast area bordered by mountains and salt flats in this extraordinary park. Photo by Usha Peddamatham (http://ift.tt/18oFfjl).