u/inkandgrid
r/freelance Third client this month paying 60 days late. How do you chase without sounding desperate?
Problem
Problem research
Know the problem before you build.
Someone is already posting about the problem you want to solve. Jey gathers months of those posts into themes, so you can see which problems are worth solving.
Why it matters
Your ideas are guesses. Posts are proof.
Before you spend months building, check that people have the problem and care enough to want it fixed.
A problem that keeps coming up is a real one to solve.
One post is a story. When strangers describe the same problem month after month, there’s demand behind it.
Workarounds show what you’re up against.
Most problems already have some kind of fix, often a spreadsheet. Beat the workaround and people switch.
Real phrases beat marketing copy.
The way people describe a problem is how they search for a fix. Use those words and the right people recognize themselves.
What to listen for
The answers are out there.
Every day, people post about their problems, the workarounds they put up with and what they wish existed. Each one is a clue to what’s worth building.
Problems
What hurts, and how often.
The problem in people’s own words. The more often it comes up, the bigger the opening.
“I spend every Friday chasing invoices instead of working.”
“Late payments nearly sank my studio this year.”
Workarounds
What people do instead.
The spreadsheets and hacks people put up with. Each one is a gap a product could fill.
“Honestly a spreadsheet still beats every invoicing app I’ve tried.”
“I just set phone reminders to email clients.”
Wishes
What people wish existed.
Requests for something no tool does yet, often described down to the feature.
“Wish my invoices chased themselves.”
“Is there anything that does invoices and time tracking without a yearly plan?”
How teams use it
Decide what to build from real conversations.
Three ways to run problem discovery before putting time and money into an idea.
Validate an idea before you build it.
A real problem keeps coming up, month after month, from people who’ve never met. Seeing that early saves months spent building the wrong thing.
“Is there really no simple way to get clients to pay on time?” Problem
Find the gap in a crowded market.
People who use the existing tools are the first to say what’s missing. The complaint everyone repeats is the space nobody owns yet.
“Every invoicing tool wants a yearly contract. I just need monthly.” Wish
Know which problem to solve first.
Themes show how often each problem comes up. Start with the one most people share, not the one with the loudest post.
“Chasing payments is half my admin time.” Problem
Set it up
Know what to track, and what to avoid.
A good question names who has the problem and what it is. The more specific it is, the sharper the themes.
New posts as they appear.
Phrases people use for the problem.
The exact words people write when it happens to them. New posts arrive as the problem comes up.
client won’t paychasing invoicesunpaid invoice
Requests for something better.
People asking for a better way are already looking. Track how they ask.
best way to invoice clientsinvoicing app for freelancers
The cost of the problem.
Posts about lost money or wasted hours show how much it hurts. They make strong proof for a pitch deck.
never got paidhours chasing invoices
Words from inside the group.
Every community has its own terms. Freelancers say “net 30” and “retainer”, and those words lead straight to their conversations.
net 30retainer clientdeposit upfront
Avoid these
Broad category terms.
“Freelancing” matches career advice and job posts. Thousands of posts, almost none about late payments.
Everyday words alone.
“Late” and “client” turn up in every kind of post. Pair them with the problem, like “client paying late”.
Months of posts, sorted into themes.
A group and a problem.
Name who has the problem and what it is. That’s enough to turn months of posts into clear themes.
How freelance designers deal with clients who pay late
How people cope today.
The tools and workarounds people use now. It shows what you’re really up against, and it’s often a spreadsheet.
What freelancers use to send invoices and track payments
Who has it worst.
The same problem hits some groups harder than others. Comparing two shows who to build for first.
How solo designers and small studios handle unpaid invoices
One moment up close.
A single step, like the first late payment, in detail. Narrow questions surface what broad ones miss.
How freelancers handle their first client who won’t pay
Avoid these
Way too broad.
“What do people think about freelancing?” covers every job and every worry. Name the group and the problem to get themes you can act on.
Questions that assume the answer.
“Why do freelancers hate invoicing apps?” only finds people who already agree. An open question also turns up the reasons you didn’t expect.
Yes. Describe the problem in one sentence and Jey finds the posts about it. You don’t need a product or a brand yet.
Any problem people talk about in public, from late invoices to finding a good accountant. Niche problems work too, as long as people post about them.
Six months by default, so you start with a full picture instead of an empty feed.
Name who has the problem and what it is, in about 6 to 12 words. Ask openly, like “How do…” or “What do…”, so you don’t only find people who agree with you.
Searching by hand shows a few popular threads at a time. Research reads months of posts across social media and groups them into themes, with a count for each.
Yes. Each theme shows the posts in it, so you can read what people said in full.
Yes. Put the phrases that came up most into a tracker, and new posts arrive in your feed as people write them.
As many as your credits cover. You only use credits on posts that matter.
Yes. These are public posts anyone can read. If you want to quote someone by name, ask them first.
Reddit, X, YouTube, TikTok and LinkedIn. Starter covers Reddit, X and YouTube. Growth and Pro add TikTok and LinkedIn.
Know the problem before you build.
Start with one problem.