I'm no technophobe. I have a real problem with technology, though. It's a lot harder to grasp than it should be.

Few people like to talk about what's called "aging debt." That's a euphemism for bills your clients never quite get around to paying.

Four years ago, when I made my first few sales, I blissfully and naively started counting the money after I closed deals and formed budgets based on it. Hah! What a fool I was.

Ask anyone who owns a business. They all have horror stories about clients who took up to a year to pay. After chasing them in the courts, the collections attorney got half. Such clients cost you more in time and energy than you ever hoped to earn from them.

I have several clients now whose debts are aging fast -- they're around 120 days old. Each time I call about payment, it's the same story: "We'll cut the check this week. Promise." Some are very large companies. It's not that they can't afford to pay their debts. They're just too big and bureaucratic to pay full attention to what I'm saying.

I don't phone these delinquent clients myself. It's not a good idea. Most people know that they can get away with quite a bit if the CEO makes the collection call. The situation changes drastically when someone faceless and neutral calls and asks very matter-of-factly for payment. Besides, it gives you a great out if the client complains that you're badgering him or her for payment: "Oh, sorry, I have very little control over accounts payable. They're just doing their job."

Recently, we tried to collect about $8,000. Here's a diary of what happened. It's pretty typical:

Week One: We called the clients to tell them they were dangerously close to the 90-days-overdue mark. We left numerous messages. No one returned our calls. We tried again and finally reached the person responsible, who said: "I know you called, but I really didn't know what to tell you. I don't know when we will be paying you."

Week Two: I sent E-mails to the company's two partners. One partner doesn't answer at all. The other messages back that it was a very tough summer, and their clients aren't paying them. They essentially subcontracted out the work to us that one of their clients hired them for. So, their thinking is that unless that client pays them, we don't get paid. I explained very nicely that they should have thought of that before hiring us. After all, we paid the writers we hired for this project a week after the project was complete -- more than 90 days ago.

Week Three: Still no money. Once again, I call the office and manage to get one of the partners. I must have caught him off guard. He didn't seem to know who it was on the other line. Collecting himself, he said: "Hi, George. Yeah, I'll look into it and get back to you, and I'll call you no later than Monday." Sure.

Week Four: Monday rolls around. No call, and I wait another day or so. I call again and speak to the office manager who says they'll pay everything by mid-September. I then E-mail the partner and thank him for the payment forecast but emphasize that we really need the money now since our factoring company is charging us interest for it. (They do the invoicing and provide us with cash. If we do not collect from our clients in 90 days, we pay dearly for it.)

Week Five. Still no word. We're contemplating a suit but will give them until the end of the week to reply.

This is pretty typical. I've dealt with several such cases in the four years I've been in business. Only once did I get stuck. The company that owed us money defaulted on its corporate taxes and went bust. The president -- a sole proprietor -- wasn't responsible for the company's debts. End of story.

George Giokas is the president and CEO of StaffWriters Plus, a specialty agency that places writers in temporary and permanent positions with corporate and other employers. It also provides editorial consulting work. His database includes 2,500 writers and editors specializing in more than 60 categories. His Web site is located at www.staffwriters.com, and you can E-mail him at george@staffwriters.com.