Get Paid By Your Client

Have you ever thought about what you will and will not include when you work together with someone?

Here are a number of points to consider before you seal that next deal:

Is It Worth It?

• Is working with your client of interest?

Do You Know Your Value?

• How much is your rate trending? For example, in my field, an average Search Engine Optimization expert makes about $81k a year with a rate of $119 per hour. Someone in the UX field usually makes about $100k a year.
• How do you want your total payment to be defined: base, bonus, profit-sharing, and commission are all examples.
• How long have you been working in your space? Have you logged your 10,000 hours?
• Do you stay on top of trends in your free time?
• Do you make proactive suggestions or do you wait for work to be assigned to you?
• What soft skills do you bring to the table: reliable, accountable, proactive, resourceful, determination, etc.

Flow

• What is the way that best supports your ability to find flow?
• When do you work best?

Attention to Detail

• Do you get charged for accuracy and does your client acknowledge that everyone will make a mistake? Do you charge for fixing errors?

Does This Project Serve You?

• Is this a project that you want on your portfolio?
• Do I want to take this project because of what I will be able to learn?

Type of Work

• What are the expectations that someone has of you?
• Do you provide proactive help or wait for tasks?

Billable Time

• How many hours do you want to work each day, week or month?
• How will you charge for emergency work? Do you put a price on that or are you doing favors?
• Do you work on the weekends or holidays?
• Is your entire meeting time on the clock?
• What happens if you go over your hours? Do you stop working or inform your client to get approval?
• Do you give discounts?
• Do you need “water cooler” time?
• Will you offer a refund for changes to your work?
• Do you want to be paid upfront or will you offer terms?
• Do you value exclusivity and or do you work with other similar companies?
• Do you want to sell your time as hourly, daily, weekly or monthly?
• Do you want to require a minimum amount of time (such as a retainer)?
• Do you want to charge a cancelation or no-show fee?
• Do you charge for reading emails or calls?

Mutually Beneficial

• Is there something that you have been wanting to develop that your client can share in the costs for the non-exclusive right of use?
• Can you get your client to buy use of software that you own?

Rights

• What rights will you retain to your work?
• Do you want to be able to use your project owners logo or branding in your marketing materials?
• Do you have something that you can use your work to “build something on top of?”

Add-ons

• Do you prepare reports for free?
• Could any of these things be sold as a one-off product?

Bonuses

• Do you want equity in your client’s product or percentage of the sales? If so, is the net or gross? How long will this last?
• Will you expect to get your clients product for free? Do you need to have time to experience your clients’ product?
• Do you want to be able to get your client’s product for free or a discount if you are buying gifts for other’s?
• Do they offer a service that is of benefit to you (free dog walking, etc)?

Expense Reimbursement

• Do you want someone else to purchase of any tools or equipment needed to complete the project (like your Grammarly or Adobe bills)
• Do you store backups for someone else?
• Do you want to be compensated for travel time and mileage?
• Do you set up affiliate links for any services that you recommend?
• Do you store or host any files for your clients?

Using Their Tools

• Would you like access to any of your client’s resources?
• Do you want access to their audience, friends or followers?

First Right of Refusal

• Do you require someone else to use you for any similar work over a period of time? For example, if you are in web design, do you require your client to use you for updates?

Referrals, Reviews & Testimonials

• Can you write about your client as a case study?
• Do you want a testimonial from your client?
• Do you want your client to make any hot referrals for you?
• Will they make recommendations for you on social media?

Personal Development

• Do you want someone else to pay for the time that you spend learning, researching or getting better at your craft?
• Are their any tradeshows or events that you will require your client give you access to?
• Do you require your clients to contribute to tools that will help you learn and grow?

Everything Else

• What other perks would you like?

Did I miss any? Leave me a comment below: