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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

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: