Comments on: Free Advice Friday: To Contract or Not?

By: Debra Stang

Debra Stang — Fri, 08 Aug 2014 19:27:58 +0000

Good advice, Lori. I definitely always contract with new clients and on projects that threaten to "creep." I also send out a new editing agreement to older clients if I'm changing things in any way (e.g., raising prices).

By: Paula

Paula — Fri, 08 Aug 2014 15:43:31 +0000

Funny thing – I just realized that I do have signed contracts with most of my long-time magazine clients. The email agreements simply spell out the terms of specific assignments.

One client updates contracts every 3-5 years, another updated them every time they're sold…which is about 4 times since I've worked for them!

By: Jake Poinier

Jake Poinier — Fri, 08 Aug 2014 15:02:40 +0000

Couldn't have said it better, Lori! It's one of the key benefits of having as many established clients as you can manage.

Along the same lines, I'd say it's particularly important to have a contract with prospects who aren't referred by established clients; i.e., a referral from an acquaintance isn't as rock-solid as one from a long-time partner.

TGIF!

By: Eileen

Eileen — Fri, 08 Aug 2014 12:58:30 +0000

New clients and large projects, always. If they don't want to sign a contract, huge red flag, and I move on. Since many of my clients are repeat clients, I have them sign a document that outlines the terms which will govern our work together for the first and all future projects. Then, for each project, I send an email detailing the project and they signal approval by their reply email.