I'm in the process of working with a local client who I believe I can generate a ton of business for.

His funds are limited and knowledge for marketing is very limited. I proposed collecting a small fee upfront and mentioned to him that I don't normally take on clients on a royalty basis.

But I'd be interested in doing it with them and he seemed very open to the idea.

Does anyone have any forms/agreements that I could use as a template to go from or know where I can get one from?

How much should I ask for in the proposal? Are there guidelines? Do I do based on gross sales or net profits.

Her clientel is very low right now and I know I can blow the roof off that building...

any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Cartess Ross

Is this someone you want to be a partner with though.

i am a novice so i am just regurgatating info . But contracts usually only keep honest people honest . best bet is to form a long term plan to gradually increase his customer base . and get higher and higher fees as you go. How many more clients can he handle at this point . Slower growth may be better. Makeing sure he knows how to develop back end sales . You would probably face fewer head and less legal risk. Setting up a plan to implement over a while . It would be good to see how he handles gradual increases before you flod him with business. The quickest way to kill an ineffecient business is with great marketing.

I am sure the other members will give better answer .. that is just my understanding .

Ken

Just PM'd you some private thoughts on this... I have a lot of experience putting these deals together to create multiple income streams.

I'll share this publicly: Some work and some don't. You have to be prepared to jettison the ones that don't and keep looking for new deals.

Hi Cartess,

Something to really consider...

It is inevitable that the client will grow resentful of paying you the royalty. Yes even though they are profiting from your work. The mind plays tricks on clients, their minds searching for "justification not to pay" when they are handing over money to someone who isn't "working for it."

Have a buy out clause in the agreement so that when the inevitable resentment occurs you have the "out" of a buyout or large sum. Better to get that then to get nothing...remember the royalties will stop...it's inevitable.

Shaune

Shaune makes a good point. And don't forget you can also sell your interest in the deal to a third-party. You always want to have that option as well.

John

John makes a good point. I don't want to get off-topic to far but it does stimulate this thought...

You need ti be careful about your anti-spam policy. If you say we won't "sell" your name you can't sell the business and hand over the database which is the most valuable asset.

Tom Antion know's someone who had a BIG problem with this so he includes this in his privacy policy...

We will not give, or sell your Email address. The only exception to this is if we sell our email business. In that case, you will be given at least two weeks notice so that you can opt out before the sale.

Shaune

Since most of my JV deals are offline where this isn't an issue, I don't normally have to worry about that. But, Shaune's right. You need to be careful when you are collecting personally-indentifying information that you claim you won't trade, sell, or rent. Sometimes you might end up trading or selling.

John

For once, I agree with Shaune.

I think it's a simple as this:

The client has a pain. In this case, not enough business. They're in so much pain, they cut a deal with you, not entirely conscious of their future reaction to that deal. (Most people are hopeless at predicting their own reactions to events as yet not experienced - we think we know ourselves, but we don't. Plus we are generally deluded about how kind, ethical and altruistic we are. I once read that if we really "saw" ourselves, most of us would commit suicide, so presumably the delusion is a good evolutionary adaptation to prevent that. Either that, or we try to hold ourselves to higher moral standards than mere mammals are truly capable of).

Anyway, you solve the client's pain. What happens next? They're not in pain anymore, so they don't want to pay your bill. This has happened to me. You give the client the service, and once they're not in pain anymore, they're not bothered if they pay your fees or not. It's not that they're deliberately trying to rip off - it's almost as though they can no longer see the value of what you did, because it has become background noise and part of their everyday situation. In this respect, services are different to products. If I sold you a Mercedes and you didn't pay, you'd have a nagging feeing every time you got in it to drive to work. One of my clients hassles me incessantly when he's in pain (not got enough clients), and then as soon as he's got loads of work, I don't hear from him for months.

You might like to read my article on "Getting Paid": http://www.attractioneers.com/content/view/25/71/

which may shed some new light on the situation.

Good luck with it!

Jane

Professionals get paid. Upfront. Period. Plus royalties.

In my google campaigns, I always add the word "free" to the negative keyword phrases, to weed out the Unqualified prospects/mooches.

I run my businesses the same.

ken