Quick Overview
Some folks say that charging clients by time spent is no way to prosper because your time is finite. Sell a product, they say: it’s the sure-fire way to afternoons spent poolside, supping on caviar and sipping champagne like the idle rich. Respected WordPress consultant Bill Erickson says that by minimizing the aspects of your service business that don’t scale, you can maximize productive time and profit.

Image based on “In the workshop” by Les Chatfield, CC-BY-2.0

The answer is yes — only if you want to get paid.

Ok. I get it. I should have contracts in place with all my clients…does that mean I need a lawyer too?

Ideally, you should have a lawyer who can draft a formal agreement that fits your needs.  If you don’t have access to a lawyer to help you, it’s not hard to write up a simple agreement, on your own, that accurately reflects your business arrangement.  Doing this is much better than operating with no agreement in place at all.

Agreements 101

Here are a few basic points that a simple contract for web services should cover. Your lawyer (if you have one) will be able to provide a lot more detail on what your agreement should look like, and the terms you should have with your clients (these vary a lot depending on the type of client you have and the work you’re doing). Here are some questions to consider as you draft your agreement:

• Who are the parties? List each party.
• Are the web services being done by you, as an individual, or through your LLC or corporation? Be specific!
• Is the client an individual (with assets) or an LLC or corporation? Be specific!
• If the client is a corporation or LLC, are you comfortable that they have the assets to pay your fees?
• What are the obligations of each party? List each party’s obligations. Be sure to include the payment schedule.

Clarity above all else — put it in writing

You, as a service provider, should be crystal clear about what you will and will not do under your agreement. Any vagueness can lead to disagreements about whether you’ve fully completed your obligations (and therefore whether or not you are entitled to be paid.) The client, should, at a minimum, be obligated to pay you on the schedule you agree to. Also, think about what you need from the client to do the work that they’re expecting, and then make sure that your agreement says that the client will provide you with whatever you need to do this work in a timely manner. If it’s access to their servers, or something as simple as a meeting with their CTO for one hour per week to answer questions, it’s a great idea to specify these requirements up front to avoid issues later. Here are some additional considerations as you draft your agreement:

• What is the timeline?
• When do you have to deliver your deliverables?
• When are payments due?
• Does the client have the right to accept/reject deliverables? How many rounds of revision are included?

If the client has the right to accept or reject the deliverables, outline a strict timeline: if the client hasn’t rejected a deliverable (clearly, in writing) after a defined time period, you should be entitled to the applicable payment for that deliverable.

Payment options

No matter which payment structure you use, the contract should be clear about when payment is due, when you must invoice the client, and whether expenses are to be pre-approved or reimbursed by the client.

On timing — it’s a good idea to require some portion of the payment up front. If a client is unwilling to pay something toward the project once you’ve defined the scope, you may have problems collecting the amount due at the end of your project.

The time/materials relationship and you

A common form of consulting relationship is what’s called a “time/materials” relationship: The agreement for this type of arrangement will specify a deliverable and say that you’ll bill the client at an hourly rate, plus expenses.  Many times under these agreements, though, clients will request a cap on your total fees.  If they do, it’s important to be clear on the fee cap, given the scope of the work. If you think you can’t deliver the requirements and meet the fee cap, it’s a good idea to either renegotiate or understand that you are agreeing to eat the overage when you sign an agreement with a fee cap.

Milestone-based payments are also very common. For these type of arrangements, if possible, make sure that the milestones you agree to meet are under YOUR control and not subject to the client’s changing opinions or material delivery.

Many clients like to pay upon acceptance of the work. In other words, if they don’t like the end product, then no soup for you! If you’re going to allow a client the right to accept or reject the work, it’s a good idea to specify a small portion of the payment subject to acceptance. This way you’ll get something for your efforts, no matter what.

Scope creep

The biggest area for potential conflict in a contract is “scope creep.” Your contract should define the scope of what you will do for the initial set of agreed-upon payments. If you want to change any of these expectations, create an amendment to the contract where both parties agree to the new deal by signing off on it.

A very common scenario is a client that changes their mind about “just this one little thing” and then again asks for changes on “just this other little thing.” You, wishing to do a good job, go ahead and make the changes, even though this extra work isn’t in the contract. This isn’t a problem until later, when a disagreement arises about whether you’ve completed the work. Now, the definition of the scope of your “work” is strung out across conversations and emails where “little things” came up and, unfortunately, individuals have very different memories of what changes were agreed on.

The lesson is: if you are going to change project scope, timing, or cost, get it in writing.

Having a written agreement is very important. Get the details in writing and try to be as diligent as you can in updating the written agreement to match up to the work that the client wants done. Your agreement does not need to be a fancy, air-tight legal contract — anything you put down on paper to set and maintain expectations is better than nothing. Going through the process of writing things down may be a bit more effort on the front end, but making this a practice for your business will save you a lot of time, effort (and probably money too) in the long run.

Thanks to Tennille Christensen for help and insight that shaped this piece.

Image based on “World war 2 parachute at Old Sarum living history weekend” by fribbleblib, CC-BY-2.0

Tell us the story of how you fell in love with the web.

I’ve always been an artist. From age six I used to draw like crazy and did so through high school. I rediscovered my passion for art when I started going to school for IT in 2000. While waiting for classes to begin I would dabble in Photoshop and began making my first website. It was an indie rock blog that featured a lot of cool bands and in turn some of those bands would come around asking for websites and design. So that site landed me some of my first website projects. I was able to parlay that into a part-time web gig for some other record labels.

I began to fall in love about three years later when I started to delve deeper into user experience design. I started building more interactive things for the web for clients. It allowed me to figure out what I was best at and I began learning all I could to make better websites and interactive projects.

How did you get started working in WordPress?

I started codyL in 2004. I added to my resources and worked on more projects. WordPress became a necessity, because at the time, we were building custom CMSs and scaling them to each website. It was super tedious and our client budgets were very low at the time. We initially began using WordPress as a blogging platform in 2005. When we saw we could use it as a full-fledged CMS, we quickly made the switch and haven’t looked back!

Tell us a bit about your areas of WordPress expertise: what are you best at? What do you enjoy most?

I’m a user experience designer. I function best in that role whether I’m actually in the design chair or consulting on UX for companies. Our shop does WordPress custom theme development very well. We also really like to build platforms using WordPress. We’ve found it extremely refreshing to focus on WordPress exclusively because it’s helped us maintain a level of expertise and quality that some other shops who are software agnostic can’t provide.

You’ve spoken at several WordCamps on theming and design. Public speaking is a daunting thought for some. What advice can you offer to up and coming speakers?

I would say that it’s important for the community that you share your knowledge. Everyone comes to a WordCamp to learn more about their craft and be inspired to grow. No one truly has everything figured out. So perhaps you may share some things other folks are already familiar with, though there is a great chance of you adding value to other folks in the community and that’s part of what makes WordCamps so great.

Tell me about a favorite project? What about the project made it a favorite and what did you learn from working on it?

My favorite project was more of a passion project. We recently did the WordPress site for the Phoenix Suns. Being a lifelong fan this was like a dream come true. It’s like, choose your fantasy client and BOOM there it is!

We learned a lot from going through the process: mainly things that would help us serve other large organizations. Setting the expectations for all project phases, configuring the proper staging server, and making specific recommendations for website hosting.

There was an assumption these things were well in practice for them but we found that we were able to bring these practices in as a benefit to their company.

Learn more about Cody: visit his website. Follow him on Twitter.

Quick Overview
Most WordPress pros got into web design and development because they love spending time up close and personal with pixels and code, not because they relish figuring out what to charge and sending out invoices. Jason Blumer earns his living coaching designers and developers to slow down their sales process, get schooled on precisely what the client needs to be successful, and how to set pricing by the job, so that they earn not just an hourly wage, but what they’re worth. Let him take you to pricing school.

Image credit: “Price of Gasoline: Hawaii” by puuikibeach: CC-BY

Quick Overview
A great client relationship is like a marriage made in heaven. But it ain’t easy. Great clients don’t come out of the box communicating clearly, paying their bills on time, and automatically handing out your name when a friend or colleague asks for a referral. You need to earn it. You need to bring your best work, be proactive, and be sensitive to their needs to turn that first project into a long-lasting, mutually fulfilling relationship. Pro tip: Marry Your Clients was a recommended resource in Code Poet’s second free book: Getting Pricing Right.

Quick Overview
Getting work, delivering work, and getting paid can be fraught with pitfalls. No matter whether you freelance, work in a shop or own your own business, you need to work effectively with clients to earn a living. In Design is a Job Mike Monteiro educates you on your responsibilities as a person who earns a living selling things you create in direct, unadorned language. Mike will teach you how to get the right clients, how to charge for your work, about contracts, how to sell your work, manage feedback, and maybe even, a little bit about life in general. This short volume is worth your time.

Quick overview
Keeping up with everything that’s happening in the WordPress community can start to get quickly overwhelming when you have a business to run, but if you ignore what’s new and what’s changing around you, there’s the danger of becoming quickly irrelevant and out of touch. wpMail.me is a weekly round-up email newsletter that makes sure you’re kept up to date on all of the latest WordPress news and articles without having to wade through hundreds of blogs to get in the know. Sign up, sit back, and get on with all of the other stuff you should be doing and wpMail.me will deliver highlights of all the news and articles that matter right to your inbox.

Quick overview:
Whether you’re developing themes or plugins for WordPress, dumping them out into the world isn’t going to instantly win you millions of users, dollars or rave reviews. This comprehensive article from Smashing Magazine takes you through the whole process of making professional WordPress products, from idea to execution to what happens after you write your last line of code.

How did you first get into web design? When did you start working with WordPress?

I played around making websites when I was 12 and 13. It was something that I enjoyed learning about, but then my family moved and we got busier, so my web design got put on the back burner. About four years ago, I became motivated to take it up again. 
A friend told me about this cool new blogging software called WordPress. I thought it seemed like a good way to maintain usability for the customer with all the features I needed to make fully functional websites. That was back when 2.6.5 was all the rage. 

I started by cold-calling local businesses, asking them if they wanted me to design a website for them. Cold-calling was a good experience for me and helped me learn about selling myself to potential customers. I now have a long list of things not to say.

Would you be willing to share a few of those “things not to say?”

Since I started doing web design at a young age, people would act interested at first. If I told them how old I was they would immediately turn me down. So, not that you should be dishonest, but if you’re still a student, try to avoid talking about your age and instead focus on your ability and accomplishments.

Don’t jump immediately to, “Hi, I’m selling websites.” Try to build relationships, talk to people, and get to know them before you ask them if they want to hire you. Be sensitive of their time, though.

Building on that, don’t be a “salesman.” By salesman I mean someone who is high pressure, someone who keeps repeating “buy today,” and in all other respects, is annoying. Everyone hates this kind of caller, and acting like one will not get you business. Business owners get calls like this all day long, so try to set yourself apart from this type of person.

Can you share the most important things you learned about cold calling, and about the most effective ways to sell yourself?

If you’re calling people in your area, let them know you’re local. That sets you apart from the many non-local sales calls business owners get every day.

If you can, learn the name of the person you want to talk to. You might find it on LinkedIn (if they have a LinkedIn profile), their existing website (if they have one), or by Googling the company name. This accomplishes two things. First, you’ll be at a more personal level from the start, and, if someone other than the business owner answers the phone, you can ask for them by name instead of asking for “the owner,” which immediately labels you as a salesperson.

Were there any particular resources that helped jumpstart the learning process for you?

The Codex is awesome, as are the forums. I asked a bunch of dumb questions in the beginning, but the WordPress community is great when you’re trying to learn. After I started to learn more about the workings of WordPress I began volunteering in the forums so I could teach others who were beginning to use WordPress.

 Joost de Valk’s blog was great for WordPress SEO when I was starting out.

Do you have a specific area of expertise that you focus on?

I try to be fairly flexible with the jobs I accept, but I have done a lot of work with businesses who want to rank well in local search listings. I focus on good content, SEO, clean design, and solid code.

What are your top three tips for SEO with WordPress?

• Use an SEO plugin like All in One SEO Pack.
• Change your permalinks from the default format to either /%postname%/ or /%category%/%postname%/
• Use an XML sitemap plugin like Google XML Sitemap Generator

What type of clients do you work with?

Most of my customers are small businesses who are targeting a specific geographic area. I started with people in my immediate area, but as my network has grown, I’ve branched out to customers in other areas as well.

What types of questions do potential clients ask you and what are the answers you provide?

For some reason, it seems like a lot of people ask how long something will take me even if they don’t ask my hourly rate. So I just try to be honest while adding time for unforeseen difficulties. I don’t necessarily focus on the price, although I do give as clear a picture as I can of what it will cost. Focus on what you’re providing, and charge what it’s worth.

People have also asked me how I learned how to make websites. I tell them that I began by building websites as a learning experience, and as I got better at it, I began hiring myself out on a freelance basis. I also tell them that I have five years of experience doing web design. This is not as much of an issue anymore, but if they seem unsure about my ability I always show them a few sites from my portfolio that I’m particularly proud of.

What are your strategies for dealing with difficult clients?

I’ve had a couple bad experiences with clients that have taught me the following things:

• If you can, avoid clients that seem like they could be potentially difficult. Even if you are desperate for business, it’s not worth the headaches. If, during your initial meeting, they’re already showing signs of being irritable, hard to please, etc., don’t feel obligated to work for them.
• Make it clear in your contract that if the client doesn’t do certain things (e.g., send you content or passwords, review your work on time, respond to correspondence), you are not bound by the delivery dates set out in your terms of agreement.
• This is true especially if there is a fixed price for the project. Have something in your contract about what it is that you’re providing and the number of times they can request changes. The more clarity there is in writing from the start, the easier it will be to deal with the client if they’re problematic. Adding a few lines to your contract in the beginning is a lot better than wishing you had something more explicit in your contract half-way through the project.

Do you work alone, doing all the design and development, or do you partner with others? If so, who do you partner with and why?

So far, I haven’t subcontracted any work. I’ve been able to do all of the work that comes in myself. However, I’m considering subcontracting some work if the number of jobs I have increases. For now, though, it’s working pretty well doing it all “in-house.”

How do you promote your business?

Most of the business I get these days is through word of mouth. When I started out, I did a lot of cold calling and going door to door to meet local business owners. I’ve found that the longer I’ve been doing freelance web design with WordPress, the easier it is to have enough work.

Are there any particular plugins or themes that you regularly use?

Which theme I use varies by the project, and sometimes the customer will already have a theme that they’ve purchased, so this part really varies quite a bit. 

As far as plugins, I use All in One SEO Pack, WP Super Cache, Autoptimize, Widget Logic, and Contact Form 7, consistently.

What is your approach to balancing school and your design work?

This is hard because usually, doing freelance web design is more exciting than working on that ten-page research paper that’s due in four weeks. I am certainly not perfect in this area, but here’s some advice:

• Don’t overcommit. If you overcommit, your school will inevitably suffer, as will your work. It’s bad for your work because you can’t give your customers the attention they deserve.
• Set goals. Since, for me at least, work is going to be the more exciting thing, tell yourself that you can’t work on your new blog redesign project until you have accomplished “x” with your schoolwork. You’re not going to forget about your work, so put the less motivating thing first. That way, your desire to do your work will motivate you to do your schoolwork. For me, lots of small goals are easier than one large goal.

Any challenges that you’ve faced along the way?

When I have a project during a particularly intense period in my schooling. I really like to get my projects out of the way during finals week or any other super demanding part of my schoolwork. Cramming while working on web design is pretty trying.

What advice would you give other young web designers that are just starting out?

Communication with the client is key. It’s tempting, especially when the customer is not particularly computer savvy, to simply build them a website according to how you think it should be and then “give them the keys” when it’s finished. However, to avoid the frustration that comes from an unhappy client, you need to make sure you understand exactly what they want and expect, and continue communicating with them through the entire process. It is also your job to ensure that they have realistic expectations for what you can give them.

What are your tips for managing client expectations?

You can’t meet the client’s expectations if you don’t have a clear picture of what those expectations are. Understanding as fully as possible what it is that the client expects through asking questions, looking at examples of things the client likes, etc., are good ways to combat this.

In addition, giving the client a clear picture of what you can give them is important. Promising things that are beyond your ability may get you the job, but it probably won’t give you a long-term relationship with the client. Sell yourself, but also tell the client if there are any limitations in your resources/abilities, etc., so they don’t realize this only after you show them the finished product.

Does your youth ever become a factor in working with clients? If so, how do you overcome that?

Not as much anymore. It was somewhat of an issue when I was starting out. Focusing on what I’ve accomplished and my abilities helps to shift the focus from what the client may think about me as someone who is young to who I actually am. Most people who have been put off by my age are really concerned about reliability, lack of skills/experience, etc. These things are easy to disprove once I show them examples of work I’ve done for other clients.

 Also, even though in the beginning you may be desperate for work, don’t commit to a project beyond your ability. It’s good to learn new skills and you should always be developing your skill set, but to overcommit is to set your self up for frustration and maybe even embarrassment when the client realizes that you cannot deliver what he/she needs. This is a good opportunity to recommend someone else you know that would be a better fit—that way, you have still helped the client and built a relationship.

What are your plans for the future?

I’m still making up my mind long term. I enjoy web design, but I don’t know if that’s what I want to do vocationally or not. For now I’m content to keep doing designing and developing and wait to see what pans out.

For more on Micah, visit captainpenguin.com or follow him on Twitter at @micahcooksey.

Quick overview
Working without a contract is like doing a tightrope walk across the Grand Canyon without a net: dangerous and foolhardy. Luckily, speckyboy’s put together an excellent roundup of five free to use contracts that you can download and adapt for your client work.