Page 33 - Payout Magazine 7.3! The Adult Industry at Your Fingertips! New Articles, Interviews and tradeshow Photos by MikeB!

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human and human, must come in. We are not chart or they can legitimately claim not being since you followed up or were on the phone
a number. satisfied of your having fulfilled your agreed together when you hit “send”. You seek merely
upon terms, they can use to defend non- clarification of when the payment should be
Transactions between you and your client are payment. expected in the vicinity of the agreed-upon
a lot like a relationship - very literally, in fact. date.
The plan you created should be a a detailed
Obviously, there’s some give & take on both roadmap or flowchart of progress ahead of Meanwhile, without meaning to be mean,
sides; this is the basis for any relationship. time, with mile-markers clearly marked and you might explain that you will continue work
before they’re reached. on the project but that other clients who have
It’s also a pretty good definition of a
paid in advance or on time need you to keep
negotiation. As this part of your dealings progress, clear
up with or even get a little ahead of their jobs,
up the payment methods and the payment
but not to worry, as you explained, work will
The business of relationships often opens schedule.
continue perhaps at a slower pace, or on your
with what essentially amounts to a courtship.
personal time, if only because this part or that
Getting to know each other informally is part of Because this “project” and deal are widgets,
aspect present a new challenge to you or an
that negotiation. At this point if the contractee let’s just be theoretical here and say that there
opportunity to expand your knowledge on a
or the contractor decided s/he doesn’t like the will be agreement to a 25% down-payment to
other, it’s time to split the bill and part ways. initiate the work, a mid-way 50% payment, with topic.
the final 25% coming on or around the date
If on the other hand they get along, it’s on to announced for the job well done, via Paypal. Of course, if this isn’t your first time working
the true negotiation phase. for a customer, and they’ve always been timely
What’s important here is that these act as your in their payments, take them at their word and
Essentially, you have to listen to the customer template of sorts to engage the customer on a continue as though you were paid. But if this
carefully, take notes, and repeat back to more than numerical level during the course of is a new relationship, playing it safe would be
them what they told you in terms they can your enterprise. actually going out and working for someone
understand (in the language you most closely who is paying, until further notice.
have in common, whatever that might be), and Naturally, whenever you generate the invoice,
basically clear up any fuzzy areas or points it should be immediate, with a prompt follow- Communicating is key to getting paid. Out
where misperceptions and misunderstandings up to make sure the client has received it. of sight, out of mind? You betcha, so don’t let
could eventually develop. You could also be calling to informally ask if them forget you and they won’t, make your
they didn’t perhaps prefer a printable PDF or constant contact friendly, and not just at those
Then in the most global terms, provide a another compatible format before you send in times when invoices are due, and customers
quote, a payment structure, and as near as the invoice. get the feeling you care - which you probably
you can a precise template of the initiation,
do, but either way this is an impression a client
development and closure of the project. Between these moments of pure deal, where
must perceive for themselves so they don’t
the money is issued for the work to begin,
foster a feeling of antipathy toward you, which
If there are any areas where you can’t clearly progress, or have been completed, take some
often leads to a feeling of apathy regarding
and simply move forward for reasons such as time to call the customer to casually inform
your payment.
your unfamiliarity with an element, or your them of the progress, because it’s on schedule,
need to further research a particular stage of fascinating, making you proud to have
Remember the customer who is hiring an
the process, point it out, be open about it, overcome a hurdle, and so on - taking it back
independant, the customer who has a unique
and explain that it might slightly delay the to your initial meeting or meetings together.
or singular vision, who is taking a completely
completion, or in fact shorten the schedule and Did you discover a common love of science
independent route him/herself, can be feeling
close your contract together that much sooner. fiction? A hate for Trolls? An interest in string
a little lost, or alone, out there. Possibly much
theory?
as you did when you struck out on your own;
Now, this is where you might need a lawyer
to draw up a contract, if the complexity of It doesn’t matter. We drop crumbs of and whether you’re actually connecting with a
the project demands it, or you can download ourselves in every human relationship, and kindred spirit or taking advantage of their need
and print generic contract templates from any there is no reason business on this level should for reassurance to solidify your relationship,
number of websites and sign them together. be any different or kept at a less human level. your work is real as long as the payment keeps
flowing, like your communications to each
Be careful at this point in contracting. Unless the customer is late paying. other.
Explain precise development points. Don’t use
subjective conditions such as if the client is Naturally, politely inquiring about when that Sometimes, you might have to be Agent
satisfied; these are the sorts of things where payment will occur is required. You know for Smith, but most of the time you just have to
if their expection was entirely off the outlined sure, at this point, the invoice was received be human.