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 You
might be tempted to start your business with a free website contract
downloaded from the Internet.
But be very careful...
Many of these free contracts were not written by Lawyers. They
were written by Website Designers.
Why is a real legal contract so important?
Imagine that you and your client have worked for weeks on a website.
When you present the completed design to your client, and she responds,
"I really don't like this after all. Show me something else."
Do you have to do it? Suppose she does this four or five times - do
you keep designing and redesigning for free?
Maybe.
It depends on what your contract says. And on how it says it.
If your contract just says you will deliver a website to your client,
without defining exactly where the limits are, it can actually become
a trap that forces you to work without being paid!
You can get paid for doing extra work if your contract includes...
...additional designs or design iterations requested by the Client
will be performed at an additional charge...
Or what about this ???
Suppose you register your client's website with a hosting service that
gives bad service? Are you responsible?
You might be.
After all, arranging hosting was a service you were paid to provide.
Do you want to be responsible for another company's problems?
To protect you, a good contract will say something like this...
...makes no representation or warranty concerning the hosting
provider...
How about a nice Law Suit ???
Your client gives you something that is copyrighted by someone else.
You include in their website.
They get sued for copyright violation.
You get sued for copyright violation too. (Yes, it can happen!)
That's why you include things like this in your contract...
...shall indemnify and otherwise hold the Consultant harmless
from any and all claims brought by any third party...
...shall not contain any proprietary material owned by any other
party...
And there's more...
You will quickly discover that your clients will ask questions about
website design, HTML, and computer operation. They will ask you how
to set up and troubleshoot their computers. They will even begin forwarding
their Spam emails to you for your opinion.
(Yes - they really do this!)
Responding to these questions can take hours - unpaid hours!
Your website contract has to define what you are going to do.
But just as important- it must also define what you are NOT going
to do.
The website contract provided with Start Your Own Home-Based Website
Design Business addresses all of these issues - before they become
problems.
It includes all of the "whys" and "wherefores"
to cover the basic legal stuff AND...
- Defines what you are going to do
- Defines what you are NOT going to do
- Describes your responsibilities
- Describes the client's responsibilities
- Stipulates who owns what when the job is done
- Places limits on the amount of work you will do without extra fees
This contract was developed especially for a my website design business.
It was written by my lawyer and I together and cost well over $1,000.
And it is included in Start Your Own Home-Based Website Design
Business.
Why would I pay this much a contract and practically give it away? Especially
considering that similar contracts sell for hundreds more.
Two reasons...
First, I am a really nice guy.
Second, I wrote the book to help other website designers start successful
businesses. Start Your Own Home-Based Website Design Business
simply wouldn't be complete without a good contract.
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What others are saying:
"Setting limits with the clients in the ways you've done
makes the process much clearer to the client and avoids most of
the common pitfalls before they occur. I'm far from the only one
that has struggled with how to set those limits and to give the
clients a clear understanding of what they can expect.
As good, on-target and illuminating as your advice is, the truth
is that the website contract, the business plan, and the other
forms alone are worth more than the price of this book just in
the legal fees to originate them. In my opinion, you have over-delivered;
no wonder you have accumulated the knowledge to write this book.
It's obviously how you've conducted your own business as well."
Jan Crowell
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When you buy, you will get multiple copies of the website contract.
Two copies are provided in the book. The first is the entire contract
with blanks where the particulars of the job will be entered.
The second is a completed sample website contract that shows
you how to fill in the blanks.
It also includes detailed explanations
to help you understand what all of the "legal stuff"
really means. Because the better you understand it, the easier it is
to explain to your clients.
You also get electronic versions of the contract with the your
book in Word (.doc) and plain text (.txt) formats so that you can enter
the particulars for each and every job.
Along with the website contract, you also get:
A single page Mini-Contract, for those small jobs where the
complete website contract is more than you need.
A Subcontract Agreement, in case you need to hire a subcontractor
to support your design effort. The subcontract also comes with comments,
explanations, and instructions. This document was also prepared by my
contract lawyer and is worth over $500.
A Contract Amendment form that can be used to update the contract
if you or your client need to change the scope of the job.
Electronic versions of all documentation are included in your
download in the common file formats (Microsoft Word - .doc and plain
text - .txt) so that you can easily customize them to meet your needs.
A FEW EXCERPTS FROM THE SAMPLE WEBSITE CONTRACT
The following excerpt is from the sample version of the contract. It
includes the basic text of the contract (in black), sample entries (in
blue) and explanations that translate the "legalize" into English
(in red) so that you can discuss it with your clients.
 WEBSITE
CONTRACT
Contract Number. 123456
[Assigning a number to the agreement is optional,
but it is convenient if you need to refer to the agreement at a later
date.]
This is a Computer Consultant Services Agreement ("Agreement")
between John Q. Smith, referred
to in this Agreement as "Client", and Apple
Website Design, Inc., referred to in this Agreement as "Consultant".
Client is a sole proprietor doing business
as Flowers of Hawaii, located at 321
First Avenue, Honolulu, Hawaii 96813. Consultant is a Maryland
Corporation located at 123 Elm Street,
Pasadena, Maryland 21122. Client and Consultant are collectively
referred to in this Agreement as the "Parties".
[The opening paragraph identifies the people
or companies involved as completely as possible. Describe the companies
as Corporation, sole proprietor, or sole proprietor doing business as…]
WHEREAS, Consultant has the experience and technical expertise
in the development of Websites.
[You are qualified to do this work.]
WHEREAS, Client has approached the Consultant and expressed
desire for the Consultant to develop a Website for Client.
[Your client has asked you to do this work.]
WHEREAS, Consultant has agreed to develop and design the Client's
Website on the terms and conditions set forth herein.
[You have agreed to do the work as defined in
this agreement and with the conditions defined in this agreement.]
NOW THEREFORE, Parties, in consideration of the mutual convenience
set forth in this Agreement, agree as follows:
1. Services. Client authorizes the following services ("Service")
to be performed by Consultant:
[If you are not going provide some the following
services, delete the relevant paragraph or change it to read, "Consultant
is not responsible for providing…" Renumber the paragraphs
if you do.]
a. Design. The design of a Website based on information and
data supplied by Client to design and draft a Website suitable to be
placed by Consultant on the Internet.
[You will design the website based on the client's
requirements and submissions.]
b. Hosting. Consultant will provide assistance in selecting
and registering with a suitable Website hosting provider, but makes
no representation or warranty concerning the Provider. Client is solely
responsible for all costs, including activation or monthly fees for
the Website hosting. Consultant makes no representations or warranties
concerning the potential "downtime" or interruptions of service
of the computers maintained by the Provider.
[You will arrange hosting for the site. Once
the site is online, you are not responsible for any problems your client
may have with the hosting service. If you are providing the hosting
service yourself, change this paragraph to reflect your hosting services
and policies. If the client already has a host, delete this paragraph.]
c. Domain Name. Client will have ownership of the domain name.
The Consultant will register the domain name for the client in the client's
name with an industry appropriate registrar.
[When you register the domain name for your client,
you should register it in your client's name. If your client already
has a domain name registered, you may delete this paragraph, unless
you are changing hosts. If you are required to change hosts, rewrite
this paragraph as follows:
"Consultant will revise the domain name
registration information to reflect the change of hosting service provider.
Client agrees to provide ownership and registration information to the
Consultant and to the domain name registrar if required."]
There are many more clauses in the website contract. Each was written
to exacting legal standards to protect you and your business.
Don't create legal or financial problems for yourself because you
are not prepared. Order Start Your Own Home-Based Website Design Business
and get your business headed in the right direction.
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