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Question on Contracts - HELP!

by bhuff85
4 replies
Ok - I'm getting ready to dive into the "offline marketing" world. Been drawing up a business plan now for awhile and have been crafting details of various services that I'm going to offer, setting price points, etc. For e-mail management, I plan to use something like Aweber and just use one account and create different lists for various clients. That way, I can manage everything all in one place without having to go through the process of signing up the client to their own account, thus saving time of both myself and the business owner (especially one who doesn't know their way around things like this).

Here's my question - Let's say I get a business owner who wants me to manage their list and send out advertisements or a newsletter. After a few months pass, the business owner says "Hey, I want to do this myself - Can you transfer all of the e-mails to an account that I create and I will take it from there?" Do any of you have anything in place that prevents someone from doing this? I guess what I mean is, do you sign people to a 6 or 12 month agreement and then let them decide from there?

I don't want to set people up and then a month later they decide they can take care of it themselves and ask me to transfer over all e-mails. I think having everything under one account would protect you from things like this, because in my mind, with setting up each individual business owner with their own e-mail list account (like Aweber), what's stopping them from just up and leaving you once you get everything setup and rolling?

Any help or advice would be appreciated. Also, if any of you have any links to contracts or someone who has a mock contract for offline services overall would be a big help.

Thanks!
#contract #questions #service
  • Profile picture of the author bhuff85
    If any of you have any tips or advice on this, I'd appreciate it
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  • Profile picture of the author CCGAL
    Everything I learned about response management I learned while working at Harte-Hanks. You might want to check out their website and look at what they are offering in the way of email mgmnt, and see if that gives you any clues.

    You might also want to check out your local chamber of commerce to see if there's an offline presence doing response management in your area. Barring that, if you find a company within driving distance, or one that is small enough to be helpful, you might be able to glean some information there.

    I wish you well in your new venture.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ryan Shaw
    I set up individual constant contact accounts for each business I work with.

    Most of the time, they want to import an email list to start, aweber won't let you do this.

    Also, if they decide to take over their list or cancel, it's easier for you! Have separate accounts for each business you work with!
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    • Profile picture of the author Digital Info Diva
      This is a really good question; I'll bet a lot of people have struggled with
      this.

      If you have all the software to get your cleints setup using your software
      and/or accounts, you will need a contract to set a minimum time frame for
      the service, otherwise it won't be worth the trouble. I purchased a lot of
      my initial legal forms from
      Legal Forms at ContractEdge.com: Independent Contractor Agreement, Contracts, Confidentiality Agreement, Contract.

      Otherwise I agree with traffictipsnow - it will be much easier for you to
      just setup separate accounts for all clients. All you have to do is roll
      those charges into the price you charge and make the payments on the
      accounts yourself.

      I have found that most offline clients don't want to know or have to worry
      about establishing those accounts. Later, if they want control of the
      accounts, you just need to give them the login after you remove your billing info.

      This is a big decision and will really depend on you and the type of service
      you are providing. You'll want to make the right decision for you the
      first time 'round!
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