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How Can I Protect My Finder's Fee?

by czilbersher
7 replies
Hi Warriors. I have a LinkedIn Group with approx. 50,000 members which is oriented towards corporate education and training. I have been contacted by a recruiting firm that would like me to send their latest job posting as an announcement to all my members. (LinkedIn allows group owners to send out 1 announcement per week). I have accepted their offer in exchange for a $500 finder's fee contingent upon two factors: 1) that they hire someone from my group, and; 2) that this person must stay hired in this position for at least 90 days. Here's my challenge:

How can I make sure that the recruiting firm keeps their end of the bargain? In other words, how will I know that the person they hire was one of my members? How will I know that they stayed 90 days? How can I prevent the recruiting firm from claiming that the new-hire didn't contact them directly or find them through other means?

In short, how can I guarantee that I stay "in the middle" and get credit for directing the candidate to the recruiting firm so that I get the finder's fee?

Any thoughts on how to do this successfully would be greatly appreciated.
#fee #finder #protect
  • Profile picture of the author 102drive
    Great question and great opportunity. Unfortunately this sort of thing is sad that we even have to worry about, but it's the nature of business.

    I'd recommend getting on the phone and discussing verbally with this company, you should have a good judge of character after discussing with them (maybe even go meet them). Secondly, get a lawyer involved and draw up some binding contracts, make sure they are legit!

    There are many ways to track which of your linkedin members go to their sites using pixel tracking, etc, but linkedin would have to allow you to post links (not sure if they do), but there is no way that you can 100% guarantee they will not "scrape" leads.

    You may want to strategies on a way to collect the leads first and then funnel them to the company, so you can fully have control of which leads came from you. Then, I am almost certain the recruiting company will be legally contracted to provide you with information about that employee for as long as they work.

    Let me know if you want to discuss further, I'd love to get involved and help you strategize! PM me with your skype details!
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    • Profile picture of the author JRJWrites
      Originally Posted by 102drive View Post

      Secondly, get a lawyer involved and draw up some binding contracts, make sure they are legit!
      Get a lawyer involved? For a $500 deal? Lol. :rolleyes:
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  • Profile picture of the author GlobalTrader
    Remember, you are in the driver's seat on the upfront part of this deal. You control the list.

    Tell them that your price is $1,000 with $500 of it upfront to ensure they are sincere and advise them that you value your list more than giving free exposure and where else are they going to get exposure to 50K targeted potential users of their services for under 2 cents per exposure?

    Everything is negotiable but you are in control of what they want - exposure to a highly targeted group.
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    GlobalTrader

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    • Profile picture of the author RobinInTexas
      Originally Posted by GlobalTrader View Post

      Remember, you are in the driver's seat on the upfront part of this deal. You control the list.

      Tell them that your price is $1,000 with $500 of it upfront to ensure they are sincere and advise them that you value your list more than giving free exposure and where else are they going to get exposure to 50K targeted potential users of their services for under 2 cents per exposure?

      Everything is negotiable but you are in control of what they want - exposure to a highly targeted group.
      I would go with something along these lines, but think about the numbers. If they want to pay $500, they might balk at $1,000.

      As an alternative, you might want to negotiate a flat fee, perhaps much lower than $500 without any conditions.
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      Robin



      ...Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just set there.
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  • Profile picture of the author Aristocratic
    Offer your list an incentive to let you know if they get a job; encourage them that you want to help them find success in their job search and if they do, you would like to feature their story on your group or something like that. If you don't trust the recruiting firm, have your members help you; let them tell you that/when they are hired and then follow up with them after 90 days to 'see how they are liking their new job'.

    I also agree with the above poster that you should be getting something upfront for the exposure alone.
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    COMING SOON

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  • Profile picture of the author Nuno
    Offer a compensation for someone who gets the job. Monetary, gift or reputation based.
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    I have 15+ years of experience & millions of visitors (I'm also a warrior since 2002)!
    NunoAlex.com explains how I can help.     I'm looking for a limited number of serious partners.
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  • Profile picture of the author joshril
    Originally Posted by czilbersher View Post

    Hi Warriors. I have a LinkedIn Group with approx. 50,000 members which is oriented towards corporate education and training. I have been contacted by a recruiting firm that would like me to send their latest job posting as an announcement to all my members. (LinkedIn allows group owners to send out 1 announcement per week). I have accepted their offer in exchange for a $500 finder's fee contingent upon two factors: 1) that they hire someone from my group, and; 2) that this person must stay hired in this position for at least 90 days. Here's my challenge:

    How can I make sure that the recruiting firm keeps their end of the bargain? In other words, how will I know that the person they hire was one of my members? How will I know that they stayed 90 days? How can I prevent the recruiting firm from claiming that the new-hire didn't contact them directly or find them through other means?

    In short, how can I guarantee that I stay "in the middle" and get credit for directing the candidate to the recruiting firm so that I get the finder's fee?

    Any thoughts on how to do this successfully would be greatly appreciated.
    What type of job is this??

    Often recruiting firms make tens of thousands of dollars when they successfully place a candidate... It seems to me that you shouldn't have any contingencies in place and treat this like an advertising opportunity for them... in other words, you get paid, regardless of the result.

    Now, if they want to have you wait, perhaps a high dollar amount could be negotiated?

    Thanks,


    Josh
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