Comments on: Web Design Agreements: A Report from the Trenches

By: Web Designings

Web Designings — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 11:41:41 +0000

ausome, jeff good i didnt work for LP, but i came to know about LP work. Thanks for sharing your knowledge

By: Tiara

Tiara — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 21:52:46 +0000

I know I work for LP, but wow Jeff, great article!

By: Arthur O'Hara

Arthur O'Hara — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:51:47 +0000

Dear Mr. Cohen,

Thank you for such an enlightening article on a subject that many web developers and their clients never touch on in the lower end of the market where it is all about cost getting a relative website up and running as quickly as possible in the most cost effective manner.

This indeed is something that does require much more consideration. It is something I’m now seriously taking on board. This is not for any reasons of bad experience for my clients or myself. Once you have complete honesty and trust all round an appropriate agreement will copper fasten the bonding in a manner expressly suitable and beneficial to all!

Are there any online templates or forms out there for the easy generation of agreements of this nature?

Regards,

Art.
Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09 53 56 GMT

By: Rob Wood

Rob Wood — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 19:46:48 +0000

Excellent article! I’ve been both a web designer and a web developer since 1994, and I’ve definitely made my share of mistakes. I write the contracts for my company, and I’ve learned the hard way one important lesson that I will share with all of you, and that is this:

No contract, no matter how well-written, is going to guarantee that you get paid! Fill it with all of the clauses you want, but the way to smooth the process of development and timely payments for your work is as follows:

1. Get a credit report of your prospective client, before you even begin to negotiate a deal. If the credit report looks shaky, don’t extend credit, and consider passing on the gig.

2. Include in your contract a written record of exactly what you and your client have discussed and agreed upon during negotiations.

3. Include a schedule of milestones, leading up to launch. This is where you allocate responsibility of every stage of the project – yours and theirs.

4. Go over the contract, LINE-BY-LINE, with your client, prior to signing. Make sure he or she understands every clause and stipulation. Techies tend to use buzz words that ordinary business people don’t understand. Go out of your way to educate your clients, because the more they know, the greater the chance that they will embrace the technology, and become inspired to create new work for you!

5. Finally (and this will sound like a no-brainer): Always do what you promise to do! This simple practice builds and maintains trust, and that is how you get paid on time!

Good luck!

Rob Wood
HyperGold Web Services
http://www.hypergold.com

By: Igor Palmer

Igor Palmer — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 17:52:57 +0000

For many years I’ve been working for large corporations, who can afford an army of attorneys on their staff; so it wasn’t an issue with legal agreements, that is until recently I decided to go my own way and started my own website development consulting firm targeting SMOs. Your article was most timely, and oh yeah, thanks to Lunarpages that they draw my attention to this insightful article. Recently I was approached by a major retailer of musical instruments to re-construct their website (developed others). Just a few minutes ago I sent a draft proposal to the potential client. In my final proposal and agreement, I’ll definitely heed your advise.

Thanks again and Well done!

By: Philup

Philup — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 14:09:14 +0000

Awesome post, never did consider the legalities of this but now I will. *thumbs up*

By: Stan Hines

Stan Hines — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 06:56:59 +0000

Thank you Mr. Cohen!
I have just gone through the process of making every mistake you mentioned in my hiring of a developer. Twice. Fortunately, this second developer is local and has proven to be incredibly skilled, very honest, and inexpensive. With such an expensive and recent disaster and large financial loss with the first developer though, your article here is something I will be printing off and following to a T when I seek services later this year for a large development project again. Thank you again and again, I may be contacting you for your services at that time as well.
Best Regards,
Stan