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Originally Posted by Richard Bingham
I write a contract which provides for payment by thirds. One third upon acceptance of the terms, (which outlines the intended scope of the work, and provides for change-orders) one third at the "half-way" point (I get to decide that) and the final third upon the client's acceptance of the finished piece.
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Richard, this sounds like a logical & protective plan for both parties - artist and client. Would you be willing to post a copy of your contract? It sure would help with some of the funky things that I have been hearing recently. Sometimes clients' perceptions change with the wind (and it only takes a few of these to consume a lot of time). I know that quirks like this are a part of EVERY profession, but I naively thought I'd see less of it when I left the education field due to smaller numbers of prople. Artists can spend hours and days committing an image into a concrete form to which the client has agreed and then....poof! Spelling things out may not prevent glitches but it sure may catch the ones that are unnecessary. I would greatly appreciate seeing just how you and others have spell out their "rules." I believe it's up to the communicator to make himself (or herself) understood and if that's not happening, then a better and better way needs to be found.
Does your contract discuss refund? I'd really be interested to know when that is appropriate without alienating the client. (Is that like a prenup agreement?) Every person out there who has done his own marketing without a must have good solutions to these problems. This may be a great topic for discussion and since there's no point in reinventing the wheel, it would be wonderful to read ideas on this topic. Thanks be to anyone willing to contrubute to this huge question.