During the #solopr Twitter chat this week, PR consultants shared their top tips on topics that are key to running an independent PR business successfully. The questions included:
1) Does anyone have a co-op, biz partner or share office space? How's that working out?
2) How do you charge for full-day sessions w/a client? Hourly rate? What if clients asks for a “day rate”?
3) Do you include a termination notice in their contracts? How do you manage if a client won't?
4) How do you handle clients that don't pay/honor contract? Are you worried about reputation if you fight?
Download this week's transcript in PDF for the answers, and be sure to add your tips in the comments!
The #solopr chat – held each Wednesday from 1-2 p.m. Eastern – is a weekly ritual for some of the most savvy Solo PR Pros on Twitter. Anyone with a Twitter account is welcome to participate – see Join Us for the #solopr Chat on Twitter to find out how!
Man, I'm sorry I keep missing these chats. Anyway, the subject this week is close to my heart, so I wanted to respond…
1. I've only gone co-op for high-expense shared services like Cision. Wouldn't ever want to jointly sign a lease with anyone because I've never wanted office space and don't anticipate a need for any.
2. We only work on a fixed-fee basis — no hourly charges and no external (that is, client-reviewable) time tracking. So if I client wanted a day for something that's in scope, it's already covered. And if it's out of scope, they'd get a fixed-fee quote for the out-of-scope work. Generally, it's in the neighborhood of $1200-1400 per day, if you wanted to slice and dice it that way.
3. I don't work without a contract and don't work in conditions that put work at risk. Generally, that means a 30-day termination clause. But for clients who don't want that — and there have been a couple along the way — then pre-paid retainer works just fine. You want to fire me six days into the month? That's fine, because I've got my retainer check and you're not getting a refund. And I've got no more than five days of work at risk because all work *stops* if I don't have that check by the fifth of the month. (Sidebar: We've got some outsourcing clients on a weekly billing cycle and net-10-days payment terms. It only takes one late check — and an accompanying work stoppage — for them to know we're serious about our payment terms.
* Our contractual work-for-hire clause says that we retain copyright on all the work until final payment is made. So if someone wants to skip out, usually a nastygram from our attorney reminding them that they don't quite own the work yet sets things straight. Now, having said that, I won't go beyond a nastygram for anything under five figures — it's too much hassle when, frankly, I can move on and go do more billable work.
Once again, thanks for sharing your terrific additions to the discussion here. Not everyone can attend the live chat, but this “after hours” input is very valuable.