Wire Harness Copywriting Terms of Service

Much of what you'll read below will be a part of our working contract. But I wanted to be clear on how this business is managed, and what information you can expect from me.

As we begin working together, I want to communicate very well with you. I'll break down our agreement and understanding into simple, bite sized documents that you and all parties involved will see and can agree upon. The final document I'll send, the Copywriting Agreement, will capture the entirety of our agreement and understanding in legal terms.

Below, I'll summarize what each document contains. After that, I'll elaborate on a few things that will be stated elsewhere other than the working contract.

Thanks for your patience.

See the Wire Harness Copywriting Standard Copywriting Agreement for a sample working contract that I use. Your actual contract will be somewhat different.

How it Works

If we have a verbal or email agreement to work together, I'll first ask for 15 - 20 minutes of your time to answer preliminary working knowledge questions. I can't prepare a quote for you unless we have this conversation, or you fill out the information with a Creative Brief or other questionnaire. I'll prepare all quotes within 48 hours of our conversation or receipt of a questionnaire.

When your quote is ready, I'll prepare an invoice and send that along with 4 documents. Please reply to three of them:

A Creative Brief

This will reflect your answers back to you, regarding our conversation about your project.

The questions don't all need answers, but the most information I can receive about your company, your product, the target audience(s), and your intentions, the better my return product. Fear not, though. It's my job to do the research, and together, we'll get the job done.

If needed, please correct or add any information and send that to me.

Project Proposal

My proposal to you is not to simply write words, but to create a specific and relevant solution that literally speaks to the heart of your audience. By following the information in the Creative Brief, and other research, your project proposal will include:

The definition of your target audience(s)
The primary value messages that set your company apart from the competition
Develop a message strategy that’s on-brand and directly offers a big promise and solutions to your target audience.

With your helpful information from the Creative Brief and other research, I'll write a statement about how I can achieve your specific goals using the information and strategy above. I'll indicate the specific deliverables (article, white paper, case study, etc.) and fees.

Please countersign the form and return it to me.

Project Terms of Agreement

This will briefly outline the basic terms of our agreement (such as payments terms, deadlines, caveats, guarantees, and results).

Please countersign the form and return it to me.

Copywriting Agreement

This is the full legal agreement between Wire Harness Copywriting and [Your Business]. This document is meant to cover all of the items in the Project Proposal and Project Terms and Agreements.

This document will restate the conditions in the Project Proposal and Project Terms and Agreements, but will cover more minute details, such as:

Information on payments and caveats, revision agreements, client and copywriter responsibilities, and legal agreement language.

It will also re-state the expected results, roles and responsibilities, my guarantee, and all liabilities. You can view this yourself or pass it on to your legal team.

Please countersign the form and return it to me.

Caveats

I cannot begin the project until the three documents are countersigned and returned and the 50% up-front fee has been received. Payment must be received within 24 hours after the Copywriting Agreement has been countersigned and received, or the project deadlines will be adjusted accordingly.

You'll receive an acknowledgement email of the received documents and paid receipt, indicating that the project clock has begun. If any project deadlines need to be adjusted because of this, I'll amend our Project Proposal and Copywriting Agreement and send you copies.

Between all four documents ...

Found in all four documents, you'll find the following details:

A detailed description of the goals for the project.
How Wire Harness Copywriting service will specifically meet each goal.
A word-count range, approximate length, or other project deliverable specified (i.e., an article that’s 1,000 to 1,500 words or a brochure that’s three-to-four pages).
Your project deadline — the date and time the completed project will be delivered. Special notes on names and contact numbers for any other stakeholders in the loop of this project.
Payment method options and when payment is due.
When and how you'll receive the initial payment receipt.
The best way for you to contact me if there are questions.
What will happen if you cancel the work requested after payment has been made, but before the project has been completed.
The extra costs and consequences that will incur if you have an additional request that goes beyond the terms outlined in the contract.

Other items about my workflow

I'll return phone messages and emails within 24 hours.
I'll stipulate in our contracts when I can begin working on your project.
Before I can give you a quote, I want to spend 20 minutes with you on the phone (or you can fill out a questionnaire and email it to me).
- Please understand that I can't give you a written quote unless we've spent time talking to fill out the Creative Brief or other questionnaire. Your written quote will include a Project Proposal, Project Terms of Agreement, and Copywriting Agreement.
I'll deliver your quote within 48 hours from the time the questionnaire is complete.

Thanks for reading! If you'd like more information about me, please visit the About page and Services and Fees page. The FAQ page is there to answer any questions that aren't covered. Contact me if you'd like to hire me.