Digital Forms and Contracts
Rachel Brenke
Lessons
Class Introduction
14:54 2How Much is Too Much
37:46 3Business 101 Checklist Part 1
25:23 4Business 101 Checklist Part 2
39:21 5Business 101 Checklist Part 3
10:33 6Putting Efficiency into Practice
14:31 7The Client Guide
28:10Pricing and Products
24:51 9Digital Forms and Contracts
12:30 10Art of Creating a Checklist
22:03 11The Hot Seat Q&A
17:15 12Art of the Checklist and Scheduling
38:12 13Automated Functions
28:03 14Email Management
21:30 15Blog Management and Automation Don'ts
19:37 16Client Management Systems
25:41 17How to Create Template Emails
30:34 18Client Database
28:17 19Outsourcing
39:41 20Networking
19:22 21Networking Etiquette
22:49 22Keeping the U in Business
23:14 23The Hot Seat Q&A
13:20Lesson Info
Digital Forms and Contracts
So using digital forms like the example I just gave, you should always be using digital forms. You don't need to have an emotional connection and contracts it's, a boring, crappy topic that we don't really want to learn about an ideo. But our clients don't want to spend a long time on it. You don't need to wrap it up in pictures and be all amazing. It's, just a straightforward digital form, so contracts, inquiry, questionnaires in contact forms could be automated as possible. We're going to use the identifying decided method again, basically, the three, two one one action to get multiple benefit. So for contracts, we want to avoid the printing scan circus, not only the fact that we don't want them to have to run out, you know, worry about running out of being or printing it, getting it back. It reduces that barrier, but by having it as a digital contract through some functionality that we're going to use. Now we're talking about here in a second they it's also stored for me elektronik,...
lee and it's not just the pdf sit in my email which increases my storage or decreases my storage space available on then I have to take the option of taking it, downloading and moving it to my hard drive, an external hard drive to back it up in case email crashes and all that sort of stuff if I use the functionality, we're going to see her in a little bit then I'm able tio avoid the that whole circus electronically stored for me, it's backed up a cz well and it's easily editable one thing I do want to know here if you are not using an online system if you're not convinced we were done here, never send your contract to a client and microsoft word documents what are they going to do if they don't like something? They're going to change it, sign it and send it back no now so at least that's where ok, may I'm not anti pdf at least to a pdf if you're going to send it but you don't want clients people at it you want to be able to easily edit a contract same thing goes with the client guy, maybe you signed a contract someone back in january they never sign and you've added a lot of provisions since now you already were able to update you can't get that pdf back from them to update here you could easily go in this dragon dropped function she could easily updated any time if I get the will that I want to double my expedited fee I can do it I'll have to worry about if there's any client if any contracts rolling around out there and it changed because it's live right at the time that I edit it that they can it's reflects for the client I'm gonna go until you guys two tools that you can utilize it there are a couple of wordpress plug ins gravity forms is a huge one that I like there's also mock forms it's not a plug in it kind of requires php knowledge all of these are done insights you can embed it into that one page that we want to have for the checklist for the clients and you just go in you create your contract dragon draw do all your stuff embedded into that checklist page and you're done there's now and this is where you brought up like sign now or doc you sign earlier mallory about the the functionality and using it that's an I don't know if they can in bed but you want to try to have one that embeds to put in that checklist you don't want an external sight especially one of they have to sign up for an account for that's another barrier you wanted to be all is easy and cohesive as possible and I don't really want to promote someone else's brand either I want them to have all these different brands going on where it's if it's embedded in that checklist it's all me it's everything me it makes me look professional and it's right there so you always want to make sure you include on a contract see the names of the client name or names of the client obviously and you know who you're doing business with and it's a legal requirement as well need a have the date of the contract when they sign and this goes a little bit to everyone's asking about the legitimacy additional contracts you're good to go as long as you have all the key elements of a contract and a couple extra things that you need but these air the core the data the contract the names need toe have all the contract provisions on there as well these are also going to outline your expectations a fees, fines, schedules how many proofs they're going to receive those types of things should be included your model release is a really big one my rule of thumb is that you can have a contract without a model release never have a model release without a contract so contract yes without model release but not a model waste without a contract the reason I say that is as I allow people to wave their model releases, socially forbid war and being in the d c area, I work with a lot of three letter agency families who can't have internet presence. For me, I'm totally fine, waving a model release and not up using those images online, totally fine by me, because I'd rather their money in their referrals and it's, a customer service benefit, so I don't out of her ties that I can eliminate the moderately. So when I send the digital contract on the checklist, everyone gets the same standard experience contract in modern release, unless I know the referral from another three letter agency client, or they say I can't do it, then I consider them an amended one that's on another page us, the amended model release already done for me, so I don't have to worry about creating and just go oh, no problem, I'm on my phone in the car pool line and switch over to the modified legacy, nor that other one. Here you go, this is what you need, that everything else is the same I don't have to worry about, including at all, but say, I am doing senior models and wraps, you don't just want a model release to use images, you want to also have the contracts that in four provisions and informed them of copyright laws and everything else because you want to settle this expectations so you could have contract without model release just can't use it in portfolio and marking purposes but gonna cost benefit analysis is it worth it for the customer service or not that being said we do live make our money by having portfolio stuff to show so you can't necessarily advertise that you wave it all the time and then the model release thing we want to make sure that we're not way want make sure we have the contract paired okay and then their signature obviously this is common sense okay, so that was contracts no nutshell for the eu's on digital the exact same plug ins and functions that I just talked about second go grab the forms mock forms and though so you can use also for inquiry forms and questionnaires that's why I'm not a big fan of the ones that are just document signing programs on lee because they don't have multiple functionalities whereas if I used like the gravity forms plug in which is in my wordpress dashboard aiken great a contact form out of it a contract out of it and inquiry questionnaire inquire informed boom with one I think so I reduced my costs are reduced my time doesn't know how to learn multiple systems or access multiple systems at a time so that's where I am are increasing basically multiplying the hours and my day quite reformed, the questionnaires keep variety and same information. It stores all the information for you that gravity forms plug in and there's similar plug ins like it will store it all into an excel file, which is really important for c s v or excel file for you, because we're going to utilize that for client management of information tomorrow to show you how to really target and convert the clients who have into more clients and other referrals to make more money increases confidence in the client and ever just the barrier for client cause there's less work for them and less work for you contact for those same way, you can set it up to send notifications to you on that way. They're all stored in one place. The typical contact forms on websites that are default standard. They don't store the information they're only delivering from point a to b, so you have no track record except in your email of what the clients have contacted you from the same goes by just putting your email address out there. Then you have to dig through your email or to pull those all out to see what are the repeated questions that they're asking on inquiry? Well, that's probably something I want, including the guide. You know, in order to be able to fulfill that information, but if I have to dig through my email to find all of those e mails in order, be able to create the guide that's really inefficient, whereas if I have the all of it and excel file for me, I'm able tio start to the information really quickly and edit that reduces barriers, allows clients to fill out instead how to formulate questions, so instead of them having to tell you I want to do a certain type of session, the questionnaire will prompt them to never want open ended questions. He always went to the point. What type of session are you interested in kaput check boxes? They can check the one you don't want to be confused over what, what, what their vision for the session is. You don't want to have to dig through and kind of just starting you've been straight up, asked them, and it takes it away and kind of helps to convert their image of what they have in their mind into what you are able to produce. S so tense, traditional forms you always make sure you include your site includes a privacy policy so you can't get away from legal stuff, he always say, make sure you have a privacy policy that governs what you're doing with the site it's, one of those policies that says we won't sell your information in that type of stuff just make sure whatever is in your policy that you're following your policy and it's putting it is required for you guys to have and discloses any other information that you need to do clients do they read it, but you need to have it because some people are really funny most submitting through contact forms, but you're able have a privacy policy, and they feel a little more confident and who doesn't think that it looks cool to have, like privacy policy on the bottom of their site, like it just makes you seem a little bit more professional also because you have to have it. But then, if I start seeing these little aspects of embedded contracts and privacy policies, I'm going to feel like all this person's legit professional check these functions routinely for your web site to make sure that they were things update all the time things change, they may break, and you don't want to have to go back and have to try to scramble to fix it while you're trying to cook dinner and get that contractor questionnaire back out to the client. I don't recommend any copy and pasting of any privacy policies that you just find online just like contracts always make sure you discern what you're going to do with the information I keep mine private I don't share my client's information unless expressly asked them so I don't put in the privacy policy I will ask him specifically hey, can I s so and so came to me can I say, oh you're also a client with me? They're like, yeah and then I have the permission but I don't advertise that I'm going to talk about them and it backs up the forms and injuries sorry and then the tools for these the gravity forms plug in for word press the mock forms but that requires php knowledge and already mentioned that any type of functionality that you can get that at least has the minimum of story into an excel because we're going to use that client information like hard core to make more money on that could do it all for us enough to dig through e mails and also was secures possible and automatically backs up all the information just like I said a minute ago if you just put your email address on the site well you're becoming susceptible to spam spam bots, confederates pick up on it and if you just put the email address on your site than the client is the copier email address they have to go over opened up their email they have to send you an email with so many barriers where by the time I get from there to there, they probably ready moved onto the photographer that responded to the email in that time on and so you want to make it just as easy to click reply and go back to them as possible questions thoughts, concern quick question yeah mento adams do you recommend your site has an email capture form? Is that wordpress plug in? Do you recommend that for all sites where when a guest comes on to your web site asked for the email? Oh, you mean like a on the pop up thing in order? Yeah, you can do that. We're going to talk about that with newsletter since stuff tomorrow yeah, you want to try to get their information much as possible I try to have the contact forms to people actually want to contact me can contact me so I could they see their expressed interest but also like having kind of a stay updated form so if they're not ready to pull the trigger of contacting you but they want to stay prize to promotions stuff that you have coming up they can feel that out that's a less of a commitment and now you can still tap into them and be able to target in two market directly to them and do you ten that you like people to contact you through a contact for him, as opposed to just a straight email address? Yeah, because it keeps it all in one place for me, so that if I'm seeing the same questions come across again, I can go. Ok. It's might just might cite me to put this out there or joining ad list to my template email response. So they don't have to ask me for it. I'm not to provide the information. And now we have just scroll through, and I can see them all in one place. Instead of going ok, someone was out inquiry and digging through my nose.