graphicpush

I worked on a project for a small startup that was looking to give me a percent of their profits instead of paying for the work I was doing. They thought their business was a sure bet and had grand plans of world domination.

In the end I opted for payment as usual instead of promises of cash rolling in later becuase I wasn’t comfortable that would actually happen. That turned out to be a good choice because the business is still not as much a smashing success and they had hoped.

Of course, my situation was different. I didn’t have the confidence in my client that you do. In the end, I think that’s the key in building a partnership like this.

I am starting a similar project. The client is basically broke and is desperate to get online extention of his business. I am willing to take the risk of pinning my hopes on income yet to come from that project.

The project is certain to make money with clever SEO and other marketing ploy. What tempting more than anything is that my take would be quite hefty. If and only if things get lucrative. Hopefully they will. So I understand what you are talking about. One needs to evaluate the potential of the project involved before they take the jump. It is not therefore for all projects.

One good question is how would you know if the project is generating money? This question arises if the developer hands over the project to the client and wish it will be profitable. Goodwill comes into play. But I am not taking that chance. And YOU should not my friend.

I actually have access to the client’s Adsense and affiliate accounts. This not only gives me access to ad code for HTML placement, but to see how the ads are performing and to make adjustments as necessary. Again, it’s more of a partnership than a traditional client-designer relationship.

Wouldn’t this be considered Spec Work?

Exactly kevin. The developer has to be the boss in a way, doing things his own way to make sure that the project is generating money as was intended initially and , more importantly, the developer is not left behind financial-wise as this is a partnership.

I would not consider this spec work. I have a signed contract stipulating the nuances of the agreement as well as payment terms. Spec work is doing free work in the hopes of securing a contract, which is something I am very opposed to.

Kevin, I think this model is terrific. I can’t remember where I read it, but recently I saw an article discussing many of the more daring ad agencies (R/GA, CP+B, etc.) following a similar model that is based on the performance of an ad campaign. From what I remember, their model was focusing more on the overall sales of a product rather than ancillary revenues such as what you are following. If I were you, I’d also look in to tapping your client’s sales rewards as well.

I just wrote a post about our experiences with commission based payments.
Pay-For-Performance Based Web Design & Marketing

How’s this working out for you? I recently missed the opportunity to multiply my salary 6X if I had been working free-lance for my employer, instead of under salaried contract. Someone tried to undercut my position by offering a commissioned build and my boss went for it at 30% commission. As such, I would have rather taken a similar deal at 30% commission, so I was just wondering how this scheme has done.