Know-How Exchange : Other

Nothing if you didn't negotiate it into your pricing. That's why I like to have a smaller upfront and then performance pay for the rest.

Looking for a guideline? 10% You can also do flat amount if its for large ticket items.

Michael

Dear Sarainc,

I agree with Michael. There’s a line from an old Genesis song "Gambling only plays when you're winning". The brutal (but realistic) answer to your question is this: at the beginning of this year, I got a great compensation package.

I got to keep my job.

The second, and slightly less brutal but still honest answer is: compensation depends on the increase in sales, on the relevant market, on the difference between the proposed or projected increase and the actual increase, on the marketing’s ability to sustain the sales growth over a pre determined period, and on the costs involved to create, launch, run, and review the campaign.

You don’t say if you’re a free agent or working for a larger entity. If it’s the former, any compensation needs to be outlined and agreed on up front. No results, no pay. If you’re any good at increasing sales and have a track record of delivering solid results, few clients worth (and aware of) their dividend will balk at a figure that matches their expectations of ROI based on your results for other people. But it’s always going to be a crap shoot.

I know of at least three marketing people who are also fantastic writers, and none of them charges a penny up front. When sales climb, they ask for (and get) at least $100,000, plus a percentage point of the recurring gross profit. It’s all contracted from the beginning. All signed, witnessed, and sealed.

If you arrange nothing up front, guess what you get when all’s said and done?

But step back and reconsider one point. You alone might think you “made the campaign”, but in reality, it’s far more likely that you were part of a team. If you wrote, directed, art directed, bought and paid for the space, managed the whole campaign, and signed
off on it, then, perhaps you could say you “made” it. But in truth, the person that made the campaign was the brave soul that signed off on it and who took the risk to say “Yes, let’s do this.” I know that sounds incredibly pedantic, but when you work in a vacuum, you wind up not working at all. Which means you never get paid.

If you deliver, and if you can do it again and again. Get your compensation agreed ahead of time and get it in writing. Get paid on results and deliver results and you'll never be out of work.

I hope this helps.

Gary Bloomer
Wilmington, DE, USA