TERMS OF SERVICE
revised January 1, 2020
Well, this is the fine print. It is kind of short, sweet in most spots, and doesn't require a magnifying glass, so please take a minute to read it. There's no major legal mumbo jumbo, but it pretty much spells out the don'ts and the shouldn'ts and what happens if you do anyway. Just to cover our bases, and most of yours!
INVOICE TERMS: Invoices are due on receipt. We trust you'll honor this. We could require payment up front, similar to how you require payment from your customers when they place an order, but we don't (most of the time). We trust when you get paid, you'll pay us - or sooner. We simply ask that you clear your invoices each month. If this is too much to ask, then we might not be the best fit as a newsletter service for you. Accounts that go past 30 days will need to be secured with either a credit card or PayPal autopay or will revert to payment prior to delivery - no exceptions.
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LATE FEES: We do charge late fees on invoices that go past 30 days; most service providers do! You can avoid this by paying your bill upon receipt. We have an autopay option that is free to you as well. Since we offer two great ways for you to avoid late fees, we don't waive them if you get one. Sorry!
AUTOPAY FAILURE: If you do avail yourself of the autopay option, that makes life simpler for you and us! One caveat with autopay - you will get hit with a late fee if we cannot get your card to accept the charges within 30 days of invoice. If the card on file declines, we will try it again in a few days; if it continues to decline, you will be notified. If you fail to update the card information on file or pay the invoice timely, on day 31 you will be assessed a late fee. Make sure your autopay is up-to-date; you can call us to do this.
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MATERIAL CHANGES/CORRECTIONS: We understand things happen, everyone makes mistakes - especially us! We are human and so are you. If you submit the wrong stats or other information, we will happily make changes once without additional charge. If you require 3 or more changes to your newsletter based on incorrect information supplied by you or your assistant, we will charge accordingly for modifications at our hourly production rate of $65. 
We think that is only fair! Of course, if we muck it up, well that's on our dime, now ain't it!
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PAST DUE ACCOUNTS/SUSPENSION OF SERVICES: What happens if your account gets behind? Well, what happens when you don't pay your electric bill? They might let you slide until the next month, but if you don't catch up the account by then, they cut you off. They've been in business for a long time, so that method obviously works real well for them. We will follow their years of experience and employ the same method. It's not personal, it's just business. If we do cut you off, your account balance will need to be paid to zero before we can restart services. If it becomes a habit, you convert to prepay.
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COLLECTIONS/DEFAULTED ACCOUNTS: Oh, and just to be clear, we're not going to spend a huge amount of time chasing you down to pay your bill. We tried this in the past and we spent more time doing that then doing design work. We are way too busy for that. That's your responsibility as a business owner, a decent human, and a Proverbs 31 woman. If you want to avoid the conversation, that's fine, we have an attorney who gets paid to be ignored - so it's their problem - and yours. We've got newsletters and design work to do and clients to take care of!! We do file nonpayment reports with the Better Business Bureau and DUNS on accounts that go over 120 days and we will follow that up with a small claims suit if you really want to push things that far for your $25 newsletter, but I know we won't have to go that far with you, now will we :) Nah..that's just crazy! Just so you know, too, if you skip out on your bill, then pay it a year later and want to restart services, well, you might get a big no. We only put our hand on a hot stove once, right?
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CANCELLATION OF SERVICES: If you want to cancel some or all of your services, simply send us an email or call us on the phone 30 days prior to the date you want to stop. We will send you a confirmation email giving you a stop services date. If you don't have a confirmation email - then guess what?!? You have not canceled your services. This is really important if you have a 'recurring' service - like graphic design retainer billing, weekly newsletters, or if we pull your newsletter stats. We will continue to do these things for you until you ask us to not do those things for you. We're holding up our end of the deal - so you'll have to hold up yours and pay the bill. Contact us if things change! We don't know about changes until you share them. Likewise, your failure to cancel doesn't mean we fail to get paid. We also required 30-days notice to stop. A lot of the prep work for your newsletters is done before the first of the month - so don't wait until the 1st to cancel, because you'll be reminded of the 30-day notice and still be billed for the current month.
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Graphic design monthly retainer clients will be billed a set rate monthly for a specific block of available, guaranteed design time. Unused design time will be forfeited at the end of the month. All retainer clients must provide 30 days notice of cancellation. Any work done following a cancellation will restart your retainer billing at the terms previously agreed to.
If the month has started, then your cancellation will become effective at the end of that subscription period, not when you remember you forgot to cancel. We don't do partial refunds.
VENDOR/EMPLOYEE RELATIONSHIP: Do we work for you? Nope. Are you my contractor? Nope. What are we? You signup for a service for us to do your newsletters and we are tickled pink to provide that service to you. We are not your 'staff' or 'employee'. We have an open-ended verbal agreement for services as they are requested; not a contract of employment. We are not a subcontractor either. It's kind of like when you pay the the girl to cut your hair or the guy to come and spray for pesky critters on your property or even the little lady who does your mani-pedi. You pay each of them for a service they provide - that's it. Well that's us!
You pay us to produce newsletters, digital media and physical products you've requested, but that's pretty much it. We don't work for you and your business exclusively. Now, having said that, we do produce things for you. You can deduct our services on your tax returns, but you don't have get the accountant to dust off the 1099-Misc form. Do you give one to the shampoo girl? Do your customers give one to you? I didn't think so. We take care of our taxes and give Uncle Sam his fair share, believe me! You simply deduct our services as a business expense, not as a contractor.

If you need our tax ID to accomplish that - it's 46-5753466.
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PRICE CHANGES: Why is my friend's newsletter a different price than mine? Well, that depends on a couple of things. She may have been our client for a long while and our rates have gone up since then, or her team may be really huge (or really small), or we might do more (or less) for her than we do for you, or she might have gotten a 'thank you' discount for a few months because she sent us a dozen new client referrals that she forgot to mention to you, or she might live in another country - who knows! While we do have a price list, sometimes things are quoted to meet the special needs of our clients and the pricing given to them, and you, reflects that. We do reserve the right to adjust pricing, up or down, as we see fit to keep on trend with our business market and the needs of our clients. We also reserve the right to adjust your rate if you discontinue our services and then restart at a later date. We will hold your rate for 30 days. After that, if you restart services, you do so at the current rates and offerings. The only grandfathering going on around here are for those little people that come visit once in a while and leave sticky fingerprints on the screen door and GI Joes in our shoes.
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PROPRIETARY INFORMATION/SCOPE OF WORK: You work with Thirty-One, LuLaRoe, Origami Owl, Mary Kay, LillaRose, Scentsy, or another company - we don't. While we do work with the information that has to do with your business, that is about as far as it goes. We are not 'on the inside' or under contract with any of those companies. We work with the information that is provided to us to design, typeset, and develop newsletters for you and your team. What you do with that newsletter or other product, digital or print, once it is delivered to you, well frankly, is on you. We will not publish your newsletter or any other artwork, brochures, graphics, or similar product designed by us for you. We simply provide you with design and typesetting services required to produce newsletters, brochures, graphics, signage, marketing materials, or other similar products requested by you for you and your business. We are not responsible for what you do with those products. Oh, and all of those companies you work for, have copyrights on their work, and we respect those, and will only design things if you are an actual consultant for that company.
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RETENTION OF RIGHTS/OWNERSHIP OF WORK:
We do work for more than one person that owns a direct sales business. We do work for more than one direct sales business module. We even do work for corporate and small business clients locally and across the country. We may use a design similar to what we may have done for you for other clients. If you want exclusive use of a product, we can discuss that, and the cost for that privilege, with you at the time you place your order.
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OUTSIDE LIABILITY/COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT:
Will you provide me with design services or printed materials that I can provide to my customers? We are happy to design anything you like - that's what we do! You, as a business owner and an independent contractor with your direct sales company, are responsible for doing your due diligence and getting design projects approved by CAGS or your review board/team. We are happy to work within the guidelines set forth by your company and will gladly make changes to help you remain compliant with those guidelines. But at the end of the day, we design it and you are responsible for your business and what you choose to release. Once it leaves our desk, it's on you - so make sure you take the time to get approval to ensure you are not stepping out of bounds. We do not handle this for you.
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RATE ADJUSTMENT/GRANDFATHER PRICING: If I used to be a client and stopped your services, then later I want to restart, can I keep my original rate? Depends. As noted above, we will hold your account for up to 30 days at the same rate as before. On day 31, if you decide to restart services, your rate will be adjusted to reflect the current billing rates. It's a loyalty perk for consistent customers to keep their grandfathered rates.
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COMPARATIVE PRICING/MULTI-VENDOR SERVICE AGREEMENT: 'I use your service for newsletters, but another firm for number crunching. Are you okay with that?' Sure! That is totally up to you - it's your business! Are we going to align our pricing to match theirs, probably not. Are they more expensive, are they cheaper? Honestly, I have no clue. We charge what we charge. We think the price is fair based on the competition and what they have to offer versus what we have to offer. If you think so, super! If you don't, well, super! Okay. Yep. That's it for now. We do of course reserve the right to modify these anytime.