1 00:00:10,640 --> 00:00:14,960 Hey there, and welcome back to another episode of Sam's Sidebar, where I tackle your 2 00:00:14,960 --> 00:00:20,030 essential legal questions about starting and growing a legally protected online business 3 00:00:20,030 --> 00:00:23,840 in ten minutes or less every single Thursday here on the podcast. So, 4 00:00:23,840 --> 00:00:29,150 this week, I'll be answering your questions all about when and how you need to update 5 00:00:29,150 --> 00:00:30,630 your contracts. 6 00:00:30,630 --> 00:00:35,420 So, here's the question that I got from a listener, "How often do you need to update your 7 00:00:35,420 --> 00:00:40,460 contract and when do you need a client to sign a new contract?" This is actually a 8 00:00:40,460 --> 00:00:45,140 question that I get so often, so I'm really excited to dive in today. You 9 00:00:45,140 --> 00:00:51,500 need to update your client and program contracts during a couple of different instances. 10 00:00:51,680 --> 00:00:54,100 The first one is my favorite one. 11 00:00:54,110 --> 00:00:57,550 That's when, number one, you learn a lesson. 12 00:00:57,550 --> 00:01:00,320 Which, I hope you learn often because it means you're paying attention and you're 13 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:07,130 updating. So, as I always tell my customers, when something "bad happens" in your business, like a 14 00:01:07,130 --> 00:01:12,560 client doesn't pay you or they quit on you one month into a three month contract, that 15 00:01:12,560 --> 00:01:15,430 sucks, and it's a learning opportunity. 16 00:01:15,440 --> 00:01:19,880 So, the reason that you typically have a question about what to do or what you can do 17 00:01:19,880 --> 00:01:26,090 legally is because the language that you need to guide you is missing from your contract. 18 00:01:26,090 --> 00:01:32,180 And I see that often when people don't have a lawyer-drafted professional legal contract 19 00:01:32,180 --> 00:01:33,200 for their clients. 20 00:01:33,350 --> 00:01:37,340 So, if a client cancels your contract because they said that they learned everything that 21 00:01:37,340 --> 00:01:42,530 they needed from you in one month, it's time to shore up your term and your termination 22 00:01:42,530 --> 00:01:48,320 sections, for example, and make sure that you actually have the language that you need to 23 00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:52,310 be able to navigate those situations successfully. The 24 00:01:52,310 --> 00:01:57,260 second time that you'll need to update your contracts is when law changes, when laws 25 00:01:57,260 --> 00:02:02,360 change. So, from time to time new laws or regulations are introduced and it requires us 26 00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:05,990 to update or change our contracts and our policies. So, 27 00:02:05,990 --> 00:02:10,520 for my Ultimate Bundle members, for example, they love the fact that the Bundle gives 28 00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:15,170 them those lifetime updates and a monthly email newsletter from me with any changes that 29 00:02:15,170 --> 00:02:19,250 need to be made or alerting them to anything that's changed in the industry that they 30 00:02:19,250 --> 00:02:20,300 have to be aware of. 31 00:02:20,300 --> 00:02:22,790 So, that's one of the benefits to being in my Ultimate Bundle. 32 00:02:22,790 --> 00:02:26,750 You can get the link down below to join now, and save, and get a bunch of different 33 00:02:26,750 --> 00:02:32,830 bonuses. The third time that you ever need to update your contracts is during - what I call - 34 00:02:32,830 --> 00:02:33,970 quarterly checkups. 35 00:02:33,970 --> 00:02:39,760 So, whether or not you learned a hard business lesson or whatever, a good practice, in 36 00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:43,990 general, is just a set of quarterly reminder for yourself using your favorite 37 00:02:43,990 --> 00:02:50,860 productivity tool - I use Asana - once per quarter to check in and see if there is 38 00:02:50,860 --> 00:02:54,430 anything that you need to update in your contracts or your website policies or anything 39 00:02:54,430 --> 00:02:56,380 else because you might have just forgotten. 40 00:02:56,380 --> 00:03:02,640 So, maybe set one for January 15th, April 15th, July 15th, and October 15th. 41 00:03:02,640 --> 00:03:05,880 And just check in and see is there anything that needs to be updated. 42 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:07,720 You might not have anything that needs to be updated. 43 00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:10,720 You might. So, that's a good idea. If 44 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:15,400 I were you, I would take myself to a coffee shop, set a timer for, like, 30 minutes and 45 00:03:15,400 --> 00:03:19,150 take a quick look through my contracts and policies and my disclaimers. 46 00:03:19,150 --> 00:03:22,990 You might see something that you didn't even realize needs to be updated. 47 00:03:24,220 --> 00:03:25,740 So, it's a good reminder. 48 00:03:25,750 --> 00:03:30,310 Now, as for the second part of this listener's question about when do you need a client to 49 00:03:30,310 --> 00:03:35,740 sign a new contract, I typically say that any time your contract changes and the client 50 00:03:35,740 --> 00:03:36,920 is re-upping with you. 51 00:03:36,920 --> 00:03:41,680 So, if you've changed some term of your contract, like you used to allow refunds and now 52 00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:46,810 there is no refund, or you changed the termination clause, or whatever, and obviously if 53 00:03:46,810 --> 00:03:50,260 you changed the price, you would have them sign a new contract the next time. So, 54 00:03:50,260 --> 00:03:55,120 if at the end of the three month term, they say, "I want to re-up with you." You just 55 00:03:55,120 --> 00:03:56,600 say, "Great. I have a new contract. 56 00:03:56,600 --> 00:04:01,150 I'll send it over to you. Review and sign it and get it back to me." So, that's that. You 57 00:04:01,150 --> 00:04:07,200 would also tell your client to review the entire contract and sign. 58 00:04:07,200 --> 00:04:12,610 As tempting as it is - this is just a little extra tip - instead of saying like, "I only 59 00:04:12,610 --> 00:04:17,920 changed this or I only changed that, so just go ahead and sign it." You just want to say, 60 00:04:18,190 --> 00:04:22,560 "Can you review the entire contract or just review the contract." Leave it really plain 61 00:04:22,560 --> 00:04:23,740 and general. 62 00:04:23,740 --> 00:04:28,270 You just don't want to make it seem so simple in case you did change something else and 63 00:04:28,270 --> 00:04:32,020 like you don't remember, that's the best way to go about it. So, 64 00:04:32,020 --> 00:04:36,340 if you feel like you're always in the dark about how and when to handle legal issues in 65 00:04:36,340 --> 00:04:41,470 your online business, you can download my free Five Steps to a Legally Legit Online 66 00:04:41,470 --> 00:04:42,820 Business Checklist. 67 00:04:42,850 --> 00:04:46,840 It'll give you my step by step approach to the essential legal things you can tackle at 68 00:04:46,840 --> 00:04:48,370 any stage in business. 69 00:04:48,370 --> 00:04:52,810 Plus, you'll automatically be added to my email list so you get my twice weekly legal 70 00:04:52,810 --> 00:04:56,020 tips straight to your inbox, including Q&As. 71 00:04:56,020 --> 00:05:00,310 People really love those. So, if you don't need the legal checklist or you don't want to get any more marketing 72 00:05:00,310 --> 00:05:03,730 emails, but you want to get my weekly stuff, make sure you just click the easy emails 73 00:05:03,730 --> 00:05:07,660 link below and you'll get added to my email list without going through any sort of 74 00:05:07,660 --> 00:05:08,710 marketing funnel. 75 00:05:08,710 --> 00:05:11,140 So, thank you so much for listening. 76 00:05:11,140 --> 00:05:13,930 I'll drop all the resources that I mentioned below. 77 00:05:14,230 --> 00:05:17,050 If this episode was helpful, go ahead and send it to a friend. 78 00:05:17,050 --> 00:05:18,220 And thank you so much for listening. 79 00:05:18,220 --> 00:05:22,630 I'll see you next week. Thanks 80 00:05:22,630 --> 00:05:25,090 so much for listening to the On Your Terms Podcast. 81 00:05:25,090 --> 00:05:29,020 Make sure to follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you like to listen to 82 00:05:29,020 --> 00:05:33,970 podcast. You can also check out all of our podcast episodes, show notes, links, and more 83 00:05:33,970 --> 00:05:36,740 at samvanderwielen.com/podcast. 84 00:05:36,790 --> 00:05:40,360 You can learn more about legally protecting your business and take my free legal 85 00:05:40,360 --> 00:05:43,810 workshop, Five Steps to Legally Protect and Grow your Online Business at 86 00:05:43,810 --> 00:05:48,770 samvanderwielen.com. And to stay connected and follow along, follow me on Instagram, 87 00:05:48,770 --> 00:05:50,950 @samvanderwielen, and send me a DM to say 88 00:05:50,950 --> 00:06:01,490 hi. Just 89 00:06:01,490 --> 00:06:06,410 remember that although I am a attorney, I am not your attorney and I am not offering you 90 00:06:06,410 --> 00:06:08,000 legal advice in today's episode. 91 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:12,710 This episode and all of my episodes are informational and educational only. 92 00:06:12,710 --> 00:06:17,060 It is not a substitute for seeking out your own advice from your own lawyer. 93 00:06:17,060 --> 00:06:19,880 And please keep in mind that I can't offer you legal advice. 94 00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:21,910 I don't ever offer any legal services. 95 00:06:21,910 --> 00:06:24,890 But I think I offer some pretty good information.