Curious what my standard content marketing agreement looks like? It’s not that bad. Here’s what I’ll email you once we’ve spoken.

CONTENT MARKETING AGREEMENT

CLIENT

XX

PROJECT

This agreement is for copy only. You will receive your copy in a PDF document.

Please send any necessary background materials to Hilary at hilary@ or via Dropbox link.

Special blog provision: Due to the ever-changing needs for blogging, any blog work included in this agreement will be considered a month-to-month project. At any time, you or Hilary Buckley are welcome to discuss updates or cancellation of blog requirements for the following calendar month. Note that work begun will still be subject to the kill fee listed in this agreement, so try to let me know about changes as early as possible.

Your agreement to this Content Marketing Agreement will terminate all previous contracts and agreements between your company and Hilary Buckley Marketing Group, LLC though you will still be responsible for any remaining fees for those earlier projects.

FEES

Deposit

I require a 50% deposit up front for the project to get started. Your deposit amount is listed in the email this Agreement arrived in. You’re welcome to pay your deposit with a check made out to “Hilary Buckley Marketing Group”, or you may call me at (505) 670-0797 to set up electronic payment arrangements.

If you choose to send a check, please mail it to:

Hilary Buckley Marketing Group

PO Box 834

Cedar Crest, NM 87008

Upon receipt of deposit, we will send you an online invoice showing the deposit as paid. It will show up as a credit in your account in our invoicing system.

Projects begin when we receive:

  • Your deposit
  • A copy of this email with your “OK”
  • Receipt of any background materials
  • Completion of client briefing

Payment

Specific fees for each service are listed in the email content above.

Once you pay the fee in full, you own the copyright and all other rights to the copy Hilary has written for you. (Please note the Fair Use clause later in this agreement.) You do not own and may not use the copy until the full fee is paid.

Payments can be made by direct deposit, check, or credit card and will be due upon receipt of invoice. We reserve the right to impose an interest charge equal to 2% per month on any fees that remain unpaid as of 45 days past invoice date.

TURNAROUND

Hilary will deliver a first draft in no more than XX weeks from receipt of deposit, barring unforeseen illness, accident, or Act of God.

If this is an ongoing agreement, Hilary will deliver all following work on our mutually agreed upon deadlines going forward.

All work will be considered accepted unless you tell me otherwise within 2 weeks of your receipt of the copy.

REVISIONS

Up to two revisions are included at no extra charge unless they are based on a change in the assignment made after the copy is submitted.

All revisions must be assigned within 30 days of your receipt of the first draft of copy. After that, revisions or a rewrite may be made at a fee to be negotiated separately from this agreement.

We make our best attempt to be available to make revisions.

Hilary can typically turn around minor revisions in 2-3 business days. Major revisions may take longer.

Note that revisions are not the same as rewrites. A “revision” is a change in the existing copy, in which the majority of the writing stays the same. You may know this as “tweaking.” A “rewrite” is entirely new copy or copy in which the vast majority of the content changes.

CLIENT AND CONTENT MARKETER RESPONSIBILITIES

As your freelance content marketing professional, Hilary Buckley is responsible for:

  • Requesting all the information she needs to plan and write your copy
  • Planning and writing the strongest copy possible
  • Making any revisions you ask for within the terms of the content marketing agreement
  • Always telling you the absolute truth about any of your ideas, edits, or plans – even if it’s something you may not want to hear and could even possibly upset you (but I promise to be nice)
  • Keeping your project confidential

As the client, you are responsible for:

  • Providing Hilary with the information about your product, offer, and market she requests for the planning and writing of your copy
  • Being as specific as possible about any edits, revisions, or changes you want Hilary to make to her planning or copy draft

CAVEATS

If you cancel or put the project on hold once Hilary has begun work, a kill fee equal to half the total fee may be applied.

Background material sent to Hilary Buckley in preparation for content marketing assignments is not returned to the sender unless specific arrangements have been made in writing prior to the project.

Although you are not required to do so, Hilary strongly recommends that you send any content that requires editing in layout before using, so she can review it, make sure the elements are positioned correctly, and make sure all revisions work effectively. (If you and Hilary have agreed that she’ll be posting online for you, this will be taken care of for you.)

[   ] Hilary WILL be posting online for you.

[   ] Hilary WILL NOT be posting online for you.

You are responsible for final proofreading of all the copy.

Also, although Hilary makes every effort to make your copy comply with the law, she is not an attorney. Therefore, it is your responsibility to submit all copy for legal review.

Speaking of attorneys, yours probably wants to know about Handling of Disputes, Termination, Independent Contractor Status, and Fair Use/Portfolio Display. These links are part of this agreement.

RESULTS

There are many factors in your marketing—product, market, price, list, demand, consumer preferences, competition, major events—that Hilary cannot control. Therefore, she does not promise and cannot guarantee specific results.

NEXT STEP

To get started, please send off your deposit payment and respond to this email with your “okay.”

Thank you for letting me make your job easier! Please contact Hilary at (505) 670-0797 or at hilary@ if you have any questions.

Hilary Buckley
Copywriter/Consultant
PO Box 834
Cedar Crest, NM 87008

This agreement constitutes the entire agreement between you and Hilary Buckley for the services listed above. However, if life and business throw you curveballs, call me up so we can make some written changes for you.

ADDITIONAL LEGALESE (MENTIONED IN AGREEMENT)

Handling of Disputes

This agreement will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of New Mexico. Any dispute that arises relating to this agreement shall be settled by arbitration in Bernalillo County, New Mexico, in accordance with the rules of the American Arbitration Association, provided that discovery shall be governed by the civil procedure rules of New Mexico or any successor statute, and judgment upon the award rendered may be entered in any court having jurisdiction. You agree to waive any objection to the jurisdiction of such venue.

Notwithstanding the preceding paragraph, with respect to the collection of past due monies that you owe to Hilary Buckley in accordance with the terms of this letter agreement equal to or less than the jurisdictional limit for small claims court in New Mexico, Hilary Buckley shall be permitted, in her sole discretion, to bring a summary proceeding against you in such court and you agree to waive any objection to personal jurisdiction or venue, and any right to a trial before jury, in any proceeding in these courts. You agree to pay all costs and expenses, including, but not limited to, reasonable attorney fees and court costs for the collection and/or enforcement of any obligation under this agreement, whether or not a lawsuit or arbitration is commenced.

Termination

This agreement will continue until completion of the services, unless terminated earlier by either party upon ten (10) days advance written notice. Should either party terminate this agreement prior to the end of the term, you will pay to Hilary Buckley the unpaid portion of fees for services that were performed, plus all unpaid reimbursable expenses.

Notwithstanding the previous paragraph, if you intentionally or repeatedly do not abide by these terms, and the situation is not resolved within 10 days of receiving written notification from Hilary Buckley, she reserves the right to end the project immediately.

Independent Contractor Status

You understand that you are engaging Hilary Buckley as an independent contractor. This agreement is not intended to create any partnership, joint venture, co-ownership, agency, or employment relationship between us. Unless Hilary Buckley specifically agrees to, in writing, she will not act for you as your agent or make commitments for you or on your behalf.

Fair Use / Portfolio Display
According to Fair Use laws, work that a client owns by copyright assignment or by work-made-for-hire will still be available to Hilary Buckley Marketing Group, LLC and Hilary Buckley to show in a portfolio. However, because we take your confidentiality seriously, we agree not to share any work that is not meant for public use, such as internal company communications. Blogs, white papers, brochures, success stories, and other standard marketing deliverables are understood to be “for public use.” In addition, we have no interest in harming your SEO and therefore we will not share portfolio content in a manner that can be read by search engine robots/crawlers as of 2020.

And, by the way, I’d like to share my endless thanks to copywriting master Bob Bly for the bones of this contract. That guy is a luminary in the industry. 🙂