A Brief Introduction About the Blogger Contract
Content marketing, search engine optimization is the most sought-after fields in the era of digital marketing. Companies are on the look-out for freelancers who possess commendable and out of the box content marketing skills. Hence companies enter into a contract with freelance writers for creating curative content as per their requirements. The contract explains the relationship of the freelancer being restricted to the creation of specific content for the client and nothing beyond that. Also, the freelancer provides unrestricted usage of the content by the client for a certain period of time.
Who Takes the Blogger Contract? – People Involved
- Freelancer – The bloggers are individual freelancers who have superior writing skills.
- Client – Any business that wishes to use the services of the blogger. The constitution of business can be proprietary or corporate.
Purpose of the Blogger Contract – Why Do You Need It?
The very purpose of the blogger contract is to draw the lines of the relationship between the freelancer and the client. The contract is unique with respect to the need for creating it. The client may require content for a particular purpose, or they may want the blogger to write consistently for them. The latter is called guest blogging, where the terms and conditions of the contract may differ from other blogging contracts. Thus, the scope of service is well defined in the contract to provide clarity on what both are up to. The contract cannot be tailor-made. It has to be changed on case to case basis.
Contents of the Blogger Contract– Inclusions
The contents of the blogger contract can be broadly categorized as follows:
- Name, address, and constitution of the parties to the contract
- Duration of the contract – If it cannot be defined and if it is project or task-based, the basis and length of contract must be explained in clear terms.
- The ownership of the blog – It essentially lies with the client. This is why such a contract is entered. The client can edit, modify the content the way he wants. The blogger can have the ownership rights of contents that are rejected by the client for any reason.
- Consideration – The pricing depends upon the client. It may be on a word basis, background research, difficulty, and technical level of the content. Any kind of base must be properly explained and monetized wherever necessary.
How to Draft the Blogger Contract?
A blogger agreement compared to any other contract focus more on the scope and manner of delivery of work. There are certain important aspects to be borne in mind while drafting the contract template.
- Terms and conditions for the blog – The most important thing any client will look for is the content should be plagiarism free so that he does not land into trouble of copyright infringement. If the blog is written out of reading and studying works of others, the same should be properly referred throughout the article. The length of the article must be as per the request of the client. If the freelancer is a guest blogger for the client, the contract may state that the scope and manner of deliverables will be changed on case to case basis. The affiliate links to the blog can only be provided as directed by the client so that the blogger does not promote himself or competitor in any manner.
- Turnaround time – The time frame within which the contents need to be delivered. A guest blogging agreement shall require the blogger to submit articles on a weekly, fortnightly, and monthly basis. The turnaround time depends on the nature and frequency of the blog publication.
- Ownership of the content – The client holds exclusive ownership of the content. But he may grant permission to use or publish the same on the blogger’s own website after a certain period of time.
- Writing credit – Some clients’ offer the writing credit to the blogger at the beginning or end of the post, but some may don’t.
Negotiation Strategy
The blogger can negotiate the rates offered by putting forth the level of research involved in creating the content. Some clients offer only writing credit and nothing else and vice versa. The blogger has to choose which comes first. Because working for a giant with just a writing credit can make you market your writing skills on the right platform.
Benefits & Drawbacks of the Blogger Contract
The Blogger contract offers the following benefits.
- Both the client and the blogger are clear of the expectations and the deliverables.
- The blogger is ensured that his content gets the right promotion.
- The Blogger agreements are generally non-compete. The blogger can enter into any number of such contracts provided that such engagement does not promote the active competitor of the client at the same time.
The drawbacks of the contract are
- The intention of the client may not be well presented in the blog.
- The blogger may be paid less for more work.
- The client may be constrained with few options for bloggers because of the nature of the product/service he provides.
What Happens in Case of Violation of Blogger Contract?
Violation of the blogger contract happens in case the blogger submits a plagiarized content(1) to the client. Any client shall have benchmarks for accepting a blog. If the client finds that most of the blogs presented by the freelancer are not original, he may terminate the agreement.
The point of getting into a legal battle is very remote in the contract as the nature of the contract is unique and short term. The client may consider hiring another freelancer instead of claiming damages from the party, causing injury. The termination of the contract is considered a good option both by the client and the blogger in case of a violation of any of the contract clauses.
Any agreement that is put in writing and enforceable by law becomes a contract. The relationship with a blogger may be very personal for someone who is running a proprietary business. But putting things in writing ensures the business doesn’t get spoiled at any cause. The client should take care of jotting out all the things he requires from the freelancer and discusses it with him before putting them into a contract. A blogger agreement also protects the best interests of the freelancer by making sure he is rewarded for his delivery.