Elissa, While I email the contact, I prefer to have a hard-copy signature returned to me. A bit old-fashioned. Rondina _______________________ Rondina P. Muncy Ancestral Analysis 4008 Linden Avenue Fort Worth, Texas 76107 682.224.6584 rondina.muncy@gmail.com www.ancestralanalysis.com On Wed, Dec 19, 2012 at 11:49 AM, Elissa Scalise Powell, CG, CGL < Elissa@powellgenealogy.com> wrote: > Someone asked me about my “smiley” sentence. Although tongue in cheek, it > is also a business practice. Here is how I explained it to her. > > > > “When or if you do [take clients], it is a *business* decision on how you > will be paid. The common way for most professionals (not just > board-certified) is to ask for a specific retainer or half of the > anticipated total up front to engage the professional. Then when work is > completed the professional can decide as part of the way they conduct their > own business whether to ask for the remainder before delivery of the report > or after. > > > > My smiley comment was to have Claudia consider asking for the full payment > before delivery of the report (a normal practice).” > > > > I hope anyone else wondering about the comment now has a greater > understanding of the common business practices of professional > genealogists. As long as your business practice is explained in your > contract or an email before work starts, the client should understand it. > > > > -- Elissa > > > > Elissa Scalise Powell, CG, CGL > > www.PowellGenealogy.com > > www.GRIPitt.org > > CG, Certified Genealogist, CGL, and Certified Genealogical Lecturer are > Service Marks of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, used under > license by board certificants after periodic evaluations by the Board and > the board name is a trademark registered in the US Patent and Trademark > Office. > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: "Elissa Scalise Powell, CG, CGL" [Elissa@powellgenealogy.com] > Date: 12/18/2012 08:07 PM > > Get the money up front. (smile) > > > > > The Transitional Genealogists List was created to provide a supportive > environment for genealogists to learn best practices as they transition to > professional level work. Please respect the kind intentions of this list. > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > TRANSITIONAL-GENEALOGISTS-FORUM-request@rootsweb.com with the word > 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message