An important part of any business is to have terms of service that outline terms and conditions for buyers. 

Your terms can be in the form of a formalized contract that the client signs upon hiring you. Or, those terms could be something less formal, such as a text box with a checkbox on your e-commerce checkout page.

Outline your terms of service are important for both parties because it outlines what the service provider expects from the client and what the client should expect from the service provider.

Your terms of service should detail:

• Expectations for payment
• Outline of your refund policy (or lack of)
• Length of service
• What’s included (excluded) in your service offerings
• Level of interaction required from the client
• Your satisfaction guarantee
• Right to intellectual property/draft and finished written works
• Liability disclaimer

Presenting buyers with your terms of service establishes the professional nature of your business. Making clients read and sign (or click to agree to) your terms of service ensures that clients are making an informed decision with a certain level of expectations from each party.

You might not know this, but terms of service are a time saver and deterrent to potential pain-in-the-ass (PITA) clients. 

Your terms of service also answers questions, which build customer trust, and solidifies the buyer’s commitment to their purchase.

Sample contract clauses for written projects might include:

By signing this agreement*, I state that I have read, understand, and agree to comply with the following terms of service with X [also referred to as “the Company”] specific to my purchase [also referred to as “project” and “written works”]:

• • Full payment is required upfront for all products and services. Upon submitting your order, you forfeit payment for the products and services you selected, along with any purchases requested and approved verbally or written by the Client during the progression of the relationship with the Company;

• • The Company provides a 100% satisfaction policy on all written works; if you’re not satisfied with any portion of the content provided by the Company, a rewrite is made available at no additional charge;

• • The Client is responsible for proofreading all written works, not limited to the resume, cover letter, and LinkedIn profile, to ensure accuracy, completeness, punctuation, and grammar. If alterations are required once the purchased written works have been submitted to the Client, there may be an additional fee required;

• • A lack of response from the Client for submitted written works by the Company, beyond 15 business days, results in a completed project by the Company; additional charges may be incurred by the Client for any changes to written works received after the 15 business day deadline;

• • Drafts and finalized written works are copyrighted by the Company, therefore, the Client has limited rights to the final documents. The Client, or any of his/her representatives, are restricted from publishing, transferring, or gifting, in part or the finalized written works, to anyone for any reason without written consent from the Company. 

• • Publication of written works. The Client authorizes the Company to publish and use the written works, in full or in part. The Company is given permission by the Client to use the finished works for marketing, publication, and award consideration, once the Client’s personal information has been removed.

• • Disclaimer of liability. The Company hasn’t, or its representatives haven’t, implied nor guaranteed any level of results or Client success from draft or finalized written works.  The Client assumes all responsibility for losses, personal and professional damages, and other negative consequences resulting from finished works provided by the Company.

*By clicking and submitting this order (for online checkout page)

Protect yourself by having terms of service for the writing services you offer, including resume writing, LinkedIn profile writing, and so on.

Though, have terms of service for the coaching services and products you sell as well.

Should a client issue a chargeback with their credit card company, showing merchants that clients agreed to your terms of service at the time of purchase can help protect your business against unnecessary revenue loss from those with buyer remorse or scammers seeking free services (bait and switch relationship).

Sample contract clauses for a product checkout page might include:

As I mentioned above, you should have terms of service for products you make available to purchase as well.

• • No refunds. Because of the nature of this product, a downloadable book, we don’t accept nor process requests for refunds. With this said, consider your purchase wisely. 

• • Use of content/rights of ownership. No part of this book is authorized to be published, given away, or made available to the public in any way without written permission by the Author.  

Disclaimer: The above is not intended to be legal advice or legally compliant and/or enforceable content, so consult an attorney to ensure proper legal protections are in place for your resume business.