It happens every so often – I’ll get an email asking me to work on a Pay by Results basis. This could be someone only wanting to pay when they achieve front page Google listings, or someone wanting to pay a commission on each sale achieved, each front page on Digg, each mention on Twitter, etc etc etc. On some occasions I’m not even told what the ‘result’ is going to be, but told to only come back with a true figure!
But what 99% of these emails have in common is the absolute belief that the author of the email is doing me a favour. That I should be thrilled to be involved in their dream. That if I’m as ‘good’ as I say I am, then I should be willing to work on results only. That ‘if I can’t hack it’ I shouldn’t even bother replying.
I just received another one today – hence this post.
Well, let’s clear up a few things, shall we?
1 – You want me to work for free in the first instance? Have some courtesy. Don’t presume I see this as you doing me a favour. In most cases you’re coming to me because you don’t have a marketing budget – you want me to help you – I would suggest being nice is a good start.
2 – Working for free at first means that you will be charged more in the end – trust me, there is no way I’m going to put lots of work I’m not being paid for into something without a good return at the end. So don’t come back to me and say my quote is ridiculous and nothing like what it would cost you to pay me in the normal way. You want the normal prices, become a normal customer.
3 - This is your dream, not mine. If it were my dream, I would be doing it. On a pay by results basis. It’s called ‘running a business’.
4 – Challenging me with ‘if you’re not up to it’, ‘if you can’t hack it’, ‘you daren’t take a risk’ and ‘you’re not good enough’ does not make me want to work with you, it makes me think you’re an arrogant little shit. Sorry to be blunt, but it does. If you were approaching me to be a usual ‘pay a fee’ customer, I probably wouldn’t want to work with you. But then you’d just be a regular arrogant little shit. By asking for special favours and then trotting out the aforementioned quotes, you make yourself look like an arrogant little shit with no money. Well done.
5 – Just because you think your idea is the best thing since sliced bread (although I’m not that convinced that sliced bread was a great invention either) doesn’t mean that I share your belief. You are probably not the first person to come to me with this idea. and won’t be the last. And the fact that you think it is fantastic still isn’t enough to make me want to work on it for free.
The above makes me sound like a grumpy cow, and well it may, because that’s how I feel right now.
However, at NikkiPilkington.com we DO take on Pay by Results clients. But we only consider them if:
1 – They are courteous and honest in their initial approach
2 – The results are easily measurable
3 – They agree to pay our (admittedly higher than the ‘normal route’) fees upon results
4 – They don’t try and emotionally blackmail us into working with them by using reverse psychology
and most importantly
5 – They have a product or service that we believe in too
So, feel free to come to me with ideas, websites and blogs that you want promoting on a Pay by Results basis, but be careful of your approach, or you could end up in a blog like this 
Other posts you may be interested in:
Tags: incentives, pay by results, profanity
[299 Web Steps] You want to pay by results? A few pointers http://tinyurl.com/n9s9cb
[299Steps] You want to pay by results? A few pointers: It happens every so often – I?ll get an e.. http://tinyurl.com/n9s9cb
Well said. That’s all I have to say on this.
I agree with Adrian….and I wouldn’t dare not to be nice to you!
But in an ideal world you shouldn’t have to work with anybody who’s not nice to you, whether they want to pay up front or pay by result.
Had one of these just recently and worst of all it was on the basis of a referral. That takes the biscuit. It’s a shame it happens at all. If such people have no marketing budget and plenty of mouth, they can sell it themselves surely.
Well said Nikki – I completely agree!!
Absolutely – I will refer all future such requests here so they can see it’s not just me and it’s not just them!
Articles such as this help us all to use that “N” word more, I suggest.
Thank you, Nikki
Just cannot believe what some people will try!
Ah, the good old days. Reminds me of being a self-employed attorney in New York for 30 years. Love your prose. Would love to hire you. Will call when I can afford it.
You Go Girl!!
No one should have to work with people who don’t value them or treat them with respect.
The cheek of it! I’m sure they wouldn’t work for free but they expect others too.
I love it when people are so full of their own self-importance that they expect everyone else to jump to their tune.
I can’t imagine you ever getting taken in by their ‘reverse psychology’ but it must be amusing to watch, or listen to.
Good post. We get a fair few “pay by results” or “work for a share of the business” proposals, too, and generally turn them down.
Not always, of course – some ideas come in that are great, have good prospects – and are being headed up by people we could work with.
Far too often it’s just someone who thinks they can beat EBay, Google or Amazon, but doesn’t want to risk a penny in the process..
My background is in PR and we used to get asked all the time for payment based on column inches achieved. this can never work because I don't get to control what comes out someone's mouth when they speak to a journalist. Likewise, in SEO, there are so many variables you cannot control – what if the client suddenly decides to change content without running it by you first?
Apart from unscrupulous Ambulance Chasers, no-one pays solicitors or barristers on a no-win no fee basis. Surgeons still get paid if someone dies on the slab.