Working with Zack is a breeze.

My terms are Net Upon Receipt.

 

I bill once a month even if the project takes a small portion of that time. I bill $100 per hour with a 5-hour minimum for new clients. My rate is negotiable at volume.

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Some clients prefer fixed-rate or per-project billing. I am happy to accommodate them.

 

In compliance with NC usury laws, I charge the full late fee of 18% on the 32nd day past due after 2 pending late fee emails. I do not charge 1.5% monthly allotments because they offer little incentive to pay on time. My method allows clients a reasonable amount of time before incurring a late fee charge. I am happy to discuss payment terms in advance.

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Satisfaction Guarantee

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If you’re not happy with my work, you don’t pay my fees. But in such cases, you are responsible for out-of-pocket expenses that you approved in advance. Disputes must be made within one week of invoice date; my guarantee has a reasonable clock on it to limit untimely claw-backs. There have been two clients who asked for a refund. They each got their money back.

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I want happy clients and don’t want money or billing in my head interfering with the creative process of making you successful.

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Integrated Resources

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Because writing requires research and specialized data and A/V capabilities -- and because clients deserve resilience -- I make significant IT investments.
 
My 2020 Dell i7-9700 Workstation runs patched and updated Windows 11 Pro, multiple 24" monitors, 32GB RAM and has 500GB SSD internal storage. It uses a Windows Hello security camera / HD webcam and a Blue Yeti mic. My backup device is a 2015 Dell i5 workstation also running Windows 11 Pro.

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When traveling I use a MacBook Air (M2, 2023) and an iPad Pro tablet secured by MFA and biometric technologies and Azure's MDM.

I use a high-volume, commercial-grade Fujitsu paper scanner connected to my primary machine.

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I often write with a typewriter; I own nine.  

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I maintain business-class equipment and technology out of my own pocket: 

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• I pay Microsoft for M365 Business Premium. I don’t rely on free stuff from Google. (I know how to use Google Docs/Slides and do so for some clients.) 

• I pay Adobe for Creative Suite and use it to produce or edit Annual Reports, product sell-sheets, videos, and sound-tracks. (One of my clients likes my voice for her white board animations that I also write, which says more about how irrational clients can be than it says about my voice talent.) 

• I pay for Zoom and Teams, so there’s no obstacle to productive meetings. 

• I pay Dropbox for storage and management options to secure access. 

• I pay for a professional Power BI account and publish research and business intelligence reports for clients on my own server. 

• I have MFA and maintain data encryption (at rest and in motion) to protect client data and my own. 

• I have redundant broadband internet service. 

• I invest in education and reference materials.

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I often use other software solutions including Scrivener 3, BBEdit, Notepad++, IA Writer, and MarkdownPad 2 as well as online Content Management Systems (CMS) such as WordPress.

 

 

My technology and resources
are never an excuse for missed deadlines.

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Protocols

 

Because I write for a living, I don’t keep 9-5 hours and I don’t sit at a desk in my isolated office all the time.

 
I don’t let Atlassian, Slack, et al interrupt me or control my life. I control my environment to keep my head clear and my work competitive. Clients who require freelancers to chase every squirrel that comes in via Slack or Teams or Skype chats will find me kindly avoiding such enemies of focus (and creative productivity). 

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Client Confidentiality and IT Security

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Client confidentiality is a very high priority to me. I am happy to sign Non-disclosure Agreements and usually offer to sign it before clients think to ask. I can provide a good one at a moment's notice.

 

I am scrupulous about protecting sensitive information. I separate client documents and isolate them from personal documents.

 

I do not share work product without permission. Much of my work can not be shared with prospective clients. As a result, my portfolio reflects very few examples of my actual work.

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I am diligent in adhering to a modern IT Security policy. I use a password manager to generate and store strong passwords. Passwords are not shared with others, nor do I use a single password more than once. All my sensitive storage and computing devices are protected by Multi-factor Authentication (MFA).

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All this to say....

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I aspire to be a
creative professional
of consistent value to clients
seeking growth & opportunity.

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