How to charge for additional marketing ideas

(in addition to the website)

[LABachlr]

I am doing a website for a client of mine who owns a coffee shop, and I have given her additional ideas, beyond the website, that she is going to incorporate into her business that will definitely increase her bottom line.

How should I charge for them? An hourly wage does not make sense in this case, as it takes only a few minutes to tell her the ideas. Some ideas she will do on her own, and other ideas I will be involved in putting them into action.

Any ideas?

[zulu_dude]

It might be a bit late now, but what about some kind of revenue sharing agreement? Granted, with some ideas it would be almost impossible to attribute an increase in revenue to that specific idea, but in some cases it might be possible.

[LifeinAsia]

Suggest that if the ideas you gave her improve her bottom line she could reciprocate with lifetime free coffee for you at her shop. :)

Unless you agreed to some sort of "consulting fees" beforehand, you can't very well go back and demand payment after the fact.

One would hope that since you went "above and beyond the call of duty" and gave her the information, she would offer some type of compensation on her own.

[lazy_guy]

I'm in the same situation.

A guy that I've known for years wants me to make him a website for his surf and skate shop. The guy is totally clueless about websites and doesn't even have his own e-mail address. Now, I could just put up a site and watch it die or I could approach him with a partnership where I manage the site... along with the marketing, seo, etc. My problem is determining what a fair price is. Do I ask for 10% or maybe 35% of all online sales? Or do I ask for an hourly wage? The guy doesn't have deep pockets and i don't think he would pay me more than $30 an hour. I've built a few sites but I've never built an e-retail site. Should I run from the project?

As for you LA... I would look into a partnership of some kind.

[andye]

I agree that it's a bit late to start asking for any partnership agreement in this case.

How about this: the extra payment you get is in the form of her recommending you to other potential customers. You write up a case study explaining how much you've helped her business (ideally very factual e.g. revenues increased by x times, profits increased by x times), and she signs off on that, and lets you use her as a reference customer.

hth, a.