Questions a Freelancer should ask to a potential client

Ari,

Here are a few more things to include/think about:

• What is the business objective of your project?
• Is there a storyboard and/ script in place? If not, who will create and approve them?
• How many versions will you build? Alpa, beta, Final? How many reviews will you allow?
• What e-Learning app will you need it to be created in?
• Will you require video? If so, will you be providing the video? (Format/quality will be key here in order to avoid redoing it later; same for audio). Are they expecting any voice over to be done by someone internal or do they want professional voice over talent.
• Will the course need to be viewed on mobile devices? If so, what type?
• Where will the course be stored? LMS? What version of SCORM is required?
• Who will test the course on their LMS? You or their IT staff? What LMS?
• Will closed caption be required or can you put the script into the player?
• Will you be required to build custom interactions or can you use "out of the box" interactions?
• If they provide images, do they own the copyright to them?
• In regard to the quality of any audio/video they provide, you might want to ask them to send a sample to see where you are starting from. 

These are just a few that come to mind. Hope that helps a little.

Richard

Hi Ari! Richard has some great feedback for you. I also wanted to share this great article by Jackie Van Nice, which gives you some great tips on evaluating if a client is a good fit for your business. 

thanks to both of you.

Kelly the article was very helpful as well.  I had thought a lot about those questions.

I wonder how many people when they do a contract with companies ask for a deposit at start?

Hello Ari,

I always ask for 50% up front. I was doing a Facilitator guide for a client for her training classes and after I sent the first draft, I never heard back from her after multiple follow ups.

Ari,

Several years ago I didn't. The problem I experienced was clients would engage you to create a product for them. This project might be projected to start in 3-4 weeks from today. When that time came, many of them would either cancel or delay the project further.  After looking at the problem, I decided to take another approach and started asking for a deposit up front. Look at it this way, they are asking for time on your schedule to be dedicated to their project. By depositing a down payment, they are showing their commitment. I also write in my contracts if they cancel after a certain time period, they forfeit their deposit. The reason? If I've blocked time on my schedule and they cancel 2 days before the project starts, I've now got an open block of time that I have to fill. This is one area that a lot of e-Learning freelancers don't think about or deal with. It can cause a lot of havoc on your schedule and your bottom line if you don't

Richard

I wrote an article about this: http://bit.ly/ELAquestions