Terms

About these terms

These terms apply when you book any service with Marni Smyth, trading as Marni Smyth VA ("I", "me"). Along with your proposal or quotation, they make up our agreement. If the two ever disagree, your proposal or quotation wins. Contact: [your email address].

My services

I offer monthly packages, hourly support and holiday cover. Exactly what I'll do for you, how often and what it costs is set out in the proposal or quotation I send you before we start. Work begins once you've agreed it.

Monthly packages

• Length: monthly packages start with a 3-month contract, so we both have time to settle in and get things working well. After that, they move to a rolling monthly contract that either of us can end with 30 days' notice. If you'd like a different length, we can agree that in writing before we start.
• Hours: each package includes a set number of hours a month. What happens to any hours you don't use is agreed when you sign up, as it depends on your package and what you need.
• Extra work: [how you charge for work beyond the package hours, e.g. at your hourly rate, agreed in advance]
• Check-ins: we check in monthly.

Hourly support

For one-off or ad-hoc work, I send you a quotation including a timeline. Once you've agreed it, I'll get started. If the job turns out to need more time than quoted, I'll check with you before going over.

Holiday cover

• Before you go, we have a discovery call to agree what I'll cover, how bookings are handled, and what to do in different situations.
• The more notice you give, the better, but I'll take on short-notice cover if I have the capacity.
• I'll handle as much as I can myself. If something comes up that I can't handle and it can't wait until you're back, I'll contact you on the details you give me, and you decide what to do.
• Where your option includes one, I'll give you a handover when you're back.

What I need from you

• Photos and clips of your work, because that's what your content is built from.
• Access to the accounts and systems we agree I'll manage.
• Approval of content within a reasonable time, so things can go out on schedule.
• Honest, accurate information about your business, prices and services.

You keep the final say on what goes out. Once you've approved something, you're responsible for it as the business owner.

Fees and payment

• Monthly packages: [when you invoice, e.g. monthly in advance on the 1st]
• Hourly support: [when you invoice, e.g. on completion, or a deposit up front]
• Holiday cover: [when you invoice, e.g. in full before the cover starts]
• Payment due: [e.g. within 7 days of the invoice, by bank transfer]
• Late payment: [e.g. I may pause work until overdue invoices are paid]

Who owns the content

You do. Once you've approved it and it's been paid for, the content I make for you is yours. I'll only share it in my own portfolio or social media if you've said that's OK.

Your photos, logos and brand stay yours throughout. If I use stock images, fonts or Canva elements, they're used under those providers' own licences.

Logins and confidentiality

I keep your passwords and business information private and only use them for the work we've agreed. Where a platform allows it, I'll use my own login with access to your account rather than your password. When we stop working together, I'll hand back or remove my access, and I recommend you change any passwords you shared.

Your customers' information

When I manage your messages, comments or bookings, I'll see your customers' personal information. I handle it on your behalf and only on your instructions, keep it confidential and secure, don't use it for anything else, and delete or return it when our work ends. You remain responsible for it under data protection law. Let me know if you'd like a separate data processing agreement.

What I can't promise

I'll always do my best for your business, but I can't guarantee particular results such as follower numbers, reach or bookings. Social media platforms change their rules and sometimes go down, and that's outside my control.

[Limit of liability, e.g. limited to the fees you paid in the 3 months before the problem, to be checked by a legal professional]. Nothing in these terms limits liability that can't legally be limited.

Ending our agreement

• After the first 3 months of a monthly package, either of us can end it with 30 days' notice in writing (email is fine).
• Either of us can end it straight away if the other seriously breaks these terms and doesn't put it right within 14 days of being asked.
• Work already done and paid for is yours. Any work done but not yet paid for is still due.

The legal bit

These terms are governed by the law of [England and Wales, or Scotland or Northern Ireland, depending on where you are based]. If I update them, the version in place when you booked applies until we agree otherwise.