Working in 1-to-1 Projects
Below you’ll find everything you need to know about Squarespace 1-to-1 Projects to get things off the ground quickly and smoothly.
A project consists of the following:
- Overview contains the brief and transfer agreements;
- Activity is where you can keep track of everything that has happened on the project: messages, file uploads, and events like quotes and payments;
- Files is where you manage, preview and download all the files that have been uploaded to the project by either the client or by you;
- Payments tracks the status of all quotes and payments on the project.
Receiving invitations
Upon receiving a project invitation, you’ll be asked to review the client’s brief and provide a quote for the service(s) requested. You should respond or decline in 24 hours or less in order to maintain a good responsiveness score. Clients are encouraged to work with designers who have a high response rate.
TIP: Instead of replying with a quote immediately, greet your potential new client with a nice introduction message. You can thank them for the invite, ask any clarifying questions, nail down important details, and outline any specific terms you may have. This will help establish trust with the client before they are asked to pay for their project upfront.
Before work begins, both parties will need to sign a Design Transfer Agreement, or DTA, to proceed with the project, so be absolutely sure all specifications and terms have been outlined and agreed to before sending a quote to initiate work. Any contracts you upload to the project will supersede 99designs’ DTA as long as it has been added before a quote is paid.
You can communicate with the client directly within projects on the Activity tab.
- Send over a quote using the quoting tool;
- Politely decline the project.
Quoting
Ensuring you get paid for your work is very important to us. Before starting any 1-to-1 project on 99designs, make sure to secure payment.
Asking the client for payment outside of 99designs is against our terms of use and will result in suspension of your account. View our policy here. Taking clients off-platform will also result in fewer projects for you in the future as completing projects on 99designs boosts your chances of being matched. Not to mention, 99designs collects payment from clients upfront and guarantees you'll be paid for work completed.
Keep communication on 99designs. If there are any disagreements with the client, our dedicated designer support team is available to step in and help mediate. If your account contains a record of all communications between you and the client, it makes it easier to resolve.
99designs uses pricing information from completed projects in the same category to suggest a price range, however, these are only recommendations. You should never feel compelled to lower your rates. We value your time and talent and want all designers to feel fairly rewarded for their work.
When creating a quote, you will have the option to setup payment releases. This allows you to break up the total invoice into multiple payment releases as you complete specific tasks. Find out more about creating a quote and getting paid.
Payments
Clients are required to pay the full invoice before work begins. Their payment is securely held by 99designs and is ready to be released when individual line items or the project is completed. Learn more about payments on 99designs.
Collaborating
With the payment now locked in, you’re ready to kick off the project. Start by sharing any client checklists or resources so they are prepared to provide you with everything you need to get their website up and running.
As you will be building their site directly in Squarespace, check in with your client by uploading screenshots or walkthrough videos to the Activity tab.
Similar to securing payment, keeping a record of communication with your client within the project is another way 99designs is able to support you in the case of a dispute.
To upload a design, go to the Files tab of your project.
You now see an upload screen:
On the right you’ll see files can be assigned to the following stages:
- In progress are files being presented to the client for feedback.
- Reference are inspiration files or other project asset files. All client uploads are reference files by default.
- Final files are the finished files required to complete the project.
Completing a project
When a website is finished, Squarespace designers must complete the following steps:
- Upload a full page screenshot of the site to the project marked as Final.
- Go to Squarespace to transfer ownership of the website.
- Complete the project from your end. This will give the client 10 days to confirm the project’s completion before payment is automatically released.
Once your payment has been released, you can view your earnings and request a payout from the Earnings page located in the main dropdown menu.
