Hi gorgeous.
Feeling like a powerful woman today.
Currently grabbing a quick sushi lunch at the German version of Bloomingdale's before racing off to the immigration office to meet my lawyer and make sure I stay good n' legal here in Berlin.
And speaking of paperwork--I'm reminded to share a quick moral imperative for all of you today. And that imperative is this:
Darling, get it in writing.
So, in Germany, evvvvverything is still printed out on physical paper. A hassle, but I also kind of get it. Paper doesn't lie.
In the US of A, however--and with some of my startup/techie clients around the world--we've started to do away with tedious things like "printing contracts" in order to move faster, save paper, whatever.
And it's OK that it's all gone online... I'm all about saving the trees. But that doesn't mean you don't need it in writing.
A handshake is not good enough. When you're talking about a freelance contract, a salary negotiation--shoot even when you're just talking about when you're going to have the next interview, you need that sh*t in writing.
Yesterday, I extended a contract with one of my biggest clients through the end of the year. The negotiation happened casually, in a private meeting with a person I totally trust.
But--that's right--I still want it in writing. Immediately following the meeting, I fired off a quick email with an exact summary of what we had just spoken about. That email looked like this:
Subject line: Updated Contract through Nov 30, 2016
[First Name]--
Thanks for the chat on extending my contract.
As agreed upon, we'll readjust the rate to [redacted] for the duration of a guaranteed 3-month contract extension (contracted for 3 days/week).
Looking forward to it.
I'll look for the contract from HR in the mail and get it signed as soon as possible.
Thanks,
Alexa
Get. It. In. Writing. You're welcome.
Now then, off to meet my lawyer.
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