Welcome back to the Payouts Club! 💸

Payouts Club is a bi-weekly newsletter about everything payout-related featuring guides, written content, interviews with founders, case studies, and collective thoughts from fintech leaders and creators.

Each week we’ll cover the most relevant topics from for anyone who works with payouts on the daily which includes:

• Companies paying out contractors like freelancers and gig workers

• Contracted freelancers, creatives, gig workers

Here’s this week’s edition:

🤝 How to Build Long Lasting Company-Contractor Relationships 

By now, you should know that working with contractors is one of the most effective ways to boost productivity while saving costs (especially if you read our first newsletter). 

But with the rising demand of freelance and contractor work, especially in the AI and creator space, contractors have greater say in the companies they decide to work with. Sure, they may work with you once, but especially for the top 10% of freelancers with the most sought-after skills or audiences, the partnership experience with you as the company is heavily considered.

That means building relationships and developing trust is key to your success in working with top contractors long-term. 

In today’s newsletter, we’ll explore:

• 📊 Case Study #01: How Collabstr builds trust and saves time   

• 💸 Documents you need to ensure smooth contractor onboarding 

• 🗒️ 5 tips for building long-lasting contractor relationships   

📚 Gentle Guides:

CASE STUDY #01: How Collabstr increased creator signup conversions by 31%  

Who is Collabstr? 

Collabstr is a marketplace connecting over 25,000 brands and 100,000 creators. For brands, Collabstr is the place to find and hire vetted creators and influencers around the globe, across 40 different niche categories. 

❌ Before relationship-building: 

• Prior to updating their creator onboarding process, creators were asked to give out sensitive information upfront before gaining any value from Collabstr. 

• As trust hadn’t been established, there was a greater drop-off rate and customer support inquiries from creators even before partnership launch. 

💪 Collabstr’s relationship-building strategies: 

• Staggered onboarding, no sensitive info required for payouts upfront

• Simple, transparent user interface for creators 

• Payouts in the creators’ preferred method including Venmo, CashApp 

✅ After relationship-building: 

“Since (implementing relationship-centric features), we've been able to increase our signup rates exponentially. More specifically, we’ve increased our creator signup conversion rate by 31%.”

• So, Collabstr implemented a staggered onboarding process, catering to the creators desire for receiving value (payment) prior to releasing sensitive information. 

• Now, creators are able to develop a sense of trust with Collabstr and only provide date of birth, SSN, and other information once they reach a threshold amount to comply with 1099 tax requirements. 

Read more about Collabstr’s story here: https://dots.dev/blog/connecting-the-dots-collabstr

Documents you need when hiring an independent contractor

You will need several tax documents when onboarding a contractor. Here are the important tax forms to know: W-9 form, 1099-MISC. You’ll also need the contract itself including details such like confidentiality causes and non-compete agreements if applicable. 

How to create a smooth onboarding process for contractors 

Onboarding requires proper compliance, understanding of 1099 contractors, and most importantly, should be as simple and straightforward as possible to reduce drop-off. 

How to easily and quickly pay your freelancers

Timing of contractor payments is one of the most important aspects of building a lasting relationship. Setting up a payment schedule and automating payouts weekly or bi-weekly is a good idea. 

💡 5 strategies for building long-lasting contractor relationships: 

1. Regular feedback and performance reviews - setting up a regular and consistent feedback cadence can be an effective way to ensure both parties are on the same page.

2. Effective communication channels - unforeseen challenges will undoubtedly arise. Setting up private slack channels or other platforms for when they do occur is a great way to ensure smooth resolutions. 

3. Transparent deliverables and deadlines - decide on a reasonable deadline together and stick to it. If needing expedited work or more deliverables than initially agreed, clearly discuss change in payment before proceeding. 

4. Build a personal connection - while professionalism is key, taking the time to build personal connections can go a long way. Show appreciation for their work and take an interest in their well-being. 

5. Mutual respect and trust - remember that long-lasting contractor relationships are a two-way street. Both parties need to invest in the relationship and work towards successful collaboration.

🔎 Fresh Finds: Long-Term Relationships Edition

Our weekly pick for the best posts, articles, and other content from the community about building long-term contractor relationships.

📖 How companies and contractors build long-term relationships

Sandra shares 5 simple ways to build trust and connection with your contractors on this latest blog post. 

By: Sandra Redlich

📖 Long-term partnerships: Building long-lasting client relationships

This guide from Moxie focuses on creating a process and practicing conflict management to ensure every contractor partnership is as smooth as the previous one. 

By: Moxie 

💬 Talks & Tweets:

Remember, it’s a partnership, not just a signed contract. 

Repeat after me: clear expectations and communication. 

Tod knows what’s up. 

TL;DR: Building a long-lasting relationship with contractors is easy if you know what to do. If you invest in this early on, you’ll be rewarded with long-term partnerships and consistent results. We’ve provided many guides such as how to create a smooth onboarding process for contractors to make it easy.

That’s all folks.

Looking to stay up-to-date with everything payouts and connect with other payouts people just like yourself? Tune into Payouts Club for bi-weekly newsletters in your inbox. 

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