3 Legal Contract Tips with Yasmine Salem Hamdan
Branding with Friends | Episode 16
Featuring Expert Guest: Yasmine Salem Hamdan
Watch or listen to the video interview below or scroll down to read the transcription.
Meet Yasmine Salem Hamdan, Business and Brand Protection Lawyer
Annie: Today I'm going to introduce you to one of my new friends in the business world. If you have been curious about whether your contracts are in a good place or you've been avoiding dealing with your contracts like the plague for your coaching or consulting practice, you are going to love today's guest. My guest today is the dynamic Yasmine Salem Hamdan. Yasmine is a business and brand protection lawyer based in Dallas, Texas. Through her startup, Coaches and Company she aims to support online coaches, course creators, and entrepreneurs by providing access to lawyer-created legal resources such as contract templates in order for entrepreneurs to protect their powerful brands, avoid expensive legal problems, and create peace of mind and confidence in their businesses. She's a Texas gal at heart, loves a good taco, and enjoys spending her time with her loved ones including her one-year-old son.
I'm so glad you are here Yasmine thank you so much for joining us on Branding with Friends.
I didn't realize you have a one-year-old son. My son is turning nine months this month. So, they're somewhat close in age. What's your son's name?
Yasmine: His name is Musa, m-u-s-a it's Arabic from Moses.
Annie: Our son's name is Leo. It is I don't know what for lion and brave.
Yasmine: I was a Leonardo DiCaprio fan back in the day.
Annie: Yeah, he's definitely named for Leonardo DiCaprio. Actually, we joked about that but he's not.
I'm so glad you're here. We're here to talk about a topic that doesn't get a lot of attention but is really truly so important which is having contracts as a coach, consultant, or service business owner. I know this is one of the amazing things you do as a brand protection lawyer based in Texas. I also know you work with people all over. So, tell us a little bit about how you got into this world. What interests you about working with coaches and consultants and helping them from a legal perspective?
Yasmine: Yeah so where do I begin? I initially had launched my firm in 2017–– late 2016 and I really positioned myself as a business and brand protection lawyer that worked with entrepreneurs. It was really general. I didn't have a really narrow niche audience or ideal client. It was really just entrepreneurs because all entrepreneurs needed my services. I figured I'll just keep it broad. In hindsight, it's very clear how much of a rookie I was. We did well at the firm but I continually struggled with my messaging and with my content. As I went through that struggle and I moved through that struggle it became clear to me. It really came to a head was when I was on maternity leave. In 2019 I realized that I needed to narrow who it was that I was speaking to in my messaging and who I was creating content for. Who was I helping guide and take through the process of building this incredible business? What do you need to protect and how do you do that with ease? It doesn't need to be the scary beast of the law or a very intimidating process. It's within reach of everybody and it's totally doable and can happen for you.
I realized while I was on maternity leave that distance gives you perspective. It does. I realized that who I really enjoyed working with were other professionals that were leveraging their knowledge and expertise and moving into the consulting strategist coach space. It still it really lights me up and at the time I was thought, “how did I not see this before? How is it not obvious?” But again, that perspective is sometimes what you need. That's how I got to where I am. We can talk more about how Coaches and Company came about but that's really how I entered this space in this industry.
Annie: Well I think you really illustrated a lot of the branding of Branding with Friends which is this idea of, it makes your life easier when you know who you're talking to. It seems like you were successful and you can be successful when you have a broader audience. But can you really thrive and love what you do and be incredibly profitable without doing that? I don't know. I think you perfectly demonstrated how this works and what I'm always teaching my clients. Who can you add the most value to? That's really what an ideal client is. You and I can both add a lot of value to lots of different kinds of business owners but there are certain kinds of business owners we have so much more to offer them. We have so much more value whether it's through free content like what you're experiencing today or working one-on-one where we can add so much value. We have the most valuable solutions for their biggest problems. That's all this really is. It's not about inventing an avatar who looks just like you and likes to shop at J.Crew. It's not about that. It's really true about meeting people where you can add the most benefit and then really zeroing in on that. You've perfectly done that I think. That's how we found you. I'm always looking for great guests for Branding with Friends who know their stuff and who share an audience. So that when I send you guys to Branding with Friends you are going to find an expert who also works with you and understands your specific problems. So, we're not talking brick and mortar today we're talking coaches, consultants, and service business owners.
We're going to talk about three big tips today to improve your contract. Be thinking about contracts and how they work in your coaching practice. Yasmine has been so kind to come up with three great tips and we're going to do the first two and then she's got something special for you guys. At the very end of the episode, we'll do the third tip. With that, I know you've come armed with some really key things that we need to keep in mind about contracts when we have a service-based business. What would be that first thing we really want to be mindful of?
Yasmine: Let me just say first, you're speaking to my heart and all in terms of when you really identify who you can provide the most value to or add the most value to it. You don't feel like you're walking through your business wearing soaking wet clothes where every movement expends so much energy. Instead, it becomes effortless and it moves easily because that's your person.
Annie: You're also not having to customize your process every time because working with a coach is really different than working with a brick and mortar company or a product-based company. It's a totally different mindset so you have to shift everything you offer, shift everything you do, and you can't be as much of an expert.
I think you make a really excellent point which if I had to summarize is, it makes life easier for you, it makes it fun, it makes it simpler, it makes it lighter because you can become an expert at what you're doing and not be such a generalist in every world. So with that in mind what's the first tip that we should be mindful of?
#1 Action TIP
For coaches & creatives, intellectual property is a huge asset of your business
Yasmine: The first tip I want to share with y'all today is touching on our intellectual property assets as online business owners, as coaches, as consultants and service providers. When we create content, when we're building a brand, the value of our business is not derived from our physical assets like a traditional business or a brick and mortar. We don't have the inventory, equipment, the storefront or the actual office space. It might only be your computer and maybe your cell phone that are the only physical asset of your business. When we are having content created within our businesses whether that's photography, videography, written copy, even audio content that is an asset of your business. I really want for you all to shift your perspective and start looking at everything that you create within your business as an asset because those are copyright assets. That's a type of intellectual property and when you own a copyright you have a number of rights with respect to that piece of content. You have the right to reproduce it, to repurpose it, to create derivative works based on it, to publish it, to make copies of it, to distribute it, to profit off of it. Really to use it in any way shape or form you wish to use it.
Now here's the tip, at some point in your business you won't be the one creating all of the content. You won't be the one writing all the copy, taking the photos, filming the video, editing whatever it might be, creating graphics and illustrations. When you enter into that relationship with the content creator, the original creator of a work is the one who owns all of those rights we just listed. The right to do whatever it is you want to do with that content. It's very important when you enter into that contract or if you hire them as an independent contractor to write that copy, to take those photos, to film that video, to create that audio, a ghostwriter to write your book, whatever it might be, a branding person to create your brand all of that is owned by that original creator of the work. It is very important that you include very specific language that expressly transfers ownership of those assets in the contract, the services agreement between yourself your company and that other company or that other individual. Because ownership cannot be transferred without that language, that very clear language that transfers ownership. If that language doesn't exist in your agreement, in your relationship and in the context of this content creation, that original creator of the work maintains ownership. You have a limited license to the use of it. Maybe it's photos that I want to use for my website. I only have a license to use those photos on my website. I can't reproduce them or use them in different platforms. The original creator of the work could also turn around and put those photos up on a stock photo website and continue to profit off of that content.
The first step is you need to change your perspective of how you're looking at the content you're creating for your business. Quality content is not a dime a dozen. Quality content requires intention, intentionality, and creativity.
#2 ACTION TIP
Review your Terms & Conditions and Update Contracts Regularly
Yasmine: The next tip that I want to share with you is really about how we as service providers, Coaches, and consultants expand on our offers. You might start out with just one offer. With that one offer, you have a services agreement and you have terms and conditions. You've got the terms and conditions in place and then you decide to expand on your product suite or expand into a different offering. Maybe you're launching a group program. Or maybe you're launching a one-on-one intensive or VIP day type offer. Those offers have different implications. They have different boundaries that need to be put in place. There are different policies that need to be communicated that would need to be created and put in place and then communicated to the client.
The bottom line is the terms and conditions of the contract that you have in place with one offer doesn't always work to apply it within a different offering. Especially if the offer is of a different nature, it's a different type of relationship, or a different rendering of service. I really wanted to share that because I see that happening a lot. For example, let's say someone provides a one-on-one service and then they launch a course. Or they're selling a digital product and they're doing a group program and they use the exact same language within those offers. That is not doing them any favors. It's not a good practice.
Annie: It can't be a cut and paste activity which it is for so many people. They think, “oh I need to throw those terms and conditions on there.” Is there a recording? Is it live time with you? What if they need to reschedule. It's answering all these questions? But I think that, that's a great point to make which is add that to your workflow. So if you are branding a new product or creating a new service you have got to make sure that you are reviewing what is in the contract. What are the terms and conditions you are asking people to follow and has it changed any from what you've created before? Are there questions that are going to come up that you could easily answer in your terms and conditions?
Yasmine: That brings up a bonus tip under that one, which is review your contracts regularly. Things might change and your offers change. Even your business changes. Maybe the law has changed. So periodically, every six months, at least every year make sure that you're reviewing those. Make sure to review them and if you have updated branding you can put them in your branding and make them look beautiful too. That's something I hadn't thought to say today. But that is an aspect of branding we don't think about is that even your legal documents should have your logo at the top and can be done in your brand colors and your brand fonts as long as they're legible.
Don’t miss this special opportunity for “Branding with Friends” fans…
Download the free legal checklist available on Yasmine’s website: https://www.coachesandcompany.com/free-legal-checklist/
Yasmine: Coaches and Company is a business that we started earlier this year. It's an online resource site where online business owners like course creators, coaches, consultants, service providers are able to access high quality lawyer created legal resources. We've got contract templates right now. We're going to be rolling out other resources like eBooks and courses but right now it is the go-to place. It's really the only place online that is created and designed with online business owners in mind. We've got a free legal checklist available for immediate download on the site www.coachesandcompany.com.
You can head there and download your legal checklist and get a good idea of where you stand right now. I think that's the first step for a lot of people. So many people are hesitant and intimidated by the process. I really think the first step is taking the pulse of your business and figuring out where you stand. What do we have in place and what is the next step in figuring out that game plan.
We've got that at www.coachmancompany.com along with tons of other resources that were designed with online businesses in mind ready to plug and play super easy to use. On the note that you mentioned as far as being on brand within your legal documents, not only is it ready for you to plug in your logos but also, all of our resources are legalese free. So, we don't have all of the thereof, whereas, heretofore, all of the weird jargon. We want you to be able to understand your contracts and more importantly also be able to explain them to clients because how awkward to have a client ask you, what does this section means and you don’t know.
#3 Action Tip
Establish a Privacy Policy for Website Legal Compliance When Collecting Personal Data
Yasmine: Yes, so our third and final tip is really all about your website and your legal compliance in terms of what kind of data you're collecting on visitors to your website and your customers. It's something that a lot of people don't realize is actually very serious. The government takes data collection very seriously. How you're collecting personal information about individuals and consumers including their email addresses, their names, their phone numbers, their payment information, and
mailing addresses, all of this information is considered personal data in the eyes of the law. By law we are required as business owners to have privacy policies on our websites if it collects information about individuals, even if it's just an email address for a newsletter or a free download that's considered collection of personal data. These privacy policies really communicate to visitors of your website and the government, what kind of information you're collecting, how you're collecting it, how you're managing it, how you're storing it,
how you're using it, and how if you're selling it to other parties because that's something some people do. Personally, I don't engage in that practice but that's a practice that takes place. We need to make sure that we are complying with the law and we're not going to find ourselves in hot water.
Annie: I'm so glad you brought that up because that's one of those things that I do. I design websites for many of our clients as part of a full brand story solution and I often bring this up. I can't write it because it's legalese. But again, it's another set of decisions just like your regular contracts are you don't realize that you do have to communicate something about how you're going to use people's email addresses and information. It's called a privacy policy, your terms and conditions. I'm sure Coaches and Company has great solutions for that as well so you can check that out.
Hopefully by the end of this episode you are thinking you're going to get some of these things in place. You're going to make sure that you are protecting yourself and also protecting the great people that you work with. Yasmine, thank you so much for being here. I'm so glad that people know a little bit more about you.
Well you'll know where to find Yasmine. Her information will be wherever you're listening to or watching Branding with Friends. I hope that you enjoyed yet another episode of Branding with Friends. So many thanks to my special guest Yasmine Salem Hamdan. Tune in next time when we're going to tackle yet another topic where branding meets business. Until then I'm Annie Franceschi of Greatest Story Creative. You can find all our episodes, branding resources, and more at my website greateststorycreative.com. Have a great day!
“Branding with Friends” Episode 16
Show Notes + Resources
Here are 3 key tips for Legal Contracts to grow your service business:
For coaches & creatives, intellectual property is a huge asset of your business
Review your terms & conditions and update your contracts regularly
Establish a privacy policy for website legal compliance when collecting personal information Privacy
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To learn more about contracts or to seek Yasmine’s help:
• Visit Yasmine + get templates for your business at coachesandcompany.com*
(We are a proud affiliate for Coaches & Company, and as one, we do receive a small commission for any templates you may invest in for your business via the link above!)
• Download her free legal checklist here
• Follow Yasmine on Instagram @coachesandcompany
