Thank you for your interest in becoming a 
Workingswell Contributor

Workingswell's main intention is to stimulate a new potential income source for Artisan Craftspeople who are also designing Maker-Sellers. It provides an innovative platform where accomplished self-employed artisans can offer hands-on apprenticeship style training and license the use of their designs and trade secrets.
To be a Contributor on Workingswell you must be or have been a Maker-Seller of items that have an evident level of originality. Put another Way: You must have designed, produced and sold items for which you can legitimately claim intellectual property rights.

Please review our Standards for Inclusion. Then read on for more information in a question and answer format. Feel free to contact us with any questions that are not covered.

Q...What does it cost to be a Workingswell Contributor?
There is no fee to be included as a Contributor.

Q...What about commissions or other fees?
We ask for a 10% commission on completed license sales.

Q...How could Workingswell make me money?
There are a number of potential sources of  income.

1) Proceeds from completed license sales.

2) Income generated by additional product sales due to promotional value of Workingswell. 
Links to Contributors websites are welcome.

3) Proceeds from reservations that do not result in a completed sale. 
The first step in the incremental purchasing process is for the prospective purchaser to place a reserve on a license for their region. The reserve is currently priced at $40.00, low enough to encourage a decision, high enough to discourage those who are not genuinely interested and would therefore waste your time. Reserves last three months and can be renewed if the potential buyer is still undecided. Proceeds from reserves and renewals are divided equally between the Contributor and Workingswell.

4) The potential also exists for Contributors to market items that relate to their particular skills, but do not include a license to commercially produce specific designs. These items could be, books or ebooks, specialist or modified tools, even materials. Subject to their approval by Workingswell, advertisements for such items can be placed on the Contributors Opportunity page.  

Q...I'm not sure about intellectual property rights. Would I need to try to patent my designs?
No. A patent is only one form of intellectual property. Patents are granted based on originality of successful function, not design. Most Artisan designed items are artistically varied versions of items that have been around long enough to be considered to be in the public realm. 
It is possible to register an Industrial Design (Design Patent) on a particular artistic variation such as patterning, a distinctive shape, or the addition of some specific imagery. However, even if you have never registered or claimed any patent, you still have the right to license the use of your designs along with the manufacturing experience and business acumen you have developed over the years. You will be offering the confidential release of intellectual property rights known collectively as your Trade Secrets. 
Patents and Design Patents are assets that would add value to your licenses but are not essential. What is essential is that you be sure that someone else has not claimed a patent on an item so similar to yours that they could claim an infringement on their intellectual property rights and therefore put the validity of your licenses in question.

Q... How much should I charge? Or does Workingswell set the price?
Workingswell does not set any prices other than the $40.00 reservation fee that is the same for all contributors and regions. The idea is that the Contributor and a prospective licensee negotiate a price based on number of factors that will be different from case to case. Of course, a key factor will  be the perceived economic opportunity of the area that the potential licensee has reserved. 
We like to think of Workingswell as a site that offers genuine opportunity. For that reason we suggest keeping price expectations reasonable. Bear in mind that you are not offering an existing business, just some assistance in starting one. On the other hand you need to be well compensated for sharing your designs and for the time and effort involved in training an apprentice. Our suggestion is that you should decide on a minimum that you could accept to train a licensee, then add to that amount depending on the region. A potential licensee could open negotiations with an offer. In any case, the three month reservation period is designed to give both parties adequate time to carry out some due diligence.  

Q...Could I accept labour as payment for a license? How would this effect Workingswell's commission?
Yes. Workingswell encourages this form of payment. Its similar to the old style concept of apprenticeship, where people looking for skills training offer themselves as apprentices who will work for low wages on the understanding that they will receive and be able to use the Masters Trade Secrets. Apprenticeships are of great benefit to people who lack the funds to pay for skills training and specialist knowledge that your license will provide. Contributors can also benefit from this willing and interested labour source. You can state on your Self-employment Opportunity Page that you are willing to accept apprentices and will negotiate labour as full or part payment for your licenses.
You should establish a monetary value for a license even if you will accept an apprenticeship as full payment. This will enable the potential licensee and yourself to establish the length of the apprenticeship and how many hours of labour would be expected beyond the basic training period. 
Workingswell's commission is payable on the agreed upon monetary value.

Q...Do I have to offer training at my location?
Hands-on, product based training is a feature of Workingswell's system. However if you have retired or for some other reason are unable to offer it, you may still be able to be a Contributor to Workingswell. You must be confident of your ability to pass on the necessary information and have clear idea of how you will do that. Your Contributor Self-employment Opportunity Page would have to indicate that you do not offer any hands on training and describe the methods you do use to explain your system.

Q...Can I refuse a person who has made a reserve? How committed am I?
You can indicate regions or countries where you will not offer licenses on your Contributors Self-employment Opportunity Page. You can also refuse to accept a regional reserve on any other grounds and the $40.00 reservation fee will be refunded. In any case, accepting a reservation fee does not commit either party to completing a license agreement. It simply assures the potential licensee that you wont sell a license to anyone else in their region and provides them with the Critical Aspects presentation that you prepared. The reservation period is designed to allow both parties enough time to make comfortable, informed decisions on any final license agreement. You will be making a principal to principal agreement with the Reservee so it is important that he or she is identified properly. You can ask for and investigate references if you wish. If you have any doubts about the intentions of the person or simply don't like their style you can deny the license and ask Workingswell to return the reservation fee.

Q...How do I register to sell licenses on Workingswell?
The first step is to contact us with some information about yourself and the items you are considering licensing on Workingswell. Please include your own description of what makes the items original.
Providing your items meet our standards for originality you will be accepted as a Contributor and asked to sign a simple contract. 

Q... Then what happens?
Your Self Employment Opportunities page is set up. You will be asked for pictures and other input. A link to your own website is welcome. You will also be asked to supply answers to Workingswell's Critical Aspects as they relate to your items. The answers you supply will be treated as confidential information. They will only be released to people who have reserved your opportunity and only after you have approved the Reservation.
We will provide some personalized advice on answering these questions. Your answers should not contain any detailed information about your process or anything that you would consider to be one of your Trade Secrets. Remember these answers are to be provided to people who have placed a $40.00 reserve, not people who have purchased a license. On the other hand, your Critical Aspects are your main advertisement for your licenses. The presentation as well as the answers will reflect on your abilities.

Q...Would I be able to log in and change my listing or my Critical Aspects presentation? 
No. Changes to your Self Employment Opportunities Page must be made by contacting the Webmaster.
The Critical Aspects presentations are not housed online. They are held on file at Workingswell to be sent by email to people who place reserves. We hold your information as confidential. We will not open the file to make changes. You must maintain a duplicate file, then If you want to change your presentation, you can alter your own file and send it to Workingswell as a replacement.