What you can promise
Promise only what Colby's contract and review will back up. Here is what you can say, what you must not, and why each rule protects your business.
On this page
The basic rule
The company's contract is with Colby, and Colby's review decides which hours count. Anything you promise about the contract, the rate or the hours is a promise someone else has to keep. Promise only what Colby backs, and everything you told the owner turns out true. That is how one owner leads to the next.
Can say, cannot say
| Topic | You can say | Do not say |
|---|---|---|
| Rate | The rate on your link, if it has one: "Colby confirms it in your Order Form." Or: "Colby goes over the rate on the call." | Any other number, a range you heard, "at least", or "I can get you more later". |
| Hours | "Only accepted hours count: real work, normal pace, both hands in the picture." | How many hours they will get, or what they will earn in total. |
| Getting in | "Colby decides after the call." | "You're in", or that work not on the accepted tasks list will count. |
| Signing | "The company signs Colby's standard contract with Colby. Nothing to sign today." | That you can sign it, or that you will handle the paperwork. |
| Money | "Colby pays you directly. No money passes between us." | Anything that has money moving between you and a company: a deposit, a setup fee, a share of their pay. |
| Who you are | "I'm an independent partner. I run my own business and bring companies to Colby." | That you are Colby staff or an employee, or that you speak as Colby. |
| Other routes | "Colby runs the contract, the phones, review and pay." | That they could go to an AI or robot team directly, or record through another program. |
| Who uses the video | "AI and robot teams. Colby doesn't name them." | Any company name, even as a guess. |
| Privacy | "People, screens and papers stay out of the picture. The recorder pauses if someone walks in." | "Faces get blurred", "it's anonymous" or "nobody will ever see it". |
| When pay comes | "The Order Form sets that, and Colby goes over it." | When or how often Colby pays. |
| Phones | "Colby sends phones set up, with head straps and battery packs, at no charge." | A ship date, a number of phones, or that the company owes nothing if a phone is lost, damaged or sits unused. |
| Robots | "Nobody knows when. Colby won't give a date either way." | "Robots will never replace your crew", or "robots are coming next year". |
| What's coming | "That's coming. It isn't ready yet." | That a coming feature, like Spanish pages, is ready now. |
Why each rule protects your business
Never promise a rate other than the one on your link
The owner sees your link's rate on the page they open, and Colby confirms it in the Order Form. A different number from you means the contract will not match what you said. The owner remembers that you were wrong, not that Colby was.
Never promise hours or acceptance
Colby reviews every video, and only accepted hours count, for the company and for you. Hands out of view, dark video, sitting still or the same thing done over and over does not count. A promised total is a claim nobody can back. If the first weeks come in lower than you said, you lose the owner's trust right when the crew needs encouragement.
Never sign anything
Each company signs its contract with Colby, and you are not a party to it. Signing a paper in the company's name or in Colby's name takes on a duty you cannot meet, and the paper may not hold. Your own agreement with Colby is the only paper you sign.
Never take money from a company
Colby pays each company directly, and pays you. Keeping money out of your relationship with owners means there is nothing to dispute and no reason for an owner to wonder whose side you are on. It keeps your earnings simple too: $2.00 for every accepted hour, from Colby.
Never suggest going around Colby
Your fee comes from the hours your companies record with Colby. A company that goes elsewhere stops earning you anything, and the owner learns that you steer people away from the business you brought them into.
Never present yourself as Colby
This is your business. When owners know you are an independent partner, they take contract and pay questions to Colby and come to you for the rest. If they think you are Colby, they expect you to fix things only Colby can fix.
Never promise privacy you cannot control
Keeping people, screens and papers out of the picture is a rule the crew follows, not a guarantee. Colby owns the video and may share selected video with AI and robot teams. Promising blurring, or that nobody will see it, sets up a broken promise to the owner's building clients.
If you already said too much
- Tell the owner soon, in writing: "I spoke too soon about the rate (or the hours, or the start date). Colby confirms that on the call."
- Add a note on the owner in People so you remember what you corrected.
- When you send them to Colby, say what you corrected in the note, so Colby is not surprised on the call.
Things you can always say
- "It costs nothing to join, and Colby sends the phones."
- "Your crew does the work it already does, at its normal pace."
- "Each person agrees first, and anyone can say no."
- "You ask each building first. If one says no, you skip it."
- "There's nothing to sign today. Colby calls you and explains the rest."
- "I don't know. Colby confirms that on the call."
Questions
Can I tell an owner what other companies earn?
No. Each company's rate is in its own contract, and the terms of that contract are private. Talk about how pay works, not what anyone else gets.
Can I offer to share my $2.00 per accepted hour with the owner?
No. No money passes between you and the companies you bring in, in either direction. If the owner wants a different rate, they raise it on Colby's call.
What if an owner says I promised something the contract doesn't say?
Point them to their Order Form. The signed agreement is what controls. Then fix your own wording so it does not happen again.