Creative Retainers

How would it feel to get some of your precious time back each month?

Have a designer “on call” to help you handle your monthly graphics needs?

And be ready to go when you’ve got that new freebie ready to be laid out?

BENEFITS

SAVINGS. The more hours you have on retainer each month the greater your savings!
PRIORITY. As a retainer client, you are a V.I.P. and get priority scheduling in my calendar. Note that turn around time is roughly 7 days depending on the task.
ACCESS TO EXCLUSIVES. As a retainer client, you get access to me for services I don’t offer anywhere else. Think infographic design, book cover design, newsletter templates.

NOW THE LAST BENEFIT IS PRETTY SWEET.

Say you book 5 hours a month but one month you end up needing 10 hours. Instead of charging you at my base design rate I’ll charge you at your current monthly rate instead providing you with cost savings even if you need more hours!

HOW TO PAY?

The full retainer amount is due at the time of the contract signing. As services are used, time is deducted from the pre-paid retainer. All work performed is itemized after each task is completed to show usage – you can access this information via the client portal anytime!

I require an introductory contract of 3 months for each package. At the end of the 3 months, we will evaluate and discuss making adjustments or terminating the contract. I prefer to have 3-month contracts going forward with an evaluation period at each chunk. This allows us to make sure we are both staying on track and keeping our head in the game. But I can make adjustments for an ongoing 1-month contract after the introductory period is complete.

LEFTOVERS? OVERAGES?

I do my best to make sure you stay up-to-date on the status of your retainer hours, but ultimately it’s your responsibility to make sure they’re used within the monthly time frame. Unfortunately, unused hours at the end of the monthly contract are forfeited. This would defeat the purpose of having hours each month for your needs.
However, if you have a 10-hour retainer, but you need 15 hours worth of work in a given month, we bill you the additional 5 hours at the same rate as the retainer; not the normal bill rate.

If I am running close to your total of pre-paid hours hitting their threshold, I will let you know before going over.

HOW IS THE WORK TRACKED?

Each month as I work on your projects I’ll deduct time from the pre-paid hours. Which will be itemized and in your client portal at the end of the month.

And remember if I get close to the end of your prepaid hours I’ll let you know before going over so that we can make adjustments or get your approval before using extra hours.

WHAT’S INCLUDED?

* Design Collateral – business cards, flyers, brochures, book cover design, email newsletter templates…etc
* Digital Media – infographics, social media graphics, blog graphics, blog banners, Pinterest graphics

WHAT’S NOT INCLUDED?

* Web design & creation
* Web maintenance
* copywriting
* Logo design
* Branding Services
* Content Marketing Strategy
* Stock Photo Sourcing*

*You don’t want me to do this for you because it will eat up your hours like crazy trying to hunt down free stock photos with the correct licensing. My suggestion would be to get a membership to a stock photo site (I can share with you my favorites) or send me the photos you want me to use in your materials.

WHAT DOES THE PROCESS LOOK LIKE?

Start by booking your retainer, signing the contract & paying for the allotted hours. I’ll then get you set up with access to a shared Trello Board & your Client Portal. I’ll start working on your tasks within 14 days of having the paperwork signed and invoice paid.
You will then email me your request
I’ll break up your request into to-do item tasks in our shared Trello Board so that you can see my process every step of the way
I’ll ask for any clarification or confirmation that is necessecary
I’ll then notify you of the estimate of the time-frame for the task. Typically this is completed in around 7 business days, as well as when I’ll have it scheduled in my calendar.
Once you’ve approved the details I’ll put it in our Trello Board and add deadlines for you if you need to send any deliverables ( I don’t start work if I don’t have deliverables) images, content or feedback.
Then I get to work
I’ll be in communication with you and let you know when your time is getting close or up
I’ll send you a new invoice the week before the new month begins so that you have 7 days to pre-pay and not miss a beat!

BUT WAIT! IT’S URGENT!

If you require tasks to be completed urgently, sooner than 7 days out, I will collaborate with you to work out availability in my schedule to help you get the task accomplished a.s.a.p.

You will be billed an “urgent care” hourly rate of $90/hour. If you have not used your allotted hours for the month I’ll only charge you the amount that is above the regular rate for the remaining hours. For example.

Starter kit $70/hr the urgent care hours are $90/hr. That means that if you have your two hours remaining I’ll charge you $20/hr up to the 2 hours and then each hour after that is billed at $90/hr.