How I work

For you to understand how to work with me I’ve tried to outline a general plan explaining how I will approach your project.

Step 1: Agreeing the scope

I’ll send you a brief to complete before I start your project so I can make my proposal as accurate as possible. This includes:

Your requirements for the project - brief, scope, deliverables, deadlines
Your target audience's needs and wants
Your marketing objectives
Your brand’s personality/ branding guidelines
Any background material or references required.

Since deadlines are set collaboratively, we will both be bound by the agreed dates that we set together. To meet your deadlines, I will need all required materials supplied, approved or signed off on time at any stage. Should this not occur, you will be responsible for the missed deadline, website launch date, grant submission, etc.

You will also agree to the payment schedule. Should you book dates for me to work on your project, these will be billed regardless of whether you have supplied the required materials and approvals, as I have prioritised your work over another job.

Step 2: Proposal

Depending on the size of the project I’ll send you a quotation or proposal outlining the details of the job with comprehensive pricing that includes rounds of amends, meetings and any incidentals. I will do my best to give you choices so that you can pick and choose costing elements.

Step 3: 50% payment upfront

This is non-negotiable. 50% payable on project completion. If the project value is below $1000 I charge 100% up front.

Step 4: Timing

I’m often booked in advance, so the sooner you can brief me, sign the proposal and contract and pay the deposit, the better.

I will sometimes squeeze in urgent jobs if possible. I will do my very best to meet your deadlines.

Once I provide you with a delivery date, I stick to it. Turnaround times will vary depending on the amount of material you supply, your approval times, and the amount of material I’m producing.

Step 5: Working on the Project

I use the following formats for my documents and supply everything to you in electronic format.

Step 6: Drafts and revisions

I generally allow two rounds of revisions- that is: first draft, second draft, final draft. For grant writing I allow one round of revision- that is: first draft, final draft.

Additional rounds will be charged at an hourly rate or in full or half-day increments. This will be set out in your proposal.

I use track changes and comments for revisions. It’s easier than separate amends, briefs and phone discussions.

Step 7: Meetings

Generally I don’t include any meeting time in my quotes. If you want to go through each stage face to face, please let me know so I can build this into costs. Meetings and travel time will be charged at an hourly rate.

Step 8: Your review

At the outset, we’ll agree how long you will need to review and sign off each draft. As it’s your project, you set the timings, which we both agree to.

Reviewing documents can take a considerable amount of time; you’ll need to go through the documents line by line to make sure they meet the brief. The more effort we both put in the better the end product will be.

Step 9: Final payment

When the final draft is completed, I’ll invoice you the remaining amount. My payment terms are seven days. Invoices that are overdue by more than 2 weeks will incur a 2% charge. Invoices that are overdue by more than 30 days will incur a 5% charge per month as well as a $30 administration fee per month. A collection agency will be engaged for significantly overdue invoices (beyond 60 days) and the agency fees will be passed onto the client in full.