A: Clients hire me for a variety of needs. I’ve outlined below the three ways in which we commonly bill.
Project based: Some clients need me for a one time project. That might be writing the content for their website or creating an ad for a program or local advertisement. There are no minimum requirements and those clients are billed per project, as needed.
Consulting (per hour): Some clients have in-house personnel to execute their messaging (social media, newsletters, campaigns) or their marketing (PR, chamber/co-marketing affiliations, advertising efforts, promotions, getting in front of and connecting with their existing/new customers) but are finding discrepancies in the effectiveness or the ROI.
I help by analyzing current efforts and comparing them against industry and geographical trends, the effectiveness of current efforts and then identify what changes to current strategies would prove beneficial and/or what could be added/removed. Marketing involves a lot of analytics, skill, SWOT and advanced analysis, identifying appropriate personas and target audiences, budgeting, ROI assessments, and creativity despite the term being overused, and in turn, losing credibility.
If your company has personnel responsible for these tasks, I am also happy to consult with them directly.
Monthly Retainer: Some clients chose to identify where their needs are and keep me on retainer to execute the initiatives. Most clients that chose this are interested in us absorbing their social media, ongoing PR efforts, or targeting monthly marketing initiatives.