Hello and Welcome!
THE INS AND OUTS OF WORKING WITH SWISH SOCIAL
Office hours and forms of communication
As a full-time homeschooling mompreneur, I believe you deserve to run a business that blesses your life not one that robs you of the treasured moments you want to hold on to for a lifetime. I keep my hours separate so I can focus on family when I am with them and work when I have my office hours.
Office Hours are Monday-Thursday 8:00 AM-2:00 PM CST.
During your project we will primarily use email and your personal Trello board. This helps me keep everything organized and allows me to do the best job that I can. I do my best to reply to all communication regarding active projects within 24 hours (during my office hours).
Please be sure to keep your communication concise and thorough. Be sure to gather all of your thoughts before hitting send.
If need be, we can schedule a chat via Zoom/phone, and you can schedule an appointment here.
Scheduling calls allows me to keep my work from being interrupted and my schedule in tact.
process outline
Designing your website is an in-depth process that takes about 6 weeks to finalize and ready for launch. This includes a one-week buffer for homework and onboarding as well as a one-week buffer for revisions and edits when necessary.
WEEK 01: Homework
WEEK 02: Wireframe & Mood Board
WEEK 03: Designing website
WEEK 04: Still Designing website
WEEK 05: Website is ready for 1st review & edits
WEEK 06: After edits, second revision round & LAUNCH
Getting started is the most hands on you’ll really be for this design project. If you already have a domain name and a host, please send your hosting logins via LastPass (to hello@swishsocial.co). Once you’ve paid your first invoice, your next step is to get started on your homework so we can move throughout the process smoothly. You’ll receive an email invitation from Trello to join the personal project board we have built for your brand. Once your pre-project homework has been complete, you’ll receive a brand mood board and a hand-drawn wireframe of the future pages of your website. Drawing out the design with paper and pencil helps me to get it all out quickly and seamlessly, plus it’s way easier than staring at a blank screen waiting for design inspo! After you’ve seen the wireframe, I’ll start building your website. Don’t worry, it won’t be live until everything is juuuust right! Screenshots of progress are shared periodically through Trello.
There are 2 revision rounds which are done with Markup.io, a super user-friendly, real-time feedback app for your site! You’ll find the deadlines for each revision round in our Trello board.
Once the project is complete, you will receive launch goodies for socials and a shoutout on our socials! You’ll also get the keys to your website to make any future adjustments plus quick tutorial videos to show you the most important things you need to know about maintaining your site.
Afterwards, if you’d like to continue working together to grow your business, I offer hourly website tweaks at $99/hour, or done-for-you marketing for social media and Pinterest.
Your Homework!
1. Create a Pinterest Board
On Pinterest, create and fill a board with inspiration for your brand. If you get stuck, feel free to pin from my design boards.
I ask that you find 5 logos, 5 color palettes, 5 patterns, and 5 websites you love and want to see in your own site.
When you’ve finished, please send me your board link so I can see it!
If Pinterest isn’t your thing, don’t fret. You can search Google for images that resonate with the way you want your brand to feel and upload them to the “Pinterest” task inside our Trello project.
Watch the video below to see how to do that!
This survey helps me understand your goals, your dream client and your needs, and enables me to create something you’ll love! Plus I’ll be able to better visualize your dream client and how I will make your brand and website captivate them.
4. Upload your website content to Trello.
I need you to upload your website copy and photography to Trello at least one week before your project starts.
You will receive an invitation from Trello to join your personal board by email.
If you’re new to this project management tool, check out the video below to get started with using Trello!
how to use trello
deadlines
WEEK 01: client Homework
WEEK 02: Wireframe & Mood Board
WEEK 03: Designing website
WEEK 04: Still Designing website
WEEK 05: Website is ready for 1st review MONDAY, REVISION 1 DUE WEDNESDAY, EDITS COMPLETED by monday
WEEK 06: second revision round monday,
any edits by wednesday & LAUNCH by Friday
Sticking to the deadlines outlined in our communication is vital to launching your website into the world by the agreed upon date. Things can get delayed for several reasons: homework is late, feedback for revision rounds postponed, or requests for additional revisions after 2 rounds are a few examples.
The longer you are waiting to launch, the longer you are waiting to grow your brand and your income. The longer you take to make decisions to move forward, the longer it takes for your ideal client to discover you and begin consideration of working with you.
Please make sure to refer to these deadlines in your project’s personal Trello board, as well as this page for a clear outline of expected deadlines.
feedback guidelines
- Try and use bullet points to break up your feedback.
- Use headers to organize your feedback into sections.
- Read over your feedback to make sure it’s clear and check that you’ve answered any questions I may have asked.
- Post your feedback as a comment on the relevant Trello card instead of emailing me directly. Back and forth emails can get confusing, but communicating in Trello is a breeze!
- If you have team members that would like to provide their feedback, I kindly ask that you gather the feedback into one message. This stops everyone from getting confused and keeps the project organized.
payment and cancellation policy
A non-refundable 25% deposit is due to book your spot in my schedule
25% is due the day before we start your project.
50% is due when the project is complete but before I hand over your final files.
Your final payment is due 14 days upon receipt. If payment has not been made by the 14th day, a 5% interest will be added every 7 days until your payment has been completed, starting on the 15th day.
cancellations and refunds
Retainers are nonrefundable due to the fact I have saved space on my calendar for the time and work has began. Sometimes things just simply don’t go the way we expect them to. If, at some point, either of us decides our working relationship is failing, then we can submit the desire to part ways in writing and payment for all work completed at that point will be due. For example, if the website is 75% complete, you will be billed for 75% of the total project cost, and 100% of any additional expenses must be reimbursed. If the project is canceled by either of us before completion, you will owe payment based on the amount of work completed. For example, if the work is 75% complete, you will owe 75% of the projected cost, as well as 100% of any additional costs for licenses or work completed.
*Projected costs are simply that, projected. Your quote is based on the scope of work at the beginning of the project, as well as the timeline outlined. If you wish to add or change the scope of work, and if the timeline changes due to these changes or additions (or lack of response on your part), these costs will be billed as additional and must be paid for before website launch
faqs
Yes. If you need help finding where to buy your domain name, let me know.
While we don’t provide a mockup of your website, we provide a hand-drawn mockup of yoursite called a wireframe.
Yes, all of your website designs are optimized for mobile.
Once the project begins, and client homework has been finished, designing your website will take about 4-5 weeks
Yes, we can offer hosting for your domain name.
what happens now?
After you’ve completed everything on your pre-project checklist, we’re all set to begin your project!
Let’s set up a 30-minute kick-off call where you can ask me any last-minute questions you may have.
Looking forward to starting your amazing project!
XO
Tarin LaRoux
