After initial contact, we move into a short discovery stage. The goal: turn your idea — in your words — into a written brief we both agree on, before we spend anyone's time costing it.

The discovery conversation

We set up either a call, a video meeting, or an in-person meeting depending on what suits you. It typically lasts 30-60 minutes and covers:

• What you're trying to do. Goals, audience, the outcome you want.
• Where you are today. Existing website, branding, hosting, email — anything you already have we should keep, replace, or work around.
• Constraints. Timing, budget range, brand guidelines, technical preferences, anything we can't change.
• Who's involved. Decision-makers, content owners, anyone whose sign-off we'll need.

This isn't a sales pitch. We listen, ask follow-ups, and write down what you say.

What we send back

Within a few days of the discovery conversation, you'll receive one of two things:

• A short brief — the written summary of what we'd recommend, in plain language. We send this when the scope is novel or open-ended enough that we want to confirm we understood you before pricing it.
• A proposal directly — the brief embedded inside it. We send this when the scope is well-defined enough that there's no separate brief stage to do.

Either way, you'll have something written to react to before we talk about money.

When the brief comes separately

If you receive a brief on its own, read it through and tell us either:

• Yes, this matches — we move on to the proposal.
• Close, but change X — we revise and resend.
• No, we're talking about different things — we set up another discovery conversation.

It's much cheaper to iterate on a one-page brief than on a proposal with line items. Be picky here.

What we never assume

• A scope just because we've done something similar before — we ask.
• A budget — we propose against what you tell us, not against what we hope.
• That you'll keep working with your current providers — but also that you'll switch. We do whatever fits your situation.