Welcome to Modern Traction!
Getting Started Checklist
Getting Started
First off, congratulations on taking the leap to create a new standout brand & website that will take your business to a whole new level!
We’re excited to collaborate with you on this!
Starting such a project can feel a bit unfamiliar, so here’s a checklist to start with to make sure you’ve got everything you need.
- Bookmark this page
- Book Your Onboarding Call
- Client Intake Form
- Boundaries & Expectations
Next Steps
What to expect next
Will you be contacting the client to schedule a demo? Will they receive login details soon? Taking out the wonder and make the process as simple as possible is the goal here.
Before we get started, I’ll need the following from you:
Next up, we need to collect your relevant account access info by filling out your project form.
Then, please schedule your kick-off call. Your project start date is dependant on this call. schedule a kick-off meeting with me here, so we can review your content and discuss further details regarding your new website.
Meet the Team
Meet the fun, friendly & talented people you'll be working with throughout the course of your project.
Mel (Melanie)
With over 20 years experience, Mel handles strategy, branding and the overall outcome of your project. She comes in at key strategic points and oversees production to ensure it all comes together brilliantly!
Valued traits: a visionary creative who loves building things and connecting with people.
When not working she’s likely: strapped to skis or on her mountain bike flying down a mountain, on the ocean kiteboarding, listening to business podcasts, learning about something (like crypto), or hosting dinner with friends.
Location: Squamish, BC
Lenna
A.K.A: Mel’s right-hand woman. Lenna is the glue between clients, the team and deliverables at Modern Traction. She relays all-the-things to all-the-people, ensuring clients are happy and the team is moving deliverables along smoothly. She’s your go-to point person for any and all questions, concerns or requests.
Valued traits: dependable, keeps her cool even when thrown into chaos, a sense of humour that will brighten anyone’s day.
When not working, she’s likely: “Watching my her daughter tap dance, making sure the dog is taken care of, and drinking coffee.”
Location: Vancouver Island, BC
Colleen
Colleen runs with your brand vision and works her design magic to craft your new website. She’s been making brands and websites look and perform at their very best since 2014. Lover of travel, animals, fitness and our beautiful planet.
Valued traits: resourceful creative that leads with the heart.
When not working, she’s likely: “Climbing rock walls, gardening, cooking vegan food or reading historical fiction.”
Location: Vancouver, BC
Annmarie
Annemarie’s strength as a copywriter is taking your words, brand vision, and personality and weaving it into engaging website copy that showcases your unique value. With a passion for marketing & storytelling, her writing follows conversion copywriting principles to ensure your brand messaging connects and positions you as an authority; turning more website visitors into eager buyers and followers.
Valued trait: creative with vision and strategic thinker.
When not working, she’s likely: “Cleaning the house in one area while making a mess in another, skating, swimming, bike riding, walking or making sure I don’t spill my coffee on my keyboard.”
Location: Newmarket, ON
Kerri
Kerri supports the team with all things creative: from writing, wireframing content on websites to editing a video testimonial, she’s on it. Having worked for decades in creative industries, she’s that cool geek that values good storytelling and contributes wherever her talents are needed.
Valued trait: versatile, creative and quick on her feet.
When not working, she’s likely: “On a side project that’s contributing to humanity’s transition to a sustainable economy and inclusive society, or signing and playing my guitar.”
Location: Vancouver, BC
What about dev team?
We have a close relationship with different WordPress developers, spread over Canada, Asia and Latin America, who we rely on for ongoing work, complex projects or the odd small fix.
What To Expect
We want to make sure everyone is on the same page and fully understands the boundaries and expectations we’ve laid out. To that end, please read the info below fully and let us know if you have any questions!
Communication & Office Hours
- Regular Office Hours are Mon – Thu 9am – 4pm PST. We are closed on Canadian BC holidays.
- Going forward please email us via help@moderntraction.com (please add to your contacts) as this is our VIP client email account.
- Lenna is the project coordinator and handles all communication. She is the glue between everyone, juggler of all-the-things, and ensures nothing fall through the cracks!
- There is no need to CC Mel on any emails.
- We try our best to respond to emails within 24hrs, during office hours.
- For urgent matters (e.g. “my website is down!” or “I can’t make our scheduled call tomorrow”) write URGENT in the subject line and we’ll do our absolute best to get back to you ASAP.
- We’ll be in touch at least once weekly to follow-up and provide updates on the project’s progress.
- Zoom for Meetings
Video calls will be done via Zoom here: https://moderntraction.com/meeting/. We will record all calls and place these in the Recordings folder in Drive. You’ll receive email invites & reminders for upcoming calls by email.
- Loom Video Messaging
We tend to use Loom screencast videos a lot for communicating. Great for tricky topics or walkthrough explanations on deliverables.
We highly encourage you to set it up so you can send us video messag! It really helps clarify things, avoid unnecessary back and forth, especially useful for complex questions, tech issues, or sending quick thoughts or feedback. or screencasts explaining more complex feedback or requests. It’s such a time saver!
Relationship & Guidelines
This is an approximate timeline and may vary based on availabilities and when feedback is received.
What We Promise to Deliver & How We Will Support You:
- 1x 1:1 Onboarding Call with Mel
- 1x 1:1 Deep-Dive Brand Intensive with Mel (over 1 morning)
- 1x 1:1 Website Copy Review Call with Mel and/or copywriter
- 1x Design Review call with Mel and/or designer
- Included are 2 Rounds of Revision for your Web Copy and Website Design & Build – beyond these, time will be billed hourly at 15 min increments.
- Weekly email updates on progress
- Client Resource Library
- A Drive folder to collect all of your assets for the project, plus:
- Artwork files – anything we create will be here for you to use
- Call recordings – Zoom call recordings
Boundaries:
➔ Bring things to the FB group first and ask for peer support and feedback as well as GIVE peer support. Then bring things to a private Voxer conversation with your coach if you have private questions, etc.
- If you have questions or concerns, please email Lenna at help@moderntraction.com.
If you need anything personally reviewed, please prioritize bringing it to our weekly office hours first. If you’re unable to do so, please submit it to your accountability coach via Voxer and allow 48 hours (or up to five days if it’s a long form like website copy or services/packages etc.)
Plan accordingly, please don’t wait till the last minute.
Rest and self care are core values in our company culture. That means that the Thrivemind support team is unavailable on the weekends. There will be times that the team will respond to Voxer messages/group posts on the weekend, however; this is a “sometimes exception” rather than the expected norm.
Expectations:
➔ Be exactly who you are! Bring your personality and pizzaz to our community, we want to get to know you!
➔ Ask for help as and when needed… You’re not in Agency Thrivemind to be the expert in this area of your business so feel free to own your special strengths and let us bridge the gaps about the rest — that’s what we’re here for!
➔ Make your payments on time (if you are on a payment plan).
➔ Take ownership of your growth. This means reaching out to our coaches when you need help or support and realizing that what you put in often affects what you get out. That means that you’ll most likely see the best outcomes when you commit to showing up and doing the (sometimes hard) work.
➔ Show up on time for your calls and let your coach know at least 24 hours in advance if you need to cancel a call.
➔ Run your business like a professional and in integrity at all times. This includes treating others with the respect you want to receive.
➔ Support this community’s efforts to always be inclusive. We learn from our differences. Assume that people lead with good intentions and ask questions and be open to learning as we grow together.
➔ The Agency Thrivemind was created to be a safe container for growth. This means that all information shared within Thrivemind is confidential and we take that very seriously. Anyone found to be sharing someone else’s income numbers, behind the scenes stories or anything not already approved by that person outside of Thrivemind, will be removed without refund.
➔ Feel open to bring us any feedback on how you feel you could be supported
Project Schedule Overview
This is an approximate timeline and may vary based on availabilities and when feedback is received.
ASAP – Brand Intensive
Please note the timeline is an estimation and is dependant upon your availabilities.
Before · Onboarding: Contract Approval / Deposit Payment / Welcome Packet / Project Setup
Week 1 · Discovery: Kick-Off Call / Brand Discovery / Asset Collection
Week 2-3 · Copywriting: Content Discovery / Drafts & Revisions / Final Approval / Third Payment
Week 2-5 · Design & Build: Wordmark & Brand Board / Site Setup / Homepage & Inside Page Design / Page Builds / Business Card* / Social Media Banners*
Week 5 · Testing: Responsive Design / Email Marketing Setup* / Testing & Revisions
Week 6 · Launch: Launch / Client Training / Project Wrap Up
*Deliverables that may not be included in your project.
Agreement & The Process
- Asset Collection & Onboarding – We’ll send you an intake form to collect all needed information and assets needed for Production Sprint, such as your brand guidelines, design mockups, photos, graphics and fonts we need to complete the scope of work.
- Prototype Website Setup – We’ll create a staging site for production on our servers. Prototyping
Prototyping – Phase 1:
- Content Strategy Session* – Together we’ll establish the final Scope of Work (specific deliverables) for your website update & redesign. We’ll discuss the content strategy, key change requests, functionality and optimization opportunities.
- Content Wireframing* – We’ll update the navigation as needed, integrate your new copy and content by wireframing any new pages in order to finalize your content and establish a layout before design commences on these. This will create a working prototype of your website so you can get a sense of it. The prototype will require your approval before we start the design & development stage.
- Mood Board Design – We’ll start by creating a mood board to pull together visual ideas such as design styles, color palettes, photos and fonts. This ensures we’re all on the same page with the vision and establishes the direction for the new website design.
* If additional web pages, designs, or special functionality are determined to be added to the initial Scope of Agreement, these new/change requests will be charged additionally for a fee, and may impact the project’s Production schedule.
Production – Phase 2:
- Design & Development – We’ll be working through the Scope of Work during this phase, which may include creating a new design, completing the build of each new page as well as further website optimization.
- Review Calls – We’ll schedule calls, to review the work together, gather your feedback, and discuss revisions to be made. Simple edits may be done live on the call.
- Approval – We’ll have you review the entire website and test all functionality, and to provide final approval before we go live.
- Launch – We’ll coordinate with you on a specific day and time for the new website to go live. Once live, we ensure your site is indexed with all search engines and do the final setup and testing
- Client Sign-Off – We’ll ask that you review the entire live website thoroughly, testing forms and functionality, and request your confirmation that the website is displaying and working correctly. Client sign-off will be required to confirm, and complete the project.
After:
- Files & artwork Hand-off – We’ll deliver any additional resources or artwork developed over the span of the project.
- Customer Support & Bug Fixes – We’ll provide a 2 week period after delivery to answer any questions you may have or fix any bugs you may discover at no charge.
Note: The process outlined above serves as a general guideline and is subject to change throughout the course of the project as needed. We will notify you of foreseeable changes as they become apparent.
Payment Schedule Reminder
Second payment – is due 48hrs prior to your project start date. You will receive a email notification as a reminder. If you are in the US, we will auto-charge your credit card for the second payment (30%).
Final payment – is due 30 days after project start date (even if there are delays). Reason for this is that we have already scheduled time for your project in our calendar and have other clients in queue.
Delays & Rescheduling
Call rescheduling – for any scheduled calls, you will receive an email with the details, which has a Reschedule link so you can reschedule the call to your next best availability.
Delays – if on your end occur for more than 2 weeks, we reserve the right to reschedule your project, and your
New Requests & Scope Changes
Feedback Guidelines
Get great feedback! Write down your feedback guidelines.
Introduction to success
Overview on how to get the most out of your products or services. This could include best practices, FAQs, and “how to” content.
Pledge to clients
What is your plan to make sure the client is taken care of? What is your Mission? What are your company values? An overview of why you do what you do – how you make the world a better place for your clients.
We appreciate you
A “surprise and delight.” Some kind of gift that the client is not expecting. This could be something related to your products or services or something completely unrelated. Every time I order from Photojojo, I look forward to receiving my little free dinosaur they include with the invoice. Do I need a toy dino? Of course not, but I appreciate the unexpected little bonus and it makes me smile.
Asset Delivery Guidelines
Get great feedback! Write down your feedback guidelines.
Photo/Image Specifications
- photos & images (logo files, photos you want to use – recommended to be minimum size of 1680px wide, and larger for any images used as background/widescreen). Note: if you already have a folder full of images in the cloud (like Dropbox) which we can work from, feel free to send a link to VIEW your folder (here’s how to do that).
- files for download (audio, pdfs, etc)
- other relevant assets
- new website copy we’ll be needing, (either create a new Google doc or upload your Word docs)
Tutorials, Tools & Resources
Get great feedback! Write down your feedback guidelines.
Apps & Hosting
Hosting
Appointment Scheduler
Email Marketing
Resources
Photoshoot Cheat Sheet – feel free to share with your photographer
Testimonials & Case Study Questions Template – you can send this to your clients to collect testimonials. They simply need to make a copy, and fill out. But I recommend booking a quick call with them, and asking these questions as you can probe a bit further if needed – getting specifics is very important for getting quality testimonials.