Welcome

ALEX COLLIER DESIGN WELCOME GUIDE

This guide includes everything you need to know about working with Alex Collier Design and making the most of your design experience. Please bookmark this page for future reference!

Business hours & communication

9 AM - 4 PM Central, Monday to Friday

BUSINESS HOURS

Business hours are Monday through Friday from 9 am - 5 pm Central Time. If you contact me outside of these hours, you can expect a response within 48 business hours. Alex Collier Design also observes all U.S. federal holidays.

COMMUNICATION

In order to best serve you and your project, all of our communication will take place inside of ClickUp. Please reach out via the chat window in your client dashboard for all questions, requests, or other communication.

I aim to respond within 48 business hours (and usually much sooner!) but if you do not receive a response within that timeframe, reach out at alex@alexcollierdesign.com. No Instagram DMs about our project please.

Process & Timeline

Our project will consist of five phases. Click through below to learn more about what each phase entails!

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PHASE 1
PRE-WORK

The pre-work phase is absolutely critical to our project's success! You have been assigned all pre-work tasks in ClickUp. Each task and subtask includes instructions for completing it.

Your pre-work tasks are due on your project start date. Failure to complete pre-work tasks in a timely manner may result in the rescheduling or cancellation of your project.

If you have any questions about your pre-work, please reach our via the chat on your client dashboard!

PHASE 2
BRAND & LOGO DESIGN

In this phase we'll design your beautiful new brand and logo! First we'll meet on a brand strategy call to discuss the aesthetics and strategy behind your brand.

After chatting through our shared vision for your brand, I'll design a logo concept for you. Two rounds of refinement are included in your experience as we work to perfect your logo!

Your input and feedback are  an important part of the process and I love collaborating with you!

PHASE 3
WEB DESIGN

I will design and build your website with your new brand and logo. I will send over some initial mockups to get your feedback, and then build out the rest of the site.

We will collaborate on your website via an app called MarkUp that will allow you to comment directly on the page!

We will also meet over Zoom for a check in call at this point in the process. This check in helps keep us both motivated and focused for a successful launch!


PHASE 4
LAUNCH

I will connect your domain to your new Showit site and we'll set up a coming soon page to prepare for your launch.

On our pre-launch call, we'll go over each page of your site and I'll teach you how to use and update your new Showit site. I'll also record this call for your future reference!

After our call, I'll send over your final brand and logo file package as well as some branded social media launch graphics so that you are prepared to launch in style!

PHASE 5
SUPPORT

One month of post-launch support is included in your experience! During this phase, you will be able to submit help tickets via ClickUp to request fixes or updates to your site.

After your support period ends, we will close out your ClickUp project and archive your files. I encourage you to download and back up everything to your own device beforehand!

Saying goodbye is always bittersweet, but I'll be continuing to cheer you on as you begin this new chapter in your business!

Client Expectations

SUBMIT PRE-WORK AND FEEDBACK IN A TIMELY MANNER

I’ve built streamlined workflows and efficient processes that allow me to deliver and launch your website in a timely manner. In order to keep our project on track, please submit pre-work and feedback on time. Please note that failure to do so may result in postponement or cancellation of your project per our contract. Please notify me as soon as possible if you need an extension on a due date.

Schedule and report to appointments on time

We will have three video calls throughout the design process. Please schedule these calls when requested and add them to your calendar. I will send a reminder email the day before our call as well as a Zoom link one hour prior. Please give at least 24 hours notice if you need to reschedule a call for any reason. After 15 minutes of not reporting to a call you will be considered a no-show and will need to rebook with a small fee.

BE OPEN-MINDED AND HONEST

Feedback is an essential part of the design process. I ask that you are always 100% honest in your feedback with me! I also ask that you remain open-minded to my recommendations and suggestions throughout the process! 

You will be invoiced according to the payment schedule outlined in your contract. You submitted your first payment as your deposit upon booking.

You will receive a reminder email two days before your payment due date along with a link to pay your invoice. If you elected to enroll in autopay, your payment will automatically be submitted on the due date.

After a payment is more than two weeks overdue, work will stop on your project and you will be charged a late fee of 1.5% of the outstanding amount per each day that payment is not received. If you anticipate any issues with payment please reach out!

QUESTION 1

How do payments work?

I believe it's my responsibility as your designer to select the best possible logo for you, not yours! That's why I present one logo concept to you and we refine from there.

It is very rare that my clients require more than the two included rounds of refinement. Due to my comprehensive pre-work process as well as our brand strategy call, I have very good insight to your brand by the time we get to logo design! Most clients love the first concept and we go from there!

That said, if you do wish to refine your logo further or go back to the drawing board, additional rounds of refinement are able to be added on to your experience at my hourly rate of $100/hr to be added on to your existing invoice.

QUESTION 2

What if I need more revisions?

You will receive a brand guide with guidelines for using your brand fonts, colors, and more. You will also receive any font files we selected as part of your brand.

You will also receive a zip file with all iterations of your logo for both print and digital use. Your logo files will be organized by logo version, then print/digital, then file type. I will provide guidance on what files should be used for what purposes so that your logo always looks clean and professional.

All files will be delivered via your Google Drive folder. I ask that you download and back up this folder and all of its files at the end of our project so that you do not lose access.

QUESTION 3

What final files will I receive?

While I don't create or execute an SEO strategy for you, I do set up your website with best SEO practices in mind.

I always design with the user experience as the main priority and consider your page structure as it relates to SEO. I will also:  optimize page titles and descriptions, optimize image size and file names, optimize copy header tags, submit your site map(s) to Google Search Console, and create 301 redirects from your old site if needed.

All of these items are important to set the stage for any SEO strategy you implement in the future but are not necessarily designed to help you rank. If you'd like to add on my SEO package to your experience, please reach out!

QUESTION 4

Do you do my SEO?

I will reference your current website, client questionnaire, and our discussions to outline your page content and write headlines where relevant. While I do tend to write copy as part of my design process, please note that you are ultimately responsible for all copy. As we refine your site, I will let you know places where I need you to "fill in" content and I'll update the design with your copy.

If you are interested in hiring a copywriter to write your full website or to audit the site once it is complete, please reach out! This is something we can add on to your experience and bring in one of my copywriting partners. If this is something you're considering, please reach out as soon as possible as it's best that we complete your copy before heading into the design phase!

QUESTION 5

How does copywriting work?

It is very rare that a project would need to be cancelled. Per our contract, our project will be rescheduled to a later date or cancelled if you fail to meet deadlines and supply documents in a timely manner. Payments already submitted are not refundable. Rescheduled projects are subject to a rescheduling fee of 10% of the project total. This accounts for your time reserved on my calendar as well as impact on my other client projects.

If you need to cancel or reschedule our project for any reason, please reach out as soon as possible. I would always prefer that we figure something out and reach a resolution before resorting to cancelling the project! Email me at alex@alexcollierdesign.com if an issue arises that may impact our project.

QUESTION 6

What is your cancellation policy?

Absolutely! The thing I love about Showit is that it is so user-friendly, most of my clients are able to make small adjustments and updates without my help. As part of our pre-launch call, I love to educate you on using Showit for your purposes.

That said, many of my clients do return for help with more complex and involved updates! Depending on the project, I usually recommend my VIP full or half day! In the past I have helped clients launch new website pages, shops, and client experience guides (like the one you are reading now!).

If you'd like to work together in the future, please reach out via my contact form and share the details and goals of your project as well as your goal launch date.

QUESTION 7

Can I hire you for updates?

Favorite Business Tools

DUBSADO

Looking for a recommendation for your biz? Here are some of my favorite business tools along with some sweet discounts for you! Some of these are affiliate links but I only recommend tools I use and love!

Client Relationship Manager (CRM)

20% OFF YOUR FIRST month or YEAR

I have used and loved Dubsado for years! Dubsado allows me to easily manage leads, proposals, appointments, contracts, invoices, and more!  I couldn't run my biz without it! On your website, we can embed a lead capture form from Dubsado (or another CRM) as your contact form!

GOOGLE WORKSPACE

Business email + domain registrar

YOUR FIRST 14 DAYS FREE

If you would like your email address to end in your own domain rather than gmail.com, this is the best way to do so! I use and recommend the business starter plan! I also recommend purchasing your domain through Google Domains so everything is in one place!

FLODESK

Email Marketing Software (EMS)

50% off your first year

Flodesk is my favorite tool for creating and sending beautiful marketing emails. Building an email list is an important marketing strategy and one I always recommend! Flodesk is the most intuitive to use from what I've found! Plus, it's super easy to embed Flodesk's forms on your website!

CLICKUP

Project Management (PM)

GET STARTED FOR FREE

As you've already seen, ClickUp is my go-to for keeping my client projects and everything else in my biz totally organized! I use the Business plan to get the most out of ClickUp's automations and guest permissions, but the free forever plan is pretty great for anyone just getting started with ClickUp!

Thank you!

If you have questions about anything in this welcome guide, please reach out via the chat in your client dashboard. Thank you for partnering with me to bring your new brand and website to life. I can't wait to dive in!