Guides
Long-form guides on running a profitable agency: pricing, scoping, tracking, invoicing, and measuring delivery margin.
Agency Profitability
How to run a profitable agency: pricing models, scoping, time tracking, invoicing, and measuring delivery margin.
Agency Operations System
How to build an agency operations system across five layers — pipeline, delivery, time, billing, reporting — with a maturity self-assessment and decision rules per layer.
Lead to Invoice Workflow
The 8-stage lead to invoice workflow — capture, qualify, close, project, deliver, track time, invoice, get paid — with a copyable stage checklist and a worked $12k example.
Outcomes Taxonomy
A reusable outreach outcomes taxonomy: pipeline statuses, four terminal outcomes, and win/loss reason codes any team can adopt in any tool.
Follow-Up Cadence
A 5-touch, 30-day proposal follow-up cadence with exact timing, channel switches, and copy-ready message templates for freelancers and agencies.
Weekly Pipeline Review
A product-agnostic weekly pipeline review playbook: five metrics, a timed 30-minute agenda, and decision rules that force action on every stuck deal.
Supporting Articles
In-depth articles that go deeper on the topics covered in the guides above.
Agency Pricing Models Explained
Hourly, fixed, retainer, value-based — how each model affects your margins and when to use which.
Managing Retainers for Creative Studios
How to structure and manage design retainers so they stay profitable month after month.
Billable vs Non-Billable Design Time
What counts as billable time for designers, how to track it, and how the split affects studio profitability.
How to Track Billable vs Non-Billable Hours
A practical system for capturing every billable minute without adding friction to your team's workflow.
Handle Change Requests Without Scope Creep
A repeatable process for evaluating, documenting, and billing change requests before they erode your margins.
Automatic vs Manual Time Tracking for Developers
Which capture method fits which team? A decision framework with pros, cons, and a hybrid approach that works.