Pricing
Here's everything, and none of it changes on the call. There are three monthly retainers, each with a cap on hours, eight fixed-price sprints for one-off work, and an hourly rate for the odd question. Then the terms: how invoicing works, how to leave, and what happens to hours you don't use.
Prices in CAD, before applicable taxes.
Monthly retainers
The price buys a capped number of hours and a fixed rhythm. I log every hour and send the log with your monthly report. If hours are running under or over, you'll get a note mid-month so there's no surprise at the end.
How the hours work, on every tier
- Unused hours: up to 25% of the month's included hours roll into the next month only, then lapse. Unused hours are never refunded. For example, on Working Partner (18 hours), if you use 12, up to 4.5 carry over. If you use 17, the 1 left carries over.
- Extra hours: $185 an hour, only after you've approved them in writing. They're invoiced with the next retainer invoice.
- Changing tiers: ask before the 25th and the change applies from the next billing month, with no fee.
- Pausing: once in any 12 months, for up to one month, after any initial term. Ask before the 25th of the month before the pause.
- Price during the initial term: it doesn't go up.
- Setup fee: none. There's no onboarding charge either.
- Your accounts: ad accounts, software, domains and your CRM are set up in your name and paid by you. The documents I produce are yours once the invoice for them is paid.
Fixed-price sprints
For one piece of work with a start and an end. Nothing renews. Sprints are 50% to book and 50% on delivery, with the balance due net 15. The exception is the $325 strategy session, which is paid in full when you book it.
Strategy session: move or cancel it with at least 24 hours' notice and you can reschedule or get a full refund. With less than 24 hours' notice there's no refund, but you can move it once to another date within 30 days.
Strategy session
$325
90 minutes
A paid working session on one problem, separate from the free discovery call, with a written memo of notes and next steps within 2 business days.
Marketing audit & 90-day plan
$2,400
2–3 weeks
A review of your website and conversion, SEO basics, Google Business Profile, ads, social, email and analytics, delivered as a written audit (about 20–30 pages) with a prioritized action list, a 90-day plan and a 60-minute walkthrough.
Pricing & offer review
$1,900
2 weeks
A margin check, a scan of up to 8 competitors' prices, a packaging or tier recommendation, a draft of a new price sheet and a 60-minute walkthrough.
Sales process & CRM setup
$2,900
3 weeks
Pipeline stages, qualification rules, follow-up templates and cadences, setup in HubSpot (free or Starter) or Pipedrive in your own account, one 90-minute team training and a written playbook.
Positioning & messaging sprint
$3,900
3 weeks
Up to 5 customer interviews, a competitor map, a positioning statement, a messaging house, a homepage copy outline and a one-page sales narrative.
Business plan: lender-ready
$3,400
3–4 weeks
A 20–30 page plan for a bank, BDC or CSBFP loan, with 3-year projections, a 12-month cash-flow forecast, a use-of-funds table and 2 revision rounds.
Business plan: investor edition
$4,600
4 weeks
The lender-ready plan, plus a 12–15 slide pitch deck and an investor-oriented financial summary, with 2 revision rounds.
Go-to-market launch plan
$4,800
4 weeks
Ideal customer profile and segments, positioning, pricing input, a channel plan, a 90-day launch calendar, launch metrics and a launch messaging kit.
If a sprint turns into a retainer
Start a Working Partner or Fractional CMO retainer within 30 days of delivering a Marketing audit or a Positioning & messaging sprint, and 50% of the sprint fee is credited against your first month. That's $1,200 off after the audit, or $1,950 after the positioning sprint. It's a credit on that invoice only, with no cash value.
Hourly
$210/hour
For a question that doesn't need a retainer. The session is prepaid by invoice, with a 1-hour minimum.
The hourly rate is higher than what a retainer works out to, and that's on purpose. If you need help every month, the retainer is the better deal. The Retainer vs hourly calculator shows you where the line falls.
Compare retainer and hourly →Invoicing and payment
- Retainers are invoiced in advance, on the 25th, for the following month, and due in 7 days. The first month is invoiced when you sign and is due before we start.
- Fixed-price projects: a 50% deposit to book, due before work starts. The other 50% is invoiced on delivery and due net 15.
- Strategy session: the $325 is paid in full when you book.
- Hourly work is prepaid, with a 1-hour minimum.
- Extra retainer hours are pre-approved in writing and invoiced with the next retainer invoice.
How to pay
- Interac e-Transfer, for Canadian clients. Your bank sets the limit per transfer, so larger invoices usually go by EFT.
- EFT or direct deposit, for Canadian clients. The bank details are on the invoice.
- International wire, for clients outside Canada.
You cover your own bank's fees. I don't take credit cards, and there's no payment form on this site.
Late payment: interest of 1.5% per month (simple, not compounded), which is 18% per year, charged from the due date.
Outside Canada? I invoice in CAD, or in USD on request at a rate fixed when we agree the proposal.
Leaving
Sounding Board is month to month from the start. Working Partner and Fractional CMO have a 3-month initial term and are month to month after that. To end any retainer, email me 30 days' written notice. It takes effect at the end of the billing cycle in which the 30 days run out, and nothing is invoiced after that.
Cancelling a fixed-price project before work starts gets your whole deposit back. Once work has started, you pay for the work done at the hourly rate, up to the project price, and any unused deposit comes back to you.
The full rules are in the Cancellation & Refund Policy →Questions about pricing
What counts against my hours?
Calls, working sessions and the work itself: writing, reviewing, analysis and preparing reports. Every entry is in the hours log, so you can see where the time went.
What happens if a month needs more than my hours?
I'll tell you mid-month, before it happens. You can approve extra hours at $185 each, move something to next month, or move up a tier (ask before the 25th and it applies from the next billing month). Nothing extra is billed without your written OK.
Why is the hourly rate higher than the retainer rate?
Ad-hoc hours are harder to plan around than a monthly rhythm. The gap also makes the retainer the better deal for anyone who needs regular help, which is the idea.
Do your prices include HST?
No. Prices in CAD, before applicable taxes. Any tax that applies is shown as a separate line on the invoice.
Can I pay by credit card?
No. Payment is by bank transfer only: Interac e-Transfer, EFT or international wire.
Is the discovery call really free?
Yes, and it comes with no obligation. If you'd like a paid working session on one specific problem, that's the $325 strategy session. It's a separate thing, paid in full when you book.
Now you know the numbers.
The call is for working out which of them fits. After it, you get a written proposal with scope, hours and one of the prices above.
Book a free discovery call