Did you know that a retainer can save you time and help you run your business more efficiently? Or that a retainer can provide an evolving, custom-tailored strategy and the reassurance that you’ll stay relevant despite ever-changing trends?

Maybe you’re currently struggling with overwhelm. With so much to do, you’re not sure what to prioritize and how to stay current with marketing technologies and social platforms. You want to keep doing the work you do best, but that doesn’t seem to be enough. You may be haphazardly posting graphics onto social media without considering strategy or visual consistency because you just don’t have the time or energy to satisfy the always-hungry algorithms.

There’s help on the horizon if you consider retainers.

What is a Retainer?

Think about a retainer like a self-care package. You’re handing a part of your business to a trusted service provider, like you might hand your weary feet to a foot masseuse. Some may see it as a luxury, but if your feet are hurting, they won’t take you far. Some may see a retainer as luxurious, but if you end up burning out, you’ll quickly halt any progress your business has been making. 

A retainer is an agreement you make with an individual or agency for specific work to be done on a recurring basis. It’s like a weekly reservation at your favorite restaurant — you’re served something delicious and made just for you on a regular basis. In a retainer, you’ll reserve a certain amount of time every month for your designer, marketer, or strategist to focus specifically on you. 

If you have a retainer, you won’t be alone anymore. You won’t be full of exciting ideas that have nowhere to go. You’ll finally have that “trusted sidekick” you’ve always dreamed of, which will make marketing less stressful — and more fun! 

What Do Retainers Include?

At Bauerhaus Design, a typical monthly retainer might include:

• Brand Strategy
• Graphic design
• Website design and maintenance 
• Content idea generation
• Marketing strategy
• Digital marketing such as email or social media ads 
• Monthly 1:1 coaching calls 

See a full description of our services for more detail on the possibilities.

Forget “One Size Fits All”

No two businesses are the same — even if they’re in the same industry! — which is why each business needs its own roadmap. What’s included in your retainer will be curated based on your unique needs. We’ll make sure the price and scope are specific to your business, so that we’re giving you and your business as much mileage as possible. 

Retainers Reward Strategy

Are you noticing lackluster results because you don’t have a “big plan” behind your social media posts? Do the landing pages for your services and products look like they belong to different brands? Do you find yourself wondering who you really are, and how to convey that visually?

If you’ve taken the time to step back and define a strategy for your business (or work with Bauerhaus Design to define one at the start of your retainer), you’ll experience steady, predictable progress. For long-term success, you want to plan based on the big picture, and a retainer ensures you’ll have consistent support over time.

One way we enjoy launching a new retainer is by diving into our Bauerhaus Brand Map (our signature process) to make sure the foundation we’re building upon is solid. No matter the scope of your retainer, we must begin by understanding how and why your brand is different. Having a holistic and detailed perspective of your business means that we’ll be able to design and market more effectively for you. We want to be part of your team and invest in your success!

Retainers Reduce Waste

With a retainer in place, you won’t waste your time trying to learn, implement, and execute the duties of various specialist roles. You won’t be re-explaining your business and goals to freelancers or agencies who come and go. You won’t waste money paying for ad-hoc design projects that seem disjointed. And, if you book recurring design or strategy time in advance, you’ll usually get a discount on hourly rates, which can be considered a “thank you” for the consistent volume of work. 

With a monthly retainer, you also won’t need to bother spending time writing up budgets, project descriptions, and timelines to then wait for and negotiate an estimate. Your projects can begin as soon as you conceive of them, because you’ve retained an agency who knows you and knows that you’ll pay (because you already have!).

Retainers Ensure Quality

Why wouldn’t you want to work with someone who deeply understands your brand and your business? Someone who’s as invested as you are in its success? 

When you consistently work with the same agency over a long period of time, you build an emotional connection and empower them to make critical decisions on your behalf. They’ll understand your brand, your goals, and your audience on a deeper level, so they can both recommend and deliver custom design and marketing solutions. They can help you pivot with the market or the industry as needed.  

When you have a regular retainer with one designer or agency, the style and quality of your content will be consistent across all of your projects and platforms. And brand consistency builds trust, which means that your audience will be more likely to buy. You’ll avoid the confusion that repels new customers and clients. 

Get the VIP Treatment

You’re tired of waiting. You’re tired of losing momentum because your designer doesn’t have time to create the graphics you need to launch your new service. You’re tired of having an outdated website because your developer has “more important” projects to finish first. You’re tired of losing your window because your marketer can’t build the ad campaign for this weekend’s event until next month…

But when you have a retainer, you skip to the front of the line. There’s no more waiting to be penciled in weeks — or even months — down the line. Wouldn’t you love to know you could pick up the phone or send a quick email to ask for marketing advice, start a new campaign, or launch a new product… and someone will respond quickly? 

When you’ve retained a trusted partner who understands your brand, you and your business become VIPs. Time has been both budgeted and paid for, so everyone is ready to do what they do best when you need them.

Retainers Spread Joy

“I have been so impressed with Becca and her team of web designers/builders. Her depth of knowledge and guidance during this process has been invaluable. There have been so many things come up I wouldn’t even know to ask or think about, but she does. I hired a business coach to help me get started before I started working with Becca, and now I realize I didn’t even need to do that. She brings so much more to the upstart process than just web design, simply because she has been through this so many times before with other clients. She has helped me to think through strategy, marketing, growth, and much more. And she has saved me so much time, just knowing the best services to use for different things, such as payment services. And on top of that, she is a true delight to work with. I look forward to my meetings with her every week!”
— Angela, online business owner

Is a Retainer Right for You?

We encourage you to set up a free consultation call if you’d like to weigh the pros and cons. In general, you might be a good fit for a Bauerhaus Design retainer if you want to grow and:

• You’re already understaffed.
• You’d eventually like to hire in-house help, but don’t have enough consistent work to justify a full-time role.
• You have too many ideas to implement on your own.
• You’ve got great ideas in the moment, but you’re always waiting for help to become available — and losing your momentum.  
• You’re overwhelmed by quickly changing technology, and want a “trusted sidekick” who can help you take advantage of its benefits. 
• You wish you could regularly bounce ideas off of someone as invested in your business as you are.

If you’d like to try a retainer for your business, I’d love to hear from you. Bauerhaus Design offers support packages tailored to your unique needs, covering design, websites, marketing, and more. Book your free call today!