OUR PROCESS
We value meeting our clients where they are,
sculpting a business development plan that’s
just the right fit, and delivering results that resonate.
About our
Philosophy & Approach
Over the last decade, we have refined and polished our process and workflow for how we guide our clients through the magic, sometimes mystery, and always rewarding business development and branding process — the wholehearted way. With time and experience, we have found that there is an order to the start-up, expansion, branding, and rebranding process — that when followed provides for an ideal creative environment and experience, and the highest level of efficiency we can offer in moving through projects and tasks.
Through attentive, engaged conversations, we listen for how to
develop well-thought through intentional growth plans for our clients.
We offer the following recommended path for developing an intentional growth plan for your business — and yet, we meet our clients where they are and do color outside the lines, and vary our process for our clients in the ways that will be of the greatest support to them. We recognize and appreciate that every client and project is unique. What’s most important to us is that our clients feel that we understand their specific needs, timing, considerations, and goals.
We offer the following recommended path for developing an intentional growth plan for your business — and yet, we meet our clients where they are and do color outside the lines, and vary our process for our clients in the ways that will be of the greatest support to them. We recognize and appreciate that every client and project is unique. What’s most important to us is that our clients feel that we understand their specific needs, timing, considerations, and goals.
open minds • open hearts • flexibility • willingness to learn
With each new client we work with, we grow our experience and how we mentor and guide our clients. While our process hasn’t changed much over the past 10 years, we do enter into each new client relationship and project with open minds and hearts, flexibility, and a willingness to learn from our experiences with our clients. We believe this is the heart of collaboration.
That our clients feel empowered, synergy in working with us, and alignment with our process is our highest priority. To provide our clients with an experience that is just right for their needs, resources, and timing, we offer flexibility in our approach by inviting our clients to “re-choose” working with us as we complete our work on each phase in our process.
That our clients feel empowered, synergy in working with us, and alignment with our process is our highest priority. To provide our clients with an experience that is just right for their needs, resources, and timing, we offer flexibility in our approach by inviting our clients to “re-choose” working with us as we complete our work on each phase in our process.
Typical phases, steps, and projects that make up
our business development
process includes:
Phase 1: Project Excavation & Discovery
Focus:
- Work through the Wholehearted Business Development and Branding Questionnaire
- Clarify the desired outcomes from the business development process
- Define goals and intentions from the process
- Establish project timelines and milestones
- Outline financial goals
Deliverables:
- Summary Business Development and Branding Questionnaire prepared to support the brand development phase
Phase 2: Brand Development
Focus:
- Work with clients to develop their mission, vision, values, purpose and inclusivity statements
- Review for racial diversity, cultural sensitivity, equity, and inclusivity
- Research and establish the business name, tagline, and brand story messaging statements
- Complete Brand Audit to minimize gaps in cultural and racial sensitivity and to ensure that diverse perspectives are represented
- Define the business product and service offerings
- If the project includes rebrand evaluate the merits of the current name versus developing a new name
Deliverables:
- Business Name Research and Evaluation
- Business Name and Tagline
- Mission/Vision/Values/Purpose/Inclusivity Statements
- Visual Identity Design
- Brand Style Guide
Phase 3: Business Identity Package
Focus:
- Work with clients to define their needs and preferences for business identity materials, including:
- Print and/or digital, cloud-based business cards
- Email signature(s)
- Digital letterhead template
- Thank you cards
- Other branded stationery
Deliverables:
- Custom-designed business card
- Branded, cross platform and device email signature
- Digital letterhead template
Phase 4: Website Development
Focus:
- Work with clients to:
- Define the website wireframe, navigation and focus for each webpage
- Develop the website content strategy
- Review website content to to minimize gaps in cultural and racial sensitivity and to ensure that diverse perspectives are represented
- Write the webpage content and/or work with client in the development of the content for the website
- Design webpages for desktop, tablet, and mobile
- Curate image content
- Design and manage the branding photoshoot
- Complete final website content review for racial diversity, cultural sensitivity, equity, and inclusivity
- If applicable, set-up e-commerce components of the website
Deliverables:
- Custom, mobile-responsive, e-commerce enabled website
Phase 5: Optimize Website For Search Engines
Focus:
- Once the webpages of been built, designed, all images and copy have been added to the site, each page is taken through a series of tasks to:
- Optimize the website visitor experience
- Optimize the website copy, images, and videos for content authority to increase search engine ranking
- Develop strategies to increase search engine ranking for webpages to be featured in search results when current and/or potential clients and customers are searching for the services and/products featured on the website
- Drive organic search traffic to the website
Deliverables:
- Perform research to identify the high-value keywords for the content featured on the website
- Enhance the website content by incorporating the identified high-value keywords
- Apply best practices for search engine crawlers to index the website
- Submit the website to Google Search Console for website optimization
- Set up and connect Google Business Profile for the business and website
- Check for the latest Google updates that could impact the website, content, and launch
- Perform tests to detect and correct any technical SEO errors
- Create unique page title tags and meta descriptions
- Test loading speeds and correct any errors that could impact load times
- Create internal links to other pages on the website that are relevant to each other
- Set-up Google Analytics to track website performance
Phase 6: Social Media Branding & Strategy Development
Focus:
- Work with clients to:
- Determine the appropriate social media platforms for the business
- Develop social media branding strategy that reflects and amplifies the business brand
- Outline a social media content calendar
- Create series of post graphics
- Provide post graphics templates as requested
- Set-up social media analytics and create tracking reports
Deliverables:
- Professionally branded social media pages, including profile and banner images
- Cohesive Platform Profile About Page and Bio content
- Multi-Platform Content Calendar, including dates, frequency, post focus
- Post engagement strategy and response guidance and coaching
- Post management support
- Website Google Analytics set-up to track social media platforms
- Platform Analytics Reports
Phase 7: Marketing & Outreach Strategy Development
Focus:
- Work with clients to determine the elements to support brand-building, launch/re-launch, and community building and activation:
- Opt-in strategy
- Opt-in incentive download
- Digital and printed announcements
- Branded PowerPoint and/or G-Slide templates
- Printed program/services/product collateral
- Signage, banners, and promotional items
- Brand photography
- Brand story videos
- Collaborative brand and community building opportunities
Deliverables:
- Engagement and Community Building Strategy & Development Plan
- Production, Posting, and Delivery Schedule
- As identified to support the brand/business development and launch strategy, design branded, design and content development for:
- Opt-in process
- Opt-in incentive download
- Digital newsletter
- Blog post announcement template
- Other digital and printed materials as identified by development strategy and plan
Phase 8: Business Operations Planning
Focus:
- Work with clients throughout all phases of the brand and business development process, researching and identifying solutions to advance their business operations and to support sustainable growth for their business. Areas for operational planning and development include, but are not limited to:
- Finance: Expense and Revenue Forecasting, Cash-Flow analysis, financing, credit acquisition and management, and bookkeeping
- Business Equipment, and Technology: Evaluation of technology needs and resources, including identifying service and support options
- Operations and Productivity Tools and Resources: Recommendations and integration of appropriate and supportive platforms, software, and technology
- Professional Team Development: As needed, we provide assistance with how to identify candidates aligned with your business, interview, and select the key contributors for your business including: bookkeeper, CPA, Business Banker, Business Attorney, and Insurance Broker
- Contracts and Agreements: Assistance with identifying the legal documents needed to support and protect your business
- Intellectual Property: If appropriate, meet with a business attorney to determine if there is intellectual property to be protected
- Business Insurance: Research if business liability is needed to protect the business owner(s)
Deliverables:
- Expense and Revenue Forecast
Cash-Flow Analysis - Financing coaching, guidance on credit acquisition, usage, and management
- Operations Plan, including technology and software recommendations
- Guidance on contracts and agreements to consider
- Referrals and recommendations to business professionals
love notes
“Amanda is a powerhouse! She is very resourceful and is able to creatively find solutions for the challenges that arise in business. Amanda is organized, dependable, and always on top of things. Her optimism would relieve my stress and she consistently demonstrated a wonderful ability to stay calm under pressure. Amanda is kind, smart, hard-working, energetic, personable, competent, creative, responsible and exemplary in the way she approaches her work.”
– Raquel Do Carmo | Therapist & School Based Counselor