2RE03-Design/memory-bank/offer-draft.md

# Offer Draft - 2RE03

> The page-copy draft for the **Offer** stage of `memory-bank/sales-funnel-plan.md`. The shape is settled (user-confirmed 2026-09-22): **one primary offer with a published price band, plus a fixed-price diagnostic as the entry step**, with every other capability left as bench depth. **Offer facts answered 2026-10-01:** the user supplied the name, promise, inclusions, duration, price band, what the client supplies, revision rounds, ownership, the diagnostic (name, price, duration, deliverable and credit), the floor, the after-the-form flow, and all ten outcome lines, so every `[[slot]]` below is now filled. **No slot may be filled with an invented number, duration, claim or result** (Ways of Working 3); the outcome lines are honest transformation lines, not metrics, because no hard numbers exist. This is now usable copy for `services.html`, `index.html` and `contact.html`, pending the user's red pen. Two things stay open: which individual clients have actually agreed to be named, quoted or shown (the permission *rule* is set), and the deposit percentage plus the milestone split, now that the user has decided on 2026-10-01 that **both deposits and milestones are stated** on the offer. **Conventions:** `✅` means the user confirmed it; **Proposed** means Cline drafted the wording and the user should edit it freely; `[[TODO: ...]]` now appears only where a fact is genuinely still unconfirmed, and nothing in brackets is final or deployable.

## Slots to answer

| Slot | Feeds | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| `[[primary offer name]]` | `services.html` h2, homepage teaser | ✅ **Answered 2026-10-01: The 2RE03 Website Launch** |
| `[[one-sentence promise]]` | `services.html` lead, hero support line | ✅ **Answered 2026-10-01: "We build distinctive websites that make your business easier to understand, trust, and act on."** |
| `[[what's included]]` | `services.html` bullets | ✅ **Answered 2026-10-01: project strategy and content structure, custom visual design, responsive website development, copy editing / copywriting assistance, SEO/accessibility/performance basics, launch/hosting/handoff** |
| `[[typical duration]]` | `services.html` facts, homepage teaser | ✅ **Answered 2026-10-01: most projects launch in 4 to 6 weeks** |
| `[[price band]]` | `services.html` facts, homepage teaser, contact qualification | ✅ **Answered 2026-10-01: start at $3,500; most complete projects $4,500 to $7,500** |
| `[[what you supply]]` | `services.html` facts, contact "what to include" | ✅ **Answered 2026-10-01: existing copy (if any), photos/logos/brand assets, access to website/domain/hosting, subject-matter info we can't research, feedback and decisions; we help source what is missing** |
| `[[revision rounds]]` | `services.html` facts | ✅ **Answered 2026-10-01: 2.** Supersedes the "3" recorded 2026-09-22; the newest answer wins |
| `[[ownership terms]]` | `services.html` facts, contact risk reversal | ✅ **Answered 2026-10-01: paid in full, the client owns the finished website, the design assets, the copy created for them, and their content; 2RE03 retains pre-existing tools, reusable code, processes and third-party components** |
| `[[payments]]` | `services.html` terms, `contact.html` qualification | ✅ **Answered 2026-10-01: both are stated** - a deposit starts the project, payments fall due as agreed milestones are met, and the balance is due on delivery. The percentage and the split are still to be supplied, so no figure is written yet |
| `[[diagnostic name]]` | `services.html` card, homepage teaser, contact CTA | ✅ **Answered 2026-10-01: The Project Clarity Session** |
| `[[diagnostic price]]` | same as above | ✅ **Answered 2026-10-01: $250** |
| `[[diagnostic duration]]` | same as above | ✅ **Answered 2026-10-01: 60 to 90 minutes** |
| `[[diagnostic deliverable]]` | same as above | ✅ **Answered 2026-10-01: a clear definition of the site's job, a recommended site structure, priority pages/features, the content and assets needed, a rough project scope, a realistic timeline, a ballpark budget** |
| `[[credit toward project]]` | same as above | ✅ **Answered 2026-10-01: credited in full if they hire within 30 days** |
| `[[project floor]]` | `services.html`, `contact.html` | ✅ **Answered 2026-10-01: $3,500** |
| `[[who replies]]` | `contact.html` | ✅ **Answered 2026-10-01: team voice ("we")**, changed from naming Torrey personally, to match the site voice |
| `[[reply time]]` | `contact.html` | ✅ **Answered 2026-10-01: keep as is** ("aim to reply within a couple of days") |
| `[[first call agenda]]` | `contact.html` | ✅ **Answered 2026-10-01: a 30-minute Project Fit Call** |
| `[[what you leave with]]` | `contact.html` | ✅ **Answered 2026-10-01: knowing what to build next and what it would cost, whether or not they hire us** |
| `[[results per case study]]` | 10 case-study pages plus the homepage proof strip | ✅ **Answered 2026-10-01: ten transformation lines (no hard numbers exist)** in Block E |
| `[[quotes or names we may publish]]` | proof strip, case studies | ✅ **Answered 2026-10-01: none yet** (no client has agreed to a name, quote, logo, photograph or identifiable number beyond the names the case studies already publish) |
| `[[analytics yes or no]]` | every page | ✅ **Answered 2026-10-01: yes, privacy-friendly (Umami)**; the user will **self-host** it and add it later |

## Draft copy, in the site's voice

Slots are the only things missing. Word choice outside the slots is a first draft for the user to red-pen, not the user's own words.

### Block A - `services.html`, the primary offer (replaces the current "Web Design" section, same layout)

**Answered 2026-10-01.** Edit freely; the facts are the user's.

- Eyebrow: `The offer`
- h2: `The 2RE03 Website Launch`
- Lead: `We build distinctive websites that make your business easier to understand, trust, and act on.`
- Bullets (the six inclusions the user supplied):
  - `Project strategy and content structure`
  - `Custom visual design`
  - `Responsive website development`
  - `Copy editing and copywriting assistance`
  - `SEO, accessibility and performance basics`
  - `Launch, hosting and handoff`
- Facts line: `Typical project: 4 to 6 weeks · From $3,500 · You supply photos, existing material, logins, and a decision-maker · 2 rounds of revisions`
- What you supply line: `You supply your existing copy (if you have it), photos, logos and other brand assets, access to your existing website, domain and hosting, the subject-matter information we can't reasonably research, and feedback and decisions when we ask. Don't have all of that? That's okay, we can help create or source what's missing.`
- Ownership line: `When the project is paid in full, you own the finished website, the design assets, the copy created specifically for you, and your content. We retain ownership of our pre-existing tools, reusable code, processes, and third-party components.`
- Buttons: `Start a project` (primary, as today) and `Not ready for a project?` (anchor to Block B)

Two cautions now apply to promises rather than numbers: the duration has to be the calendar time actually achieved including the client's own review time, and the price band has to be one the user would honour twice in a row. Both are now the user's own figures, so they are load-bearing, not placeholders.

### Block B - `services.html`, the entry step (dark card, `bg-ink text-cream`, matching the Workflow band's middle card)

**Answered 2026-10-01.** This is a paid service the user has now defined, so the copy can be built.

- Eyebrow: `Start smaller`
- h2: `The Project Clarity Session`
- Lead: `A guided 60 to 90 minute session that turns a vague website idea into a clear plan. You leave with a clear definition of what the site has to do, a recommended site structure, the priority pages and features, the content and assets you'll need, a rough project scope, a realistic timeline, and a ballpark budget.`
- Facts line: `$250 · 60 to 90 minutes`
- Credit line: `Hire us within 30 days and the full $250 comes off the project price.`

### Block C - `index.html`, offer teaser band (sits under the trigger questions, above the work list)

**Answered 2026-10-01.**

- h2: `Here's what working with us looks like.`
- Body: `Most website projects launch in 4 to 6 weeks and start at $3,500. If you'd rather test the water first, the Project Clarity Session is $250, and it comes off the bill if you hire us within 30 days.`
- Buttons: `Start a project` (primary) and `See the details` -> `services.html`

### Block D - `contact.html`, risk reversal (extends the existing "Response time" panel, reusing its wording rather than replacing it)

**Answered 2026-10-01**, in team voice ("we", not a named individual).

- h3 or h4: `What happens next`
- Body: `We read it, and aim to reply within a couple of days. If it looks like a fit, the first call is a 30-minute Project Fit Call covering what you're trying to accomplish, who needs to use, buy or understand it, what's wrong with the current situation, what already exists, your deadline, your budget, and whether 2RE03 is the right fit. You'll leave knowing what to build next and what it would cost, whether or not you hire us. If we're not the right studio for it, we'll say so.`
- Second line, qualification: `Our projects start at $3,500. Below that, the Project Clarity Session is the honest way to start.`
- Payments line (offer-sheet item 9, revised to "both" on 2026-10-01): `Payments run on a deposit plus milestones: a deposit starts the project, payments fall due as agreed milestones are met, and the balance is due on delivery.` The percentage and the split are still to be supplied, so no figure belongs in this line yet.
- Secondary path: **none.** Revised 2026-10-01, replacing the earlier "add a scheduling link" decision: a written enquiry is enough, so there is no booking link and no published email address. The form is the only path, and the topic dropdown is what makes it a booking (a visitor picks `Book a Project Clarity Session`). `services.html`'s `Book a Clarity Session` button already points at `contact.html`, so nothing needed rewiring.

**Built early, 2026-10-01:** the form's free-text `Subject (optional)` field is already gone. It is now a **required `<select name="subject">` labelled "What do you want to talk about?"**, whose selected value becomes the **Web3Forms notification subject line** (the docs require the name to be `subject`; a user-filled control works, not only a hidden input). Options, in order: `Book a Project Clarity Session`, `Start a website project`, `Logo or brand identity`, `Print design`, `3D modeling`, `Writing, copy, or editing`, `Something else`, behind a disabled `Choose one` placeholder. No JavaScript changed: `js/main.js` posts `new FormData(form)`. The rest of Block D (the `What happens next` copy, the $3,500 qualification line and the payments line) is still to build, but it is now unblocked: the deposit/milestone question is answered and no link is needed. Only the deposit percentage and the milestone split still have to arrive before the payments line can carry a figure.

Two things were confirmed on 2026-10-01 and have to stay true every time: the 30-minute Project Fit Call, and that a prospect really does leave knowing what to build next and what it would cost. The reply-time promise stays as the live copy already states it ("aim to reply within a couple of days").

### Block E - the proof stage

`index.html` gains a proof strip and each case-study page gains one outcome line.

- Homepage proof strip: two or three short lines drawn from the outcome lines below.
- Outcome lines, one per case study (**answered 2026-10-01**; these are transformation lines, not metrics, because no hard numbers exist):

| Case study | Outcome line |
|---|---|
| Mask Aid Project | Turned a Chinese-developed device into a clear English-language campaign people could understand, support, and buy into. |
| 1 Woman's Art and Magic | Turned decades of artwork into two books and a website designed to showcase and sell them. |
| Sam's Rules | Turned a book, its illustrations, tools, and companion material into one coherent published system. |
| Mehavior | Made an app that didn't exist yet tangible enough to present to investors. |
| Jensen's Red Barn | Turned a family antique business and its history into a welcoming online destination. |
| Upscale Food Cart | Repositioned a working food cart visually for higher-end markets. |
| Silver Lining | Created an identity designed to attract the right clients without falling into the obvious cliché. |
| Victoria Fuller | Reorganized a complicated personal story into a website where visitors could actually find the point. |
| Urban Moto | Built a repeatable editorial and advertising pipeline for a motorcycle magazine. |
| Teach Each Other AI | Turned a recurring meetup into a site where visitors could instantly find when, where, and what happened. |

Outstanding on this block:

- `[[quotes or names we may publish]]`: ✅ **Answered 2026-10-01: none yet.** No client has yet agreed to a name, quote, logo, photograph or identifiable number, so the permission *rule* stands (ask first) and **no new client-attributable material is published**. Consequence for this build: the proof stage ships as **the named case studies plus the transformation outcome lines only** - the case-study pages already name most clients, so those names stay as they are - with no testimonial, no client logo, no metric, and no new identifiable detail added until a specific client says yes. When (or if) a clearance arrives, add it then.
- `[[analytics yes or no]]`: ✅ **Answered 2026-10-01: yes, privacy-friendly (Umami).** The user is setting it up and will add it later, so the snippet and the click event on `Start a project` are deferred, not dropped.

What counts as an outcome: a number (traffic, enquiries, sales, signups), a date (launched, shipped, went to print), a before and after (replaced X, cut Y hours a week), or the client's own words. The lines above are before-and-after transformations, which is the honest maximum while no numbers exist; where a real number turns up later it should replace the line.

## How the numbers were picked (background; now answered)

- **Price band**: take what you would quote today for the last two or three projects of that shape, and publish a rounded range rather than a precise figure. The band exists to filter and to self-select, not to quote.
- **Never publish a number you would resent honouring twice in a row.** If the band makes you flinch, the scope is wrong, not the copy.
- **Diagnostic price**: a fixed fee for one to a few days of your own time, producing something the client keeps and can act on without you. Low enough to be an easy yes, high enough to filter tyre-kickers, and credited against the project if they go ahead, which is what makes it safe to buy.
- **Duration**: the calendar time you actually achieve, including the client's own review time, not the ideal case.
- **Floor**: the smallest project you would take without resenting it. Publishing it is a service rather than a snub.

## Build order once the slots are filled

1. ✅ `services.html` Offer stage (Blocks A and B) - **built 2026-10-01, awaiting the user's red pen.** The "Web Design" section became the offer (promise, the six inclusions, three fact pills, what you supply, what you own, `Start a project` plus `Not ready for a project?`), and the Project Clarity Session sits below it as a dark card. The old web-craft detail (hand-coding, WordPress, hosting, domain, maintenance) was folded into the offer's supporting paragraph rather than dropped, and the meta/`og:description` now name the offer and the band. New CSS: `.pill`, `.pill--ink`, `.offer-terms`, `.eyebrow-cream`.
2. `index.html`: trigger questions moved up, teaser band (Block C) in, breadth moved down, proof strip (Block E).
3. `contact.html`: risk reversal and qualification (Block D). **Partly done 2026-10-01:** the free-text subject field is now the required "What do you want to talk about?" dropdown whose selection sets the email subject line; the `What happens next` copy, the $3,500 qualification line and the scheduling link are still to build, and wait on the deposits/milestones answer plus the link itself.
4. `case-studies/*.html`: outcome lines plus their captions, so the caption backlog item rides along.
5. `thank-you.html` and the analytics snippet (Umami, self-hosted, which the user is setting up and will add later), so a submission becomes measurable. There is no scheduling link to add: revised 2026-10-01, a written enquiry is enough and the site publishes no email address.

Copy is reviewed before it is built. Each pass is verified the same way as the caption and copy passes: tags balance and every reference resolves across all 16 pages, no em dashes, headless-browser measurement of any gallery touched, screenshots at 1280px and 390px, and a live probe after the user deploys. (On 2026-10-01 the user chose to build page by page and red-pen the rendered result, so `services.html` was built first and is now awaiting that review.)