← Proposal EL Easley Labs Process
How we work

Five stages. No mystery. No invoice surprises.

Most agencies sell strategy and bill for "discovery." Easley Labs starts with research before the first call and shows you the work the whole way. Here is how an engagement actually runs.

01
Before our first call · 0 days · No invoice

Discover

We research before we talk. Your website, your competitors, your category, your reviews. We come to the first call with a point of view, not a pitch.

What you do

  • Reply to the email
  • Book a 30-minute call

What we do

  • Audit your current site (technical, content, conversion)
  • Identify your top 5 to 10 direct competitors
  • Pull comparable data: pricing, positioning, partner logos, testimonials
  • Draft a working hypothesis on the gap
02
First conversation · ~30 minutes · No invoice

Align

One conversation. We confirm the goal, the audience, the constraints. You ask the hard questions. We tell you what we'd do, and roughly what it costs.

What you do

  • Tell us what you actually want
  • Tell us what you've already tried
  • Push back where the plan does not feel right

What we do

  • Walk you through the audit
  • Propose a strategy in plain words
  • Send a written follow-up the same day with a proposal site
03
After you sign · 3 to 4 weeks · Build

Build

Whatever the engagement requires. A new website. A messaging refresh. A grant pipeline. A pilot program playbook. We share work in progress so you see it before it ships, not after.

What you do

  • Review drafts and tell us what is wrong
  • Provide assets we don't already have (photos, voice, logo files)
  • Approve the major decisions (positioning, pricing, structure)

What we do

  • Build the site (zero templates, full ownership transferred to you)
  • Write the copy in your voice
  • Run the grant finder system if applicable (free, included)
  • Set up Google Analytics 4 and your CRM
  • Optimize Google Business Profile and core SEO
04
Go live · 1 to 2 weeks · Launch

Launch

The site goes live. The grant applications go out. The outreach starts. We track everything from day one because day one is when the data starts.

What you do

  • Sign and submit the grant drafts we wrote
  • Approve the launch checklist
  • Post the launch announcement

What we do

  • DNS handoff and final QA
  • Submit-ready grant package delivery
  • Outreach templates and target list
  • Tracking dashboards configured
05
First 90 days post-launch · Office hours

Scale

One hour per month for the first quarter, included. We refine based on real data, not assumptions. Most engagements convert into a smaller monthly retainer at this point because the engine is running and you want it tuned.

What you do

  • Show up to office hours with your real questions
  • Send us the wins and the ghosts equally
  • Decide if month 4+ becomes a retainer

What we do

  • Monthly performance review (traffic, leads, grants submitted, awards won)
  • Refine messaging and pricing based on data
  • Refresh the grant pipeline every 90 days
  • Train your team on what we built so you own it
Tools we use

Real tools, named honestly.

No vendor lock-in. No hidden subscriptions. We tell you what we use so you can use it too if you want.

ClaudeResearch, copy drafts, grant applications, outreach personalization
VS Code, CodexSite builds in raw HTML/CSS/JS fully transferable to WordPress, Webflow, etc.
VercelHosting and deployment. Free tier works for most clients.
HubSpot CRMLead pipeline. Free tier. Optional upgrade later.
Google Analytics 4Traffic and behavior data. Free.
Google Business ProfileLocal SEO. Free.
HotJar or Microsoft ClarityHeatmaps and session replay. Free tiers.
Easley Labs grant finderReusable system. Free with engagement.
What we don't do

Plain words about the limits.

We don't gatekeep.

If you want to learn how we do something, we teach you. We won't pretend a process is more complex than it is to keep you dependent.

We don't lock you in.

You own the site. You own the domain. You own the assets. We can transfer everything to a different developer or platform on day one.

We don't sell what you don't need.

If a recommendation isn't going to move the needle for your business, we say so. The tire shop test: only sell what's needed to keep moving.

We don't guarantee outcomes we can't control.

We can guarantee the work, the timeline, and the deliverables. We cannot guarantee a grant award, a sponsor's yes, or a competitor's silence.

We don't ghost.

You hear from us weekly during a build. Monthly during scale. Same business day on anything urgent.

We don't put our logo in your footer.

White label. The work speaks for itself. We don't market for free off your site.

Want to see what stage 1 looks like?

Reply with your business name. We'll send back a free audit within 48 hours. No call required, no commitment, no follow-up unless you want one.