The Engagement
One engagement. Four phases. Strategy first.
The Engagement is how every brand and web project at FinArt runs. A diagnostic comes first. Positioning gets signed off before design begins. Specialists deploy the system once strategy is locked. Most studios skip the order. We don't.
Why this method exists
Most advisor brands fail the Cover Your Logo test. Swap the logo, and the homepage could be anyone's.
That's not a design problem. It's a positioning problem dressed up as a design problem. The Engagement exists to fix the order, not the typography.
Phase 01 — The Diagnostic
01 / 04
Diagnose.
Before we design anything, we tell you what's actually broken.
Most advisor brands fail the Cover Your Logo test before the meeting starts. The homepage describes financial planning. The about page describes the team. The services page describes the services. None of it describes the firm. Phase 01 produces a written verdict — what's recoverable, what isn't, and what the firm is actually competing on whether it knows it or not.
You walk away with
A Diagnostic Brief — not a workshop summary.
Phase 02 — Strategy
02 / 04
Position.
Strategy isn't a deck. It's a decision the firm has to be willing to make.
Phase 02 produces a one-page Positioning Brief. Who the firm is for. Who it isn't for. What it stands for. How it talks. Every word that lands on a homepage, a pitch deck, or a LinkedIn bio gets traced back to this document. If leadership cannot agree on the contents of this page, no design work is going to fix that. So we don't start design work until they can.
You walk away with
A signed Positioning Brief — the contract for everything that follows.
Phase 03 — Build
03 / 04
Build.
The strategy becomes a system. Built by specialists. Directed by one strategist.
Phase 03 is where the visual identity, the website, and the messaging assets get made. I direct the work. I write the strategy that every decision answers to. Execution happens with named partners on the bench — Framer specialists, content collaborators, motion designers — vetted, trusted, named on this page. You get one point of contact. You get a system that doesn't fall apart at the seams. You get a website that ships.
You walk away with
A complete brand system and a Framer site that converts.
Phase 04 — Operate
04 / 04
Operate.
A brand is a decision. Operating it is a discipline.
Most studios disappear at launch. That's where the brand starts decaying. Phase 04 is the ongoing partnership: quarterly brand reviews, conversion audits, content systems, lead-capture architecture, and the marketing operations that keep the system performing. This is where fractional CMO oversight, funnels, and analytics live — as operations of the system you already built. Not as new services.
You walk away with
A brand that compounds — instead of one that fades after launch.
Four Ways In
How firms enter.
Scope and investment are decided after the diagnostic — not before.
Entry 01
The Diagnostic
A two-week Cover Your Logo audit and positioning interrogation. For firms not yet sure whether they need a brand engagement at all. Often becomes the foundation for a full one.
Entry 02
Strategic Foundation
Diagnostic, positioning, and visual identity system. No website. For firms whose site is fine, but the brand and messaging underneath it are the problem.
Entry 03
Full Engagement
Diagnostic, positioning, identity, copy, and a complete Framer website. The most common engagement. Three to four months from kickoff to launch.
Entry 04
The Re-Founding
Naming, full brand, website, launch strategy, and post-launch oversight. For successions, breakaways, and firms re-founding under new leadership. Includes a Phase 04 retainer.
Stop being interchangeable. Start with a 30-minute call.
I'll tell you on the call whether the engagement is right for you, or whether you need someone else. Either answer is honest.