We already use Mailchimp.
We recommend beehiiv, the platform we run our own publications on, and can also build and run on Ghost or Kit. If you are on Mailchimp or another platform, we manage the full migration for you, including your list, history, automations, email sequences and forms, and hand back an account you own.
We have no content.
Most clients start with none. Research and writing are part of the service, and the voice and style guide from the foundation phase gives us what we need to start. We find the angle worth a reader's attention in your industry, including the parts everyone else has stopped noticing.
How much of my time does it take?
About 30 minutes per issue, spent reviewing and approving in a newsroom channel created just for you in Slack.
Does Foundation include a website?
Foundation includes a publication site for the newsletter: home, archive, subscribe and about. A full company website is the Company Website extension.
Can I buy the website without the newsletter?
Only alongside a Foundation. The website is built to feed the newsletter and the newsletter to feed the website.
What is not included in the Foundation?
Rebranding or logo design, ecommerce, memberships or custom software, unlimited pages or revisions, CRM migrations and custom integrations, photography and video, legal drafting, ongoing SEO or conversion work, and domain, beehiiv, hosting and other charges from third parties. New pages after launch are quoted separately.
Will you grow our list?
Yes, as the Audience Growth add on, with its own budget, sooner if your list is already engaged. Every subscriber joins by double opt in, and we agree stop and scale rules in writing before anything runs. Referral prompts and cross promotion with adjacent newsletters are part of the base service, so organic growth starts before paid. We do not promise list sizes, and we report the real cost per subscriber every week so you can see exactly what your money does.
Can we approve every issue?
Yes. Nothing sends without your named approval.
What if we want to leave?
Thirty days notice after the minimum term, and you keep the account, the list, the archive and the approved content.
What happens to our subscriber data?
It lives in your own beehiiv account. We work in it as an operator, on your behalf, and hand back the keys when the engagement ends; a data processing addendum is available on request. On request we build and host your newsletter and website on our infrastructure, on your own domain, and move it into an account in your name whenever you ask.
What happens when something fails a check?
It stops there. A claim that cannot be traced to its source is cut, a link that does not open is replaced or removed, and a draft that falls short on review goes back to the writer before you see it. An edit after approval sends the issue back to review rather than out. Nothing goes out in your name with a hedge in it.
We already publish content. Does that help?
Yes. Updates, posts, reports and events you already produce feed straight into what we curate each issue, laid out in a template designed to your existing brand.
Who owns the newsletter?
You do, once invoices are paid. Your domain, your beehiiv account, your subscriber list, your publication website and your approved content are yours to keep.
Do we need a new website?
No. The Foundation builds a publication site in your existing brand: home, archive, subscribe and about, or integrates the newsletter archive and subscribe pages into the website you already have. Either way you own it.
How are the extensions priced?
Every extension is quoted in your proposal, against the scope you actually need. There is no rate card.
What does weekly mean?
One edition a week, up to 52 a year, subject to agreed pauses.
What does the R20,000 build?
The publication foundation you keep: your website, editorial identity, voice framework, sending domain setup and a beehiiv operation in your name. The engagement runs for a minimum of three months from your first published issue, after which 30 days notice applies.
What happens after three months?
The engagement continues on the agreed cadence. Thirty days notice applies after the minimum term.
How fast is the first issue?
A first draft within 48 hours of a complete brief.
Who is responsible for email compliance?
You own the list and its consent records. We send only to addresses with recorded permission, authenticate your domain with SPF, DKIM and DMARC, and every issue carries a working unsubscribe and a postal address, as POPIA and the South African Electronic Communications and Transactions Act require.
Do you earn from the tools you recommend?
Some tools in our stack carry partner links. We use every one of them ourselves. If you sign up through a partner link the vendor pays us a commission; you pay the same. Nothing in the editorial process is chosen for a commission.
