What Is A Retainer?
I get asked often how my retainer system works. This commonly comes as a surprise to me, as agencies in the entertainment world frequently use them, but as I expand my horizons, I’m learning that this is a new practice for many. So here I am, writing this email!
(I will admit, I was planning on writing this newsletter about the concept of “new year, new me” and why I don’t agree with it, but my good friend and collaborator Jessica Crowley just wrote a great piece explaining this better than I think I could, so please go check that out instead!)
The Oxford Dictionary (which powers Google’s dictionary function, btw) defines this type of retainer as “a fee paid in advance to someone, especially an attorney, in order to secure or keep their services when required.”
On the face, this is a great way to explain it, and I structure my retainers with hours attached. This means that in my calendar, I will always make sure there is an agreed amount of hours dedicated to you. For some, that’s on a weekly basis, and for some, that’s on a monthly basis. The time doesn’t roll over unless we’ve specifically agreed to it (and I only allow it on monthly retainers, not weekly) but that time will always be yours. Why doesn’t it roll over? Like a doctor, if you don’t give me more than 24 hours' notice, I can’t rebook it, so it is your time to cover. I also send my clients weekly emails (with or without their invoices) with notifications of what I worked on and how much of their retainer I used. It keeps us on the same page about workload and project progression, and I prefer transparency in business.
I pride myself on working with my clients to come up with a retainer agreement that works best for both of us. To do this, I often start with a month-long trial period where I work on an hourly basis, allowing me to accurately determine an appropriate retainer time. I don’t want to have unused time as much as you don’t want to pay for it. I’m flexible not only because I want to work with you, but also because I get to be as a sole proprietor—one of the many perks!
This brings me to a bit of a tangent, but one I subscribe to wholeheartedly: where appropriate, always negotiate! My brilliant cousin Stefanie taught me this when I first entered the workforce, encouraging me to negotiate my salary and benefits even for my first job. I don’t always get what I want, but you don’t get if you don’t ask! So to my current and prospective clients, I say, feel free to negotiate with me! I won’t be offended. I may not agree to what you ask or set firm boundaries, but I don’t blame you for asking. You are trying to run a business, just like I am.
That brings me to the other reason I work on a retainer basis: Just like you, I pay bills and have to run a business. This isn’t my client’s “problem” but it is my reason, and I think it’s worth discussing. As much as I want to give everyone their ideal rate and work as little or as much as they want, I just can’t. It robs of stability, the ability to plan for expenses (or slow months) and to build a life for myself. In the same way we think about wanting to pay workers a living wage, I need one, too. I do come from a huge palace of privilege saying this, I’m white and cis and I do have a bit of a financial safety net from my parents. However, that doesn’t change my needs any more than it changes anyone else’s. Do you want to constantly ask your family for money to pay for your life? I want my parents to save for retirement instead.
A retainer not only allows me to do my best work for you, but also to work to your schedule (I rarely say no to a meeting time with my clients and always try to meet their scheduling needs), work with nonprofit organizations on a prorated basis, and do things like donate time to my high school so that other young women can learn about being an entrepreneur.
All this is to say, I got into being an entrepreneur for a lot of reasons, one of the main ones being that I wanted to be treated like a human, not an asset (I’ve done that, and I’m sorry to those who are still going through it). So this is my way of continuing that for myself, and I hope it clarified the system a bit.
Lesson Learned: Bringing humanity and transparency to business can be hard, but here’s another step toward doing so.
