Hire Me
For businesses with a team or agency that want a senior person reviewing performance, setting priorities and holding everyone accountable.
Enquire about this package now ↗
Per month · 10–25 hours
We agree the monthly hours, meeting rhythm and the numbers we will review. The retainer level depends on the hours and scope you need.
We’ll agree deliverables, responsibilities, schedule and payment terms in the proposal. Advertising spend, software subscriptions, production and travel arrangements are clarified separately where relevant.
The monthly consulting retainer gives you a senior marketing mind on call for a set number of hours each month. I do not replace your team or agency. I review what they are doing, set priorities, challenge the numbers and help you make decisions that are hard to make alone. It suits businesses that already have people to execute.
You are buying judgement and hours. The retainer covers ten to twenty-five hours of my time each month, priced between ₹75,000 and ₹1,50,000 + GST for Indian clients, with flat USD pricing for international clients. Where you sit in that range depends on how many hours you need and how much of the work is review versus active problem-solving.
The hours are used for strategy, performance reviews, direction to your team or agency, and the ad hoc questions that come up between meetings: should we approve this campaign, is this agency report honest, does this hire make sense. It is a standing relationship, so I get to know your business well enough that advice becomes quicker and sharper over time.
Before the first month, I read whatever you can share: recent reports, the agency contract, the plan for the year. That reading time is part of the arrangement, so the first review starts from knowledge, not from questions.
There is a regular rhythm. We agree a meeting cadence at the start, often a weekly or fortnightly working session plus a monthly performance review. Before each review I look at the agreed numbers so that the meeting is spent on decisions instead of reading out figures.
Between meetings, you or your team can send questions and material for review. I look at a landing page, a campaign structure, an agency proposal or a report and respond with a clear view. If something needs more than a quick opinion, we decide together whether it is worth using hours on it. I keep a running record of the hours used so that there are no surprises.
I review performance across channels, the quality of the work your team or agency produces, budget allocation, tracking and the questions leadership is asking. I help set quarterly priorities and challenge assumptions, including my own.
I do not usually carry out the production work under a retainer. If you want me to design, build, write or run campaigns myself, that belongs under hands-on execution, which has its own scope and price. Mixing the two blurs accountability, so I prefer to keep the roles clear: either I am advising on the work or I am doing it, and we agree which.
When something looks wrong, I say so plainly and explain why. I also say when something looks right, because teams deserve to know which of their decisions are working.
It suits businesses that have a marketing team, an agency or several vendors, and where the missing piece is senior oversight. Typical situations are a founder who is tired of being the only person who understands marketing, a marketing manager who wants a mentor and a sounding board, and a leadership team that does not trust the numbers it is shown.
It also suits companies that have just completed an audit and need someone to help turn the findings into action over several months. In that case the audit gives us the facts and the retainer gives us the discipline to follow through.
If nobody on your side can implement recommendations, advice alone will not change anything and you may need hands-on execution instead. If you need someone to take ownership of results, run the team and be accountable for the budget, a fractional CMO is closer to what you want.
And if you are unsure whether you need this at all, begin with a strategy session. I would rather spend thirty minutes helping you decide than see you commit to a monthly arrangement you will not use fully. Unused hours are a sign that the scope was wrong, not that you did something wrong.
The retainer sits between the project work and the leadership role. Compared with SEO consulting, it is wider and covers all channels, whereas SEO consulting is focused and includes my own on-page work. Compared with the fractional CMO engagement, it is lighter: I advise and review, while a fractional CMO leads the function, directs the team daily and owns the numbers.
Compared with the digital audit, which is a one-time written review, the retainer is continuous. Clients often start with an audit and move to a retainer, and some later move up to a fractional role as the business grows and the need for leadership becomes clearer.
Before we begin, we agree the number of hours, the meeting rhythm and the numbers we will review. We also agree what happens if a month needs more or fewer hours than planned: whether they carry over, whether we adjust the next month or whether we move to a different level of the retainer.
I recommend starting at the lower end and adjusting after two or three months, once we see how much real demand there is for my time. It is easier to increase hours than to explain a large retainer that was set too high on day one.
Hours that are not used in a month are not a failure on either side, but I will flag a pattern. If we see three quiet months, we change the plan or the level.
The first is vagueness: a retainer with no agreed numbers, so every meeting becomes a general chat. The second is using the adviser to settle internal arguments, which tends to damage trust in both directions. The third is hiding the agency from the adviser, or the adviser from the agency, so that nobody has a full picture.
A healthy arrangement is the opposite. The agreed numbers are on the table, the team knows what I am there for, and the agency is told that its work will be reviewed by someone who understands the craft. Good agencies usually welcome that. The ones who do not are often the ones worth reviewing most closely.
Treat the hours as a resource to spend deliberately. Keep a running list of decisions and questions, bring them to the review and send material in advance. Make sure your team knows I am there to help and not to audit their personalities. The best results come when people are comfortable showing me the unflattering numbers.
Also decide in advance who has the final say. I give recommendations, and you or your leadership decide. If the retainer is working, you will find decisions being made faster and with fewer second thoughts, and your team will be clearer on what matters this month.
If after a few months you find you are not using the time, say so. The retainer is meant to be useful, and I would sooner reduce the hours or end it than have you pay for advice you do not need.
A retainer works when you bring real decisions to it. If you only bring updates, you do not need me.
USEFUL ANSWERS
10 to 25 hours of consulting each month. Ongoing strategy and performance reviews. Direction for your team or agency.
₹75,000–₹1,50,000 + GST. Per month · 10–25 hours.
We agree the monthly hours, meeting rhythm and the numbers we will review. The retainer level depends on the hours and scope you need.
Use the package enquiry button to send your requirements. Paid work is confirmed through an agreed proposal.
