A$.)$ Sign another contract to stick with their agency. Currently, The Daily Grind has a monthly retainer of $$15,000$ with Isley$+$Ava based on $100$ hours at a $$150$ blended hourly rate. If projects go over the retainer, The Daily Grind is charged anything from $$60-$$$250$ per hour, depending on the hourly rate of the employee working those hours. Last year, The Daily Grind had four months where they didn$$t need all of the hours included in the retainer, $$ve months where they went over between $$1,500-$$$3,000$ and three months that went over between $$3,001-$$$8,300.$ The contract also includes a $15\%$ mark up on all materials used $($copies$,$ supplies, proofs, etc.$),$ media purchased and third$-$party vendors used.

B$.)$ Bring a copywriter and designer$/$art director on staff permanently. The Daily Grind could also hire a full$-$time, in$-$house creative team $($consisting of a copywriter and an art director or designer$).$ Securing a creative team with would mean adding two salaries, each between $$62,000-$$$80,000,$ depending on applicants$$ experience, plus bene$$ts$.$ Finding candidates would require creating and paying for job postings on several sites as well as updating the jobs page on The Daily Grind$$s own website. The hiring process would also mean carving out time for multiple members of the leadership team to review resumes and portfolios, reach out to applicants and conduct interviews.

C$.)$ Use a local team of freelance creatives. One of the district managers knows a freelance copywriter and art director who would be willing to take The Daily Grind on as a client. Brandon and Elizabeth$$s individual hourly rates are $$75,$ they only charge for the hours they spend and do not charge a mark$-$up on media purchases or working with third$-$party vendors. Brandon is really into coffee and has been a customer at The Daily Grind for more than six years, so he$$s familiar with the brand and excited by the prospect of having the company as a client. They each have over $10$ years of experience and their portfolios show a wide variety of solid creative work including several award$-$winning campaigns.