Foundation Tier · 90 Days

Elle J Design. Your 3-Month Foundation Roadmap

What we're shipping together over the next 90 days

A clear plan for what we ship together over the next 90 days, why each piece matters, and how we will know it is working.

Prepared for Elle Schwab by Illume Digital Studio · May 3, 2026

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01 The Strategic Anchor

The work is excellent. Visibility is uneven. The system fixes that.

One sentence from your intake call shaped the whole engagement.

"Our best project is SDA. The others we haven't been able to go as far as we'd like. I don't like the inconsistency on social media. Might have to talk this one through."

Elle, intake call

Translation. The work is excellent, the visibility is uneven, and there is no operating system holding it together. Everything in this roadmap exists to fix that. Calendar plus templates plus caption framework plus locked cadence. Project work first, polish second, never the other way.

Engagement
Foundation Tier
Organic Foundation + Database Reactivation
Investment
$2,500/mo
3-month minimum
Cadence
Weekly + biweekly
8 to 12 IG posts/wk · 2 blogs/mo

Goal. Turn Elle J Design's strong portfolio and credentials into consistent, compounding visibility across the channels Summit County buyers use day to day. Project work earns the trust. The system makes sure that trust gets seen.

02 Month 1 · Launch · May 2026

Foundation in place. Every channel has a baseline.

By day 30 every channel has a baseline, every system is wired, and you've approved the visual direction.

Week 1. Post-kickoff
Foundation set
Brand and identity
  • Brand visual direction approved (one of three candidates: Refined Slate, Mountain Earth, or Editorial Alpine)
  • Logo files received and prepped for newsletter, Instagram, blog, and Google Business Profile
  • Voice profile finalized and locked across the team
Trust signals
  • E-E-A-T audit shipped to your current Squarespace site (Person + LocalBusiness JSON-LD with AKBD, Best of Summit, MSU, SCBA, NKBA, Slifer Smith Frampton, plus 11+ verified profile links)
  • AEO audit fixes deployed where Squarespace allows (custom code injection, llms.txt workaround, populated business schema)
Foundation infrastructure
  • WordPress installed at blog.ellejdesign.com with RankMath structured data
  • DNS records live for blog subdomain plus newsletter authentication (DKIM and SPF)
  • Brevo newsletter sender verified, list created, footer compliant with CAN-SPAM
  • Google Business Profile claimed (or recovered) and primary categories corrected
Week 2
Local search live
Local search
  • Google Business Profile fully optimized: categories, services, attributes, business description, opening hours, service areas (Summit County plus specific cities), 12 to 20 fresh photos with captions
  • First Google Business Profile post live. Weekly cadence begins
Reactivation infrastructure
  • A2P 10DLC registration submitted (your EIN documentation plus brand registration)
  • Privacy policy and terms of service URLs verified or hosted by us
  • Past-client contact list imported into CRM, segmented for the first reactivation wave
Content kickoff
  • Week 1 of the 30-day Instagram calendar publishing (10 evergreen posts: founder intro, AKBD spotlight, Best of Summit award, blueprint-to-bliss framework explainer, SDA project teaser)
  • Bio rewrite live, highlights restructured (Process, Projects, SDA, Meet Elle, Awards, Behind the Build, Vendors)
  • First newsletter outline drafted
Week 3
First content live
  • First blog post published (the foundation post: cost transparency for Summit County interior design, anchored on the SDA project and your accounting background)
  • First newsletter sent (the welcome and re-introduction issue)
  • Instagram running on standing cadence: reels Mon-Wed-Fri, carousels Tue-Thu, weekend single-image polish, vendor spotlights Saturdays
  • Weekly strategy calls running on the standing slot
Week 4
Reactivation begins
  • First reactivation campaign launched (post-A2P approval): SMS plus email to past-client segment
  • Second blog brief approved and drafting begun
  • First measurement snapshot: GA4 baseline, GSC baseline, Instagram week-over-week, GBP impressions and actions
Month 1 outcome
Every system live, first content cycle complete, baseline metrics captured.
03 Month 2 · Ramp · June 2026

Run the system. Cadence locks. Numbers start to talk.

Now we run the system. Cadence locks. The numbers start showing what's working.

Content
  • 2 blog posts published (running total: 3)
  • 2 newsletters sent (running total: 3)
  • 32 to 48 Instagram posts (the contracted 8 to 12 per week)
  • 4 to 8 Google Business Profile posts
Reactivation
  • Second wave launched, including reply and booking management
  • Bookings and consultations tracked back to the campaign for ROI measurement
SEO and structured data
  • Schema markup deployed across your main Squarespace site (LocalBusiness, Person, Service per offering, FAQ, Breadcrumb)
  • E-E-A-T schema enhanced on every blog post (Article schema referencing your Person ID, so each post compounds your authority)
  • Topical cluster #1 expanding: second post in the same cluster as the foundation post
Strategy
  • First monthly performance review with month-over-month deltas across GA4, GSC, GBP, Instagram, and newsletter
  • Decision: which content angles to double down on for Month 3
  • Decision: whether to add a Houzz profile (recommended)
Month 2 outcome
Consistent compounding visibility, first conversion data, clear answer to "what's working."
04 Month 3 · Optimize · July 2026

Optimize what works. Kill what doesn't. Set up the renewal conversation.

The month where Foundation Tier earns its keep or doesn't. We optimize what works, kill what doesn't, and present a clear picture for the renewal conversation.

Content
  • 2 blog posts published (running total: 5)
  • 2 newsletters sent (running total: 5)
  • Instagram cadence locked, creative iteration based on engagement data from Months 1 and 2
  • GBP performance review (calls, directions, profile views, search keywords)
Reactivation
  • Third and final reactivation wave (the ones who didn't engage in waves 1 and 2)
  • Wrap-up report: leads generated, consultations booked, projects sourced from the campaign
Authority
  • First-cluster topical authority assessment (are your posts ranking? for what queries? how does that compare to JAC, Surround, Collective, IBD?)
  • E-E-A-T re-audit: composite score 6.0 to target 8.75 (movement on Authoritativeness from 5 to 8 is the biggest swing factor)
The renewal conversation
  • 90-day report: every metric, month over month, with plain-English narrative
  • Recommendation: continue Foundation, expand to paid acquisition, or restructure
  • Decision conversation in week 12
Month 3 outcome
A defensible answer to "what did 90 days produce" with hard numbers, plus a clear path forward.
05 What success looks like at day 90

The numbers we're committing to.

Hard targets, measured against a real baseline. No moving goalposts.

Signal Day 0 baseline Day 90 target How we measure
E-E-A-T composite score6.08.5+EEAT audit, re-run
AEO score (Squarespace)4680+AEO audit, re-run
Blog posts live05WordPress count
Newsletter sends05Brevo dashboard
Instagram postsTBD baseline at access+96 to +144Meta Business Suite
GBP posts012+GBP dashboard
Reactivation leads0TBD on past-client list sizeCRM tracking
Verified credentials in schema0 (none in current schema)11+Live JSON-LD inspection
Houzz profilenot presentlive and optimizedmanual confirm
06 What we need from you

The items that decide whether Week 2 ships on time.

The kickoff call is the moment to commit on each one. If anything slips in the first two weeks, we will flag the impact and the timeline shift. No surprises.

Brand and identity
  • Brand visual direction picked from the three candidates
  • Logo files (transparent PNG plus SVG, color and monochrome)
  • Confirmation of any existing brand guide or font preferences
Access
  • Squarespace contributor or admin access
  • Google Analytics 4 access (jd@illumedigital.io)
  • Google Search Console access
  • Google Business Profile manager access (jd@illumedigital.io and marketing@illumedigital.io)
  • Meta Business Manager access (jd@illumedigital.io)
  • DNS provider login or capacity to add records on request
Reactivation
  • EIN documentation for A2P 10DLC registration
  • Privacy policy and terms of service URLs (or authorization for us to draft)
  • Past-client contact CSV (name, email, phone, project completion date)
  • Reactivation preferences: target services, offer type, exclusions, channels
Content
  • 50+ project photos categorized by project (2024 plus 2025)
  • SDA project deep-dive (a 30-min walkthrough call)
  • Featured publication clippings (Forbes, Colorado Homes & Lifestyle, Bold Journey, Vail Daily, Summit Daily)
  • Headshot and bio for E-E-A-T author block
  • Newsletter contact list with opt-in date and CAN-SPAM consent attestation
  • Mailing address for newsletter footer (CAN-SPAM legal requirement)
  • Vendor / GC / architect tag list (we start it, you fill the gaps)
Operational
  • Standing weekly call slot
  • Best contact method plus response SLA
  • Backup contact
07 What is NOT in scope for Foundation Tier

Setting expectations clearly so the focus stays on what we contracted for.

These items live outside Foundation Tier. They are not bad ideas. They are simply different scopes of work, separately priced and separately resourced.

Paid advertisingGoogle Ads, Meta Ads, Pinterest Ads is a separate engagement.
Squarespace platform migrationThe AEO ceiling is around 88/100 on Squarespace. Getting above that requires a migration.
Photography productionWe will shape the brief and shot list. Production is yours or a vendor you choose.
Custom website redesignOut of scope for Foundation Tier.
Public relations outreachBeyond schema-enhanced press citations.
Houzz profile managementWe recommend it. If you want us to manage, that scopes into Tier 2.
08 How we communicate

Predictable rhythm. No black boxes.

You should always know when the next update is coming and what it will cover.

Weekly
Standing strategy call
Slot picked on kickoff. We come prepared. You leave with a clear next step.
Biweekly
Newsletter goes out Tuesdays
Drafted and reviewed in advance, sent on the locked cadence.
Monthly
Performance review document
Delivered first business day of each month. Every metric. Plain-English narrative.
As-needed
Slack-style channel or email
For tactical questions. 3 business days SLA per agreement.
Day 90
Renewal conversation, with the full report on the table.

The plan is not the contract. The contract is the service agreement. This roadmap is how we execute it.