Date: 2026-09-10 1:30 PM ET Note creator: Michael Houck Attendees: Michael Houck (Rye Valley), Emma (emma@lorebuilders.com, Lore account lead), Geo (geo@megaphonestudio.com, SEO/GEO lead)
Summary
Internal Lore strategy session covering active client status, new pricing/offer structure, and Geo’s compensation structure. Meeting held just before the Realworld kick-off call.
Client status roundup:
- Caroline / Goodword (Lore/SEO client): Steady organic growth, leads decent but conversion weak. Root issue is CRO on website, not content. Geo will sell brand visibility first, then upsell CRO after traffic data justifies it. Caroline knows a fundraise is coming in winter; growth numbers currently short of where they need to be. Michael is also trying to sell her on TikTok expansion.
- Facet: Strong growth numbers since joining, clearly attributed to Lore’s work. Risk: may want to bring content in-house. X growth underperformed expectations. Geo chasing Sarah for retention conversation; growth update going out next day. Would be a major loss.
- Key Card: Minimal communication post-onboarding other than one press release complaint. Contract renews in ~2 months. Plan: hold steady, build a holistic marketing proposal to present at renewal.
- ARC (via Topdol): Keep on existing process for now, migrate to new model as a separate later project due to their unique structure.
New two-tier offer structure proposed:
- Tier 1: Content + technical + backlinks at $2,500/month
- Tier 2: Content + videos + technical + backlinks at $4,500/month
- Higher upfront cost in month 1 (possibly 2) covers AI training, heavier human review, and technical work
- Reddit as potential standard add-on in Geo plan (but contractor cost is high, needs scoping)
- Article volume: daily cadence for content-rich industries (e.g. culinary); lower for niche to avoid topic cannibalization
Geo’s comp structure - open/undecided:
- Two options on table: flat monthly retainer (Blake’s preference on Megaphone side) vs. per-client rate (Tatem model on Jolt side)
- Cash vs. equity tradeoff also open: Michael wants to retain equity, keep cash flowing
- Geo currently managing ~40 clients across all work; Megaphone/Lore client base still small
- Geo to think over weekend and respond by next week, before Unlimited renewal decision
Platform/ops note: Geo mentioned using Unlimited (a client onboarding tool) and beginning to migrate clients to the Megaphone Studio live client dashboard. FlashPass migration is the hardest due to how it was set up.
See Lore Two-Tier Pricing Structure for the two-tier pricing decision.
Decisions
- New two-tier pricing structure for Lore: $2,500/mo (content+technical+backlinks) and $4,500/mo (content+videos+technical+backlinks)
- Upfront higher cost in month 1-2 justified by technical setup and AI training
- ARC/Topdol: keep on existing process, treat migration as a separate later project
- Key Card: hold steady for now, build holistic proposal for renewal (~2 months)
- CRO upsell is the next product move for existing clients once traffic data warrants it; sell brand visibility first
Action items
- Geo: Think through comp structure (flat monthly vs. per-client, cash vs. equity split) and get back to Michael next week
- Geo: Chase Sarah at Facet for a retention conversation; share growth data from update going out tomorrow
- Michael: Send Genevieve (Realworld) the PandaDoc and chase payment - she hasn’t signed or paid
- Michael: Build a holistic marketing plan for Key Card ahead of contract renewal in ~2 months
Notable transcript excerpts
“I will always do what I need to do to keep clients happy and retained, but I think another time, it would be worth a chat for us on that [CRO] because that’s a sellable thing… actually making sure that the sites are set to be able to make money and get leads.” - Geo
“[Facet] growth since joining us and some of it very directly as clearly from all the work we’ve done has been huge. It’s just stupid to not carry on with what we’re doing.” - Geo
“You want to do a lower volume for some industries because sometimes you’ll run out, and then you get to a point that we’re upselling them on backlinks and technical, but if we cover any more topics, we’re cannibalizing the content we’ve created.” - Geo
“There’s two ways we could do it. One would be, here’s a flat monthly that makes sense for you… and then the other way would be like, a per client rate… that’s what we do with Jolt, for example, with Tatum.” - Michael
See Granola (id: f8a280dc-710e-4c8c-b2eb-47419693c6eb) for full transcript.