Before you buy
Questions
Do I need to already have clients?
No — but this works best the moment you have one. The system is what turns a first inquiry into a paid, contracted job instead of a three-week email thread. Set it up before you need it, so your first real brand meets a professional.
What does it cost to run?
Notion's free plan runs the CRM indefinitely, and the intake form runs on Tally's free plan, which is unlimited submissions. Make's free plan gives you 1,000 operations a month: the intake flow spends six per inquiry and the payment-confirmation flow another three on each deal that converts, so roughly 140 inquiries a month before you'd need to upgrade. Stripe charges per transaction only: 2.9% + 30¢, plus 0.4% for invoicing, capped at $2. The limit worth knowing is that Make's free plan runs two scenarios at once, which covers intake and payment confirmation; deadline reminders are the third, and that's when Make's $12/month tier starts earning its keep.
How technical is the setup?
Less than it used to be. The CRM is a Notion template you duplicate in one click, and the automations import from a file — you're not building either by hand. What's left is connecting your own Notion, Stripe and Gmail accounts and pasting your details in. No code, no terminal. Budget an hour, most of it authenticating accounts.
Is this just a Notion template?
No. A template is a pretty database. This is the schema plus the automation logic that fills it, the billing flow that gets you paid, and the contracts that protect the work. The Notion piece is one of three.
Can I customize the pricing and contract terms?
All of it. The rate card is a starting reference, not a rule — the multipliers for usage rights matter more than the base numbers. Contracts are plain-text templates you edit freely.
Is the contract legal advice?
No. These are templates built from standard UGC industry practice, not legal advice, and Swamp City LLC is not your attorney. For high-value deals or unusual usage terms, have a lawyer in your jurisdiction review them.