Client Onboarding Form — The Slate Method
The Slate Method
Client Onboarding · Confidential
Getting Started

Everything we need
to build your system.

This is the one time we ask a lot of you. Your answers feed the SLATE prompt engine that writes your Welcome Series and ongoing Main Conversation. The more specific you are, the more every email sounds like you. Plan for 40 to 60 minutes.

14
Sections
~50
Minutes
Fill it out once

* Required  ·  Everything else is optional but helps.

01
Your Information
Basic details for your subaccount, email identity, and signature block.

How you sign every email. First name only is most common. Use what your audience would naturally expect.

Where replies land. Should be an inbox you actively monitor.

Appears at the bottom of every email. Include name, title or role, any license or credential numbers, business name, phone, and any required disclosures. Applied at the subaccount level, you won't add it manually to individual emails.

Photos

Used on your landing pages. Send when convenient — don't hold up your submission for this. You can email them to Michelle anytime before launch.

Drop or click to browse
JPG, PNG · Max 10MB

An "in your element" photo. Working, in your community, doing what you do. Send when convenient — don't hold up your submission for this. You can email them to Michelle anytime before launch.

Drop or click to browse
JPG, PNG · Max 10MB
02
Your Business
What you do, who you serve, and what a great outcome looks like for you.

What you actually do. Plain language, no titles.

If required in your signature or footer for compliance, include them here.

Be specific. The system is built to surface conversations that lead here.

This feeds your origin story and how your emails represent you. The more honest, the better.

Not a marketing differentiator, the real one. The thing you actually do or see differently.

Helps us understand where warm relationships already exist so the system connects to your current network rather than replacing it.

03
The Affinity
The shared interest or conversation your emails are built around. Not your work, the thing that lives alongside it. This and your voice are the two most important sections.

Why this matters: Your emails are built around a shared affinity, not your profession. Your work is mentioned only when it naturally emerges from the larger life conversation. Everything else stays on the affinity. This is what makes your emails feel like they come from a person rather than a pipeline. What you put here shapes the entire Welcome Series plus every ongoing send that follows.

Defining the territory

Something you genuinely talk about with your audience. It must be something you actually care about, the emails stay on it indefinitely.

This is the part that filters whether the system actually works for you. Your readers can tell the difference between someone who has thoughts and someone who is just talking around a topic. You don't need to be controversial, you just need to actually believe something.

Insider knowledge that adds credibility and makes occasional Value Drop emails feel useful rather than generic.

The Main Conversation needs to stay on theme without repeating itself. Help us understand how much terrain there is to work with.

How it shows up in your life

How does it actually come up? What do you typically say when you introduce it?

Real participation reads as genuine and makes the emails credible.

Real names of real things make emails feel local. Generic emails read as written by anyone, anywhere.

04
Your Audience
Who is on the other end of the email. Demographics matter less than identity, values, and what brought them into your world.

Real people, not market segments. Describe the ones you most want more of.

The emails subtly filter for this type of person over time. The wrong-fit subscribers self-select out.

Small shared experiences create the "they get me" feeling. This is what gives the Main Conversation its sense of place.

Used to identify where business references can emerge organically rather than feeling forced.

05
Your Voice + Tone
Your answers here are the primary reference for every email the system writes. Be specific about how you actually sound, not how you think you should sound.

Select all that apply. Most people are a blend with one or two dominant qualities.

Your general voice above is how you sound generally. This is how you specifically sound when the affinity topic comes up. They are often different.

These are the single best voice reference we have. Doesn't need to be polished. The more real, the better.

Example 1
Example 2
Example 3
Phrases that feel like me
Phrases that are definitely not me

Not required. But if something has ever landed right with you as a recipient, it's useful context.

06
Conversation Pillars + World Building
The recurring themes your emails naturally rotate through, plus the values, observations, and world the conversation lives inside.

Pillars are 5 to 8 recurring themes the Main Conversation cycles through over time. They keep the writing varied but emotionally coherent. Think of them as the topics you'd naturally talk about at dinner with someone who shares your affinity.

Conversation Pillars

Examples: intentional living · parenting · local experiences · food · wellness · creativity · community · outdoor lifestyle · hospitality · home atmosphere · relationships · mindset · simplicity · meaningful experiences · craft · seasonality. Use yours.

Values + Worldview

These shape the worldview the emails are written from. They give the writing emotional consistency over time.

These observational moments are the raw material for the most resonant emails. The more specific, the better.

Over time these become the language of your world. Subscribers start recognizing and quoting them back.

Seasonal Rhythm

The Main Conversation evolves with seasons. This helps the writing reflect real rhythms rather than forcing seasonal marketing.

07
Story Library
Real moments from your life that anchor the writing. We use these as starting material and ask for more as they happen.

Stories don't need to be polished, remarkable, or "important." Small, specific, real moments are exactly what makes the writing feel human. A conversation overheard. A walk that surprised you. A meal that mattered. The first time you tried something. The time you got it wrong.

These become the starting library for your Main Conversation. We use them as anchors so the emails feel personal. Over time we ask you for new stories as they happen.

Used for the occasional business-bridge email. Real, first-person, specific. Not marketing copy.

These slowly reveal personality across the Main Conversation. They make the relationship feel cumulative.

08
Welcome Series + Main Conversation
The two sequence layers we build for you. Each has a different purpose and we calibrate them separately.

How this works: The Welcome Series orients a new subscriber into your world. It establishes tone, builds familiarity, and prepares them to enter the ongoing conversation. The Main Conversation is the ongoing relationship, observational, evolving, seasonal. Your work is mentioned subtly and only when it naturally fits.

Welcome Series Calibration

If left blank, the system makes its own choices from the rest of your inputs.

Main Conversation Calibration

Stays private. Just helps us steer around anything sensitive.

09
Brand Assets
Used to customize your landing pages. We match your visual identity where you have one, and keep it clean where you don't.
Logo file
PNG with transparency preferred · SVG also great

Pick your colors or leave defaults. If you have no strong preference, we'll use a clean neutral palette.

Primary
Secondary
Accent

Used as a visual reference only. We won't link to it unless you ask.

10
Your Contact List
The people who will enter your system. Every contact receives the Welcome Series regardless of source, then enters the Main Conversation.

If you have a list: CSV with at minimum first name, last name, and email address. Phone and notes columns are helpful but optional. Remove invalid emails and known opt-outs before submitting. We cannot import contacts who have previously unsubscribed from your emails.

If you don't have a list yet: No problem. Skip the upload, mark the count as "I don't have a list yet," and we'll build the system ready to receive contacts as you start meeting them.

CSV or Excel file
First Name · Last Name · Email · Phone (optional) · Notes (optional)
Ongoing Contact Capture
11
Legal + Compliance
Industry, regulatory, or organizational requirements we need to know before anything goes out.

CAN-SPAM (US) and CASL (Canada) require a valid postal address in every commercial email. If uncertain, use your business address.

We'll apply the Do Not Contact suppression tag to anyone flagged here before any sequences run.

12
Domain + Technical Access
Michelle handles all DNS configuration directly. You provide the domain and login, nothing else technical is needed from you.

How this works: Michelle logs into your domain registrar directly and enters all required DNS records. You do not touch anything technical. Credentials are stored in a secure encrypted password manager and used only for DNS setup. You can rotate your registrar password after setup if you prefer.

Where your landing pages will live. Often your existing domain, but can be a dedicated one for this system.

Stored encrypted, used once for DNS setup.

Booking Calendar Preferences

We'll block these in the calendar before launch.

13
Team + Access
Who besides you needs access to your subaccount, and at what level.

If you have an existing GHL account, let us know, there may be data or settings worth migrating.

14
Build Communication Preferences
How you want updates during the build, how you want to review the work, and whether you have a hard launch deadline.

Before you hit submit.

Run through this list. The more complete this form is, the faster the build goes and the less back-and-forth we need.

If I have a contact list, it's attached in CSV format with first name, last name, and email at minimum. If not, I've marked that in the contacts section.
My email signature is complete with any required credentials, business name, and required disclosures.
I've described the affinity in enough detail that someone who doesn't know me could write about it indefinitely.
I've shared my honest point of view on the affinity, not just the topic itself.
I've listed 5 to 8 real conversation pillars the writing can rotate through.
I've given 3+ personal stories tied to the affinity as a starting story library.
I've answered the voice questions with real specifics, not how I think I should sound.
I've included at least one real past email, text, or post as a voice example.
I've described who I want to attract and what kind of person belongs in my world.
My domain registrar credentials are correct and current.
I've flagged any compliance requirements my industry or organization has for electronic communications.
I have the legal right to email every contact on the list I'm submitting.
I've removed any known opt-outs or do-not-contact records from my list before uploading.