[davidroetzel]

I am also pro-retainer. I look at it this way: If under this agreement you realistically need to spend some time every day (or every other day, or even one day a week) for this client you need to plan ahead for this. And that means you cannot offer full-time work to other clients. So if you turn down other clients and then only sit around waiting for a call that never comes, you are losing money.

A retainer that guarantees your availability and a fixed amount of hours seems to benefit both sides and is not at all unusual in my experience.