Marketing blog with practical guides for companies that buy marketing
Plain-English guides for owners and managers who buy marketing: what drives the budget, how to hire or outsource, which numbers to watch and how search really works. Each article ends with steps you can take this month.
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Budgets, hiring, KPIs, Google Ads and SEO, written for the person who signs off on the work rather than the person who runs the account.
All Costs and budgets Hiring and outsourcing KPIs and reporting Search and SEO
Physical therapy marketing cost by line item, budget and payback
Physical therapy marketing cost for a solo practice, a group clinic and a rehab center: line items, three monthly budgets and a simple payback calculation.Furniture brand identity and what it costs, from logo to catalog
Furniture brand identity costs by designer type, what a furniture maker needs beyond a logo, prices of catalogs and showroom materials, and three budgets.Digital marketing agency pricing for retainers, rates and onboarding fees
Digital marketing agency pricing in 2026: monthly retainer ranges, ad spend commissions, onboarding fees and five questions that make two quotes comparable.Outsourced marketing for accounting firms and CPA practices and how to set it up
Outsourced marketing for accounting firms: what an outside team should run, what stays with partners, how to plan around busy season and what to check first.Outsourced marketing for manufacturers, deciding what to hand off and keep
Outsourced marketing for manufacturers: which work to hand off, what stays with sales and engineering, how to judge a partner, and what the first 90 days cover.Cost to outsource marketing and what drives the monthly number
Cost to outsource marketing explained without a price list: what drives the monthly number, how scope and channels change it, and what to compare it against.Marketing budget allocation across channels, split by company stage
Marketing budget allocation for a growing company: how to split spend between paid ads, SEO, content and email by stage, and when to move money.What does a fractional CMO do, and when does a company need one
What does a fractional CMO do? Strategy, planning and oversight of the people doing the work, what stays with your own team, and when the role fits a company.How to hire a marketer in a small company, step by step
How to hire a marketer for a small company: define the scope, pick generalist or specialist, write the role, screen applicants and test the work.Questions to ask a marketing agency before you sign anything
Questions to ask a marketing agency before you sign: who does the work, how reporting runs, who owns the accounts and data, and what happens when results stall.Marketing KPIs by channel and which ones to track or ignore
Marketing KPIs by channel: the numbers that matter for Google Ads, Meta ads, SEO, email and content, how they connect to revenue, and which ones to skip.Why Google Ads is not working and the causes we check first
Why Google Ads is not working for your company: broken conversion tracking, loose match types, leaking landing pages, thin budgets, and how to diagnose each.Monthly marketing report sections worth including and the ones to skip
Monthly marketing report for a business owner: the one page summary, results against targets, spend by channel, what changed and why, and next month's plan.SEO vs Google Ads for a small business and which one comes first
SEO vs Google Ads for a small business: how each brings customers, how fast, what each asks of you, when to start with one, and how they work together.How long does SEO take to show results, and what speeds it up
How long does SEO take: a realistic timeline for a new site, an existing site and a competitive category, what to expect each month, and what speeds it up.New guides on marketing budgets, ad campaigns, SEO and hiring outside help come out regularly. If a topic is missing, request the analysis and ask the project manager about it.
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