Questions business owners actually ask

Who can you trust

Straight answers about trusting anybody, me included, with your business.

• These days, who can you even trust with AI advice?Trust the people who have built something that is still running, who will tell you what not to do, and who put a price on the page. Everyone else is selling a feeling.

AI and your people

Will people hate it, will it replace anyone, and what responsible actually looks like.

• Can a nonprofit use AI without it feeling wrong?Yes, and the places it helps most are the boring ones: grant writing drafts, donor data cleanup, the inbox, the newsletter, the board report. Keep it away from the parts of the work that are about a person being seen by another person. Nonprofits get a rate from me, and the first step is a half day for $1,500 or less.
• Can't I just do the AI stuff myself?Probably, yes. Most owners I meet are already good with the tools. What they cannot do is get the rest of the team to use them the same way, or keep it going on the days they are out. That is not an AI problem, it is a teaching problem, and it is cheaper to fix than people think. The first step is $450.
• How do I write an AI policy for a small company?One page. What is allowed, what is not, what never goes into a tool, who checks the output, and what we tell customers. If your team cannot read it in five minutes and repeat it back, it is too long.
• Is AI going to replace my employees?In most businesses I work with, no. The owners want to grow without adding headcount, not cut the people they have. AI done right takes the worst hour out of everyone's day, and the people stay, and the company gets bigger without getting bigger.
• Will people hate my business if I use AI?No, not if you use it the way a good employee would use a good tool. People hate being tricked, being stuck with a bot that cannot help, and being treated like a number. Use AI to make your people faster and your service better, and nobody minds. Use it to replace the people and hide it, and they will.

What things cost

Real numbers for workshops, seats, logos, websites, and builds.

• How much does a logo cost in Minneapolis?In Minneapolis a logo from an experienced independent designer runs $2,500 to $6,000, agencies start around $15,000, and the $99 online version costs you more later. Mine start at $2,500 and include the files, the colors, the type, and a one-page guide so the sign shop and the web guy get it right.
• How much does a small business website cost?A small business website from a designer who does this for a living runs $6,000 to $15,000. Template sites are $500 to $2,000 and look like it. Agencies start around $25,000. Mine start at $6,000, which covers design, writing help, the build, the phone number in the right place, and the setup that makes Google and the AI assistants find you.
• How much does an AI workshop cost for a small business?Mine run $1,500 for a half day of AI 101, $3,500 for a full day in a room with your team, and $6,500 for two days that include workflow maps and a plan by department. Nationally, custom workshop delivery runs $1,500 to $4,000 a day.
• What does a fractional CMO cost?Nationally, fractional CMO retainers run about $3,000 to $20,000 a month, with most landing between $6,000 and $10,000. Mine start at $3,500 a month for about two days, $6,500 for about a day a week, and $11,000 for two days a week.
• What does a fractional CTO cost?Nationally, fractional CTO advisory runs $4,000 to $10,000 a month for ten to fifteen hours, active engagements $10,000 to $25,000, and near full-time $20,000 to $40,000. Mine run $3,500, $6,500, and $11,000 a month by days, and I currently hold two of these seats.

Picking a consultant

How to tell who knows what they are doing, and the red flags.

• How do I know if an AI consultant is full of it?They cannot show you anything running, they will not say a price, they never say no, and they are in a hurry. Any two of those and you have your answer.
• How do I find the best marketing consultant in Minneapolis?Nobody is the best marketing consultant in Minneapolis, because the right one depends on your size and your problem. Sort them with five questions. Have they run marketing with their own money on the line? Will they put a price on the page? Can they show something they built that is still running? Will they say no to you? And do they talk like a person or like a deck?

Where to start

First steps, what to automate first, and why the tool is rarely the problem.

• We bought software and nobody uses it. What now?The tool is almost never the problem. The rollout was. Software gets used when it fits the way people already work, when the people were involved in picking it, and when somebody made it the easy path. Fix those three and the same tool usually works. Buy another one and you will be here again.
• What is service design, and does my business need it?Service design is mapping how a customer actually moves through your business, front to back, including the parts they never see, and then fixing the steps that leak money or patience. You need it when customers complain about things that are nobody's job, when you are launching something new, or when you are about to put AI in the middle of it.
• Where do I even start with AI in a small business?Start with where the hours go, not with a tool. Get the people who do the work in a room, put the work on the wall, and find the one boring hour everybody has. Fix that one. Then the next one.

Brand and website

Logos, websites, print, and when to refresh versus start over.

• Does my small business need a new website?Check five things, on your phone, right now. If it loads slow, you cannot find the phone number, the words are vague, it looks like a template, or it was last updated before 2023, yes. A new small-business site starts at $6,000 and takes four to eight weeks.
• Should I refresh my logo or start over?Refresh if customers recognise it, start over if they do not or if the business has genuinely changed. Most businesses should refresh. A rebrand throws away recognition you paid years to build, and it is only worth it when what you are recognised for is wrong.

For agencies

Backup, training, and leadership for agencies that need a boost.

• Who can train my agency's staff on AI?Someone who has run an agency team and builds with the tools every day. The training has to be hands-on, on your actual client work, with the creatives and the account people in the same room. A half day is $2,000, a full day $3,500, and it should end with a one-page policy your clients can read.

Fractional and interim seats

CMO, CTO, Chief AI Officer, and leading a team for a while.

• Do I need a fractional CTO or a dev shop?A dev shop builds what it is told. A fractional CTO decides what to build, picks the shop, and checks the work. If you have a shop and no CTO, nobody is checking. If you have a CTO and no shop, nothing is getting built. Most small companies need a little of both, and the CTO should come first.
• Fractional CMO, marketing agency, or a full-time hire?Under about a million, run a plan yourself with a freelancer. One to twenty million, a fractional CMO who manages an agency or freelancers usually wins. Past that, hire full-time. The agency alone, with nobody on your side directing it, is the option that most often disappoints.