Blog
What it costs, how long it takes
Nine pieces on marketing costs, realistic timelines and how this market prices its work. Every figure is cited, and nothing here describes a client we do not have.
What this blog is for
It answers the questions that come before a purchase: what marketing services cost, how long they take to work, and how to compare two suppliers describing the same job differently. Every statistic carries a source and a date.
What it costs, and how long it takes
The two questions every buyer asks first, answered with surveyed figures rather than ranges invented to sound reasonable.
How much does SEO cost?
SEO costs between roughly $500 and $5,000 a month for most small and mid-sized businesses, with $3,209 the average monthly retainer across 439 providers surveyed by Ahrefs.
Updated 2026-08-18
How long does SEO take?
Technical fixes can show results in weeks.
Updated 2026-08-18
Marketing budget allocation for a small business
Marketing budget allocation small business owners can actually use starts with sequence: fund the thing that is broken first, then the thing that compounds, then the thing that buys speed.
Updated 2026-08-18
Doing it yourself
Practical work you can complete without hiring anyone, ordered by what typically moves something first.
SEO checklist for small business
This SEO checklist for small business covers the four groups that matter: indexing and technical basics, on-page work, local setup, and content.
Updated 2026-08-18
Google Business Profile optimization guide
Google Business Profile optimization comes down to four things: an accurate primary category, complete and consistent business information, regular activity on the profile, and reviews answered rather than solicited.
Updated 2026-08-18
How to get cited by ChatGPT
You cannot make ChatGPT cite you.
Updated 2026-08-18
Buying it well
How this market prices, what the models trade off against each other, and how to tell when a retainer has stopped working.
What is a productized service?
A productized service is a service sold like a product: fixed deliverables, a published price, and a repeatable process.
Updated 2026-08-18
Signs your marketing agency is coasting
An agency that has stopped working rarely announces it.
Updated 2026-08-18
Safe link building: what to buy and what to avoid
Safe link building means editorial placements on sites with their own audiences, chosen by you before outreach.
Updated 2026-08-18
What you will not find here
- Case studies, because there are no clients yet to write about
- Statistics without a source and a date
- Predictions dressed as analysis
- Posts published weekly for the sake of a schedule
Nine posts is deliberately few. Each one exists because a specific question kept coming up, and each gets updated rather than replaced by a fresher post saying the same thing.
Write for this blog
Outside contributors are welcome, and the terms are published: the contributor guidelines cover accepted topics, the 1,500 word floor, the five checks an editor runs, and a reply within three business days.
Advertising is a separate conversation and lives on its own page, because a paid placement never buys an editorial slot.
The prices these posts keep referring to
Eight services, published tiers, counted deliverables, printed exclusions. The pricing page carries all of them side by side.
Entry point $300/mo. Cancel any time. No long contracts.
Still deciding?
Read how the process runs end to end: order, brief, production, delivery, report.
How it works