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The Playbook

The plays we’d run on your business.

Real numbers, real trade-offs, and the decisions we’d make if we were sitting in your seat. Built for owners who want marketing without the jargon.

Featured · Industry8 min read

Marketing for SaaS Founders Before $1M ARR

The pre-$1M ARR marketing playbook for SaaS founders — find the wedge, compound a single channel, instrument truthfully, and skip everything else.

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Industry7 min read

Marketing for Plumbers, HVAC & Home Services in 2026

The home-services marketing playbook for 2026 — LSA, GBP reviews, intake speed, and why most 'marketing problems' are actually intake problems.

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Industry8 min read

Marketing for Small Law Firms: A 90-Day Playbook

The 90-day marketing playbook for 3–15 attorney firms — local SEO, long-tail content, YouTube pre-roll, and the bar-compliance gotchas to watch for.

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Industry7 min read

Marketing for Restaurants in 2026: What Actually Works

What's working (and wasted) for independent restaurants in 2026 — reservation retargeting, short-form video, GBP, and the 90-day plan to run on a tight budget.

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Strategy7 min read

The Customer-Acquisition Math Every Owner Should Know on a Napkin

CAC, LTV, payback period — the napkin version of the three numbers that decide whether your marketing budget grows or shrinks next quarter.

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Paid Media6 min read

Why Your Facebook Ads Aren't Working — And the 3 Fixes That Move the Needle

The three real reasons Meta ads underperform for SMBs — in order of frequency — and the specific fixes that work in 2026.

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Playbook7 min read

5 SMB Marketing Experiments That Paid for Themselves in 30 Days

Five small marketing experiments with defined kill criteria — each has paid back inside 30 days across a dozen SMB accounts in the last year.

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Playbook8 min read

The 90-Day Marketing Plan We'd Run on Your Business — For Free

The actual quarter-one plan we'd run on most $500k–$5M SMBs. Week-by-week deliverables, what to skip, and the three questions to answer at day 90.

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Operations7 min read

The Real Cost of Switching Marketing Agencies (and Not Switching)

Hard switching costs vs. the hidden cost of staying with the wrong team. Five signals it's already time and a 30-day overlap playbook.

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Pricing7 min read

Subscription Marketing Pricing: What's Included, What Isn't

The buyer's checklist for $4k–$6k/mo subscription marketing teams — what's actually included, the failure modes, and the five questions to ask before signing.

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Hiring7 min read

Agency vs. In-House vs. Freelancer: A 4-Step Decision Tree

The 10-minute decision tree we walk every founder through. Rules out three of the four marketing-staffing options for almost every SMB.

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Pricing8 min read

What Does a Marketing Agency Actually Cost in 2026?

Real 2026 price bands for the four ways SMBs buy marketing — freelancer, subscription, agency, in-house — plus what's never included in the headline number.

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Operations7 min read

The Hidden Cost of DIY Marketing for Small Businesses

The opportunity cost of an owner running their own marketing isn't $0 — it's the highest hourly rate in the building. Here's how to do the math.

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Hiring9 min read

Fractional CMO vs Full-Time Marketing Hire: True Cost Breakdown

Honest math on what a fractional CMO actually costs vs hiring a full-time marketing lead — fully loaded with benefits, equity, ramp time, and risk.

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Strategy8 min read

How Much Should a Small Business Spend on Marketing in 2026?

A clear, no-fluff breakdown of marketing budget benchmarks for SMBs in 2026 — by revenue, by industry, and by stage. Includes a 50/30/20 allocation template you can copy.

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