A big agency
A monthly retainer, commonly two to three thousand, with the analysis folded into month one
SMALL BUSINESS MARKETING CONSULTANT, BAY AREA
A small business marketing
consultant who sends a plan.
A small business marketing consultant usually starts with a meeting and ends with a retainer. This starts with one payment and ends with one document. I research your market, find who you are actually competing against, and write down what to fix first and in what order. It arrives the same day, and there is nothing to cancel afterwards.
From $150, one time. Same-day delivery. Nothing renews unless you choose to continue.
New here? Run the free SEO checker first, read a worked example, or browse the blog.
START TO FINISH
What you are
actually buying.
Marketing consulting for small business usually hides its process behind a proposal. Here are the four stages, in this order, every time. Scroll and the panel shows you what comes out of each one, ending with the document itself.
STAGE 01
You tell me about the business
Straight after payment you get a questionnaire, not a calendar invite. It asks about the business in your own words: what you actually sell, how long you have been going, the area you serve, who your customers are and what you have already tried. It is the part only you can answer, and it is what stops the report reading like a template.
STAGE 02
The research runs
Your site is fetched and read, your Google Business Profile is pulled, and the businesses actually ranking for your service in your city are collected with live ratings and review counts. Market and margin figures come from published federal data for your county and category.
STAGE 03
It gets ranked
Every finding is scored on what it would take to fix against what it is worth. This is the step that turns thirty problems into the two or three worth your attention this quarter.
STAGE 04
The document arrives
Written up, sourced, and emailed the same day. You own it. Nothing renews and there is nothing to cancel.
STAGE 01 / WHAT I ASK YOU
Your business,
in your words.
A written questionnaire after checkout. No call, no calendar, no sales pitch. Answer it whenever you have twenty quiet minutes.
◎
What you actually sellThe specific service or product people pay you for, not the category label
↗
Your historyHow long you have been going, how you started, and what has changed since
⌘
Where you workThe cities and neighbourhoods you actually serve, which decides who counts as a competitor
◎
Who your customers areWho calls you, what they ask for first, and what makes them choose you
↗
What you have already triedSo the plan does not hand you back something that already failed
STAGE 02 / THE SOURCES
Named, not guessed.
Every figure traces to one of these.
◎
Census CBP and ACSBusinesses like yours, and who lives in your area
↗
IRS SOI and BLS OEWSReal margins and real labour costs
⌘
Google Places and PageSpeedWho ranks near you, and how your site performs
STAGE 03 / THE ORDER OF WORK
Two or three,
not thirty.
Ranked by value against effort.
↗
Do firstCheap, fast, and it moves something
◎
Do nextWorth it, but not this quarter
⌘
Ignore for nowNamed, with the reason it can wait
STAGE 04 / THE DOCUMENT
What is actually
in the file.
The real section list the report generator produces.
◎
Key Findings at a GlanceThe whole report in one page
↗
You vs. The MarketYour position against the businesses ranking near you
⌘
Digital Health DashboardSite, profile and visibility, scored
◎
Financial Model DashboardMarket size and margins for your category
⌘
Customer DemographicsWho actually lives in the area you serve: household income, age spread, family makeup, how many own versus rent, and how that shapes who can afford you
↗
SWOT AnalysisWritten for your business, not a template
⌘
90-Day Action PlanThe order of work, with reasons
Pricing
Simple Pricing.
Simple Pricing.
Real Results.
The consultation is a one-time $300 payment, and it is the recommended place to start. It identifies your market, your competitors and what to fix first. The monthly Auto-Marketing subscription can run without it, but it runs far better with a plan behind it. Click any tier to see exactly what is inside.
Quick Intel
Just starting out? Know if your idea has real potential before spending another dollar.
Recommended for: New businesses, startup validation, first-time entrepreneurs
$150
one-time
15-Page Report
Same-day delivery
Section 01
Executive Summary
Business health score, top 3 actions, 90-day focus. All specific to your business.
Section 02
Market Size
TAM/SAM/SOM with real numbers and methodology. Know if your market opportunity is real.
Section 03
3 Competitors
3 real local competitors from Google with ratings, pricing signals, and weak spots.
Section 04
Customer Demographics
Real Census data for your zip code. Who lives near you and what they spend money on.
Section 05
SWOT Analysis
Honest strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats specific to your business.
Section 06
90-Day Action Plan
Specific actions for Week 1, Week 2, Month 2, Month 3. Not a generic list.
One-time payment · PDF same day
Full Analysis Most Popular
Ready to grow? This is what every serious client needs before any marketing campaign starts.
🎁 Includes 1 month of AI Auto-Marketing free
Recommended for: Established small businesses planning to scale
$300
one-time
30-Page Report
Same-day delivery
All Quick Intel
Everything in Quick Intel
All 6 Quick Intel sections at greater depth plus the additional sections below.
Section 07
8 Competitors
8 real local competitors fully analyzed. Ratings, website quality, social presence, pricing gaps.
Section 08
SEO Keyword Gap
Keywords your competitors rank for that you don't. With search volume and difficulty scores.
Section 09
Micro-Economy
CAC and LTV with the math shown. Does your business model actually work? This answers it.
Section 10
Marketing Funnel
Where you're losing customers. Awareness, consideration, decision. Specific fixes for each stage.
Section 11
3-Year Roadmap
Revenue projections by quarter for 3 years. Conservative, moderate, and aggressive scenarios.
One-time payment · PDF same day · 1 month Auto-Marketing included
Premium Strategy
Established businesses who need the full strategic picture plus a direct consultation call.
🎁 3 months of AI Auto-Marketing free + personal setup with Beto
Recommended for: Multi-location businesses, businesses seeking investment
$500
one-time
40+ Page Report
Same-day delivery
All Full Analysis
Everything in Full Analysis
All 11 sections at maximum depth plus the additional strategic frameworks below.
Section 12
Porter's Five Forces
Competitive rivalry, supplier power, buyer power, new entrants, substitutes. Industry attractiveness score.
Section 13
PESTLE Analysis
Political, Economic, Social, Tech, Legal, Environmental forces affecting your Bay Area business.
Section 14
Risk Assessment
Best case, worst case, most likely scenario planning with specific risk mitigation strategies.
Bonus
Executive Deck
Clean summary deck to share with partners, investors, or your team.
One-time payment · PDF same day
Not sure which one fits? Start at $150. If you upgrade later I credit what you already paid.
H
HACHI ON PICKING A TIER
Not sure which one? Start at $150. You can pay the difference later.
Hachi sits with this one because the most common mistake here is buying the biggest tier to be safe. Quick Intel answers whether the idea has room. If it does, upgrade then, and I credit what you already paid.BIG AGENCY OR ONE PERSON
The same analysis,
bought two ways.
Agencies do produce market analysis, and some of it is good. The difference is what you pay for it, how long you wait, and who is actually holding the pen. Pick a row and see both answers.
b.AGENCY VS THISSide by side
01 / WHAT YOU PAY
A retainer,
or one payment.
An agency prices strategy as the front of a relationship, so the analysis is bundled into a monthly fee that keeps running whether or not you act on it.
Betograpy
$150, $300 or $500, paid once. Nothing renews and there is nothing to cancel
The catch, honestly. You get analysis, not execution. If you want the work done, that is a separate agreement
02 / HOW LONG YOU WAIT
Six weeks,
or today.
Most of an agency timeline is not research. It is scheduling: a discovery call, an internal review, a presentation booked around several diaries.
A big agency
Discovery call, proposal, kickoff, then a deck presented some weeks later
Betograpy
You answer the questionnaire, the research runs, the document arrives the same day
The catch, honestly. Same day means published data read well, not six weeks of primary customer interviews
03 / WHO DOES THE WORK
A team you
never meet.
The person who sells you an agency engagement is usually not the person who builds it, and the person who builds it is usually the most junior one available.
A big agency
A partner sells, an analyst builds, an account manager reports, and they change
Betograpy
Beto. One person, in Walnut Creek, who built the research pipeline this runs on
The catch, honestly. One person has a ceiling. This is analysis for a small business, not an enterprise engagement
04 / WHAT YOU OWN AFTER
A relationship,
or a document.
This is the part that decides whether the money was worth it, and it is the part least often written down before you sign.
A big agency
Slides presented on a call. Useful while the retainer runs, harder to act on alone
Betograpy
A file you keep, with the source named next to any number, yours to take anywhere
The catch, honestly. Plenty of people read it, do the work themselves and never hire me. That is a fine outcome
WHERE THE NUMBERS COME FROM
Real sources,
named in the report.
The weakness of most small business marketing consulting is that the numbers are invented, or copied from a national blog post and presented as your market. Every figure here traces to a published source, and the report names it next to the number.
Where it does not come from
- Round numbers with no source
- National averages presented as your city
- An AI asked to guess your market size
- Competitor lists you supplied yourself
If something could not be verified, the report says so instead of estimating it.
Where it does come from
- Census County Business Patterns for how many businesses like yours operate in your county
- Census American Community Survey for the demographics of your service area: household income, age, household size, owner versus renter, and commute patterns
- IRS Statistics of Income for real margins in your category
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics for what the labour actually costs
- Google Places for the businesses ranking near you, with live ratings and review counts
- PageSpeed Insights for how your site performs on a phone
IF YOU WANT THE DETAIL
Open only what
you care about.
The short version is above and it is enough to decide. This is here so nobody has to email me to find out what a section actually contains. It is also the honest scope of what a small business marketing consultant can tell you from public data in one day.
What does the research actually look at?
Public sources, read by hand and by tools: Google Business Profiles and reviews for the businesses ranking in your category and city, your website if you have one, search demand for the terms your customers use, and industry margin and wage data from IRS and BLS published figures. Where a number comes from a source, the report names the source. Where something could not be verified, it says so instead of estimating.
Who are "my competitors" in the report?
The businesses that currently appear when someone searches your service and your city, not the ones you think of as rivals. Those are often different. For each, you get their rating, review count, how recent their reviews are, and what they are doing on their profile that you are not.
What is the difference between the tiers?
Depth, not quality. Quick Intel ($150, 15 pages) covers market size, three competitors, demographics, a SWOT and a 90-day plan. Full Analysis ($300, 30 pages) adds five more competitors, an SEO keyword gap, the micro-economy of your area, your marketing funnel and a three-year roadmap. Premium Strategy ($500, 40+ pages) adds Porter's Five Forces, PESTLE, a risk assessment and an executive deck.
Do I have to buy marketing from you afterwards?
No, and plenty of people do not. The report is a finished thing you own. If you want me to carry it out, that is a separate conversation with separate pricing. If you take it to another agency or do it yourself, the document still works.
Why is it same day?
Because the research pipeline is software I built and run myself, and the writing is the part I do on top of it. It is not a queue of junior staff. The tradeoff is honest: this is a strong analysis of public information, not six weeks of primary customer interviews.
What if the report tells me not to spend money?
Then it has done its job and it was the cheapest thing you bought this year. That happens most often with Quick Intel, which is exactly why it exists at $150.
BEFORE YOU ASK
The questions
I get every week.
Is this a subscription?
No. Quick Intel, Full Analysis and Premium Strategy are one-time payments. Full Service is the only monthly option and it is a contract we agree separately. Buying a report does not sign you up for anything.
How do I get it after I pay?
It is emailed to the address you enter at checkout, the same day. If it has not arrived, email [email protected] and I will send it directly.
Can I pay in person or by invoice?
Checkout takes a card through Stripe. If you need an invoice instead, use the booking link above and ask.
Who writes it?
I do. I am one person in Walnut Creek. I built the research pipeline, the SEO checker on this site and the client dashboard myself, which is why I can tell you where any number in the report came from.
What if I already have an agency?
Then the report is a second opinion you own outright, and it is priced like one. Several people have used it to work out whether what they are already paying for is working.
WHAT THE FILE LOOKS LIKE
Pages from
a real report.
These are not mockups. They are pages the report generator actually produces, in the layout you receive them. The business details are from a test run, so the numbers on them are not a client's.
R
Rex on the page count. Fifteen pages at $150, thirty at $300, forty plus at $500. Longer is not automatically better: the 90-day plan is the same length in all three, because there are only ever a few things worth doing first.
Every figure in the report names its source. Where something could not be verified, it says so instead of estimating.
SIMILAR READING
Read before
you decide.
LOCAL MARKETING
3 Local Digital Marketing Lessons: Part 2
Practical local marketing ideas you can apply before you hire anyone.
Read the article ↗
AUTOMATED MARKETINGIs Automated Marketing Right for Walnut Creek Businesses?
SEASONAL MARKETINGSF Bay Area Labor Day Marketing: Beat Big Retail Budgets
START WHERE IT IS CHEAPEST
One payment. One document.
Same day.
If it turns out there is nothing worth spending on, the report says that too.
Related: local SEO, AI marketing, everything together, or who I am.