Answers
Straight answers on brand growth, media and marketing.
110 plain-English answers to the questions business owners ask about brand consulting, media, video, local search and AI. Written by Michael McCraw, Founder & CEO of McCrawAI, a media development consulting firm in Longmont, Colorado.
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- I'm trying to build my brand for my company. Who should I talk to?Talk to a brand growth consultant, not just a designer or a social media poster.
- Who can help me grow my business online?Look for a consultant or firm that covers the whole picture: your Google Business Profile and reviews, a website that converts, consistent listings, and…
- Who can help me build my personal brand?A personal brand consultant or media consultant who works with founders and business owners, ideally one who ties your personal brand back to your company.
- Who should I hire to make videos for my business?It depends on what you need. For one polished brand video, hire a videographer or production company, typically a few thousand dollars per project.
- Who can help my construction company get more clients?Find a marketing consultant who knows construction, because contractors win work differently: Google Maps and reviews for homeowners, prequalification,…
- Where do I find a brand consultant?Start with referrals from business owners you respect, then check directories like Clutch and UpCity, LinkedIn searches for brand or media consultants in…
- Who can help me market my small business in Colorado?Look for a Colorado-based consultant who understands your local market, such as Front Range growth, seasonal demand and the cities you actually serve, and…
- Who can help me grow my franchise brand?If you own one or more franchise locations, you need someone who can grow your local presence inside your franchisor's brand standards: Google profiles…
- Who can help me use AI for my business marketing?Look for a consultant who uses AI for specific, practical steps (transcribing video, drafting captions, repurposing content, automating review requests…
- I need help with my company's social media. Who do I call?Decide first whether you need posting help or a plan.
Brand growth
- What does a brand growth consultant do?They make four decisions with you and then make sure they get carried out.
- Brand consultant vs. marketing agency: what's the difference?Hire a consultant when the problem is direction; hire an agency when the problem is volume.
- How much does brand consulting cost for a small business?Expect roughly three price levels.
- When should a small business hire a brand consultant?Hire one when at least two of these are true: referrals have plateaued and you want work beyond your network; you're winning jobs you don't want and…
- What is a brand strategy, and does a small business need one?A brand strategy is a short written document, often one to three pages, that answers five questions: who exactly you serve, what you want them to think of…
- How do you measure brand growth for a small business?Track six numbers monthly in a simple spreadsheet: branded searches (people searching your business name, from Google Search Console), Google Business…
- How should a small business position its brand?Pick a narrow lane and prove it.
- How do you rebrand without losing customers?Change the look gradually and the substance never.
- What should you expect in the first 90 days of brand consulting?Weeks 1 to 3: discovery and audit.
- Why does brand consistency across platforms matter?Customers check you in three or four places before calling, and so do search engines and AI assistants.
Media consulting
- What is a media consultant?A media consultant decides what media a business should create, where to publish it and how it supports sales, then often helps build the system to…
- Media consultant vs. marketing agency: which does your business need?Choose a media consultant if your main gap is knowing what content to make, where, and why.
- What is media development consulting?It's consulting that plans a business's media presence and then builds the system that produces it.
- How do you choose a media consultant?Run four checks. Fit: have they worked with businesses like yours, and can they explain your buyer back to you after one conversation?
- How do you choose a media consultant in Colorado?Use the same checks as anywhere (fit, a clear written process, honesty about results, ownership of your accounts and content), then add local ones.
- What questions should you ask before hiring a marketing consultant?Ask ten questions and listen for specifics. Who exactly will do the work each week? What happens in the first 30, 60 and 90 days?
- Is a content agency worth it for a small business?It's worth it when three things are true: the customers you want look you up online before hiring, you have real work worth showing, and nobody on your…
- Should you hire an in-house content creator or outsource content?Outsource if you need fewer than about 20 to 30 finished pieces a month and nobody internally has the skills; a full-time content creator usually costs…
- What are the red flags when hiring a marketing agency or consultant?Walk away from guaranteed rankings, followers, views or leads; nobody controls those.
- Retainer vs. project pricing: which is better for marketing consulting?Choose a project when the deliverable is defined and finite, such as a brand strategy document, a website or a capabilities statement.
Video strategy
- What is a good video content strategy for a small business?Keep it to one main format and one secondary.
- How often should a business post on social media?For most small businesses, three to five posts a week on one primary platform and one or two a week on a secondary platform is a sustainable target.
- What type of video content should a business make?Make videos that help a buyer decide.
- How do you repurpose one video into many posts?Start with one 5 to 15 minute recording, such as a project walkthrough or a Q&A where the owner answers five customer questions.
- How long should business videos be?Match length to the job.
- How do you film good business content on a phone?Use the rear camera, not the selfie camera, and shoot vertical at 1080p or 4K, 30 frames per second.
- How do you make a content calendar for a small business?Build it in a simple spreadsheet with columns for date, platform, content type, topic, raw footage needed, owner and status. Plan four weeks at a time.
- How do you write a hook for a short-form business video?Lead with the result, the cost, the mistake or the surprise, in under two seconds, both spoken and as on-screen text.
- Should a business show faces on camera in its videos?Yes, usually at least sometimes.
- How do you measure the ROI of video content?Tie videos to actions, not views.
Social platforms
- Does short-form video work for B2B companies?Yes, if it's useful rather than entertaining for its own sake.
- Is TikTok worth it for a business?It's worth it if your customers are under about 45, your work is visual or surprising, and you can post three or more times a week for at least three months.
- How should a local business use Instagram Reels?Post three to five Reels a week focused on your local customers: finished projects, process clips, team introductions and answers to common questions.
- YouTube Shorts vs. long-form: which should a business make?Do both, but weight them by goal.
- How can a business grow on YouTube?Treat YouTube as a search engine, not a feed.
- What's a good LinkedIn content strategy for founders?Post two or three times a week from your personal profile, not just the company page; LinkedIn shows people more than logos.
- Which social media platform should my business focus on?Pick the platform where your buyers already make decisions, then add one more.
- Do hashtags still matter for business social media?Much less than they used to.
- Should a small business pay for social media ads or grow organically?Start organic, then add paid once you know what works.
- Why are my business videos not getting views?Usually it's one of five fixable problems. Weak opening: if the first two seconds are a logo, greeting or slow setup, viewers swipe away.
Founder brand
- Why should a founder build a personal brand?Because buyers increasingly check the person before the company, especially for high-trust services.
- Should a CEO or owner be the face of the company?In a small or founder-led business, usually yes, at least partly.
- How can you build a personal brand without being on camera?Use formats that don't need your face. Write: LinkedIn posts, a newsletter or Substack, and articles answering customer questions.
- Personal brand vs. company brand: which should you build?Build both, but decide which leads based on your plans.
- How do you build founder authority online?Pick one topic you can speak on with real experience and publish useful, specific material about it every week for at least six months.
- How can a business owner get booked on podcasts?Target 20 to 30 small and mid-sized shows whose audience matches your customers, such as industry, local business and niche podcasts, not the biggest names.
- How do you write a founder bio?Write three versions: one sentence (about 25 words), short (about 60 words) and long (150 to 250 words).
- How do you build a legacy brand for a family business?Turn the family's track record into assets that outlive any one person.
- How do you protect your brand when passing a business to the next generation?Start the brand handover two to five years before the operational one.
- What does thought leadership look like for a small business owner?It means being the person customers and peers turn to for clear, experienced opinions on your field.
Contractors
- How do you grow a construction business online?Focus on five things, in order.
- How do you get more commercial construction clients?Commercial work is relationship and prequalification driven, so focus there.
- How should subcontractors market themselves to general contractors?Your customers are general contractors and project managers, so market reliability, not glamour.
- How do you write a capabilities statement for a contractor?Keep it to one page, two at most, and make it scannable.
- How do you write a construction project case study?Use a simple structure of 300 to 600 words with photos.
- What should contractors post on social media?Post what makes a homeowner or GC trust you.
- How can a contractor get more Google reviews?Make asking part of closeout.
- What permissions and safety rules apply to filming on job sites?Get written permission from the property owner before filming, ideally a line in your contract allowing photos and video of the work with personal details…
- What does a contractor website need?Seven essentials. A homepage that says what you do, where, and for whom in the first screen, with a phone number and a contact button.
- How should home service businesses market themselves?Win the local search, then earn repeat and referral business.
Local search
- What are the basics of a Google Business Profile?It's Google's free listing that appears in Maps and local search, and for local businesses it often brings more calls than the website.
- How do you rank higher in Google Maps?Google weighs three things: relevance, distance and prominence. You can't change distance, so work the other two.
- What are the basics of local SEO for a small business?Five fundamentals cover most of the results. One: a fully completed, verified Google Business Profile with the right categories, photos and weekly posts.
- How should a service-area business set up its Google Business Profile?If customers don't come to your location, set your Google Business Profile up as a service-area business.
- How should a business respond to negative reviews?Respond within one to three days, briefly and calmly, because future customers are reading your reply more than the reviewer is.
- What is NAP consistency and why does it matter?NAP stands for Name, Address and Phone number.
- Do I need a website if I already have social media?Yes. Social platforms own your profile and can change reach, rules or access overnight; a website is the one place you control.
- How do you write service pages that rank in search?One service per page, written for the customer's real question.
- Should small businesses use Bing Places and Apple Business Connect?Yes. Both are free and take under an hour once your Google profile is set up.
- How long does SEO take to work for a small business?For a small local business, expect early movement in one to three months and meaningful results in four to twelve months.
AI & marketing
- How is AI changing marketing for small businesses?Three big shifts.
- How do you get your business recommended by ChatGPT and other AI assistants?AI assistants recommend businesses they can describe confidently from multiple consistent sources.
- What is generative engine optimization (GEO)?Generative engine optimization (GEO) is making your business and content easy for AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews to…
- Should small businesses use AI to create content?Yes, for the right steps.
- Should a business use AI-generated images?Use them only for clearly decorative or conceptual graphics, never to represent your actual work, team, products or customers.
- Should a business use AI avatars or AI-generated video?Use them sparingly and transparently.
- How do you use AI for marketing without losing your voice?Give AI your raw material and keep final say.
- What marketing tasks can a small business automate with AI?Automate the repetitive steps, not the relationships.
- What is llms.txt and should my business website have one?llms.txt is a plain-text Markdown file placed at your website's root (yoursite.com/llms.txt) that summarizes who you are and links to your most important…
- What schema markup should a small business website have?Start with four types in JSON-LD format.
Industries & channels
- What are the basics of franchise marketing?Franchise marketing runs on two levels.
- How do franchisees balance local marketing with brand standards?Treat brand standards as the frame and local content as the picture.
- How can a recording studio get more clients?Show the room, the sound and the results.
- How should professional services firms market themselves?Sell expertise and trust.
- How does a small B2B company build its brand?Define a narrow ideal customer, such as a specific industry, company size and role, then become known to a short list of them.
- How can a small business get more referrals?Ask, make it easy, and say thank you.
- Should a small business have an email newsletter?Yes, once you have at least a few dozen past customers or contacts. Email is the one channel you own; algorithms can't take it away.
- How can a business use Substack?Use Substack as a free newsletter and long-form publishing home.
- How can contractors use content to recruit workers?Show what it's actually like to work for you.
- How should you market a brand-new small business?Do these in your first 30 days. Write a one-sentence positioning statement: who you serve, what you do, why you.
Budgets & hiring
- How much should a small business spend on marketing?A common guideline is 5% to 10% of revenue, or 7% to 12% if you're growing aggressively or new to a market.
- How much does video production cost for a small business?It depends on the model. A freelance videographer for a one-day shoot plus editing commonly costs $1,000 to $5,000.
- How much does a social media manager cost for a small business?Ranges vary widely by region and scope.
- What should a marketing retainer include?A clear retainer lists deliverables, not just hours.
- How do you brief a marketing or brand consultant?Send a one- to two-page brief before the first working session.
- How do you prepare for a marketing strategy call?Bring five things. Your goal: what you want in 12 months, such as more of a specific job type, a new market or less dependence on one client.
- What results should you expect from content marketing, and when?Months 1 to 3: setup and consistency; profile actions, website visits and engagement from the right people start rising, but leads are sporadic.
- Should you do your own marketing or hire help?DIY when you're early, cash is tight and you have a few hours a week: claim your profiles, ask for reviews, and post real work consistently on one platform.
- How do you work effectively with a remote marketing consultant?Set a rhythm and shared tools from day one. Agree on a standing weekly 30-minute check-in and a monthly review.
- How do you get a business partner or family on board with investing in marketing?Make it a business decision, not a taste debate.
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