Translates outcome into the sprint + onboards new clients
Runs weekly pod planning + owns file org and agent/skill training
Reports against the outcome + coordinates cross-pod for consistency
Co-runs the quarterly review and improvement loop
Creative Manager
The Production.
Produces all creative output with AI
Directs the AI rather than following it
Protects brand voice across plays
Owns asset library + QC
01The Pod at Work1 min
Three roles working as one pod.
How the three seats operate as one pod, and who owns what.
The three seats are defined in the Quick Reference. Here's how they operate together.
Responsibility Matrix
Activity
AM
PM
CM
AI
Jay/Chris
Diagnose outcome
—
—
Present & sell the tier
—
—
—
Pick the plays
—
Annual plan & 12-month renewal
Weekly sprint planning
—
—
Content & creative production
—
—
—
Brand voice, QC & asset library
—
—
—
Creative performance insights
—
—
SEO fundamentals & maintenance (every tier)
—
—
Monthly report & outcome review
—
—
Quarterly outcome commit
—
—
Scope defense
—
—
Tier upgrade / upsell
—
—
—
Primary owner Supports— Not involved
02The Tiers2 min
The Tiers.
Four recurring partnerships. Every client is exactly one of these.
The tiers don't change. They define what's always running in the background (hosting,
website, CRM, baseline content, SEO fundamentals) and how many plays the team runs
per quarter against the chosen outcome. Hosting and maintenance are included free in
every tier, a $250+/mo value. SEO fundamentals are baseline in every tier, including
Base, and never consume a play slot. Pick your tier once. Let it run.
Tier I
Base
$2,000 / Month · 12-Month Agreement
0 plays per quarter fundamentals only
Businesses that want a professional presence handled, not a strategy engagement.
Custom website, SEO fundamentals, basic maintenance. No strategic calls,
email-only reporting.
How the four outcomes map to the funnel stages your client already lives in.
We sell four outcomes: Attract, Convert, Close, Customer. They are the four
stages of the funnel, and every quarter the client and AM commit to exactly one.
The tier doesn't change, but the point of the tier does: the chosen outcome
reframes the monthly call, the sprint planning, and the way we report. The plays we
run determine the move.
One question decides the outcome.
Every quarter the AM asks: "Are we attracting new leads, converting them
into prospects, closing them into customers, or growing the customers we
already have?" The single answer is the outcome.
IAttractStrangers → Visitors. Get found and noticed: SEO, paid, content engine, founder authority, PR.
IIConvertVisitors → Prospects. Capture the hand-raise: lead magnets, landing page CRO, sticky offers.
All nineteen plays in the menu execute one of these four stages, and some flex
between them: a Video Shoot for a brand story is
Attract, the same shoot day cut for
testimonials is Close. The team picks
the play, the AM picks the framing. The full menu is one section down.
04The Play Menu2 min
The play menu: nineteen productized plays.
The map of all nineteen plays, one line each. The detail lives in the Playbook.
Nineteen canonical plays across the four outcomes. Attract carries seven, and that
asymmetry is intentional: most clients enter needing demand. The team picks plays
based on the diagnostic, the business, and the tier. Some plays flex between
outcomes depending on what the AM deploys them for.
ITop of Funnel
Attract
The Plays
Content Multiplier · 2× base output: 8 social posts, 2 SEO blogs, 2 emails monthly
Google Ads Management · location and intent campaigns, up to $5K monthly spend, ongoing optimization
Meta Ads Management · Facebook and Instagram campaigns with creative, up to $5K monthly spend
YouTube Ad Management · video campaigns with creative direction, up to $5K monthly spend
LinkedIn Ad Management · B2B campaigns with audience targeting, up to $5K monthly spend
Content Creation · net-new articles and videos answering real buyer questions; flexes Attract or Convert
Podcast Support · production, editing, clips, show notes, and distribution for every episode
Base 0 · Foundation 1 · Growth 3 · Scale 5
IIMid-Funnel
Convert
The Plays
Custom Landing Pages · up to two pages a quarter: copy, design, CRM-connected forms, tracking
Lead Gen + Nurture Sequence · custom lead magnet plus a five-email automated follow-up sequence
Lead Generating Resource · a calculator, quiz, or assessment that captures leads on the site
Conversion Rate Program · continuous hypothesis-driven testing on pages and funnels, tied to revenue
Base 0 · Foundation 1 · Growth 3 · Scale 5
IIIBottom of Funnel
Close
The Plays
CRM Automation · workflows, pipelines, lead scoring, and dashboards in the client's CRM
Video Shoot · half-day shoot for testimonials, sales videos, and objection handling
Webinar Creation · strategy, slides, promotion, registration, live support, and conversion follow-up
Sales Enablement Kit · case studies, decks, one-pagers, and proposals in one voice
Base 0 · Foundation 1 · Growth 3 · Scale 5
IVPost-Sale
Customer
The Plays
Referral Program Launch · the offer, the ask cadence, and the tracking, run as a system
Photography · one-day shoots for customer events, case studies, and milestone moments
Review Generation System · automated review requests on customer milestones, with a response SLA
Filters, monthly checklists, and client language for all nineteen plays.
05The First 60 Days1 min
How a new client enters the partnership.
How a new partnership opens: onboarding, blueprint, first sprint.
A repeatable onboarding that ends with a committed outcome and play menu for Q1.
The rhythm is the same across all four tiers; only depth and velocity change.
i
Week 1
Discovery & Blueprint
15-min qualifying call, then a Growth Blueprint session. The Blueprint ships with a draft homepage design, not just messaging.
Chris · AM
ii
Week 2
Foundation Setup
Tier signed. Hosting, CRM, kickoff call set.
PM
iii
Week 3
The Diagnostic
AM runs the 10-question diagnostic, names the real problem.
AM · Chris (Scale)
iv
Week 4
Outcome Commit
Pick the outcome and the plays. Define what wins look like.
AM · Client
v
Wk 5–12
Quarter One Sprint
PM runs weekly. CM produces with AI. AM hosts monthly.
Full Pod
vi
Day 90
Quarterly Review
Measure. Keep going, rotate, or layer. Plan Q2.
AM · PM · Chris
06The Diagnostic2 min
Read the signal, then name the outcome.
The signals that tell us which outcome to lead with on day one.
Clients rarely know which outcome they need. They describe symptoms. The AM's job
is to hear the signal beneath the complaint and translate it into the right
quarterly aim.
"Strangers aren't finding us. We need traffic and awareness."
→
I
Attract
"Traffic comes through but few people raise their hand."
→
II
Convert
"Leads come in, our close rate is below industry."
→
III
Close
"Acquisition's expensive. Our best customers would buy more or refer."
→
IV
Customer
AM Sidebar · The Diagnostic Call
Ten questions the AM asks every time.
What would have to happen in the next 90 days for you to call this a win?
What is your current monthly lead volume, and what's your capacity to serve?
Of the leads you receive, what percent close? Where do the rest drop off?
How do your best customers describe what you do, in their own words?
What's your current average review score, and how many reviews per month?
What dates are on your calendar in the next 12 months that require a campaign?
Is the founder a public figure? Does the business want them to be?
What percentage of new business comes from referrals today?
If you had to cut all marketing except one thing, what would you keep?
Which outcome on our list sounds most like the one you need right now?
The Commit Rule
One outcome per quarter, in every tier. The team picks which plays
execute it: 1, 3, or 5 by tier. Base runs the always-on fundamentals with no play
slots. Scale may run a second concurrent outcome only as
a rare judgment call by Jay or Chris.
07Scope & Scale3 min
What stays, what rotates, what requires a conversation.
Fixed parts, rotating parts, and the eleven operating rules.
The model only holds if everyone (AM, PM, CM, and client) knows where the
boundaries are. These rules protect the margin, the rhythm, and the relationship.
The Fixed Parts
Always true.
Hosting, website, and maintenance: included free, a $250+/mo value
CRM management (HubSpot, HighLevel, or whatever the client runs)
Baseline content rhythm for the tier
Monthly outcome review call
Quarterly outcome commit
Foundation SEO and GBP hygiene
Review monitoring and SLA
The Rotating Parts
Shifts every quarter.
The single outcome we chase
Which plays the team runs (0/1/3/5 by tier)
Where creative capacity points
Paid channel mix and emphasis
What the monthly report highlights
Which AI tools get heaviest use
The KPIs the client cares about most
Conversation Triggers
Requires a talk.
Work outside the current outcome
Net-new service lines (video, AI Solutions)
Crisis comms that pre-empt the plays
Client wants more plays than tier allows
Mid-quarter outcome swap request
Scope expansion beyond tier capacity
Concurrent outcome (Scale-only judgment call)
The Eleven Operating Rules · Money · Cadence · Scope
MoneyPricing · Hard Costs · Hosting
Foundation doesn't flex.
Hosting, website, CRM, and baseline rhythm are always on. Hosting and maintenance are included free in every tier, a $250+/mo value: never unbundled, never priced separately, never traded for more plays in a quarter.
Project work lives outside the play menu.
Video production, AI Solutions blueprints, CRM onboarding, branding: separate scopes, priced separately. Plays are included in the tier; project work is quoted on top. Keep the line clean.
Hard costs pass through, cost-plus.
Photographers, videographers, printing, and platform fees are passed to the client cost-plus. We manage the vendor; we don't mark the costs up heavily. The client pays directly, with written approval before anything is committed.
CadenceRenewal · Quarter Locks · Annual Planning
Twelve months, renewed with the plan.
All plans are 12-month agreements that renew automatically alongside creation of the next annual plan. The rhythm underneath: adjust quarterly, report monthly, execute weekly.
Rotation at quarter boundaries.
Both outcomes and plays are locked for the quarter once committed. Swapping mid-quarter is a scope conversation, not a silent pivot.
Annual plans are dated, drafted, and defended.
Every client has a documented last and next annual plan date, tracked in Agency Backpack. Teams draft the plan two months ahead and bring it to the extended marketing meeting, where the other team evaluates it like a competing agency trying to win the account. Clients around $20K/mo get weekly sprint debriefs.
ScopeOutcomes · Plays · Tiers
One outcome per quarter, every tier.
No secondary outcomes at Foundation or Growth. Scale may run a second concurrent only as a rare judgment call by Jay or Chris, never as a feature to sell.
Tiers buy plays, not outcomes.
Base gets 0 plays: fundamentals only. Foundation gets 1 per quarter, Growth 3, Scale 5 (or 4 plus a custom build). Client picks the tier, the team picks which plays execute the chosen outcome.
The team picks the plays.
Clients don't shop a menu. The AM and pod choose which plays best execute the outcome for this business right now. Strategic judgment is the product. Don't give it away.
Upgrades triggered by ceilings, not upsells.
When the client wants more plays than the tier allows, or legitimately needs multi-threaded execution, the AM initiates the upgrade conversation.
SEO is a fundamental, not a play.
SEO fundamentals are baseline scope in every tier, including Base. SEO never consumes a play slot; play slots are reserved for the quarterly outcome.
What’s Included in Each SEO Level
Each tier builds on the one before it. The client picks the tier and we pick the tactics. SEO is baseline scope in every tier, including Base, and never consumes a play slot.
Capability
Base + Foundation SEO Fundamentals
Growth Full SEO Program
Scale Comprehensive SEO
On-Page & Technical
Title tags, meta descriptions, headers, alt text
✓
✓
✓
Site speed, mobile, sitemap, robots.txt
✓
✓
✓
Google Search Console setup + monitoring
✓
✓
✓
Full site audit with automated issue detection + fixes
–
✓
✓
Schema markup (FAQ, HowTo, Organization)
–
✓
✓
Core Web Vitals optimization
–
✓
✓
Multi-location SEO, international SEO, JS rendering audit
–
–
✓
Content & Keywords
SEO-aligned content briefs for blog posts
✓
✓
✓
Keyword tracking
25–50
100+
200+
Topical mapping + competitor content gap analysis
–
✓
✓
Full editorial calendar + historical content refresh
–
–
✓
Local & Authority
Google Business Profile setup + optimization
✓
✓
✓
Local citation building + review generation strategy