I’m so excited you’re working with us. Congratulations on getting started.
I want to be upfront about what happens next because I believe in full transparency. Most agencies keep clients in the dark. We do the opposite. Here’s the entire process so you know what to expect and what we need from you.
Step 1 – We set up your Basecamp project
Once you sign up, our operations team creates a Basecamp project for you. This is where everything lives. All communication, all updates, all meeting recordings, everything tracked in one place so nothing gets lost.
If you’re new to Basecamp or need help accepting your invitation, here’s a quick guide on how to get into Basecamp.
Your project has five threads:
Project Overview – Shows all the threads at a glance so you always know where to find things.
Updates – This is where most of the communication happens. Our team shares progress, deliverables, and notes here. Check this one regularly.
Meetings – Every meeting we have gets recorded and posted here so you can revisit anything discussed.
Access – We document every account we have access to here. If we need something we don’t have yet, we mention it here.
Strategy Assessment – This has a link to a form you need to fill out. I’ll explain why in a moment.
We also share a Google Drive folder with you through Basecamp. This folder is the engine behind your entire marketing. Every social post, every blog article, every ad we run starts with what you put in this folder. Think of it like a kitchen. We’re the chefs. But you provide the ingredients. Without fresh, real content from your business, we’re cooking with nothing.
Step 2 – We get access to your accounts
Our operations team schedules a call with you to walk through granting us access to your accounts. This is not a strategy session. It’s purely operational. We just need the keys so we can start working.
We need access to your website admin login (if you have both a personal brand site and a company site, we need both), Google Business Profile, Google Ads account, Facebook Page and Facebook Ads account, YouTube channels (both personal brand and company, if you have both), and CallRail or any other call tracking system you use.
LinkedIn and Twitter are optional but helpful.
Everything gets documented in the Access thread in your Basecamp project so there’s a clear record.
You always retain admin ownership of every account. We get partner or manager access. Your assets are yours. I’ve seen too many agencies hold clients hostage by owning their accounts. We don’t do that.
For the full list and step by step instructions on how to grant access, see our access checklist.
Step 3 – Fill out your Strategy Assessment
In your Basecamp project there’s a link to the Strategy Assessment form. Fill it out.
This is how we learn about your business, your goals, your content, and who you’re trying to reach. We call this GCT. Goals, Content, Targeting. Without it, we can’t build an effective plan.
We will not start work without a completed Strategy Assessment, no matter how eager everyone is to get going. Skipping this step is the fastest way to waste your money and our time.
The form does the heavy lifting so we don’t have to burn hours on a call going through every detail. Fill it out thoughtfully and our team posts your answers into the Strategy Assessment thread for reference.
Step 4 – Every Friday you get a MAA report
Every Friday, you receive what we call a MAA Optimization Report. MAA stands for Metrics, Analysis, Action.
This is not an auto-generated report with pretty charts and a logo slapped on it. That’s what most agencies send you. That’s not optimization. That’s not thinking. That’s not testing.
Here’s what MAA actually means:
Metrics – We start with business metrics. How many quality phone calls came in? How much revenue? Not just clicks and rankings and CTR. Those are diagnostic metrics. We care about the numbers that actually move your business.
Analysis – This is where everyone else falls short. You can look at Google Analytics all day and see charts and pie graphs and donut charts. That’s not analytics. Analytics is understanding WHY we got more calls, why a certain ad outperformed another, why something went up or down in a non-obvious way. This is where our trained team, assisted by AI, digs into the data.
Action – Based on that analysis, what are we going to do about it? Cut that campaign because it’s wasting money. Spend more here. Create a new variation. Change the thumbnail. Divert budget. Ask you to make a video. These are specific actions, not vague recommendations.
You’ll see this every single Friday.
What makes this different
I’ve been doing this for over 30 years and I’ve seen how most agencies operate. Here’s what we do differently.
We do the work. You fill out one form and grant us access. We handle the rest.
We are transparent. You have full access to your accounts, your data, your leads, and your recorded phone calls at any time. Nothing is hidden from you.
We are accountable. Every Friday you see what we did, why we did it, and what happened. If we made a mistake, you’ll know about it. We’d rather be embarrassed and fix it than pretend everything is amazing all the time.
We own our mistakes. The strength of our process means we catch problems fast and fix them fast.
Tools you get access to
As a client, you get access to enterprise-level tools we’ve purchased for our network. Analytics, SEO, reporting, optimization tools that would cost you significantly more if you purchased them individually. We pay the enterprise licenses so you don’t have to.
Your project lead can walk you through what’s available to you.
Questions?
Reach out to your project lead anytime through the Updates thread in Basecamp. Everything is tracked there so nothing gets lost.
We’re personally invested in your success. Our reputation in this industry is built on results, not promises. The more real content you give us, the stronger your marketing becomes. So fill that Drive folder, complete your Strategy Assessment, and let’s get to work.