Pricing UPDATED JUL 2026

What AI-powered marketing operations costs

Here is the whole answer up front. A $350 diagnostic call and written findings memo, credited toward any project you book. A focused stack audit for $1,500 to $3,500. A hands-on implementation sprint for $6,000 to $15,000 over two to six weeks. Fixed prices, agreed before we start, so the number never moves after the work begins.

Stage Price Turnaround What you get Who it's for
Diagnostic $350, credited toward any project booked within 60 days 48 to 72 hours A call plus a written findings memo on your stack, your workflows and where your week is going. Yours to keep either way. Anyone deciding whether this is worth doing at all
Stack audit $1,500 to $3,500 1 to 2 weeks A written assessment of your marketing systems, a gap analysis and a prioritized 90-day roadmap Teams that know something is broken but not which thing
Implementation sprint $6,000 to $15,000 2 to 6 weeks Working systems built with you: AI workflows, automation, documentation and the training to run it all without me Teams ready to fix the thing
Ongoing support $750 per month, capped hours, month to month Ongoing Monthly check-ins, optimization reviews and a person to call before you buy another tool Past sprint clients who want a hand on the rail
  1. 01 Diagnostic $350
  2. 02 Stack audit $1,500 to $3,500
  3. 03 Implementation sprint $6,000 to $15,000
  4. 04 Ongoing support $750 per month
Engagement timeline A single timeline with three segments drawn in proportion to their length: the diagnostic takes 48 to 72 hours, the stack audit 1 to 2 weeks and the implementation sprint 2 to 6 weeks. Diagnostic 48 to 72 hours Stack audit 1 to 2 weeks Implementation sprint 2 to 6 weeks 01 02 03 Engagement timeline A single timeline with three segments drawn in proportion to their length: the diagnostic takes 48 to 72 hours, the stack audit 1 to 2 weeks and the implementation sprint 2 to 6 weeks. 01 02 03 Diagnostic 48 to 72 hours Stack audit 1 to 2 weeks Implementation sprint 2 to 6 weeks

What does the $350 diagnostic include

One call and one document. We spend an hour on what your week actually looks like: the client work, the follow-up that slips, the subscription you bought in January to solve a problem you still have. Within 72 hours you get a written memo naming what I found, what I would fix first and what I would ignore. The memo is yours whether we ever talk again.

The $350 credits in full toward an audit or sprint booked within 60 days. So the diagnostic is free if we work together and cheap professional judgment if we don't. I priced it to filter for people who are serious, in both directions.

What does the stack audit include

The audit is the diagnostic with the hood all the way open. I go through your marketing systems end to end: what you're paying for, what's connected to what, where data enters and where it quietly dies. You get a written stack assessment, a gap analysis and a 90-day roadmap ordered by what will give you your time back fastest.

$1,500 covers a very small stack, one or two platforms, one to five people. $2,500 is the standard engagement. $3,500 is the ceiling and it means your stack has more moving parts than you think it does. I tell you the exact number after the diagnostic, before you commit a dollar past the $350.

What does an implementation sprint include

This is the build. Two to six weeks, fixed price, working side by side. AI workflows for the tasks eating your week. Marketing automation that runs whether or not you remember it. Documentation for every piece, written so you can operate it without calling me.

I don't do done-for-you work. I build with you until you can drive it, then I hand you the keys. That's the whole model and it's why the sprint ends with training, not a handoff deck.

$6,000 buys a focused two-week sprint on one system. Around $9,500 is the standard four-week engagement. $15,000 is the six-week ceiling for a build that touches most of your stack. The exact number comes out of the audit, fixed before we start.

Two engagement models Two parallel tracks. The done-for-you track runs to the right and stops at a closed endpoint that stays with the agency. The built-with-you track runs the same direction, then a green handoff arc transfers the system back to you at an open endpoint. Done for you Built with you handoff

What does ongoing support cost

$750 a month, capped hours, month to month, cancel whenever. Monthly check-ins, optimization reviews and a straight answer before you sign up for new software. Most clients don't need it, because the sprint was designed so they wouldn't. It exists for the ones who want it anyway.

How my pricing compares

Independent consultants doing this work bill $150 to $350 an hour, and an hourly meter running on a project you can't fully scope is how a $4,000 problem becomes an $11,000 invoice. Agencies quote $25,000 to $75,000 for full marketing automation implementations, priced for companies with a marketing department to absorb it. Marketplace freelancers charge a fraction of either and you're the QA department.

I sit in the gap on purpose. Fixed prices a small team can actually plan around, from someone who runs enterprise stacks for a living. You know the number before we start. It doesn't move.

Market price comparison A segmented price axis from $350 to $75,000 with visible axis breaks. Independent consultants appear as an hourly engagement drifting from $4,000 to $11,000. Agencies appear as a wide band from $25,000 to $75,000. The practice appears as exact green marks: $350 and the fixed ranges $1,500 to $3,500 and $6,000 to $15,000. Fixed prices $350 $1,500 to $3,500 $6,000 to $15,000 Independent consultants $4,000 $11,000 hourly drift Agencies $25,000 to $75,000 $350 $4,000 $15,000 $25,000 $75,000

Proof

Credentials

PMP. Adobe Certified Professional, Marketo Engage Business Practitioner. Pardot Specialist. PSM I and PSM II. PSPO I. AI Prompt Engineering, PMI. Close to a decade in the seat between what marketing wants, what sales needs to see and what IT can actually deliver.

What an engagement looks like in practice

A local art studio was running classes, events and social from one owner's phone, with follow-up living in her head. The work was mapping what actually happened between "someone asks about a class" and "someone shows up to one," then building the workflow that runs that path without her touching it, documented so she owns it.

The other shape I keep meeting: a solo travel advisor, drowning in the same AI advice as everyone else, watching peers publish generated content that all reads the same. The engagement there is different: not more content, a system. Intake, itinerary research and client follow-up built into workflows she runs herself, so the AI does the busywork and the judgment stays hers. That's the anti-slop position and it's the whole practice in one sentence.

I build the system. You keep the voice.

GUARANTEE

The guarantee is the structure

I don't ask you to trust a stranger with $10,000. I ask for $350, and you get a written professional read on your systems that's yours to keep. If it's useful, the $350 rolls into the project. If it's not, you're out $350 and you know exactly where you stand. Every engagement starts small on purpose, because the diagnostic protects you and it protects me. Neither of us builds anything before we both know what's broken.

CAPACITY

Honest constraint

This is a focused practice. I take two client engagements at a time, full stop, because the work is hands-on and I'd rather turn you down than queue you silently. If the slots are full I'll tell you when one opens.

Nonprofits, mental health professionals and community organizations

Part of why this practice exists is so the groups doing the heaviest work can afford real systems. If you run a nonprofit, a mental health practice or a community organization, I hold a limited number of pro bono slots for exactly you.

Pro bono means pro bono. The first call is free, and we define the engagement together after it. Same diagnostic, same written memo, same documentation and training as every paying client. What changes is the economics, not the rigor.

Email me at kyle@kylebaudour.com with a line about what you do and what's eating your week. If a slot is open, I'll tell you. If it isn't, I'll tell you when one will be.

FAQ

How much does a marketing operations consultant cost?

Independent consultants typically run $150 to $350 per hour, fixed audits $1,500 to $5,000 and project work $5,000 to $25,000. I work in fixed prices only: a $350 diagnostic, audits from $1,500 to $3,500 and implementation sprints from $6,000 to $15,000.

How much does an AI consultant cost for a small business?

The honest market answer is $5,000 to $25,000 per project or $150 to $350 per hour, with a huge spread because "AI consultant" can mean almost anything. My prices are fixed and published: $350 to diagnose, $1,500 to $3,500 to audit, $6,000 to $15,000 to build.

Do you charge for the first call?

Yes, $350, and it comes with a written findings memo you keep. The fee credits in full toward any project booked within 60 days. Serious buyers get it back. Everyone else gets a cheap professional opinion.

What if I just need the audit and not the build?

Then buy the audit. The roadmap is written so you or anyone you hire can execute it. Some people take it and run. That's a success, not a lost sale.

Why fixed prices instead of hourly?

Because hourly billing makes my incentives worse and your budget unknowable. A fixed price means slow weeks are my problem and the number you planned for is the number you pay.

Do you work with teams outside Colorado?

Yes. I'm based in Longmont, Colorado, north of Boulder, and I work remotely with small teams anywhere in the US.

What tools do you work in?

Marketo, Pardot, Salesforce, Zapier, Claude, Notion, GA4 and Google Tag Manager, plus whatever is already in your stack. The tool matters less than the structure underneath it.

Do you offer nonprofit or pro bono rates?

Yes. I hold a limited number of pro bono slots for nonprofits, mental health professionals and community organizations. The first call is free and we define the engagement together after it. Same work, same documentation, same training. Email me and tell me what you do.

What happens after the sprint ends?

You run the systems. Everything is documented and you were trained on all of it. If you want a monthly check-in, support is $750 a month, capped hours, cancel anytime. Most people don't need it. That's the point.

Start with the diagnostic

$350. One call, one written memo, 72 hours. Credits toward anything we build after.

Email me what's eating your week: kyle@kylebaudour.com

I'll reply with two things: whether I can help and when the next slot opens. If the answer is I can't, I'll say so in the first email, not the fourth.

Published July 13, 2026 ยท Updated July 13, 2026