Should you DIY your marketing with ChatGPT, or hire help?

It's a fair question, and Kevin Hohe, the founder of The Honest Builder, asked it straight out. Why not just ask an AI assistant how to get found, do what it says and skip the consultant? "Is there wisdom in either, and why?"

Our founder AK answered with a question of his own, aimed right at Kevin, a fence contractor. If AK wanted to build a fence in his backyard, would Kevin tell him to go ask ChatGPT?

"No, absolutely not," Kevin said.

That's the whole answer in miniature.

The fence test

AK described the version we've all seen. Someone watches a video, drives a post into the ground and it doesn't hold. Meanwhile there's a guy who's been building fences for years. As AK put it, "It's going to the experts."

The same goes for your marketing. An AI assistant can give you a checklist. It can't tell you which item on the list is costing you the most money this month, in your market, at your stage.

DIY is fine. Just be honest about the cost.

We're not against doing it yourself. AK said it plainly: "we're not saying that you shouldn't do it yourself." His advice was to at least have a conversation with someone that knows what they're doing first.

DIY makes sense when:

• You enjoy it and it doesn't eat your evenings
• The task is small and one time, like claiming a listing
• You're just starting out and every dollar counts

Hiring help makes sense when:

• The work keeps slipping to Sunday night
• You've tried and the numbers didn't move
• Your hours on the job are worth more than your hours on a laptop

That last one matters most. Our founder AK puts it this way: "trying to build the website, trying to write these blogs, trying to do all this stuff is actually taking away from actually growing the business." Every hour you spend fighting a website is an hour you're not meeting customers, training your crew or resting.

Do a quick math check

Here's a simple way to decide. Write down how many hours a month you spend on marketing tasks. Multiply it by what an hour of your time is worth on a job. That's what DIY really costs you.

Then ask: is it working? If the hours are high and the phone is still quiet, that's your answer.

What good help should look like

If you do hire help, look for a partner who works like a good sub:

• They start with a diagnosis, not a package.
• They build in order. Phone before ads. Basics before fancy.
• Everything stays in your name. Your Google profile, your ad accounts, your domain. They get manager access, never ownership.
• They report in plain words. What worked, what didn't, what changes next month.
• They'll tell you when you don't need them.

That last one is how we try to work. Ask us which tier you're on, and we'll tell you honestly, even when the answer is that you don't need what we sell yet.

How it feels to stop doing it all

A lot of owners carry a quiet guilt about marketing. They know they should be doing more. They try at 10 PM, get frustrated and close the laptop.

Whether you do it yourself or hand it off, the goal is the same: stop carrying it in your head. Either make a plan you'll actually follow, or let someone else hold it so you can go back to the work you love.

Not sure which way to go? Our free Growth Ladder assessment takes about four minutes, and the findings are yours whether we ever work together or not.

Written by AKFounder of Momentum. Former Executive Sales Coach Lead at Google.