It All Started With An Idea
FAQ

Questions about working with us, answered.

Pricing, contracts, who does the work, Buddy, and every practice we run, from paid media to SEO, measurement and commerce systems.

Buddy app running a 250-point Google Ads audit
Buddy, our AI agent, on iOS and Android · See our work
The short answer

It All Started With An Idea is a senior performance marketing agency in Queen Creek, Arizona, serving the US. Engagements are month to month and start with a free audit. Paid media is priced as a flat retainer plus a small percentage of ad spend (most engagements $2,000–$15,000 a month), and every account is run by a senior operator using Buddy, our open-source AI agent.

Working with us

About the agency.

Who runs the day-to-day on my account?

John Williams, the founder, with 15+ years and $350M+ in managed spend. Buddy, our AI agent, runs the daily checks, and John approves every change. No junior pool and no account managers between you and the person doing the work.

Where are you based?

Queen Creek, Arizona, at 35094 N Jacobs Rd. We serve clients across the US.

What industries do you work with?

We're industry-agnostic: B2B SaaS, ecommerce, financial services, healthcare, local services, nonprofits, real estate, education and automotive. The methodology travels.

What does it cost?

For paid media, a flat monthly retainer plus a small percentage of ad spend, scaled to account size. Most engagements land between $2,000 and $15,000 a month. SEO, web and systems projects are quoted as fixed fees or retainers. Every quote follows a free audit or discovery call.

Do you require a long-term contract?

No. Month to month with 30-day cancellation. We earn the relationship every month.

What's the minimum engagement for paid media?

A $2,000 monthly management fee plus at least $3,000 in monthly ad spend. Below that, ad data is too sparse for meaningful optimization.

Is Buddy really free?

Yes. The Google Ads API agent is open source on GitHub, and the ahmeego web tools are free with no signup. The agency layer, where we run everything on your account with dedicated support and custom workflows, is paid.

Can we deploy Buddy without you?

Yes. Clone the repository and follow the README. Many teams self-deploy, and we're here for strategy and management when self-hosting isn't your priority.

How do we get started?

Submit the contact form or call (602) 563-6976. We respond within 24–48 hours. If there's a fit, we run a free audit, and then you decide.

Do you sign NDAs?

Yes. Send yours and we'll sign, or we can send our standard mutual NDA.

Nonprofits

Nonprofit Marketing questions.

What is Google Ad Grants?

Google Ad Grants gives eligible nonprofits up to $10,000 a month in free search advertising on Google, as long as the account follows the program's policies.

Is my nonprofit eligible for ad grants?

In the US, you generally need current 501(c)(3) status and a Google for Nonprofits account, plus a high-quality website you own. Government entities, hospitals and healthcare organizations, and schools or universities are not eligible for Google Ad Grants, though philanthropic arms of educational institutions may be. Microsoft's separate ad grant ended in December 2025.

Is the Microsoft Ads nonprofit grant still available?

No. Microsoft ended its Ads for Social Impact grant in December 2025, with final grants issued November 30, 2025. Former grantees whose campaigns are still active are charged to their card on file, so pause or budget them. See Microsoft Ads for nonprofits.

Why was our Ad Grants account deactivated?

Usually because of policy compliance. The most common cause is falling below the required 5% account click-through rate for two consecutive months. Other causes include missing conversion tracking, campaigns not using conversion-based Smart Bidding, missing geotargeting or sitelinks, or not answering Google's program survey. Keywords that break the mission-based policy (Quality Score 1–2, most single words, overly generic terms) are paused automatically. Most accounts can be reinstated once the issues are fixed.

Do you charge nonprofits for grant management?

Yes, a flat monthly fee for management and reporting, scoped to the number of programs and campaigns. The grant media itself is free. We keep nonprofit pricing modest and transparent.

Should a nonprofit also pay for ads?

Sometimes. Grants are restricted to Google Search text ads, so donation keywords, display remarketing and YouTube need a paid account. We recommend paid media only where the math works.

How do you measure grant results?

We track donations, volunteer signups, newsletter subscriptions, event registrations and key page engagement as conversions in GA4 and Google Ads, and report them alongside the dollar value of the free traffic.

Do you work with nonprofits outside Arizona?

Yes. We are based in Queen Creek but work with nonprofits across the US remotely.

Service-specific FAQs: Google Ad Grants management · Microsoft Ads for nonprofits

Measurement

Measurement & Analytics questions.

What is marketing measurement?

The tools and processes that record user actions, such as purchases, leads, calls and signups, and attribute them to the marketing that drove them. It includes analytics (GA4), tag management (GTM), ad platform conversion tracking, server-side tracking and CRM integration.

Why don't GA4 and Google Ads numbers match?

They use different attribution models, conversion windows, counting rules and time zones, and GA4 attributes across all channels while Google Ads credits only its own clicks. Some difference is normal. Large or growing gaps usually mean a tracking problem.

Do we need server-side tracking?

If you spend meaningfully on ads, it's increasingly worth it. Browser restrictions and ad blockers drop a share of client-side events. Server-side tracking and APIs like Meta's Conversions API recover much of that data and give you more control over what's shared.

What is consent mode?

A Google framework that adjusts how tags behave based on a user's cookie consent choices. When consent is denied, tags send limited, cookieless signals, and Google uses modeling to estimate conversions. It's required for advertising to users in the European Economic Area.

Can you connect our CRM to Google Ads?

Yes. We set up offline conversion imports or enhanced conversions for leads so Google Ads learns which clicks became qualified leads and customers. This dramatically improves lead quality for lead generation accounts.

How long does a measurement project take?

A conversion tracking audit takes about one to two weeks. A full GA4 and GTM implementation typically takes three to six weeks, and server-side tracking adds two to four weeks depending on platforms.

Do you build dashboards?

Yes. Looker Studio dashboards on GA4, Google Ads and BigQuery data, designed around the decisions your team actually makes.

Do you work with Shopify and WordPress sites?

Yes, along with headless, custom and Cloudflare-hosted sites. Each platform has its own tracking quirks, and we've implemented on all of them.

Service-specific FAQs: GA4 setup & implementation · Server-side tracking · Conversion tracking audit

SEO & web

SEO & Web questions.

How long does SEO take to work?

For established sites, meaningful movement usually shows in three to six months. New domains often take six to twelve months. Technical fixes such as indexing problems can show results much faster.

What's the difference between SEO and AI search optimization?

SEO targets traditional search results. AI search optimization, also called GEO or AEO, focuses on being cited in AI-generated answers from Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot and Perplexity. They share a foundation (helpful content, technical health, entity clarity), but AI answers reward more direct, well-structured, citable content.

Do you do local SEO for businesses outside Arizona?

Yes. We're based in Queen Creek and know the Phoenix metro well, but we run local SEO for businesses across the US.

Do you build websites as well as SEO?

Yes. We build fast, accessible websites on modern stacks, maintain WordPress sites, and manage migrations, all with SEO built in.

Do you guarantee rankings?

No one can honestly guarantee rankings. Google explicitly warns against SEO providers that do. We commit to a clear plan, transparent reporting and the work itself.

How do you report SEO results?

Monthly reports from Google Search Console, GA4 and rank tracking, focused on organic leads and revenue, plus visibility in AI answers for your priority topics.

Do you do link building?

We do digital PR and outreach that earns links from relevant, reputable sites. We don't buy links, which violates Google's spam policies and puts your site at risk.

What does an SEO engagement cost?

Monthly retainers scale with site size, competition and how much content and development work is included. We quote after a free technical review.

Service-specific FAQs: SEO + GEO · Technical SEO audit · Local SEO · AI search optimization · Google Business Profile · Website builds · Landing pages & CRO · WordPress maintenance · Site migrations

Commerce & systems

Commerce & Systems questions.

What does a commerce systems agency do?

It designs, builds and connects the platforms a product business runs on, including storefronts, marketplaces, product feeds, CRM, ERP and apps, so data flows accurately between them and marketing has reliable product, inventory and revenue data.

Do you work with brands selling on multiple channels?

Yes. Multi-channel brands selling on Shopify, Amazon, Faire and wholesale are where integration work pays off most, because inventory and order data must stay in sync.

Can you connect Shopify to Odoo?

Yes. We implement Shopify-to-Odoo integrations for products, inventory, orders and customers, using connectors or custom API integrations depending on volume and requirements.

Do you build custom integrations?

Yes, when native connectors don't fit. We build API integrations, typically on serverless infrastructure like Cloudflare Workers, with logging and error alerts.

Do you also run the advertising?

Yes. Most commerce clients use us for Google Shopping, Performance Max, Amazon Ads and Meta as well, which is exactly why clean feeds and systems matter.

How are systems projects priced?

Fixed-fee phases for implementation, scoped after discovery, then optional monthly support. Integration complexity and data volume are the main cost drivers.

Service-specific FAQs: Shopify · Amazon · Faire wholesale · Google Merchant Center · CRM implementation · ERP (Odoo) · Mobile apps · AI agents

John M. Williams
Written and reviewed by John M. Williams, founder. 15+ years in paid media, $350M+ managed spend, Hero Conf 2025 and 2026 speaker. Last reviewed .
Still have questions?

Tell us about your business.

Tell us what you're working on. We'll come back with an honest assessment, a Buddy-powered audit if you're already running ads, and a recommended next step. No contract. No obligation. Usually back within 48 hours.

  • → Honest assessment of where you are
  • → Buddy-powered audit (if you're already running ads)
  • → Top 10 prioritized fixes (effort × impact)
  • → 30/60/90-day roadmap + scope of work

Prefer to talk first? (602) 563-6976 · hello@itallstartedwithaidea.com

By submitting you agree to a one-time review of what you share. NDAs available on request. Privacy.