The $1M Question…
Tweet · May 05, 2026
I'm in a small group with a handful of other "Fractional Chief AI Officers" and got asked the $1M/ year question:
"how are you landing clients? What marketing strategies are you finding the most effective?"
This was my response:
That IS the million dollar question… more like the $1M/ year question!
Right now i’m in the “cutting my teeth” phase. And i’m doing that locally.
This is definitely now scaleable, but it’s helping me dial things in.
For example, I have a local construction client that has be on retainer for $1000/mo to basically hop on the phone with them once a week and go over what they are doing and how thing can be optimized better.
I met with them in person the other week for a few hours and just translated what they said into prompts with claude.
It helps that in this case:
1) I know them well and
2) they have a 30 year old project manager that just “gets it”.
The deal that I have with them is that I will give them an exclusive 3-6 months and then when they really get dialed in, they will introduce me to others in the area.
They have a deep network and will be happy to share my services once they are set.
I wouldn't do this with everyone, but i’ve known this owner for like 10+ years.
Outside of that, I'd join BNI locally. Ive heard a lot of good things about that network ecosystem.
From THERE— Id say
local paid ads
creating content about how to easily do things (@coreyganim is a beast with this)
contacting local news, magazines, radio, etc and developing a story that’s shareable. (The master at this is @cheneypiano)
This industry is very new.
All of us are figuring this out as we go.
Anyone with other thoughts this, feel free to drop those below.
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