Groundwork Playbook — Crabtree Marketing

Section 01

What Groundwork Is

A productized done-for-you service. Not a web design agency. Not a consultant. A system with a defined deliverable, clear scope, and a monthly retainer.

Core Promise "Your Digital Foundation. No Fluff."

Tagline Alternative "Built Right. Shows Up Right."

Elevator Pitch Agencies charge $2,000–$5,000/mo for this. We do it for $697. Done-for-you. No DIY. No mess.

Every Client Gets These

The Deliverable Package

✓

Custom Website — up to 15 pages, mobile-first

✓

Traditional On-Page SEO — titles, meta, H-tags

✓

AI Search Optimization — llms.txt, schema, FAQ, comparison page

✓

Google Business Profile Management — monthly optimization

✓

Citation Building — 50–100+ directories, NAP consistency

✓

Automated Review Request System — configured and managed

✓

Call Tracking Integration — CallRail setup + monthly reports

✓

Google Analytics 4 — setup and integration

✓

Google Search Console — connected and monitored

✓

Monthly Performance Report — rankings, traffic, AI-search score

✓

2 hrs/mo Support — all changes go through CM, no client self-editing

+

Blog Posts 2/mo — $150/mo add-on (brain dump input)

Two Design Tiers

Template vs. Custom Design

Standard — Included in Base Price

Template Design

Client picks from pre-built, proven templates. Clean, professional, mobile-first. Buckeye Comfort HVAC is Template #1. What changes: business name, colors, logo, copy, services, phone, area. What stays the same: layout, components, architecture.

Premium — Additional Fee (TBD)

Custom Design

Bespoke look and feel built in Figma, approved by client before a line of code is written. Same Groundwork feature set underneath. Same functionality. Only the visual design is custom. Figma mockup → client approves → AI builds.

What Groundwork Is NOT

Clear Boundaries

Not a Lead Guarantee

We build the platform. We don't promise "50 leads/month." Results depend on industry, location, and what else they do. We're honest about that.

Not DIY / Self-Editing

No Wix login. No CMS access. All changes go through CM. This keeps the site professional and keeps schema markup correct.

Not a Paid Ads Replacement

Groundwork is the foundation. Paid ads and social are what accelerate growth. Both are needed. Groundwork makes ads work better — it doesn't replace them.

Not Design by Committee

Two proven layout options. You pick, we build. Significant design revision requests are outside scope. Custom design is a paid upgrade.

Section 02

How We Build It

Three-phase architecture. AI does the building. Ken reviews and approves. Robert QAs on iPhone and closes clients. No exceptions to this model.

01

Demo Factory

Active Now

Build demo sites fast to close deals. Raw HTML + CSS + vanilla JS deployed to Cloudflare Pages. Speed is the priority. Buckeye Comfort HVAC is the first demo — being polished now to become Template #1.

Build: HTML + _shared.js (single source of truth for footer/nav)
Deploy: Cloudflare Pages via Wrangler (direct upload, no Git connection)
QA: Jeeves audits → Ken reviews → Robert approves on iPhone
Timeline: Same-day builds once the template system is locked

02

Astro Production Codebase

Before 3rd Client

Senior-dev-quality code. One component = one file. Reskin a client in 4–6 hours instead of days. Break-even is Sully (client #2) — 2 extra days now saves it back on him and profits on every client after.

Framework: Astro — component-based, Cloudflare-native, fast
Architecture: One Layout.astro (nav, footer, GW reveal). Change once = all pages.
Reskin file: One client.config.js per client — name, phone, colors, logo, services, area
Ken's role: Review the output once at the end. Not rebuild it.

03

Figma Master Component Library

After 3+ Clients

Build the Figma design system after real client patterns emerge — not before. Designing for problems you haven't encountered yet wastes time. Three real sites reveal what components you actually need.

Figma master template: all components, design tokens, layout options
Custom design workflow: Figma mockup → client approves → AI builds in Astro
Ken owns the Figma-to-Astro bridge once, maintains it forever
Every future custom design client goes through this pipeline

Before Ken Sees Anything

QA Checklist

Jeeves runs this audit. Fixes everything. Then Ken sees it. Ken is the final sign-off, not the cleanup crew.

HTML Integrity

Zero hardcoded footers. Zero duplicate gw-reveal sections. Valid HTML structure. All internal links resolve. No broken images.

CTAs & Navigation

All "Get a Free Estimate" → /contact.html#contact. All "Groundwork Features" → #gw-reveal. Nav dropdown opens on hover. All Services in nav + footer.

Visual QA

No circled numbers or annotation artifacts. No broken overlays. Mobile hamburger functional. Robert QAs on iPhone — must pass before Ken sees it.

Technical

Schema valid (LocalBusiness, Service, FAQPage). llms.txt present. Mobile-first responsive. Core Web Vitals baseline pass.

Section 03

Current Prospects & Clients

Buckeye closes the template. Sully is the first reskin. Hunter and Dylan follow. Each one proves the system.

Name	Business	Industry	Status	Next Step
Buckeye Comfort	Buckeye Comfort H&C	HVAC	Demo — Polishing	Finish open items → Ken review → Template #1
Sully Sullivan	TBD HVAC	HVAC	Prospect	Close after Buckeye demo is polished and approved
Hunter Castle	Lakeview Asphalt	Asphalt / Paving	Prospect	Demo site build after Sully
Dylan Mullins	TBD Roofing	Roofing	Prospect	Demo site build — roofing industry

Groundwork → CM Managed $1,500–$4,700/mo Website working → "How do I get more traffic?" → paid ads + social + email

Groundwork → 16Fold $299–$2,500/mo Growing business → needs marketing leadership → AI chief of staff

The Upsell Logic Website works → want more traffic → need someone to run it → natural ladder up

Section 04 — Buckeye Comfort

Open Items Before Ken

Everything on this list must be resolved and verified on the live site before the Buckeye demo goes to Ken for review.

01

Services dropdown — currently click-only. Fix: add hover CSS to groundwork-demo-layer.css. One line.

02

All Services page — footer and gw-reveal must match every other page. CSS was missing. Verify fix is live.

03

Homepage Groundwork Features button — must match the interior page version Robert approved. Check placement and styling matches.

04

Circled annotation numbers — still visible somewhere per Robert's screenshot. Must be completely eliminated from all pages.

05

Compare page footer — Groundwork Features button missing. Verify _shared.js is injecting correctly.

06

Contact page footer — same issue as compare page. Verify gw-reveal section present.

07

Code quality audit — Jeeves runs full audit (architecture, CSS, HTML validity, accessibility, performance). Fixes all findings. Then Ken.

Live Demo URL

https://groundwork-hvac-hero-proof.pages.dev

Section 05

Decisions Made

These are locked. Don't relitigate them without new information. They exist so the team doesn't have to make the same calls twice.

Three-Phase Build Architecture

June 24, 2026

HTML demos now → Astro production before 3rd client → Figma after 3+ clients. Break-even is Sully. Don't build Figma before real patterns emerge from actual client sites.

AI Builds, Ken Reviews

June 24, 2026

AI does all heavy lifting. Ken is the quality gate, not the builder. That's hours, not weeks. Already in the AI install cost. Ken never sees code before Jeeves has audited and fixed it.

Template + Custom Design Tiers

June 24, 2026

Standard template included in base price. Custom design (bespoke look/feel) is an additional fee. What stays the same across all clients: Groundwork feature set, codebase, functionality.

Figma Enters at Custom Design Sign

June 24, 2026

Figma is not for demos. Figma enters the moment a client signs for custom design. Client approval flow: Figma mockup → client approves → AI builds. Not before.

Cloudflare Pages as Default Hosting

June 24, 2026

Default hosting for all Groundwork sites. Kinsta only if a client explicitly needs WordPress CMS self-editing — rare, since CM manages all changes. Cloudflare = faster, cheaper, zero ops.

_shared.js = Single Source of Truth

June 24, 2026

Footer, Groundwork Features section, and vertical green tab are all injected by _shared.js. Never hardcoded in individual page files. One edit = all 14 pages updated. Non-negotiable.

Internal First, Client Self-Serve Maybe Later

June 24, 2026

Prove the build process works internally across Buckeye, Sully, Hunter, Dylan before considering any client-facing self-serve. Not on the roadmap. Must be airtight internally first.