Brand
Brand and positioning
What you do, who it is for and why someone picks you, said in a way people can repeat. Then how it shows up: the identity, the website, and social and content that fit your time.
Consultancy for independent businesses
Brand. AI. Operations.
One consultant across all three, bringing a holistic approach to your business and what it needs.
When you run an independent business, everything runs through you. It can be overwhelming, and it is hard to know where to start.
In the age of AI, everything seems to move so fast that it is easy to feel like you are falling behind. I’m here to tell you that you’re not.
Bring what you are working on. We work out where to start, what to automate and what stays yours.
Start with a 30-minute consultation. Then a single session, or a 6 or 12-week programme with support in between.
Fifteen years of campaigns, brands and teams for
adidasPradaGoogleVogueMaison MargielaPop Magazine
Which of these have you said this week?
If you run an independent business, you have probably said at least one of them.
- I don’t know where to start.
- Everything still comes back to me.
- Our brand doesn’t say what we do any more.
- I know I should be posting. I don’t have the time.
- Everyone’s using AI. I’ve tried a few tools and nothing stuck.
- I feel like I’m falling behind.
- We’re paying for tools nobody uses.
- There’s nobody to ask who actually gets what I’m building.
If one of these is on your mind, that is what the hour is for.
See the ways to work with JamesWho this is for
You do not have time for courses. You need to act now, and you want something built for your business, not everyone else’s.
You are self-driven. You want to know where to go next, and you will take it from there.
We do not do courses. AI moves so fast that we build around your business, so it can evolve as your business and the tech do.
The starting point
Everything runs through you. So where do you start?
In an independent business, you are the brand, the operations and the person deciding which AI tool to try. Every new tool, post, hire and idea lands on you.
Brand, systems and AI each come with their own advice and their own experts, so they look like three separate problems. That is what makes it confusing to know which one to pick up first.
We look at them together: how you are positioned, how work moves, what gets automated and what only you should be doing. Then we pick the first thing to do.
At the heart of what I do is building a system that puts the pressure on the system, not the person.
Where innovation comes in
It is all connected. That is why it feels tangled.
When one part of your business is stuck, the rest feels it. My superpower is spotting where innovation can come in, and pulling it together: logistics, brand, communications and marketing, or AI.
AI
AI in your business
Which tools are worth paying for, where they fit, and how you and your team use them day to day, from admin to content production. We start from what you already have.
Operations
Systems and logistics
How work moves through the business without going through you. Workflows, suppliers and production, the admin that eats your week, and the automations that take it off you.
On AI
AI is only as good as the person using it.
I teach you to automate and improve your business. I show you how to build the whole infrastructure: the systems, the automations, even the content production. You and your team put it in place, and all of it is there to take the weight off you.
It will never replace you, or the ideas that come from you, and it can’t have them for you. That part stays yours.
AI in the work
I have been using AI for a long time.
Creatively, in the systems behind a business, and to build businesses from the ground up.
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01
Creative
adidas Ozworld
My first campaign that integrated elements of AI into the process, directed by Jon Emmony.
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02
Teams
Leading agencies and companies
Fifteen years building departments and leading teams, and finding ways to replicate my skills across them.
15
years in advertising
- Leading agencies and departments
- Creative campaigns
- Teams of up to 150 led
-
03
Creative and business
Art Engine
I launched my own agency and brought AI into the business and into the creative: campaigns, covers and billboards in New York and Paris, and a community that wore the bear everywhere.
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04
Creative
Maison Margiela, Replica Lost Eden
One of the AI-led campaigns we made at Art Engine, directed by Jon Emmony.
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05
Systems and growth
expansion works®
A company built for the next era of business, with AI in the systems, the infrastructure, the marketing and the logistics. I spent over a year refining the approach and putting it into practice.
In my career I have built teams and found it easy to replicate myself and my skills. That is what we make work for you.
This is not cookie-cutter. It is a consultation, and it is about you, not a generic template.
How it works
One hour a week. Support in between.
I meet you exactly where you are, wherever that is.
Start with a consultation
I look over what you are working on and we see which direction to take, and which way of working fits.
One hour a week with James
We work on your business, not a template. You leave each session with the decisions made and the next steps in order.
Support in between
Questions about the plan as you put it in place. You do the work, and I keep you on course.
How a session works
Think it through together. Then go and do it.
In the hour, we do the bigger thinking together. Between sessions, you put it into action, which keeps you accountable and moving forward.
- 01
Identify
What is really going on, and what matters most right now.
- 02
Strategise
The direction to take, and what to leave alone for now.
- 03
Plan
The steps in order, and who does what.
- 04
Action
You go away and do it. Next session, we pick up from where you got to.
Use the hour however you need it. We bring the focus to wherever it is needed most.
- Troubleshooting
- Technical
- Planning
- Action
By the end of our time together, you are where you set out to be.
Who you’d be talking to
James Hazlett‑Beard
I have spent fifteen years in advertising, working for leading agencies, building departments inside them and leading their teams. Alongside that I have built businesses of my own, and brought AI into how they run and how they make their work.
- AdvertisingFifteen years in the advertising industry. Worked for leading ad agencies, built departments for them and led their teams.
- Proven entrepreneurLaunched and ran a six-figure business. Founded Art Engine and Fuel Tank: campaigns, covers and billboards in New York and Paris, with teams of up to 150.
- AI in the workBrought AI into creative campaigns, including campaigns for adidas and Maison Margiela.
- Built with AIBuilt my coaching practice, expansion works®, from scratch: the brand, the coaching platform, and the automations behind its content, email and admin.
A real person, with real experience.
Fifteen years of it, in advertising and in my own businesses. See my work and who I have worked with on LinkedIn.
It’s not the right fit if…
- You want AI to come up with the ideas for you.
- You want a list of tools without changing how you work.
- You don’t have a business idea or a plan yet.
In their words
“One of the things James showed me, and that I’ve now integrated into my business, is editing reels far faster using AI. I had been paying monthly for editing software and was constantly frustrated learning its tools. What James taught me is saving me hours every week, and I’m now replicating it in other areas of my business.”
Ways to work together
Pick how far you want to go.
We do not do courses or packaged extras. AI moves so fast that everything is built around your business, so it can evolve as your business and the tech do: the prompts, the integrations and the support.
Start here
30-minute consultation
I look over what you are working on and we see which direction to take.
£300inc VAT · 30 minutes
Book a consultation for £300 inc VAT12-week programme
Transform your business
£960inc VAT a week · £11,520 inc VAT for 12 weeks
- A complimentary 30-minute kickoff call
- 12 one-hour sessions with James, one a week
- Questions between sessions on Telegram
- Prompts and integrations built for your business
- Brand, AI and operations, worked through together
6-week programme
Set the foundations
£1,080inc VAT a week · £6,480 inc VAT for 6 weeks
- A complimentary 30-minute kickoff call
- 6 one-hour sessions with James, one a week
- Questions between sessions on Telegram
- Prompts and integrations built for your business
- One focus: the brand, a system, or AI in your day to day
Single session
One problem, worked through
£1,200inc VAT · one hour
- One hour with James
- The decisions made and the next steps in order
Got a few questions, or not sure which fits? Email me at [email protected] and I will come back to you.
You get as much done as you commit to. Results vary with the time and availability you can give between sessions. Full terms.
What the Telegram support is for: questions about the plan we have agreed, like what to do next or whether a decision fits. I can help with the odd technical question too, but it is not a support line. I reply as soon as I can, and always within 24 hours.
Questions
Before you book.
Do I need to understand AI already?
No. We start from how your business runs today and add AI where it saves real time. If you can describe your week, you have enough to start.
Will AI replace people in my business?
That is not what I teach. AI is only as good as the person using it. We use it to take repetitive work off people, so their time goes on the work that needs them.
Why does a programme cost less an hour?
A single session is £1,200 inc VAT. Commit to 6 weeks and it is £1,080 inc VAT a week; commit to 12 and it is £960 inc VAT a week. The more time we have, the further we can take it.
How do I book and pay?
Book the 30-minute consultation online and pay when you book. For a single session or a programme, email me and I will send you a payment link. Fuel Tank and my coaching practice, expansion works®, are run by the same company, so all email comes from one address: [email protected]. Everything we each agree to is in the terms.
Why no courses?
AI moves so fast that a course is out of date before you finish it. We build around your business, so it evolves as your business and the tech do.
How much will we get done?
As much as you commit to. Results vary with the time and availability you can give between sessions.
What is the Telegram support for?
Questions about the plan we have agreed, as you put it in place: what to do next, whether a decision fits, what to prioritise. I can help with the odd technical question too, but it is not a support line. I reply as soon as I can, and always within 24 hours.
What can I bring to an hour?
Anything you are working on: a rebrand, a launch, a back office held together by spreadsheets, a tool you are not sure about, a decision you keep putting off.
Do you build it for us?
No. Our job is to consult: I show you what to build, in what order and how, and you or your team put it in place between sessions. If part of it needs a specialist, I will always recommend the right supplier or partner. My black book has been built over fifteen years, so there is an extensive network to draw on, depending on your needs and budget.
What would you do with the hours back?
Bring the thing you keep putting off.
Book a consultation for £300 inc VAT