Local service operators
Contractors, home services, garage door, glass, demolition, and other owner-led teams where every missed opportunity matters.
Chris Westlund · Bemidji, Minnesota
Built by an operator, for operators.
I started Minnesota Marketing to give owner-led businesses the practical systems they are too often sold around: faster response, consistent follow-up, useful reporting, and fewer things that depend on the owner remembering.
Chris WestlundFounder and marketing operator · Bemidji, Minnesota
10 yearsIn marketing and ecommerce
18Industries served today
2Countries with live client work
6Brands and platforms we operate
Why Minnesota Marketing exists
The basics should work before the marketing gets louder.
My first decade in the work covered advertising, ecommerce, paid media, storefronts, email, and creative across consumer and B2B categories. The most durable lesson was simple: good marketing is usually operational before it is flashy.
When I started Minnesota Marketing six years ago, local owners were being sold disconnected software, generic retainers, and dashboards nobody used. The real need was more practical: install the modern essentials, make them fit the way the business actually runs, and support them after launch.
Owner-led should not have to mean owner-dependent.
- 01
Systems before tactics
Lead response, follow-up, reviews, and reporting create the foundation that every campaign depends on.
- 02
Fit before sales
The right engagement matters more than the largest one. A good recommendation can include “not us.”
- 03
Visibility before noise
Clear dashboards, documented delivery, and scheduled reviews make progress easier to see and manage.
The operating lesson
Readiness is the point.
I serve as training officer for the Lakes Area Dive Team, volunteer divers who support Cass, Hubbard, and Beltrami counties with search, recovery, and evidence work at the counties' request.
A training officer prepares the team to perform when the page goes off, not after. Minnesota Marketing runs on the same principle: dashboards instead of status hunting, documented workflows instead of tribal knowledge, and alerts that bring in a person only when judgment is required.
That is the proof behind the product: build the system before the moment depends on it.
What the company does today
Websites, lead systems, and marketing, stacked to fit the business.
Nothing is sold from a menu. Chris looks at the business first, then stacks only the pieces that fit: websites and ecommerce, lead response and CRM, local search, Google and Meta advertising, video and drone, email and review automation, custom tools, and hosting with real care. The service references live in the footer; the conversation starts with a call.
Two trades run as named divisions with their own sites and published prices: Dirtwork Digital for excavation, land-clearing, and demolition companies. Both run on Minnesota Marketing's systems and standards.
Who we are built for
Businesses with real demand and too much resting on the owner.
Regional operators
Equipment rental, specialty retail, B2B supply, and practical businesses with customers, crews, inventory, and a reputation to protect.
Ecommerce, by exception
Chris's ecommerce experience remains part of the skill set. Current ecommerce work is primarily established or legacy strategic and creative work, not the core Automation Suite market.
Built beyond the founder
A company that can keep its promises.
Chris remains responsible for the strategy and quality bar. Delivery is designed so clients are not waiting on one person's memory or availability.
Documented delivery
Automation Suite installs follow a defined 14-day playbook with clear responsibilities and handoffs.
Visible work
Dashboards and structured requests make progress and timing visible without repeated status checks.
Selective depth
Direct strategic access to Chris is reserved for the application-only Growth Operating Partner roster.
Start with the leak
See what your current system is missing.
The free Pressure Test gives us enough context to recommend the next move without asking you to choose a package first.