Consulting and assessment
One hour on your question or task. What goes in, what should come out, and which decisions stay yours. A working session is $200 for one hour.
Practical AI consulting
for your business.
AI is a helper you type or talk to, a bit like texting a very fast assistant. You ask in plain words, it writes a first draft in seconds, and you check it before anything goes out.
You ask.
Type or say what you need, in your own words. Add a photo or a file if it helps.
It drafts.
In a few seconds you get a first version: a price, a reply, a list, a flyer.
You check.
You read it, fix what’s off, and decide what goes out. Nothing goes out until you say so.
Start with the task.
Choose the useful tool.
You work with me, start to finish. I’m based in Petersburg and work with businesses in Springfield, Chatham and across Central Illinois.
Pick where to start: learn the basics, train your team, try one job, or connect AI to your software.
Bring me the job that keeps coming back. The notes nobody sorts. The document you rewrite every week. The team that isn’t sure where AI fits. I’ll look at the job, the tools you already have and what a person still needs to check. Then you pick the next step.
Training and practice
Learn on your own work, with your own team. One hour, a half day or a full day. See formats, prices and what I need from you first.
A tool or workflow
Need a custom tool? That’s its own job, priced before I start. A sample shows the idea. See the tools and demos.
Understand it. Try it. Check it.
Start with the work and what it needs. Try a small example. Check it with the people who do the job. Write down the next step. While you’re testing an idea, use made-up information or information you’re cleared to share.
AI can be confidently wrong. A person checks facts, prices and anything that goes to a customer. A workshop or a sample is a starting point. A finished system is a separate job.
Dixon’s Heating & Air has an estimate tool built from their own price information. Here’s what that example shows. I also talked about practical AI on NPR Illinois.
Connect one job to your software.
A person still checks it.
AI integration hooks one AI job into the information and tools you already use. A draft from your approved price notes. Details pulled from a stack of documents. Checked information passed to the next step.
- Map the connection. Where the information lives, what should come out, and who gets to use it.
- Agree on the scope. What connects, what stays by hand and what needs a custom tool. Who owns the logins, the subscriptions and the upkeep.
- Test the handoff. Run realistic examples. Catch missing or wrong information. Decide where a person checks the work before it reaches a customer.
Dixon’s estimate tool uses their price information to draft an estimate. The browser samples run on made-up data — they don’t connect to your accounts.
A real connection is quoted on its own. I’ll tell you if your system fits before I promise anything.
Try a small version.
Then agree on how it runs.
AI implementation takes an idea you’ve tried and turns it into a tool or a routine your team actually uses. Start with one repeated job — approved notes into a first draft, or an estimate for someone to check. First question: does it need AI at all?
Pick a small test
Pick a handful of realistic examples, mistakes and odd cases included. Agree on what goes in, what should come out and what would make the trial worth it.
Review it with the team
The people who do the work try it. Check the facts and the decisions it makes. Note what breaks. Then fix it, stop it or keep going.
Get your team ready
Setup, testing, practice and written steps for your staff. Who keeps it running — logins, subscriptions, ongoing help — agreed up front.
The estimate example shows what goes in and what comes out.
Implementation is its own project, priced before I start. Session and workshop prices cover teaching, not a custom system.
Seven everyday jobsPick a job.
Pick a job.
Watch it happen.
Each one replays ChatGPT’s real screens and real answer, on a phone or a laptop, for a made-up business. The words you’d type are right there, so you can try it yourself tonight.
Notes on a clipboard become a price for the customer.
What you have
Your notes from the job. A photo from your phone is enough.
What you ask
“Turn my notes into a price for the customer. List each job and a total. I charge $85 an hour. The outlet is $22 and the rollers are $6 each.”
What you get, and you check it
Every job priced, with a $471 total. It even tells you the caulk isn’t included, because you never gave it a price. You add it, then send.
ChatGPT’s real screens and answer, replayed · made-up job · note photo made with ChatGPT’s image tool
An upset customer’s email becomes a calm reply.
What you have
An angry email in your inbox, and what you’re willing to do about it.
What you ask
“A customer sent me this email. Help me write a calm, friendly reply. We can come back Thursday morning at no charge. Keep it short.”
What you get, and you check it
A short, kind reply that offers exactly what you said you’d do. You read it, add your name, and send it yourself.
ChatGPT’s real screens and answer, replayed · made-up customer · email made with ChatGPT’s image tool
A photo of a finished job becomes a Facebook post.
What you have
A photo you took before leaving the job.
What you ask
“We just finished this job: a new kitchen faucet and a cleared drain. Write a short Facebook post about it. Friendly, not salesy.”
What you get, and you check it
A friendly post, ready to paste under your photo. You check it sounds like you, then post it.
ChatGPT’s real screens and answer, replayed · made-up job · photo made with ChatGPT’s image tool
A pile of sticky notes becomes this week’s list.
What you have
The notes stuck all over your desk and monitor.
What you ask
“These are my sticky notes. Put them in order for this week, most urgent first. Keep it short.”
What you get, and you check it
One list, in order, with the family that has no heat at the top. You check it against what only you know, like who’s been waiting longest.
ChatGPT’s real screens and answer, replayed · made-up notes · photo made with ChatGPT’s image tool
A date buried in an email lands on your calendar.
What you have
An email with the day, time and address mixed in.
What you ask
“A customer emailed me this. Turn it into a calendar event I can add: a title, the day and time, the place, and a short note.”
What you get, and you check it
The title, day, time, place and a note, pulled out of the email and ready for Google Calendar. You check the date, then press Save.
ChatGPT’s real screens and answer, replayed · made-up customer · email made with ChatGPT’s image tool · Google Calendar filled in, not saved
A long insurance letter becomes three things to know.
What you have
A two-page letter full of fine print. You can add the PDF straight from your email.
What you ask
“My insurance company sent me this letter. What are the 3 things I actually need to know or do? Plain words, please.”
What you get, and you check it
The price jump, the October 15 deadline and a coverage change, in plain words. It even noticed the letter is marked as a sample. You check the dates, then call your agent.
ChatGPT’s real screens and answer, replayed · made-up insurance company and letter
A photo of dinner becomes a poster.
What you have
A phone photo of a plate you made, and your logo. No design skills.
What you ask
“Turn my dinner photo into a poster ad for a restaurant called Dinner by Marlow’s (logo attached). Make it a tall, phone-shaped poster: one shrimp from my plate lifted on a fork, close up, with the plate soft behind it on a dark background. Huge yellow condensed letters stacked behind the fork: STOP SCROLLING. START EATING. Put the logo small at the bottom, in yellow. Keep my food looking like my food.”
What you get, and you check it
A poster ready to post. You check it: it made the shrimp redder and glossier than the real ones and put them on a different plate, so you decide if that’s fair to what you serve.
ChatGPT’s real screens and picture, replayed · made-up restaurant · a real photo of a home-cooked dinner
Words
you’ll hear.
- ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot
- AI apps you type or talk to. Each has a free version to start with.
- Prompt
- What you type to ask for something. Plain words work fine.
- Upload
- Adding a photo or a file so the AI can read it.
- Draft
- A first version. You fix it and approve it.
- Hallucination
- When AI says something wrong with confidence. That’s why you always check its work.
- Chatbot
- Another name for these apps.
Understand the tool.
Know what to check.
AI literacy is the starting point. What these tools can do. How to ask a good question. How to spot an answer that needs checking. For owners, staff and seniors who want a comfortable place to start.
- Practice a clear question, then a follow-up, on everyday made-up examples.
- Hold the answer up against the original. Look for wrong facts, missing details and confident mistakes.
- Talk through what’s OK to type in, and when to check another source or ask a person.
Start with your questions, at your pace. Watch one example, then try it together. Someone new might start with understanding a letter or planning a list. A staff group can move on to practice on real work.
See my AI 101 talk and the local talks I’ve given. The everyday demos show it on made-up examples.
Learn it on
work you recognize.
Bring a question, a task or a team that wants to get comfortable. We’ll practice turning notes into a draft, finding details in a document, writing a customer reply and making a first pass at a post. You check the facts, the tone and the promises before anything goes out.
The seven everyday demos replay real AI answers on made-up businesses and tasks, each one labeled. Pick a working session or a team workshop.
See the full AI training page, the local talks, or talk to me about training your group.
Time to learn.
Time to practice.
A focused hour for one task, or a longer workshop with your team.
Working session
$200 for one hour
Bring one question, setup task, or business problem. We work through it together and write down the next steps.
If setup is the job, we use the hour for that. Ongoing help is separate.
Ask about a working sessionHalf-day team workshop
$800 plus prep and travel
Hands-on teaching, practice together, and a start on one real task you want to hand off.
Prep is $200 an hour. Travel is quoted up front.
Discuss a four-hour workshopFull-day team workshop
$1,600 plus prep and travel
More time to build, test and practice on one real task.
Prep is $200 an hour. Travel is quoted up front.
Discuss an eight-hour workshopBefore booking, we agree on the task, the prep, the travel and the total. Everyone needs a phone or laptop and an AI account. Workshops give your team practice and a place to start; a finished system, connections to other software, ongoing support and paid subscriptions are separate.
For agencies
and organizations.
Need teaching or a specific build for your own team or a client? We agree on who does what, what you get, and the support before booking.
Discuss the scopeAround here.
In the room.
My teaching includes local libraries, business owners, teachers, and school leaders. Explore the talks and locations, or hear the conversation on NPR Illinois.
- Sept 2026Distillery Labs, PeoriaAI Without the Hype, for owners, founders and nonprofits
- Sept 2026Rochester Public LibraryAI 101 for Everyday Life
- Sept 2026Trinity Lutheran SchoolStaff session with a take-home prompt guide
- Aug 2026Rotary Club of SpringfieldPractical AI for members
- June 2026Lincoln Library & Chatham Area Public LibraryAI 101 for the public
- June 2026NPR Illinois, Community VoicesPractical AI for local people and businesses
- May 2026Athens Municipal LibraryTwo classes for seniors and the workforce
- Spring 2026PORTA CUSD 202Gemini and NotebookLM for staff and teachers
- Feb 2026Petersburg Chamber of CommerceAI 101 for business owners
QuestionsWhat people
What people
ask first.
What does an AI consultant do?
I start with the job that keeps coming back. The notes nobody sorts. The document you rewrite every week. I look at the job, the tools you already have and what a person still needs to check. Then you pick the next step.
What does an AI consultant cost?
A working session is $200 for one hour. Implementation is its own project, priced before I start. Session and workshop prices cover teaching, not a custom system.
Where should we start with AI?
With one repeated job. First question: does it need AI at all? Pick a handful of realistic examples, mistakes and odd cases included. Try it. Then fix it, stop it or keep going.
Will it connect to our software?
I’ll tell you if your system fits before I promise anything. We look at where the information lives, what should come out and who gets to use it. A real connection is quoted on its own, and we agree on who owns the logins, the subscriptions and the upkeep.
Is hiring an AI consultant worth it?
We agree up front what would make a trial worth it. Then we test it on realistic examples, with the people who do the work. Fix it, stop it or keep going. I don’t promise a set number of hours saved.
Can you get me into ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude or Grok?
Nobody can promise that. These tools read the web. I make sure your site and your Google listing say plainly who you are, what you do and where you work.
Do you work with businesses in Springfield, Illinois?
Yes. Based in Petersburg, Illinois. I work across Springfield, Chatham, and Menard and Sangamon counties. I’ve taught AI for the Rotary Club of Springfield and at Lincoln Library.
Is our customer data safe?
We practice on made-up data. Your customer information doesn't go into an AI tool until you and I agree which tool and how. You keep your own logins.
How soon will we see something working?
A first working try in 1 to 2 weeks.
Start with
a conversation.
About 20 minutes, free. We see if it’s a fit and pick the next step. Custom setup, preparation, and production are paid.