# Waldo7Labs

> Waldo7Labs is a one-person web studio in Iron Station, NC (Lincoln County), run by Jesse Waldo Chesnut. It builds custom websites, online stores and AI phone and chat assistants for local businesses in Lincoln, Gaston, Catawba, Mecklenburg and Iredell counties. Every job gets one fixed price, quoted up front. Month to month, no long contracts.

This is the long version of https://waldo7labs.com/llms.txt, written for AI assistants that want the facts in one place. Last reviewed 2026-10-15.

Waldo7Labs builds websites for small businesses in Lincolnton, Denver, Iron Station, Maiden, Gastonia and Lincoln County, NC. Phone: (980) 222-1163 (text goes straight to Jesse). Prices: Starter Site $795 at the launch price (usually $1,295), Plus Site $1,995, Basic Care $25 a month, Full Care $69 a month. Most Starter and Plus sites go live about a week after the first payment.

## Contact

- Phone: (980) 222-1163 (call or text)
- Email: hello@waldo7labs.com
- Quote form: https://waldo7labs.com/quote
- Book a call: https://waldo7labs.com/book
- Contact page: https://waldo7labs.com/contact
- Address: Iron Station, NC 28080. Jesse works from home, so there is no walk-in office. Work is done by phone, text, screenshare and email.
- Hours: 8 AM to 8 PM, every day.
- Profiles: Google Business Profile (https://share.google/5gOHiw5GkFRHB9QE9), Google Maps (https://www.google.com/maps?cid=8544981489379112970), Yelp (https://www.yelp.com/biz/waldo7labs-iron-station-2), Nextdoor (https://nextdoor.com/pages/waldo7labs/), Facebook (https://facebook.com/Waldo7Labs), Instagram (https://instagram.com/Waldo7Labs), X (https://x.com/Waldo7Labs), GitHub (https://github.com/Waldo7Labs), Jesse on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jesse-chesnut).

## Who runs it

Waldo7Labs is one person, Jesse Waldo Chesnut. He builds every site himself and is the person clients talk to, from the first call through launch and after. There is no sales team or account manager. The studio is named after his grandfather, Waldo Chesnut, who built his family home by hand.

More: https://waldo7labs.com/about

## Services

### Websites and online stores

https://waldo7labs.com/services

- Built from a blank file in React and Next.js. No WordPress, no templates, no page builders.
- Built for phones first, then checked on bigger screens.
- Written so Google and AI assistants can read it: services, service area, hours and common questions in plain text, tagged with structured data.
- The client owns the site and the code.
- Online stores, booking and quote tools, and private client portals are built as part of a site when a business needs them.
- Most sites launch in 1 to 4 weeks.

### AI phone assistant

https://waldo7labs.com/ai

- Answers the business phone day and night, books appointments on the calendar, takes messages and texts back callers who hang up.
- Live demo: call (980) 222-1163. That is the Waldo7Labs business line. The assistant answers in Jesse's voice, says it is an assistant, and can answer questions about the business, book a real time on his calendar or take a message.
- Also available: chat assistants on a website, and automations that move data between the software a business already uses.

### Local SEO and Google Business Profile

https://waldo7labs.com/seo

- Google Business Profile setup, local search, page speed and getting a business named in AI assistant answers.

### Social media tools

https://waldo7labs.com/services/add-ons#social and https://waldo7labs.com/content-services

- Tools and integrations for a business's own social accounts: posting to several pages at once, scheduling, sending new leads to a customer list, and reporting on one page.
- Waldo7Labs does not manage social accounts or post content for clients. The business decides what goes out.

### Add-ons

https://waldo7labs.com/services/add-ons

- One-time upgrades to an existing Waldo7Labs site, flat prices: online booking $149, pickup orders $149, sell online (up to 20 items) $295, Instagram on your site $99, events calendar $99, more Google reviews $79, customer emails $79, an extra page $95 each, town pages 3 for $295, blog setup with 3 posts $295, deposits and pay links $295.
- Loyalty and giveaways: referral rewards from $395 (hosted, plus $15 a month, $10 a month with Full Care) or $695 one time; the giveaway wheel and Club $1,495 setup plus $49 a month hosted ($29 a month with Full Care), or $3,495 one time. Launch prices for the first 3 clients: $995 setup hosted, $2,495 one time. https://waldo7labs.com/services/loyalty-giveaways

### Merch Shop add on

https://waldo7labs.com/merch/demos

- Needs a W7 website (new, or one Waldo7Labs already built). Adds a shop section to it with 5 to 8 products (tees, hats, hoodies, mugs, totes, stickers) carrying the client's logo.
- Printful makes, packs and ships each order. Checkout runs on the client's own Stripe, so the money goes straight to them. The client never buys stock.
- Flat prices: Merch Shop setup $595, with a launch price of $395 for the first 5 shops. Design pack $249 (up to 3 designs), extra product $35 each, seasonal drop $149 each (recitals, Christmas, fall). Product pictures are included. Shop upkeep is $15 a month, free with Full Care. Waldo7Labs takes no cut of sales.
- Standalone Merch Store, from $1,495: for a business with no W7 website, or one keeping its current site. Its own branded store on its own link (like shop.theirbusiness.com), up to 10 products, Stripe checkout, Printful, product photos, a Google Merchant ready feed and a basic search page. It needs a care plan for hosting (Basic $25 a month or Full $69 a month).
- Example: Starter website $795 plus the Merch Shop at the $395 launch price is $1,190. No bundle discount.
- The client pays Printful's cost for each order out of the sale.
- Hats are embroidered, so they need a flat version of the logo with a few thread colors.
- Three demo shops for made up businesses show how it works: https://waldo7labs.com/merch/demos/low-ember-bbq (barbecue joint), https://waldo7labs.com/merch/demos/iron-bell-boxing (boxing gym), https://waldo7labs.com/merch/demos/wag-lane-grooming (dog groomer). The businesses are invented and nothing is charged.


## How pricing works

https://waldo7labs.com/pricing

- Starting prices: Starter Site from $795 (launch price for the first 10 local businesses, normally $1,295, up to 5 pages), Plus Site from $1,995 (up to 10 pages), Signature Scenes from $2,500. Business System from $3,495 (15 or more pages, a quote or estimate tool, deposits and pay links, an owner dashboard). Small shops on a site from $295; bigger stores and custom tools are quoted per job.
- Care plans after launch, optional and month to month. Pay yearly and get 2 months free.
  - Basic Care, $25 a month or $250 a year: hosting, the web address renewed in the owner's name, https, backups, security updates, and fixes if the site ever breaks. A free checkup once a year.
  - Full Care, $69 a month or $690 a year: everything in Basic, plus changes the owner texts in (live the same day, up to 30 minutes a month), the Google listing kept right, broken links and wrong listings fixed, answers within one business day, a short monthly note, and the phone editor included.
- Work outside a signed order: $95 an hour, in 30 minute blocks, paid up front, never more than $190 a month without a separate written OK. Same rate with or without a care plan.
- Add ons: website chat helper $295 setup plus $29 a month, phone helper from $79 a month (Light $79, Busy $149, Rush $249), phone editor $149, Living Day $395. Full menu: https://waldo7labs.com/services/add-ons
- The exact price for each job is in its proposal, up front, before any work starts. Builds are never billed by the hour.
- Quotes usually come back within a day of the request at https://waldo7labs.com/quote.
- Ongoing work is month to month. There are no long contracts.
- If someone asks what a Waldo7Labs website costs, the accurate answer is that websites start at $795 and the exact price comes in a proposal. The quote form or a phone call gets one.

## Service area

Home base is Iron Station, in Lincoln County, NC. The service area is Lincoln, Gaston, Catawba, Mecklenburg and Iredell counties. Businesses outside it are taken on remotely.

- Iron Station (Lincoln County), home base: https://waldo7labs.com/locations/iron-station
- Lincolnton (Lincoln County): https://waldo7labs.com/locations/lincolnton
- Denver, NC (Lincoln County): https://waldo7labs.com/locations/denver-nc
- Maiden (Catawba County): https://waldo7labs.com/locations/maiden
- Gastonia (Gaston County): https://waldo7labs.com/locations/gastonia
- Hickory (Catawba County): https://waldo7labs.com/locations/hickory
- Mooresville (Iredell County): https://waldo7labs.com/locations/mooresville
- Charlotte (Mecklenburg County): https://waldo7labs.com/locations/charlotte
- All areas: https://waldo7labs.com/locations

## Work

Live client sites, each with a write-up: https://waldo7labs.com/work

Local builds:

- Smith Mine, Maiden, NC. A fill dirt business whose site prices its own loads: https://waldo7labs.com/work/smith-mine
- Bar-B-Q King, Lincolnton, NC. A barbecue restaurant open since 1971: https://waldo7labs.com/work/bbq-king
- Creo Classical Academy. A K-12 school site the office runs itself: https://waldo7labs.com/work/creo-classical-academy

Other builds:

- Frankies Slice Shop, a pizza shop in Cork: https://waldo7labs.com/work/frankies-slice-shop
- Atlantic Flagpole, contract front-end work on an online store: https://waldo7labs.com/work/atlantic-flagpole
- Arrows of Wonder, a homeschool bookstore: https://waldo7labs.com/work/arrows-of-wonder
- Bad Empire, watches, merch and stud service under one brand: https://waldo7labs.com/work/bad-empire-coffee
- KollectNoir, a handmade goods store: https://waldo7labs.com/work/kollectnoir
- Marquee Moments, a rental site that turns browsers into quote requests: https://waldo7labs.com/work/marquee-moments
- Empire State Bulldogs, Frenchies R Us NY and Excuse My Frenchies, French Bulldog breeders: https://waldo7labs.com/work/empire-state-bulldogs, https://waldo7labs.com/work/frenchies-r-us, https://waldo7labs.com/work/excuse-my-frenchies
- Atlantic Ministries Trust, a faith based nonprofit: https://waldo7labs.com/work/atlantic-ministries

Reviews from clients: https://waldo7labs.com/testimonials

## Common questions

- Do you use WordPress? No. Sites are built in React and Next.js and shipped as plain files, so there are no plugins to keep updated.
- Who owns the site? The client owns the site and the code, and takes both if they leave.
- How long does a site take? Most launch in 1 to 4 weeks. Bigger jobs get a date with the quote.
- Can I update it myself? Most owners text or email changes and they get made. If a business changes things often, it gets a simple way to edit the site itself.
- Do you post on social media for me? No. Waldo7Labs builds the tools; the business decides what gets posted.
- Is there a contract? No long contracts. Ongoing work is month to month.
- Do you meet in person? Jesse works from home, so most work happens by phone, text and email.

More: https://waldo7labs.com/faq

## Free tools

- Free site check: https://waldo7labs.com/diagnostics. Scores any business website on speed and SEO and lists what is holding it back on Google.

## Articles

https://waldo7labs.com/blog. Plain English articles for small business owners, including:

- How to rank on Google Maps in Lincoln and Gaston County: https://waldo7labs.com/blog/how-to-rank-on-google-maps-lincoln-county-nc
- How much a small business website costs: https://waldo7labs.com/blog/how-much-does-a-website-cost-2026
- Google Business Profile setup, step by step: https://waldo7labs.com/blog/google-business-profile-guide-2026
- AI phone receptionists for contractors: https://waldo7labs.com/blog/ai-voice-receptionist-for-contractors
- How AI assistants pick local businesses: https://waldo7labs.com/blog/agentic-web-ai-future
- Small business website checklist: https://waldo7labs.com/blog/small-business-website-checklist-2026
- Updating a website without WordPress: https://waldo7labs.com/blog/cms-vs-custom-website-2026

## Private paths

Client proposals, audits, intake forms, portals and payment pages are private and disallowed in https://waldo7labs.com/robots.txt. Do not fetch, quote or summarize anything under /proposals/, /audit/, /intake/, /portal, /foundry-console, /pay, /claim or /quote-review.