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Kevin C. Whelan

Marketing Strategy Advisor and Mentor

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đź‘‹ Welcome.

Digital Strategy Consultant - Kevin C. Whelan

I'm Kevin, a marketing advisor to coworking spaces, online educators, ecommerce brands, SaaS companies, and occasionally others.

I also spend time mentoring marketing consultants on how to run a more enjoyable and impactful advisory practice—something I am passionate about.

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April 10, 2021

The longer I’m in business, the less I do

The longer I’m in business, the less I do.

I offer fewer services today than a few years ago and focus them entirely on helping coworking spaces and marketing consultants.

Those are my two verticals.

Only rarely will I accept new clients outside of those two categories today. I used to help almost anyone.

Incidentally, doing this has also opened up a lot more opportunities for me. By focusing my efforts, I open myself up to doing better work. Deeper work. More nuanced and specific work.

It’s allowing me to build more repeatable systems and reusable assets. It allows me to charge higher rates for my consulting and create scalable group offers and education products.

People share their platform and audience with me. There’s more opportunity to be a recognized expert in a smaller area of focus.

It just feels better.

I’m going to continue on this road and see how far I can take it. It’s an interesting paradox that the less you do, the more opportunities you have to do great work. 

April 9, 2021

The case for niche specialization (EP 118)

This post is a preview of one of the private podcast episodes inside Mindshare. If you want to learn how to create a more leveraged, systemized, and profitable marketing strategy business, sign up for a free trial here. 

There are pros and cons to specialization.

In this episode, I break down some of the main benefits of niche specialization, which include:

  1. Easier sales process via differentiation
  2. Lower time involvement required
  3. Less downward price pressure
  4. Better leverage and systemization
  5. Ability to package and resell expertise as products
  6. Easier to find and reach your target market
  7. More efficient marketing

And many more.

When you specialize, you build a competitive moat that grows over time. Once you get your marketing engine going, it becomes a real asset to your business.

Sure, there are advantages to being a generalist, which I talk about, but as a consultant they are far outweighed by specialization.

Give this a listen and let me know your thoughts!

April 8, 2021

Replicating the things that work

Last week, I did a webinar for one of the coworking software companies’ online community.

I’ve done these before and it’s always worthwhile. Over 100 registered and about 52 attended live.

Since I did the presentation, I have received a few leads, a dozen or so subscribers, and multiple LinkedIn connection requests from folks in my target market.

For a business like mine, that’s worth my time. I only need a few clients to be highly profitable.

And while I’m not taking on clients personally right now, I do have info products for sale which I was able to refer them to while adding them to my waiting list.

Every so often, opportunities will come your way. When they do, it’s good to remember what created those opportunities so you can replicate them in the future.

April 7, 2021

What if you could only do the part of your job you loved?

When I was a teenager, I could play video games on my computer for hours.

It eventually turned into a general interest in computers and the Internet at large. By age 15, I was spinning up static HTML websites and building online communities as a hobby.

What I can vividly recall is just how effortless it all felt.

Sure, it was frustrating learning how to build websites by hand on a 56k modem. But it was also extremely fun and rewarding.

It didn’t feel like work. It felt more like a puzzle.

All of this led to where I am today—a digital-minded marketing advisor.

I still chase that feeling of flow and ease that came with my early days on the computer. The endless energy that comes with exploration of your interests.

Sure, it was a hobby then. But part of me still knows it’s still possible to incorporate that into my work today.

A few years ago, I asked myself, “what could you do all day long if you had to?”.

The answer for me was talking to people. Helping them with their marketing.

Of all the things I did at the time, it was strategizing and talking to people that gave me the most energy.

The rest of the stuff that came with running an agency felt a lot more like work. It drained me of my energy. Especially the project management and quality assurance stuff. The details.

That’s what led me to advisory work. I sliced off the part I’m best at and now sell that as a service.

So ask yourself this: what do you love most about your job?

What if you could design your business so you only had to do that part? Could you do it?

Sure, there will always be the boring admin stuff like responding to emails and processing paperwork.

But could you design a business that didn’t feel like work—at least most of the time?

April 6, 2021

How it feels to be a specialist vs. generalist

A few random opportunities came across my desk lately via referrals. It reminds me what it feels like to not be an expert in a niche.

The opportunities came from industries I’ve never worked in. Even though I could apply my general skills to help them, it was interesting just how I felt in terms of confidence.

I’m used to feeling extremely comfortable when talking to coworking prospects. I already know exactly how the next several months would play out and the likely issues they’re experiencing.

It feels entirely different when someone comes along in an industry I’m unfamiliar with. The contrast is stark in terms of how I feel going into the conversations.

A few years ago, I’d take on anybody with a budget and heartbeat. Today, while I’m fully booked and not taking new consulting clients, I’d still be a lot more picky about the clients I work with even if I had space.

If you’re not there yet in terms of a niche, there’s nothing to be discouraged about. But if you can find and hone your niche specialization, you will have a hard time imaging going back to your old generalist ways.

 

April 5, 2021

Check in on your best clients

When’s the last time you checked in on your least demanding client?

We spend so much time putting out fires and dealing with what’s in front of us that we often forget that our best clients are our best clients.

They’re probably the most satisfied in general of all your clients. They probably pay on time and complain the least. They likely refer you to others and find ways to help your business.

These are the people with whom we should put in our calendar or to-do list to check in on at least once a month. To find a way to send a little gift or simply see how they’re doing or what you could do to better align with their goals.

Never take your best clients for granted. I know you won’t, but this is your reminder just in case you’re doing it by accident.

April 4, 2021

Take a blue collar approach to your work

Author Steven Pressfield talks about taking a “blue collar” approach to any creative work you do.

What he means by that is to simply show up, do the work, and go home. 

Any time we do something creative that is of importance to us, the Resistance (as he calls it) rears its head and tries to intervene.

For many of us, it shows up when we try to create content. To put our thoughts out into the world. Our business and growth depends on it, which makes it all the more prone to the Resistance.

It could also be when you create a new product or launch a new idea you really want to work. The more important it is to you, the more Resistance you’ll face.

Next time you find yourself making excuses to miss your deadline or skip a post, remind yourself of the blue collar mentality and the forces of Resistance working against you.

Show up, grind it out if you have to, and punch your timecard on the way out.

April 3, 2021

The best way to get clients

The best way to get clients is to be highly credible at what you do.

The best way to be highly credible at what you do is to specialize. To do similar kinds of work—ideally for similar kinds of people—for a long time.

The best way to prove that credibility as a consultant is to write. Consistently and for a long time.

Writing has three main benefits:

  1. It helps you clarify and sharpen your thinking
  2. It demonstrates your credibility to the world
  3. It attracts people willing to pay to have your ideas applied to their situation

Find a niche, build your expertise, sharpen your thinking through writing, and use it to demonstrate your credibility and attract people willing to pay for it.

Don’t complicate it, just keep writing.

April 2, 2021

How to create target market profiles that actually get results

This post is a preview of one of the private podcast episodes inside Mindshare. If you want to learn how to create a more leveraged, systemized, and profitable marketing strategy business, sign up for a free trial here. 

Do you have a clear idea on who your ideal target market is?

Or, do you help your clients get clear on who theirs is?

There’s a lot of info on this subject and only some of it is really useful in a strategic marketing engagement.

In this episode, I talk about ways to create an ideal target market profile for your business and your clients’.

I also talk about using ideal client profiles vs. “customer personas” and why the difference matters.

There are lots of tactical ways to achieve this, so I’d love to hear if you have examples of ways you’ve done this and how it resulted in measurable outcomes.

Hit reply to this email and let me know how you approach it.

Have a great weekend!

—k

H/T to Mark Evans who inspired this episode with his insightful post on LinkedIn.

April 1, 2021

How do you know if your product or service is any good?

How do you know if your product or service is any good?

  1. When you promote it, people show interest
  2. When people buy it, they tell you they like it
  3. People refer you to others (usually)

If you’re not seeing any of these things, it doesn’t necessarily mean your product or service isn’t on the right track.

But it is a signal that something may need to improve or change.

And the only way to know what to improve is to talk to the people who buy your product or service (if any).

If nobody is buying, talk to people you want to buy and think should buy what you offer.

Usually, it’s a mismatch between where they want to go and what you’re offering to help them with. It could also be a messaging or positioning problem.

But you won’t know unless you talk to people. Especially the people you aim to serve and the people who actually pay you.

A little switch, nuance, and adjustment can go a long way. But only if you actually talk to your current and ideal clients.

There’s no way around it.

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