Kevin C. Whelan

Marketing Strategy Advisor and Mentor

Articles

2022

August

August 9, 2022Aug. 9, 2022
Google Analytics 4 Live Workshop
August 5, 2022Aug. 5, 2022
194. How to avoid the “employee” trap as a fractional CXO

July

July 29, 2022Jul. 29, 2022
Two ways to think about positioning
July 22, 2022Jul. 22, 2022
Why I don’t position myself as a fractional CMO
July 19, 2022Jul. 19, 2022
The definition of “advice”
July 18, 2022Jul. 18, 2022
Is this advice?
July 15, 2022Jul. 15, 2022
Where my advisory clients come from (and that quiet inner voice)
July 8, 2022Jul. 8, 2022
Don’t bonk out

June

June 17, 2022Jun. 17, 2022
Advice for independent marketers during a recession or downturn
June 10, 2022Jun. 10, 2022
Getting paid to think
June 8, 2022Jun. 8, 2022
What to do if nobody is buying your productized services
June 3, 2022Jun. 3, 2022
Predicting the future of in-house and outsourced hybrid marketing teams

May

May 26, 2022May 26, 2022
Why you may want to offer multiple price options (audio)
May 20, 2022May 20, 2022
Coaching and gut instincts
May 17, 2022May 17, 2022
What to do when clients don’t take your advice (audio)
May 16, 2022May 16, 2022
Selling your expertise, not your hands (an interview with Alastair McDermott)
May 13, 2022May 13, 2022
Twitter growth and memes-as-marketing with Dagobert Renouf (audio)
May 11, 2022May 11, 2022
“In order to do this right…”
May 10, 2022May 10, 2022
Why I’m allowing myself to stop publishing daily (audio)
May 9, 2022May 9, 2022
I’ve decided to stop writing daily
May 8, 2022May 8, 2022
A problem you’re uniquely capable of solving
May 7, 2022May 7, 2022
The power of “memes-as-marketing”
May 6, 2022May 6, 2022
Customer surplus and price-to-value-ratio
May 5, 2022May 5, 2022
Live Interview: Memes as Marketing + Twitter Growth with Dagobert Renouf [RSVP]
May 4, 2022May 4, 2022
The inner game of what we do
May 3, 2022May 3, 2022
The medium forms the message
May 2, 2022May 2, 2022
A list of ways to sell your head—not just your hands
May 1, 2022May 1, 2022
Make the call

April

April 30, 2022Apr. 30, 2022
Pricing based on how you feel
April 29, 2022Apr. 29, 2022
“What if my marketing budget doesn’t allow me to implement your advice?”
April 28, 2022Apr. 28, 2022
What to watch for (and manage) in a new engagement
April 27, 2022Apr. 27, 2022
Tough love
April 26, 2022Apr. 26, 2022
How to create super crunchy testimonials
April 25, 2022Apr. 25, 2022
The five buyer types
April 24, 2022Apr. 24, 2022
How does your brain work?
April 23, 2022Apr. 23, 2022
Three core ways to monetize your expertise
April 22, 2022Apr. 22, 2022
How narrowly should you niche when starting out as a consultant?
April 21, 2022Apr. 21, 2022
How to properly categorize your products and services
April 20, 2022Apr. 20, 2022
A question of value
April 19, 2022Apr. 19, 2022
I made a categorical mistake
April 18, 2022Apr. 18, 2022
My best definition of positioning
April 17, 2022Apr. 17, 2022
The relationship between hourly and commodity work
April 16, 2022Apr. 16, 2022
The right amount of work
April 15, 2022Apr. 15, 2022
The story of the auto detailer
April 14, 2022Apr. 14, 2022
The problem with generalist positioning
April 13, 2022Apr. 13, 2022
When is enough… enough?
April 12, 2022Apr. 12, 2022
What to do when a client wants to cancel before the term ends
April 11, 2022Apr. 11, 2022
What does good performance mean to you?
April 10, 2022Apr. 10, 2022
Design sends a message
April 9, 2022Apr. 9, 2022
Work that lights you up
April 8, 2022Apr. 8, 2022
Cleaning up
April 7, 2022Apr. 7, 2022
Meaningful work
April 6, 2022Apr. 6, 2022
How to switch your niche or business model with less risk
April 5, 2022Apr. 5, 2022
The benefit of being solution-agnostic
April 4, 2022Apr. 4, 2022
What does a marketing strategist do?
April 3, 2022Apr. 3, 2022
Some people need to hear this
April 2, 2022Apr. 2, 2022
Optimizing for conversations
April 1, 2022Apr. 1, 2022
Are your prices negotiable?

March

March 31, 2022Mar. 31, 2022
Innovate on top
March 30, 2022Mar. 30, 2022
How to publish more consistently
March 29, 2022Mar. 29, 2022
Would you use an axe or a baseball bat?
March 28, 2022Mar. 28, 2022
Choices and trade-offs
March 27, 2022Mar. 27, 2022
How to stand out in a sea of competitors
March 26, 2022Mar. 26, 2022
The idea disease
March 25, 2022Mar. 25, 2022
Time for yourself
March 24, 2022Mar. 24, 2022
Mindshare Radio is now public
March 23, 2022Mar. 23, 2022
My take on “Start With Why”
March 22, 2022Mar. 22, 2022
Build your wings before you jump
March 21, 2022Mar. 21, 2022
Using focus to your advantage
March 20, 2022Mar. 20, 2022
The smallest possible step
March 19, 2022Mar. 19, 2022
Fall in love with the process—not your products
March 18, 2022Mar. 18, 2022
170. Building around your super-consumers
March 17, 2022Mar. 17, 2022
Why your new products or services don’t sell
March 16, 2022Mar. 16, 2022
Write for the platform
March 15, 2022Mar. 15, 2022
Thinking like an agency
March 14, 2022Mar. 14, 2022
Finding your thing
March 13, 2022Mar. 13, 2022
Why the best marketing KPI dashboard is a spreadsheet
March 12, 2022Mar. 12, 2022
Collecting your insights
March 11, 2022Mar. 11, 2022
The real benefits of a well-defined process
March 10, 2022Mar. 10, 2022
Developing your own teaching framework
March 9, 2022Mar. 9, 2022
Marketing from a standstill
March 8, 2022Mar. 8, 2022
Not niched down enough
March 7, 2022Mar. 7, 2022
Show me the incentives
March 6, 2022Mar. 6, 2022
Best in the world at what you do
March 5, 2022Mar. 5, 2022
Too niche or too broad
March 4, 2022Mar. 4, 2022
Where is the line?
March 3, 2022Mar. 3, 2022
Permission to change your mind
March 2, 2022Mar. 2, 2022
5 ways to level up your strategic messaging skills
March 1, 2022Mar. 1, 2022
Everything is feedback

February

February 28, 2022Feb. 28, 2022
Don’t settle for the easy stuff
February 27, 2022Feb. 27, 2022
Where real innovation comes from
February 26, 2022Feb. 26, 2022
Show, don’t tell
February 25, 2022Feb. 25, 2022
How I plan to write and publish a book
February 24, 2022Feb. 24, 2022
Productized services are not permanent
February 23, 2022Feb. 23, 2022
Have you ever considered being a mentor?
February 22, 2022Feb. 22, 2022
My unofficial definition of strategy
February 21, 2022Feb. 21, 2022
The remedy
February 20, 2022Feb. 20, 2022
Belonging to a genre
February 19, 2022Feb. 19, 2022
Playing in traffic
February 18, 2022Feb. 18, 2022
This work is hard
February 17, 2022Feb. 17, 2022
How to scope a consulting service
February 16, 2022Feb. 16, 2022
What does a marketing consultant even do?
February 15, 2022Feb. 15, 2022
The 5 major problems with execution work
February 14, 2022Feb. 14, 2022
Have a bias for action
February 13, 2022Feb. 13, 2022
Your niche and your identity
February 12, 2022Feb. 12, 2022
Refuse to phone it in
February 11, 2022Feb. 11, 2022
Work for the people who love it
February 10, 2022Feb. 10, 2022
You can survive without a niche
February 9, 2022Feb. 9, 2022
Brand vs. performance marketing
February 8, 2022Feb. 8, 2022
Be a co-buyer with your prospects
February 7, 2022Feb. 7, 2022
When you think small, big things happen
February 6, 2022Feb. 6, 2022
Nobody buys “advice”
February 5, 2022Feb. 5, 2022
Put in the grunt work
February 4, 2022Feb. 4, 2022
How to design your business model
February 3, 2022Feb. 3, 2022
All the answers to the test
February 2, 2022Feb. 2, 2022
What is your universal value proposition?
February 1, 2022Feb. 1, 2022
Why I don’t love the term “Fractional CMO”

January

January 31, 2022Jan. 31, 2022
Thinking in “units”
January 30, 2022Jan. 30, 2022
Fish at your feet first
January 29, 2022Jan. 29, 2022
Would you let people audit your work?
January 28, 2022Jan. 28, 2022
Come hell or high water
January 27, 2022Jan. 27, 2022
Forget passion, follow your curiosity
January 26, 2022Jan. 26, 2022
The ‘Golden Goose’ approach
January 25, 2022Jan. 25, 2022
The constraints being a fractional CMO (audio)
January 24, 2022Jan. 24, 2022
Why FAQs are so great
January 23, 2022Jan. 23, 2022
Write to capture the value of your ideas
January 22, 2022Jan. 22, 2022
Creativity takes iteration
January 21, 2022Jan. 21, 2022
162. Three ways to get clients to take your advice
January 20, 2022Jan. 20, 2022
Growing by referrals
January 19, 2022Jan. 19, 2022
161. Why you should have (and stick to) a core process
January 18, 2022Jan. 18, 2022
Most people won’t buy today
January 17, 2022Jan. 17, 2022
Who are you writing to?
January 16, 2022Jan. 16, 2022
Get that thing done
January 15, 2022Jan. 15, 2022
Quick question
January 14, 2022Jan. 14, 2022
Frequency, recency, and potency
January 13, 2022Jan. 13, 2022
Copywriting inspiration
January 12, 2022Jan. 12, 2022
Should you offer advisory clients unlimited access to you?
January 11, 2022Jan. 11, 2022
General feedback
January 10, 2022Jan. 10, 2022
Documenting everything you know [EP. 160]
January 9, 2022Jan. 9, 2022
A book and a podcast recommendation
January 8, 2022Jan. 8, 2022
Three ways to turn your content into assets
January 7, 2022Jan. 7, 2022
Reader response on the “overwhelm” strategy
January 6, 2022Jan. 6, 2022
Overwhelming the problem
January 5, 2022Jan. 5, 2022
Nine tips for greater energy, output, and income
January 4, 2022Jan. 4, 2022
Knowing you exist is half the battle
January 3, 2022Jan. 3, 2022
Don’t niche too quickly
January 2, 2022Jan. 2, 2022
How Tim Ferris does his year-end review
January 1, 2022Jan. 1, 2022
Most people don’t need you right now

2021

December

December 31, 2021Dec. 31, 2021
Was this year a success?
December 30, 2021Dec. 30, 2021
Don’t be afraid to repeat yourself
December 29, 2021Dec. 29, 2021
That’s not the real problem
December 28, 2021Dec. 28, 2021
How to create a new productized consulting service
December 27, 2021Dec. 27, 2021
Have the guts to stop doing it
December 26, 2021Dec. 26, 2021
Buying credibility with ads
December 25, 2021Dec. 25, 2021
Build in the love
December 24, 2021Dec. 24, 2021
Prove your expertise with samples
December 23, 2021Dec. 23, 2021
How to be hired faster and paid more to do better work
December 22, 2021Dec. 22, 2021
Be sub-specific
December 21, 2021Dec. 21, 2021
My not-so-secret to attracting clients
December 20, 2021Dec. 20, 2021
What audience growth and client acquisition have in common
December 19, 2021Dec. 19, 2021
Asking for referrals
December 18, 2021Dec. 18, 2021
Loyalty, acquisition, programs, and campaigns
December 17, 2021Dec. 17, 2021
Actual expertise vs. marketing yourself well
December 16, 2021Dec. 16, 2021
Is it fear or a desire to do things right?
December 15, 2021Dec. 15, 2021
Who are you intrinsically interested in serving?
December 14, 2021Dec. 14, 2021
Set a goal, create a system, and put in the work
December 13, 2021Dec. 13, 2021
Make time for tinkering
December 12, 2021Dec. 12, 2021
Bring your best self
December 11, 2021Dec. 11, 2021
Chase one shiny object at a time
December 10, 2021Dec. 10, 2021
Be liberal with your pruning
December 9, 2021Dec. 9, 2021
These are your people
December 8, 2021Dec. 8, 2021
What to do when nobody is buying
December 7, 2021Dec. 7, 2021
What to do if your marketing feels generic
December 6, 2021Dec. 6, 2021
Your work gets easier as your prices go up
December 5, 2021Dec. 5, 2021
How to make hiring you more compelling
December 4, 2021Dec. 4, 2021
Buying into your taste
December 3, 2021Dec. 3, 2021
Copy and paste your best clients
December 2, 2021Dec. 2, 2021
You can’t rush a new consulting business
December 1, 2021Dec. 1, 2021
Find a niche you belong to

November

November 30, 2021Nov. 30, 2021
Life is too long to dread what you do
November 29, 2021Nov. 29, 2021
Earn your right to promote
November 28, 2021Nov. 28, 2021
Create your own lane
November 27, 2021Nov. 27, 2021
Trust your way of doing things
November 26, 2021Nov. 26, 2021
Don’t just plan for fair weather, plan for reality
November 25, 2021Nov. 25, 2021
The three ways to generate more business
November 24, 2021Nov. 24, 2021
The advantage of an outside observer
November 23, 2021Nov. 23, 2021
What happens if you fail?
November 22, 2021Nov. 22, 2021
Ask better questions
November 21, 2021Nov. 21, 2021
Only accept clients you trust
November 20, 2021Nov. 20, 2021
The difficulty of your marketing *is* the message
November 19, 2021Nov. 19, 2021
Some things don’t change, but most things do
November 18, 2021Nov. 18, 2021
This is almost guaranteed to attract clients
November 17, 2021Nov. 17, 2021
Leading and lagging indicators
November 16, 2021Nov. 16, 2021
Setting arbitrary goals
November 15, 2021Nov. 15, 2021
What to do when you’re feeling stuck
November 14, 2021Nov. 14, 2021
The profound difference between management and leadership
November 13, 2021Nov. 13, 2021
The strategy of pre-eminence
November 12, 2021Nov. 12, 2021
A sign you should raise your prices. 
November 11, 2021Nov. 11, 2021
A simple system that worked
November 10, 2021Nov. 10, 2021
Build credibility with a research-backed, clearly-stated problem
November 9, 2021Nov. 9, 2021
Specialization is simplification
November 8, 2021Nov. 8, 2021
How to start a paid mentoring practice
November 7, 2021Nov. 7, 2021
Memberships ≠ communities
November 6, 2021Nov. 6, 2021
A few words on managing trust
November 5, 2021Nov. 5, 2021
How to reduce your price without offering a discount
November 4, 2021Nov. 4, 2021
Find people to push you when you need it
November 3, 2021Nov. 3, 2021
What to do instead of “selling” yourself
November 2, 2021Nov. 2, 2021
Save the pitch for last
November 1, 2021Nov. 1, 2021
Life gets easier with a process

October

October 31, 2021Oct. 31, 2021
Clear and credible beats hard selling
October 30, 2021Oct. 30, 2021
How do you make the competitors sweat?
October 29, 2021Oct. 29, 2021
Who do you have access to?
October 28, 2021Oct. 28, 2021
Doing a few things slowly but effectively
October 27, 2021Oct. 27, 2021
Easy to work with
October 26, 2021Oct. 26, 2021
It’s hard *not* to get clients this way
October 25, 2021Oct. 25, 2021
Take a five-year plus horizon
October 24, 2021Oct. 24, 2021
Address the emotions in the room
October 23, 2021Oct. 23, 2021
Be a voracious learner
October 22, 2021Oct. 22, 2021
What do you really want?
October 21, 2021Oct. 21, 2021
Why mutual trust is an absolute must
October 20, 2021Oct. 20, 2021
Getting buy-in from the CEO
October 19, 2021Oct. 19, 2021
The importance of good onboarding
October 18, 2021Oct. 18, 2021
Free resources vs. applied expertise
October 17, 2021Oct. 17, 2021
Two ways to build demand in a new consulting business or niche
October 16, 2021Oct. 16, 2021
Is what you sell mutually profitable?
October 15, 2021Oct. 15, 2021
Advice without expertise is opinion
October 14, 2021Oct. 14, 2021
Do you want information or transformation?
October 13, 2021Oct. 13, 2021
How to stand out as a marketing consultant
October 12, 2021Oct. 12, 2021
Scale content but throttle services
October 11, 2021Oct. 11, 2021
Do things that take time
October 10, 2021Oct. 10, 2021
Stagnancy is death
October 9, 2021Oct. 9, 2021
Why most marketing doesn’t work
October 8, 2021Oct. 8, 2021
Pick one main goal
October 7, 2021Oct. 7, 2021
Wildly profitable, cash flow stable, low stress
October 6, 2021Oct. 6, 2021
The best in the world at what you do
October 5, 2021Oct. 5, 2021
The thing about referrals
October 4, 2021Oct. 4, 2021
You don’t own the right to social media distribution—build your list
October 3, 2021Oct. 3, 2021
Niching makes it easier to build an email list
October 2, 2021Oct. 2, 2021
The power of an email list
October 1, 2021Oct. 1, 2021
Do work you can be proud of

September

September 30, 2021Sep. 30, 2021
Be your clients’ biggest advocate
September 29, 2021Sep. 29, 2021
You’re in the service business, after all
September 28, 2021Sep. 28, 2021
Phasing into a niche
September 27, 2021Sep. 27, 2021
Pay the bills, then build the niche business
September 26, 2021Sep. 26, 2021
Do what works for you
September 25, 2021Sep. 25, 2021
You don’t have to choose a niche
September 24, 2021Sep. 24, 2021
Working with the competition
September 23, 2021Sep. 23, 2021
Don’t fall into this trap
September 22, 2021Sep. 22, 2021
Are you consuming or creating?
September 21, 2021Sep. 21, 2021
Member feedback re: The CEO is your best friend
September 20, 2021Sep. 20, 2021
Is it harder to sell advisory services than execution?
September 19, 2021Sep. 19, 2021
What do headaches and mental bandwidth have in common?
September 18, 2021Sep. 18, 2021
Competition is a good thing
September 17, 2021Sep. 17, 2021
The CEO is your best friend
September 16, 2021Sep. 16, 2021
Start with the basics then make it better
September 15, 2021Sep. 15, 2021
Anticipation sells
September 14, 2021Sep. 14, 2021
What to do when you don’t feel like showing up
September 13, 2021Sep. 13, 2021
One way to create a marketing strategy for your clients
September 12, 2021Sep. 12, 2021
Choose your clients wisely
September 11, 2021Sep. 11, 2021
Once you specialize, it’s hard to go back
September 10, 2021Sep. 10, 2021
Optimize for the edges
September 9, 2021Sep. 9, 2021
Iron sharpens iron
September 8, 2021Sep. 8, 2021
Play the long game
September 7, 2021Sep. 7, 2021
Marketing should be a little hard
September 6, 2021Sep. 6, 2021
The difference between “advisor” and “consultant”
September 5, 2021Sep. 5, 2021
How to make creating case studies easy
September 4, 2021Sep. 4, 2021
Pick a small group
September 3, 2021Sep. 3, 2021
What is your differentiation strategy?
September 2, 2021Sep. 2, 2021
Whose advice do you trust?
September 1, 2021Sep. 1, 2021
What to do when prospects want you to do execution work

August

August 31, 2021Aug. 31, 2021
A long-term game for long-term-minded people
August 30, 2021Aug. 30, 2021
Single-purpose ideas
August 29, 2021Aug. 29, 2021
It takes guts to be an advisor
August 28, 2021Aug. 28, 2021
The danger of pricing in the middle
August 27, 2021Aug. 27, 2021
Spoken with kindness
August 26, 2021Aug. 26, 2021
Defining the perfect examples
August 25, 2021Aug. 25, 2021
Why you need to embrace the hard truths
August 24, 2021Aug. 24, 2021
A little reminder for the daily writers
August 23, 2021Aug. 23, 2021
You’ll be in business a long time…
August 22, 2021Aug. 22, 2021
Your business needs more money than you think
August 21, 2021Aug. 21, 2021
Attract more clients and build an audience quicker with cross-pollination
August 20, 2021Aug. 20, 2021
You can’t make your clients do anything
August 19, 2021Aug. 19, 2021
Selling downside protection
August 18, 2021Aug. 18, 2021
You can’t create demand
August 17, 2021Aug. 17, 2021
The benefits of a marketing Swipe File
August 16, 2021Aug. 16, 2021
Nobody is going to do it for you
August 15, 2021Aug. 15, 2021
Want access to my Methodology?
August 14, 2021Aug. 14, 2021
The price of attention is usefulness
August 13, 2021Aug. 13, 2021
Turning your ideas into assets
August 12, 2021Aug. 12, 2021
Name and claim your ideas
August 11, 2021Aug. 11, 2021
Focus on creating value, not more inputs
August 10, 2021Aug. 10, 2021
You can’t quantify everything
August 9, 2021Aug. 9, 2021
Be scarce and charge a premium
August 8, 2021Aug. 8, 2021
How would your business differ?
August 7, 2021Aug. 7, 2021
Optimizing for consumption
August 6, 2021Aug. 6, 2021
Look for the pattern of fractional leadership
August 5, 2021Aug. 5, 2021
Build, then optimize
August 4, 2021Aug. 4, 2021
What standard do you want to operate at?
August 3, 2021Aug. 3, 2021
Two ways to generate more demand for your consulting services
August 2, 2021Aug. 2, 2021
What if you could get there faster?