Apple has around 100 skews (unique products). Hewlett-Packard has about 10,000.
If you go into an Apple store, they still sell third-party peripheral products. But they don’t make them themselves—they’re a distraction from their main thing.
When it comes to your marketing practice, you could offer anything under the sun. You can find a decent sub-contractor to mark up for just about any service.
But that doesn’t mean you should.
The reality is, the more things you offer, the less effective you will be at all of it.
That’s partly why I chose advisory work. I knew I was best at creating the vision, assembling a team, and overseeing the execution work.
But running an agency was not how I wanted to do it.
With my agency, I offered too many services and was constantly under pressure with deadlines and deliverables.
It all felt like an unnecessary burden—and for what, 30% margins?
So, I imagined a world where I got paid to do what I do best: strategy and oversight.
As I pivoted to advisory, I began to introduce clients directly to the individual specialists I used to sub-contract work to.
It eliminated me as the middle-man, giving my clients full flexibility around who to hire and what to work on.
Eliminating execution work was the best thing I ever did for my business. I’d need to run a million-plus-dollar agency to make the same gross profit I do today.
I can’t even imagine the stress. Obviously, it works for some people, but not for me.
It also turned out to be a better experience for my clients, too.
—k
P.S. If you want help transitioning into advisory work—whether as a fractional CMO, advisor, trainer, educator, mentor, or all of the above—you’ll probably benefit from the membership.