Marketing Advisor, Mentor, & Educator

Kevin C. Whelan

Marketing Consultants

The definition of “advice”

Yesterday, I asked whether educational content in all its forms or broad-based guidance can be considered “advice”.

As someone deeply interested in the field of advisory work, I was looking for ways to explore the boundaries of what “advice” really is.

I got some interesting responses, including this from Jeremy:

Eh, maybe. But if it’s one-size-fits-all, it’s probably bad advice.

I would assume that good advice involves some amount of listening, dialogue, empathy etc. Hard to do that “at scale”.

And Danilo (edited slightly for formatting):

Yes, since advice is generally understood as guidance to perform a future action.

But each form of advice is different, and one of the elements we can use to classify or assess the value of the advice is the level of expertise the advisor has in the correspondent field.

At the extremes we have:

  1. Advice from someone with no expertise = opinion
  2. Advice from someone with high level of expertise = expert recommendation

You asked about educational content, and that presents us with another element we can use to assess advice: the level of personalization.

At the extremes we have:

  1. Advice for a given audience or group of people trying to create a similar outcome = educational content or curated resources
  2. Advice for a single individual or organization = situational, tailored, client-specific advice

A great analogy on the meaning of advice

What prompted this thinking in the first place was a quote I read by McKinley Valentine:

Think of advice the way you think of medicine

That is, medicines are prescribed for specific people in specific situations. They’re not meant to be universally applicable. Sometimes a medication is for people in your exact situation, and it just doesn’t work for you, for whatever reason, and you have to try the next option down the line,

If someone has high blood pressure, you would prescribe them medicine to lower their blood pressure.

And then maybe you’d tweet “Hey a great medicine for people with high blood pressure is Notrealazone*” [this is not how you practise medicine but it’s a metaphor, bear with me]

And then someone with low blood pressure would reply: “Oh my god that is terrible advice, Notrealazone would literally kill me.”

And then there’d be a big debate between people with high blood pressure and people with low blood pressure about whether it’s a terrible medicine or not, and they would both be so sure they were right (because it really would be bad/good for them). But as you can hopefully see, it would be a completely stupid and pointless argument, and there’d be no value in either side successfully converting the other. It’s very clearly good for some people and bad for others.

There are a few absolutes: arsenic is always** bad medicine; “if you are nice enough to your abuser, they will stop being abusive” is always bad advice.

And some advice is dangerous enough for a decent-sized minority that you shouldn’t blare it publicly without warnings.

But pretty much everything else is just not helpful for everyone. So if it’s not helpful for you… you don’t have to get defensive and weird about it, or justify yourself, or talk people into seeing it the same way you do. You can just say, “if that doesn’t end up working for you, here’s a different thing that worked for me.”

So. A better framework. Advice = medicine.

This example really nails it for me. It feels like any broadly-stated guidance is just that.

True advice, in my view, is applied to a particular person or situation.

It’s based on the recipient’s specific context and situation. It brings expertise to the table. Or at least, a desired point of view.

Ideally, it should be solicited advice. Nobody likes the other kind. But that’s another topic.

So how does this change or confirm your views on advice?

What other edge cases come to mind?

Is this advice?

I have a question for you…

We know that consulting and coaching are forms of advisory work.

But let me ask you this:

A course, book, video, or any other form of one-directional educational content that tells you what and how to do things. Is that advice?

If you want to play along, hit reply with a simple yes or no with your initial thoughts.

More on this soon—but I’d love to hear your take.

Where my advisory clients come from (and that quiet inner voice)

Hey—happy Friday.

Here’s the latest for you…

I recorded and published two audio recordings yesterday.

Episode 190: Analyzing where my advisory clients come from (a general vs. niche business comparison)

Do you analyze where your clients come from? It might surprise you when you do.

In this episode, I break down where my advisory clients came from.

I also compare my where niche consulting clients (Everspaces) vs. my general consulting clients came from to see if there was a difference.

And let me tell you, it was enlightening.

Listen here or subscribe via your podcast player.

Episode 191: Noticing your quiet inner voice—and what to do about it

What is your quiet inner voice telling you?

The one that whispers. You barely notice it at first. But when you do hear it, you’re inspired.

Should you explore it?

Maybe you don’t take it seriously at first. Maybe it feels like a pipe dream. It’s not always rational. Sometimes it’s idealistic. Regardless, when you pay attention to it, it feels directionally interesting.

Where does it come from?

I’ve noticed that it shows up when I take time away from my business. It shows up on vacations, bike rides, long walks, or while reading a good book. I’m not sure if it’s the truth or just a passing random idea, but it feels worth exploring.

So what do you do when that voice says something? Do you jump to action or think about it until it no longer inspires you? Is it valuable or random? That’s what I cover today.

It may just be the very thing that helps you create unique, valuable, and lasting work.

Or maybe not. Who knows.

Listen here or subscribe via your podcast player.

What’s new in Mindshareland:

  • We had our Mindshare Community coffee meetup—thanks to Danilo, Luke, and Sean for attending. Hit reply if you want access to the free community.
  • We had a Mindtrust strategy call focused on designing and modeling our product and service ladders.
  • Mindtrust members got a special Content Bonus—more of those coming.
  • A few people were looking for analytics help for their clients—especially with Google Analytics 4 coming next year. If learning about analytics interests you, hit reply with the word “yes” so I can see how prevalent this need for training might be.

That’s all for now – have a great weekend.

—k

Advice for independent marketers during a recession or downturn

Okay, so there’s some concern going around about a recession.

Will it impact your business? Is it already impacting your business?

Some of you have said that leads are drying up and clients are canceling services with you. So let’s get in front of it.

Here are a few ideas to consider here if you want to thrive during a recession or market downturn:

  1. Don’t panic—lead your clients
  2. Stay close to the money—focus on ROI, not just deliverables
  3. Be the better alternative to in-house employees
  4. Be ready to scale up or down as needed
  5. Invest in your expertise—be irreplaceable
  6. And of course, keep marketing yourself

The last scare like this

When COVID hit, my advice to my consulting clients (not marketers) was to a) get expenses in check so they could weather a potentially long storm and b) lean into marketing harder than ever before.

And while this advice is applicable to us as marketers again today, there’s a big difference between the COVID scare and an economic recession. The main difference is how much money (or lack thereof) is floating around.

I’m not an economist, but I see four big things happening now:

  1. Interest rates are going up, making debt more expensive, reducing overall spending, tanking stocks
  2. There’s less “free” money sloshing around in the economy in the form of stimulus cheques/checks
  3. Inflation is high and seems to be continuing—meaning everything is getting more expensive
  4. Unemployment is still low, so hiring employees is difficult (and expensive!) for your clients

And with that, companies are forced to tighten up. At least in some areas.

So what should you do?

1. Don’t panic—lead

As marketers, you have a remarkable ability to be nimble in times like these.

Remember that, unlike other discretionary business spending, marketing is still necessary and even more important in hard times than in good.

Here’s a great thread by Asia Orangio with data on how companies have fared when they leaned into marketing vs. pulling back during recessions.

Learn this stuff. Advise your clients on it. Be their fiduciary.

2. Stay close to the money

Your job is to help your clients make a financial business case to work with you.

Stay close to the ROI. Talk in terms of investment and returns—not just tasks and deliverables.

I can’t emphasize this enough. Focus on value, not deliverables.

Your clients are always thinking about how one thing creates more business profit or financial impact than it costs. Show them. Use my KPI sheet available in the MindshareOS package.

Focus on the KPIs that are moving the needle in terms of customer acquisition, retention, repeat purchases, and revenue per client/transaction.

Look at secondary metrics like volume and costs per lead, conversion rates, number of net new customers, account expansion, audience growth, and partnership opportunities.

3. Be the better alternative to in-house employees

In uncertain times, people want optionality. Use that to your advantage.

Your goal should be to position yourself as the better alternative to in-house marketing employees and teams.

You do that by having rare expertise (see #5 below) and flexibility.

Instead of hiring a new marketing manager, companies can hire a fractional CMO along with their recommended contractors for execution work—often for less than the cost of a senior marketing hire.

They can then turn on, off, up, or down the individual channels as-needed.

This is the flexibility they’re looking for.

I have seen this trend in marketing departments happening for a while and believe it will continue.

Agencies and freelancers who are willing to evolve what they deliver every month instead of sticking to a fixed scope of services will reduce the chance they’ll be fired and replaced with more flexible options.

Be nimble. Your value prop is greater expertise (and output) for the same or less than hiring internally.

Oh, and long contracts won’t be ideal, either.

4. Be ready to scale up or down as needed

Have down-sell options available.

If you’re 2x more expensive than all the other contractors, you’re at risk of being chopped.

Be proactive about reducing your fees (and scope) in cases where the value or demands require it.

Otherwise, clients think their only option is to fire you entirely. Think about this and make recommendations before they ask.

If you do drop your fees, drop your scope as well.

No discounts here. Price drops always include a scope drop.

My lower-cost services are often more profitable per hour than my high-ticket stuff. I give people better pricing when they buy more, not the other way around.

Don’t chop your fees when your clients need you to grow. 

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that three clients have expanded scope with me in the last few weeks. Smart operators know they need marketing leadership now more than ever.

Scale up or down as needed.

5. Continue investing in your expertise

Make yourself irreplaceable.

In the coworking niche I serve, there’s literally nobody (that I’m aware of) with my combination of marketing expertise and industry knowledge.

Sure, others have both traits independently. But I keep investing in my unique knowledge combination of marketing strategy, tactical execution, and industry-specific trends.

You simply can’t hire an employee or agency who can do what I can or bring the same value per dollar. At least… not easily. 🙂

And that has helped me increase scope with two clients in the past couple of weeks in the coworking industry (and one more in another industry).

6. And of course, keep marketing yourself

Stay consistent with your publishing, even if it seems like it’s bearing little fruit. Deals take time to form.

Talk about the state of the industry you serve. Share stories about what others are doing. Teach people the ways of flexibility and adaptability.

Make connections with your peers (i.e. in the free Mindshare community or via social media circles). Talk shop to stay on the pulse of things.

Be an advisor to your potential clients before they even hire you. That’s how they know you’ll be a good asset when they do hire you.

Don’t get desperate, know your value, and keep doing your thing.

In closing

Market downturns affect all of us differently. But clients are still hiring and doing marketing. They always will.

It’s up to you to help your current clients get the best results possible in a flexible manner while leading your audience/potential clients, much in the same way you would advise your own clients.

Remember, people flock to leadership in uncertain times. Be the guide.

Oh, and don’t forget to focus on the ROI—even if it’s a longterm process.

Getting paid to think

Back in 2015, I was spinning plates and grinding out deliverables.

I ran a solo agency (with contractors) offering web design and a wide variety of marketing services.

It nearly burned me out. I took home less than 30% of revenue as profit, and I worked hard for it.

I was always thinking about deadlines and deliverables. I couldn’t relax—even on my vacations I was working.

But when I started doing advisory work, everything changed.

I became less stressed and earned a LOT more money. It finally felt like I was working in my zone of genius.

When I began to niche down in an industry vertical, things got a lot easier again. And more profitable.

Now that I think of it, there seems to be a correlation between how hard I worked and how little I earned.

Anyway, advisory work isn’t for everyone. You have to know your craft.

But if you’ve mastered the doing, it might be time to get out of the weeds and start selling your brain instead.

Today I launched a new program called Paid to Think. It’s all about making that transition from doing to advising.

If you’re interested in making a similar leap, you can check it out here.

Predicting the future of in-house and outsourced hybrid marketing teams

Companies are hiring in-house and outsourced marketers differently than they did before.

I’m seeing less reliance on using a single in-house marketer or even one full-service agency to “do everything” for them.

Marketing has gotten too broad with too many specialties to work like that. But there’s still a long way to go.

In this episode, I share a prediction on how marketing teams will continue to evolve toward a hybrid in-house/outsourced way.

I’ll get into how I see things evolving and why this presents an opportunity for you.

Agree? Got another view? Hit reply and let me know.

Listen here or subscribe via your podcast player.

Why you may want to offer multiple price options (audio)

When a client requests your services, it can really help to have multiple options at different prices.

You can do this with a product or service ladder at different prices and scope, or you can create multiple options in your custom proposals.

In this episode, I break down the reasons why you may want to have multiple options and how to price them based on the value you’re delivering.

This seemingly simple idea can have a major impact on your average deal value—often increasing your revenue by 30%+.

Listen in to learn more or add Mindshare Radio to your favourite podcast player.

Coaching and gut instincts

Working with business coaches in the past has coincided with some of the most transformational periods of my business.

I can point to the places where my business dramatically improved and it almost always intersected with some level of coaching.

Often, I hired them because I was making big changes and wanted to de-risk the process. And maybe I would have succeeded anyway.

Either way, the results are inarguable.

With that said, it’s easy to feel a little paralyzed when you hire a coach and work with them long enough.

It’s easy to feel like you’re not “allowed” to make any significant changes to your business without them telling you to do it.

But that’s not true, of course. It’s your business. You have to keep innovating.

The best way to work with a coach is to treat them like an advisory committee.

You’re still in charge. You still run your business and listen to your instincts.

And yes, you still act on their advice—even if it makes you a little uncomfortable (it should).

But along the way, keep making adjustments that feel right to you.

Give your coach a heads up about what you’re thinking. Do a gut check. Run it through their filter.

Listen to what they have to say. That’s why you hire them, after all.

But keep taking action based on your own gut instincts, too.

Nobody is responsible for your success except you. Your gut, combined with an experienced coach, can be a formidable combination.

Keep taking action.

What to do when clients don’t take your advice (audio)

What do you do when clients ask for your advice but do their own thing anyway?

In this episode, I talk about why this happens, how to prevent it from happening, and how to both give and get the best possible advice.

Have you had this issue before? Hit reply and let me know what you did.

Give this a listen.