Kevin C. Whelan

Marketing Strategy Advisor and Mentor

Marketing Consultants

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.

Selling your expertise, not your hands (an interview with Alastair McDermott)

Alastair McDermott had me on his podcast recently, The Recognized Authority.

We chatted about the transition from selling execution to advisory services and knowledge products, what it means to be a fiduciary for our clients, some ethics and trust considerations, niching, and a whole lot more.

Give this a listen and subscribe to his show to hear from other great guests he’s had on his show before, including Alan Weiss, David C. Baker, Jonathan Stark, Philip Morgan, and Chris Do coming soon.

Twitter growth and memes-as-marketing with Dagobert Renouf (audio)

I interviewed Dagobert Renouf of Logology last week on how he’s been so successful on Twitter.

Dagobert is extremely active and publishes a meme every day of the week, which is a big hit for his 30k+ audience.

But like any successful story, there’s an underlying mindset and strategy that makes the tactics more successful.

So I wanted to dig into those. And he delivered.

​We’ll get into the specifics of:

  • ​His overarching Twitter strategy
  • ​Why he believes memes work so well
  • ​How he comes up with his meme ideas each day
  • ​How he actually creates and publishes his memes
  • ​His approach to engaging with accounts—small and big—at scale
  • ​The tools he uses to manage Twitter as a power user
  • ​How he’s grown his logo design business with this strategy
  • ​And a range of other topics!

Listen in to hear this episode—it already changed my thinking and approach to Twitter.

Mentioned links

> Click here to listen or add Mindshare Radio to your podcast player.

 

P.S. You’ll hear me saying “mm-hmm” a lot, which may be slightly annoying to the listener (it annoyed me) so I will fix that for future episodes!

“In order to do this right…”

I know I said I’m stopping my daily publishing habit, but old habits die hard. You can bet I’m showing up again today because I want to. Onto the show…

It can be nerve-wracking to propose a project that is more expensive or takes longer than a client is asking for.

Our first instinct might be to charge the bare minimum to get the job done. Or to promise the most ideal of timelines—assuming nothing will go wrong—to win the deal and avoid pushback and rejection.

But we know that’s not realistic. Something always comes up.

The problem is, while you think you’re giving the client what they want, you’re actually undercutting both you and them.

You’re reducing the likelihood of achieving the very thing they’re hiring you to do, which is to get a business result.

In this episode, I talk about one magical phrase that gives you and your clients more confidence to do better and more expensive work than they originally hoped for.

And why it’s the best thing for them—and you—to take this approach more often.

Listen to the 2:35 episode or add Mindshare Radio to your podcast player for future recordings.

Why I’m allowing myself to stop publishing daily (audio)

I recently decided to switch from daily publishing to a more flexible format.

In this episode of Mindshare Radio, I break down the reasons why I started publishing daily in the first place (549 days ago) as well as the reasons for giving myself permission to publish whenever I want instead.

I’m still extremely bullish on daily content. It’s a highly powerful tactic if it aligns with your strategy.

But for now, I’m choosing flexibility. Listen to find out more.

Listen to the full episode here.

P.S. I’d love your thoughts. Hit reply and tell me what you’re doing related to publishing.

I’ve decided to stop writing daily

I’ve decided to stop writing daily. Or at least, to feel like I have to write daily.

It’s been 548 consecutive days including today. I’ve loved the process. It’s helped me think through and articulate my ideas.

But like anything, if you feel like you have to do something, it can become a chore. And nobody wants to read somebody’s chore.

Instead, I’ll write when I want to write.

I’ll still keep the fire under my bottom to publish often. I like the forcing function it creates to show up at a keyboard and publish my best idea that day—whatever that is.

But I won’t feel like I have to publish something. The difference is subtle.

Writing daily has allowed me to build traction with my mentorship work, develop a community, and clarify my thinking. I’m grateful for that.

I plan to keep doing this work a long time. It’s rewarding to me. I’ll just do it at a pace that feels right for me.

So maybe I’ll write to you again tomorrow. Or maybe I’ll skip a day.

Regardless, I’ll do what feels right, not what I feel I have to do.

A problem you’re uniquely capable of solving

What’s a problem you’re uniquely capable of solving?

Something that interests you and keeps your attention. Something you could work on for a long time. Something the market also wants to solve.

Maybe, instead of chasing opportunities, you could do more of that.