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Kevin C. Whelan

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Marketing Consultants

January 20, 2021

The thing about limiting beliefs

I like to ask people where they see themselves in 12-18 months. The answers I get are often surprisingly below their potential.

The reason for that is we all carry limiting beliefs about what’s possible. What’s possible for tomorrow feels contingent on what happened yesterday.

The best way to fix that is with outside perspective from someone who’s done what you’re trying to do. These people can tell you when you’re just plain wrong.

This happened to me today with someone I mentor.

I asked them where they wanted to be in the next year or so and they said they could imagine having three advisory clients at the most.

I said they could do more.

They recently starting using my consulting framework, which allows me to handle up to 10 clients at a time, plus some group coaching and membership programs.

Why not them, too?

You can serve more than three people as an advisor at one time if you’re doing it right. A little experience, belief in yourself, and the proper design of your services can go a long way.

So as you’re planning your 2021, I encourage you take a moonshot.

Ask yourself, if I could hit a higher target, what would need to happen in my business to do so?

And what am I making harder than it needs to be? How would I design my business in a way that makes even more profit AND more impact?

Those are questions of value. Ask them to yourself, talk to someone who’s done it before, and raise your targets.

You might surprise yourself.

January 19, 2021

Your business is a system

Your business is a system.

Maybe it operates haphazardly, or maybe it runs like a swiss watch.

Either way, it’s a system.

And anything new you take on, whether it be a client, project, activity, or task, becomes a piece in that system.

The key is to assimilate things slowly so they fit into your system. And almost nothing fits by default.

You have to be intentional if you hope to run your business (and life) like a well-oiled machine. It means considering each new input and idea, scoping it out, and seeing if it will work in your machine before taking it on.

Too often we take on new responsibilities and assimilate things that don’t fit into our business. Which then creates a system breakdown.

Your goal is to keep your system running smoothly. Doing that means being judicious about what you let into it in the first place.

Guard your system, run it smoothly.

January 18, 2021

What my toddler taught me about marketing

Toddlers are funny. You pretty much can’t make them eat food they don’t like or at times when they’re not hungry.

You can dance, since, cajole, and plead, but they ultimately do what they want.

Their minds are too young and stubborn to reason with. At least mine is.

Marketing is no different.

Instead of trying to convince someone to buy what you sell, the better way is to serve a hungry audience what it already wants. To tie your products and services to existing demand in whatever way possible.

They key is picking your ideal target market before you try to sell something. When you already know who you’re trying to serve, you can easily find out what they like and create something ideally suited for them.

The process should look something like this:

  1. Know who you want to serve
  2. Find out what they want
  3. Offer things they want
  4. Build trust and awareness for your offer
  5. Be around when they’re ready to buy

Marketing isn’t about convincing people to buy your thing. It’s about knowing what they want, when they want it, and then delivering on it better than anyone else can.

January 17, 2021

How to package your marketing advisory services

There are plenty of ways to sell marketing advisory services.

The three main ways are:

  1. Big individual projects for bigger fees
  2. Longer engagements for smaller fees
  3. A hybrid of project and/or fee sizes

I personally prefer a smaller fee over a longer period of time. That’s because marketing isn’t a one-time event. Real change rarely happens in short windows.

It takes time to evaluate and implement solutions, taking into account learning and iteration along the way.

No matter how good your plan, no matter how accurate your assumptions, no matter how skilled or experienced you are, there’s a certain amount of trial and error required to create lasting results.

If it were easy and predictable, all businesses would be successful.

Markets are competitive. There’s no one way to do things. And even if you know the way, it takes time to implement and even longer to see the full results.

That’s why if you’re selling advisory services, I suggest aiming to package them over longer periods for a price that your clients can sustain.

You might still get an ROI very quickly, which is great, but in order to get lasting results, it takes time and iteration.

Work with longterm people and run a better advisory practice in the process.

You can learn how to package your marketing advisory services in more detail at Mindshare.fm.

January 16, 2021

A resource for my typography nerds

I don’t know about you, but I love typography.

I have no formal training in selecting or pairing fonts, but I like to play with them anyway.

Fonts have a unique way of conveying a tone. They communicate so much, whether in a subtle or dramatic way.

Are you trying to convey a serious brand, playful, fun or something else? Fonts do that extremely well.

I stumbled upon this website, Fonts in the Wild, which has a combination of free fonts, Google fonts, and Adobe fonts.

If you design websites or any other marketing collateral, this is a good one to keep in your resource list.

H/T to Mackenzie Child for sharing this on Twitter.

January 15, 2021

The biggest differentiator you have is you

There are a lot of ways to differentiate yourself in a market.

You can talk about pricing, positioning, and or kinds of other things.

But if you really want to differentiate, the best way is to be more of you.

At the end the day, nobody buys from a consultant they have no relationship with.

People want to connect with you, even if it’s from behind their screens, reading what you put out to the world.

So put yourself out there. Humanize your work. Share the things you value about business and life.

Make it personal.

The more people relate to you, the more they will feel something.

And we all know people don’t buy with logic. They buy with feel.

The biggest differentiator you have is you.

January 14, 2021

Most people aren’t ready to buy now

I saw an ad today on YouTube for solar panels. I normally skip ads, but this one sucked me in.

The video had a guy talking about the problems with energy bills and how much money I could save with solar.

His pitch was interesting enough to have me listening to the end. I was moderately intrigued. I may even buy solar panels some day in the future.

But that’s the key word here: future.

I am nowhere near ready to buy (or even investigate) solar panels right now. And it’s the same with most people with whom your marketing lands on.

Every time you reach someone, they’re either interested in buying something or they’re not.

If you’re lucky, some number of people will buy immediately. But most people (98% or more) won’t be ready to buy on first encounter with your offer.

However, a much higher number may one day be interested in buying from you. And that’s why it’s so important to keep showing up.

Marketing is not about getting a sale today.

Some percent of your efforts should be focused there, but most of your activities will land on people unwilling to buy now (or ever).

Your job is to keep showing up, adding value in a way that educates and leaves a positive impression, and then be around long enough so when they’re ready to buy, they choose you.

If you do this with a longterm commitment and an offer people actually want, you can’t help but succeed.

January 13, 2021

What to do when things aren’t working out for you

When things aren’t working for you, it might be time to pair things back and refocus on what actually is working.

Almost always, something is working well but isn’t getting our appropriate attention. We usually need to cut back in order to give it room to grow.

In practical terms, it might mean reducing your services down to your core skill.

It might mean focusing on a single marketing channel, ignoring the rest for a while.

It might mean saying no to projects so you have more time to think.

Whatever you do, avoid spinning your wheels on things that don’t work.

See where you’re getting any results and start there. Do more of that.

Analyze what happened. Nurture and repeat. Cut the rest.

January 12, 2021

The emotional nature of consulting

Business is an emotional game. You might not think so, but it is.

You’ve heard the idea that we buy on emotion and justify with logic. It’s true.

But we also keep buying based on how we feel, which is often more important than the initial purchase.

Your job as a marketing advisor is to maintain relationships with your clients and stakeholders in addition to getting good results.

That includes the buyer, their staff, suppliers, and anyone else you encounter along the way.

A consultant’s work is fraught with niggly details, technical challenges, creative solutions, and elements of uncertainty.

Things go wrong, there are ups and downs, and at times, there are uncomfortable conversations. All of which can put a strain on your client relationships.

As a consultant, it’s your job to maintain emotional ease during your engagement, not your clients’.

So how do you maintain emotional equilibrium in your engagements?

Here are a few ideas:

  • Do what you promised
  • Empathize with your client
  • Be candid yet respectful
  • Speak in plain language
  • Be transparent about everything
  • Proactively discuss progress, results, and value
  • Ask for feedback on what’s working or not
  • Check in often to see if you’re still focused on the right things
  • Acknowledge hard topics if it helps prompt helpful conversations
  • Admit your mistakes when you make them
  • Go above and beyond when needed
  • Act in their best interest—even if it goes against yours
  • Be genuine with your interactions

These are just a few of the ways you can maintain your client relationships.

The main thing to remember is that you’re paid to help clients make change. And change can be hard.

Be the guide, empathize, and focus on their best interests at all times.

Do that, and the relationship will take care of itself.

January 11, 2021

Be known for one specific thing

If you had to be known for one thing, what would it be?

What would you be the best in the world at, if you could be? What are you best at now?

What riles you up? What tires you out?

For independent marketing consultants, the answer to these questions point to where your positioning should be.

Sure, you can chase opportunities. It doesn’t have to be something you’ll be known for forever.

But if your positioning is night and day different from the first question, you’re in trouble.

Be known for one very specific thing, if you can.

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