Marketing Advisor, Mentor, & Educator

Kevin C. Whelan

Marketing Consultants

Your client isn’t always right

As an advisor, you have a duty to be honest and forthright with your clients.

And when your client wants to do things you don’t agree with, you have a responsibility to say something—even if they don’t want to hear it at first.

There will be times when your client wants to do things their way. Maybe it’s what they feel comfortable with or what they’ve always done.

But they hire you for results, right? So it’s on you to make sure they get them.

As a consultant, you are in the unique position of having seen inside a lot of businesses. And with that, you get good at spotting patterns and inconsistencies.

You begin to know what will work and what what needs to be done even before the data is there to show you.

That’s how expertise is formed. Humans are expert pattern matchers, after all.

And that means you’re in a unique position to be their guide. You’ve seen what works and what doesn’t so many times that it becomes second nature.

It’s just in you.

So when your gut, head, or heart doesn’t agree with the direction your client wants to take, it’s your job to stop things in their tracks and speak up.

Your job is to help them see the patterns you’ve discovered, then dig into data and examples to make the best possible decision with your client.

If you don’t speak up when things are hard, you have no business being a consultant.

Why we need more marketing advisors

I went to get my car maintained today. And what was supposed to be a ~$400 visit turned into a $1,700 visit.

It turns out my front brakes were at the end of their life and my rear rotors (?) were rusted out.

Whatever that means.

And when they called to confirm the new price, I had no idea whether they were telling the truth about my car.

Or whether the price they quoted was competitive.

Or even what questions to ask about what my options were. So, I did as most non-car people do and said, “okay”.

What’s the moral here? Well, even though I trusted the car dealership I went to, I still had no way to verify what they were telling me.

And as someone who’s not an expert on cars, I didn’t even know what questions to ask. All I could do was put blind faith into what they were telling me.

Which is fine this time. I don’t suspect foul play and I assume they are honest.

But the feeling spending thousands of dollars—without any clue whether I needed it today, what my options really were, or what half the things they did for my car even means—is not a pleasant one.

Which leads me to my point: your clients are not marketing experts. They have various experiences accrued over the years (often including several bad ones). But they’re not technicians.

And yet, every month they pay freelancers, agencies, and consultants costing their business tens or hundreds of thousands per year on the basis of trust and as much due diligence as they can muster.

These are people selling advice (what to do/fix) but also implementation (which they get paid more for).

Which is all the more reason we (as an industry) need more marketing advisors. Neutral, third party professionals who can be the advocate for their clients. People who have a fiduciary standard of care for their clients.

When you buy something you don’t understand once and a while, you can get by on a little blind faith.

But when you’re spending tens of thousands or more per month on your marketing, it would be nice to have a neutral expert who doesn’t get paid more to do the implementation work.

Getting paid to give advice AND sell implementation naturally forces clients to assess your judgement based on your interests and become their own advocate.

But they should not need to, nor are they equipped to do it properly.

In my view, selling advice and NOT implementation makes you a truer partner. You have no financial interest in suggesting any more than they need.

The difference is subtle, but if you think of it from your clients’ perspective, it’s valuable.

My first Black Friday offer

I’m trying something new here.

I’ve never done any kind of Black Friday deal for my own business before.

But I was thinking about it today and figured on a whim this evening I’d give it a try.

So, for anyone who’s interested in joining my new Mindshare community, now will be your best time.

But before I get into the offer, I’ll share what it’s all about.

The focus is helping marketing professionals:

  1. Attract more clients & opportunities
  2. Sell advice, not implementation
  3. Choose and build in a niche
  4. Systemize and sell their process
  5. Sell group programs & memberships
  6. And a whole range of other outcomes.

Here’s what’s included:

  1. Private podcast with actionable ideas for marketing consultants
  2. Resources and templates (i.e. proposals, onboarding questionnaire, client KPI dashboard)
  3. Tight-knit community of marketing consultants learning from each other & sharing what works

If you’re wondering if this is for you, people in the group identify as some or multiple of the following:

  • Marketing consultants
  • Fractional CMOs
  • Freelancers (writers, designers, developers, etc.)
  • Strategists in various forms
  • Agency owners
  • Agency employees
  • Brand experts

So there you have it. My first Black Friday offer on a complete whim. I hope you’ll join us.

Go to Mindshare.fm and use promo code VIP5 to lock in the original monthly pricing for life (valid until Monday).

Or choose the annual option for the best any-time price if you plan to write it off and want less paperwork. No promo code required on the annual price.

You also get a 30-day trial window, so there’s zero risk and all upside. No brainer.

And there you have it, that’s the offer. See you inside.

 

Love me or hate me

Let’s talk about this ad by Ocean Spray.

As you can see by my tweet, I support the audacity.

The thing about marketing is, if you play it safe, you’ll get safe returns at best. Or, at worst, you’ll become irrelevant and go out of business.

But if you double down on your best customers or clients—to the detriment of being attractive to most others—you run the chance of becoming beloved to the people who really matter.

An aspiration worth striving for, with significant upside potential if you choose wisely.

It’s the same concept with many brands recently taking “risks” by choosing sides on social issues, like Nike did with the Kaepernick campaign for example.

Which, by the way, despite threats of boycotts and backlash, netted the company $163 million in earned media, a $6 billion brand value increase, and a 31% boost in sales.

If you don’t put anyone off with your marketing, you’re definitely not having anyone fall in love with your brand either.

As somebody once said, and I’m not sure who, “Love me or hate me, there’s no money in the middle.”

What people are really buying

If you’re in marketing, people aren’t really buying:

  • A better strategy
  • New branding
  • Stronger website copy
  • Fresh web design
  • Good code
  • More content
  • Slicker videos
  • Higher rankings
  • Cheaper tools
  • Faster systems
  • More emails

…they’re looking for:

  • More money
  • Less risk
  • Increased confidence
  • Better relationships
  • Reduced stress
  • … and who knows what else

So why is your website copy all about what you sell and not about how it gets them what they actually want?

A secret to coming up with good content ideas when you’re stuck

I was sitting here, thinking about what I wanted to write about today. I was stumped for ideas.

In cases like this, I usually reference my list of ideas, notes from my client calls, or even my research document.

But this time was different. I asked myself, “who am I trying to reach with this post?”

And then it hit me: write for my ideal client. Duh!

By the way, this is a real person, not an avatar. Someone who already pays me well, refers me to others, enjoys what I offer, and complains the least.

As soon as I thought about one specific person I could write to, the ideas came flooding in. I knew exactly what to say.

If your writing resonates with your ideal clients, it will likely also resonate with many more like them.

To me, this is an idea worth using often.

How to attract more clients

Imagine your prospective clients are aiming for a target in the distance with a bow and arrow.

One target is the size of a house, the other is the size of a penny.

Which one are they more likely to hit?

The one with the biggest surface area, of course.

And it’s the same with your marketing. The more of it you do, the larger your “surface area” becomes and the easier it is for your clients to find you.

Yes, you want the highest quality possible at every touch point. But it doesn’t need to be perfect for it to be effective.

When given the choice, I’d rather a large dartboard with low points than a single bullseye that nobody can hit.

Make your target big enough, then optimize for higher points per square inch.

P.S. Do your like this content? Check out my audio mentorship and community for marketing consultants here: mindshare.fm.

Being too busy is not only risky, it’s unethical

You can’t be a world-class consultant if you’re too busy.

When you’re too busy, your work suffers. Your communication suffers. You drop balls and make mistakes.

You run out of energy. You burn out. You become unhappy, no matter how much money you make.

Slowly, your clients start to attrition. You don’t get testimonials nor referrals. Your case studies are weak. Or worse, you don’t have them.

To be a world-class consultant, you need to build in time to sharpen the saw.

To learn, practice, and improve your skills. To market yourself and work on your business—not just your clients’.

Give yourself time to actually think. Because that’s what your clients are paying for.

They want you to apply your mind to their situation so you can actually help them get results. It’s unethical to do otherwise.

In many cases, they would rather pay you even more if it meant having more of your time, energy, and attention applied to their situation.

Yes, it’s hard to say no to opportunities, but think of it as an investment in being world-class.

Your clients deserve it and so do you. And the best part is, it will pay off more in the long run.

My audio recording setup in late 2020

Someone on Twitter asked me what my audio setup was after sharing this monstrosity of a wire management “system”.

I’ve been asked this before, so I thought I’d just write it here to make it easy to reference later.

Here’s what I use currently:

1. Shure SM7B

I use this any time I’m recording audio for a podcast.

The sound quality is excellent and it’s used by many of the biggest podcasters out there.

But it definitely costs more than your average USB mic and requires the pre-amp and Cloudlifter to get it sounding right on your computer.

Details on that are below.

2. Rode PSA1 Boom Arm

I originally bought this when I started out with the Rode NT-USB (listed below), but I’ve since added the Shure SM7B to it instead and use a little stand that came with the Rode NT-USB for that mic.

It’s a good boom arm and I’d recommend it to just about anyone who needs one.

3. Scarlett 6i6 pre-amp

A friend of mine sold me his used Scarlett 6i6 pre-amp interface. Since the mic used an XLR cable, not USB, you need this to send the sound data to your computer’s USB port. It’s the middleman.

The only problem is, the Shure SM7B is quiet, so you need something to boost the sound without creating lots of hiss. Another downside to the mic, but that’s the cost of having good sound!

I use the Cloudlifter CL-2 Mic Activator for that, which seems to be the most popular choice on the internet.

Both the Cloudlifter CL-2 and Scarlett 6i6 come with two XLR ports, so I could do in-person interviews with separate mics, if I wanted. Since I had the 6i6 from a friend already, I figured I might as well get the CL-2 to go with it.

If you only need one audio input port, I think the 3i3 and CL-1 would work just fine and would save you a little bit of money. But I’m not an expert on any of this stuff.

4. Cloudlifter CL-2 Mic Activator

As mentioned above, the Cloudlifter boosts the sound without creating added background noise.

If you have a USB mic you wouldn’t need the Cloudlifter OR the Scarlett since it would connect right into your computer.

But you do lose a little bit in the sound quality, if that matters to you.

5. DBX 286 S Preamp/Processor

This device lets me use my Shure microphone on live streams and Zoom calls. Without it, the volume tends to be too low.

It also lets me control things like the input volume, has a de-esser, compression, a noise gate, and a lot of other tools that ultimately reduce background noises and other odd sounds from getting into my audio.

It’s much easier than editing things in post, and gives me a series of physical dials to play with if I get bored on a podcast or Zoom call. 🙂

It’s not pictured in the photo above, it was bought some time afterwards.

6. Rode NT-USB (with Shure SM7B’s backup wind guard)

The Rode NT-USB was my first external microphone and works very well. I use it for my Zoom calls instead of the Shure SM7B which can be a bit finicky to get to the right volume on Zoom.

I added the Shure SM7B wind guard to the mic since my pop filter that came with the Rode mic broke off when I knocked it over (I had set up the stand backwards so it wasn’t balanced).

7. Microphones for when I’m travelling 

I also use a Samson Go mic when I’m on the road and it comes with me in my little tech kit. It connects via USB and creates surprisingly decent sound in a pinch.

Lastly, I use an Altson Ultra-Compact Clip Omnidirectional iPhone Microphone for quick iPhone audio recordings. It plugs into the lightening port on my phone directly. The sound ion this is also decent, surprisingly.

8. Sony MDR-7506 Headphones

I bought these after seeing several people recommend them. I’ve heard they last for years (decades).

I’m a big believer in buying right not twice, so I grabbed them.

The big benefit is they plug directly into the pre-amp so you can hear yourself in the monitor in real time vs. a slight lag you hear when plugging into the computer. The lag makes you hear yourself too much and it’s distracting.

They also have an adaptable size output so you can plug them into standard audio ports or larger ones like the pre-amp has.

9. Garage Band

Where would we be without Garage Band? I don’t do robust editing, so Garage Band works well for me when editing podcasts or audio for Mindshare.

It was super easy to learn, so once I reach my technical limits with it, I’ll try other things.

If you’re on PC, you might look into Audacity which is free.

10. HyperDrive GEN2: Next Generation USB-C Hub

This is the magic box that pulls it all together. I bought it off a Kickstarter campaign and lets me plug all my things into one box, which then plugs into my Macbook’s USB-C port.

Simple, clean, easy to grab my laptop quickly to go, or plug things back in with one wire.

If I were to buy it again, I’d get the one with 18 or more ports because I’m already using up most of my USB/USB-C ports. But for now it works.

You can buy one here if you want (not an affiliate link).

So that’s my audio setup. Perhaps in the future I’ll do a full rundown of the rest of my tech if anyone is curious.

How to reach busy people with educational content

We’re all inundated with information.

Blogs, podcasts, social media, books, courses, you name it.

So, if you want to reach busy people with educational content, cutting through the noise will be your biggest challenge.

The things I’m most drawn to these are:

  1. Audio content
  2. Short articles/emails
  3. Twitter

The common thread is the ease in which these ideas are consumed.

Give me too much to read at once, I won’t do it (unless it’s an actual book or course).

Write me a newsletter with too many ideas, I’ll start to ignore it because it feels overwhelming.

But give me a single piece of short-form wisdom at a time or put it into audio format? I am very interested.

Why? Because I apply my brain continuously all day and it can only handle so much input.

When I consume content, I want it to be as easy to consume as possible—unless it’s a deep-dive course or book. In that case, I will invest my energy.

And if this is how I feel, there are many more busy professionals like me out there.

So, if you’re trying to reach busy people with educational content, my advice to you is this:

Create content you would want to consume and do it as efficiently as you can.

There is a time and place for deep-dive content.

But if you’re focused on reaching busy professionals, it might not be the right way to have your message consumed.