We are not consultants. Please don’t call us that.
You may have talked to a consultant in the past who implied he could run your business better than you, completely understand your clients and change everything overnight. Maybe even make the sky rain gumdrops. Make everything seem so simple.
We can’t possibly know everything about your business as well as you do – and we won’t even try. We do however; want to understand your unique challenges. This allows us to make better recommendations and show you types of marketing that have worked for other businesses – and will for yours.
We want to feel part of your team. It allows us to understand your business and provide better recommendations.
Ideas
Each client is unique and needs something different. We don’t offer cookie cutter solutions. Since, we don’t have any full-time employees or a product we want to sell you, we recommend solutions that are designed to be cost-effective, easy to implement, and profitable.
Our recommendations are realistic. We base each of them on your available resources (time x budget).
We provide recommendations. Not advice or suggestions, but most certainly not do-or-die-follow-me-or-else written in stone laws. We simply show you proven marketing techniques that have made similar businesses successful. It’s your choice.
Because everyone needs something different, we have no preference for any specific type of marketing. We have no vested interest in anything other than your success.
Values
Marketing should be profitable or not done at all. Period.
How risky do you want to be? We understand that marketing failures can be fatal to a small business.
We work for you. We treat each business as if it was our own.
Getting things done
Marketing is not easy to execute. That’s why even the biggest companies make mistakes. Which is why we place heavy emphasis on getting things done right.
Nothing bothers us more than seeing good ideas poorly executed. It makes us cringe. That’s why we’re available to execute anything we recommend. We’re happy if you want to do it yourself but we are available for guidance and can step in to help at any time.
Part of our understanding comes from the belief that if you had more time, you would do more marketing. Let us give you the time.
Process
With so many choices on how to market yourself, how do you decide what to do next? Social media? Direct mail? Advertising? Or just get out and network?
Whether it’s a small or large project, here are the steps we follow each time:
1) Review
a) Where are you at right now?
b) Where do you want to go?
2) Analyze
a) What do you need?
3) Determine resources
a) What is your budget?
b) How much time do you have to dedicate to it?
4) Plan
a) Simple and communicated to you each step of the way.
5) Take a breath
a) Look again with fresh eyes. Is this really the right course of action?
b) Is there a way to maximize your results with the same effort?
6) Execute
a) Make sure all the details are followed and communication is clear to your staff and clients.
7) Evaluate
a) How effective was it?
b) How can we do it better the next time?