Are you a full-service marketing agency?
No, I am an independent marketing and communications consultant. I can help with general B2B marketing consulting and brand & communications strategy, and guide the implementation as makes sense. For more information on when I am or am not a good fit, read ‘Dear Marketing Consultant: What Services Do You Offer?’.

Where are you located?
My home base is the San Francisco area. I can work on-site in San Francisco or Marin County otherwise I mostly serve clients virtually.

If I’m in Minneapolis and you’re in the San Francisco area, how will we work together?
Most of the services I provide can be managed remotely with phone/email, Zoom, Skype, Basecamp, Asana, Google Drive, etc. If the scope of your work requires significant face time (e.g., to lead your marketing team temporarily or to interact regularly with your staff), I am available to travel to the client site for an extra fee. Virtual resources are not for everyone and do not make sense for some assignments – if my value proposition appeals to you, we can talk it through to see if the virtual option can work.

I need someone to build my website and manage SEO/SEM; can you help with that?
I can help coordinate and oversee that work with subcontractors or an agency partner if you need someone who knows what they’re doing to steer the ship. If not, this is a good example of where you may want to hire a specialist directly. My value is general guidance, organization and oversight of your marketing and communications strategy and plan. I offer consulting in the more traditional sense, although I can also do tactical work such as create content that requires strong business acumen (e.g., case studies, sales or executive presentations, explainer videos, etc.).

This video may be useful. 1-minute overview of my services and how I can help.

You offer many marketing services; what’s your favorite?
My favorite assignment is to help a new or growing company figure out their Brand Strategy, i.e., what they stand for; how they want to be perceived; who they are; their unique value; their voice; their look; their message.

Who is NOT a good fit for you as a client?
If you are an idea person, know exactly what you want for your Marketing and simply need a person to execute, I’m probably not the best resource for you. I am a B2B marketing strategist and consultant, so when you already know what you want it’s often better to hire a general contractor or specialist who can take an order and implement it according to your specifications.

How much do you charge?
My pricing depends on the scope-of-work. My speed and focus on the practicalities separate me from the rest, so you can be sure I will reduce unnecessary processes and documentation that slow things down. By cutting to the chase and focusing on what’s most valuable to the outcome you will be able to keep consulting costs down and get a good return of investment.

How do I know if you are charging a fair amount?
I am extremely transparent about my marketing consulting fees and keep a log of everything I spend time on so you know exactly where your money is going. Having spent years hiring outsource partners I know what you want to know, therefore transparency and ‘keeping it real’ are a huge part of my value proposition.

Can you give more detail on your Marketing Coach offer?
My experience is that much of the marketing work that needs to get done doesn’t because decision makers: a) can’t make up their mind, b) are not convinced of the value or are not quite sure what to do, or c) do not give clear direction or proper guidance and support to worker bees as things get moving. As a marketing coach I can be available on demand and as needed for burning questions, to help flush out an idea or break down a barrier by simply talking and emailing. Having a thought-partner on call may help crystallize concepts quicker and accelerate decision-making and execution, and therefore produce results and ROI.

I’ve hired marketing consultants before, and it seems all they do is charge a lot of money to produce a lot of documentation. Why should I consider you?
Check out these 36 testimonials about my work and style for some good reasons to consider me. It’s true, many consultants are expensive and may include too much processes or extraneous activities in their scope of work that ultimately do not translate to action. Much of what you’re often paying for are robust charts and documentation and the time it takes a consultant to put it all together. Having been on the receiving end of that consultation, I’ve found that the problem is usually that the business that hires the consultant is not ready or committed to the implementation of the output. Most of the consultants I’ve worked with offered great value, but much of it was not realized because the client did not act. This tells me that many businesses that hire consultants are not ready to receive the information, and should therefore focus on bite-sized areas they can successfully execute. One of the reasons I became a consultant was because of this gap and the need for a middle ground. This press release from my launch helps shed light on how I’m different: A Different Approach to Independent Marketing Consulting.

What is the scope of your Content & Communications offer?
Strategic content is critical if you want to get leads from your website, enable sales teams, build customer loyalty and engage employees. I can give you a strategy, guidance and structure that ensures ROI. I am also a good storyteller and project leader, and can create narrative content that conveys your value proposition in an interesting way- e.g., via case studies, customer-facing or executive presentations, explainer videos, etc. Read ‘4 Ways A Content Consultant Can Help‘ for more insight. I can also help with Internal Communications.

What is the scope of your Social Media offer?
I consider social media in two buckets: 1) as part of the marketing planning, to determine how/if/when it fits as a lever to drive business, and getting it set up or kick-started; and 2) as part of the content management workload, i.e., day-to-day management of social media activity. I can help with both, but I consider determining the role and opportunity of social media different from managing an active social media plan.