Work With Me

What I Do For Organizations

I am an independent marketing consultant. That may not mean much to you, so I’ll elaborate. As an independent marketing consultant I am positioned to provide my clients with the best, non-biased advice with regard to marketing strategy and implementation. I intentionally do not have any special relationships setup with advertising vendors (such as TV, radio, newspaper, online web sites, etc) so that I am never persuaded by the ability to potentially earn a large commission.

There are many hard-working people that have been given (either by their employer or themselves) the title of “Marketing Consultant.” Unfortunately, if they are working for an advertising vendor such as a TV station, they cannot truly be a good consultant for your business. They are undoubtedly being paid a commission on anything you to spend money on with them. Therefore they are biased toward the program they are promoting. Admittedly, many of these people mean well, but that does not change the fact that they are biased to the programs they have to offer.

I provide an objective opinion on any and all marketing opportunities that are made available to my clients. I educate them on the true pros and cons of each and help establish the level of priority an option should be given in relation to all other options. This means that I help clients to know whether that $10,000 they are about to spend is better spent on building a new web site, for example, instead of a TV campaign, newspaper ads, etc.

Virtual Director of Marketing

The organizations that are best served by my abilities as a marketing consultant are those that need professional marketing help on a consistent basis but do not want or can’t afford to hire a full-time Director of Marketing. A full-time DoM is expensive, even an entry-level graduate will cost an organization well over $90,000 each year (and that’s if they are being paid a salary of $36,000 – overhead and benefits are expensive for businesses). Additionally, these people will not have the experience necessary to deliver a powerful marketing program until they have been on the job for at least 12 months.

As your organization’s Virtual Director of Marketing, I perform the responsibilities of an internal DoM and bring with me the experience of delivering successful marketing programs for multiple previous clients. As a marketing consultant, I provide value by:

  • Auditing current marketing initiatives to ensure there are no inappropriate ones being used.
  • Preparing full-scale, detailed marketing program implementation strategies.
  • Implementing marketing program strategies to ensure their effectiveness and success.
  • Meeting and working with any and all advertising vendors to ensure the best possible pricing and programs are being used by your business.
  • Helping business managers have the ability to perform the duties they excel at, thereby increasing productivity and overall effectiveness and internal morale.
  • Managing a company’s brand and identity.
  • Increasing market presence and brand recognition.
  • Increasing profitability on marketing programs (by reducing spending, increasing prices where appropriate, etc).
  • Improving internal morale by providing a company image that employees will be proud of.

Return On Investment

The term Return On Investment (ROI) has been abused in the marketing world – typically by the same people that I mentioned earlier that carry the title of marketing consultant. How ROI is measured is a key indicator of whether or not it is actually positive or negative. Tracking your banner ad ROI by the number of impressions delivered on the web site it is being displayed on (and therefore saying it was “seen by x number of people”) is utter non-sense.

ROI should be measured by something of value. For example, for the advertising project, we were able to deliver 100 new customers in the last week alone. You have to know that it came specifically from that program, and therefore you must have some form of tracking in place. Whether that is tracking on your web site, or a phone number that provides tracking abilities.

I help my clients gain a true grasp on the value of their ROI on their marketing initiatives, whether it is positive or negative, and I help them decide what the next steps should be based on that information.

Should You Hire Me?

Now that you know a little about how I work, you may already have an idea of whether or not you should hire me. If you still need some guidance on making a decision, ask yourself these questions:

  • Does my company have a dedicated marketing person to handle our marketing programs (that doesn’t have other responsibilities, like managing the company)?
  • Does my company have an accurate depiction of what it spends money on for marketing?
  • Does my company know whether those items have generated an actual return on the investment?
  • Does my company refuse to make marketing program decisions based solely on what is being said by advertising vendors (tv, radio and online sales people)?
  • Does my company perform market research before implementing a marketing program?
  • Does my company perform a marketing audit each year?
  • Has my company ever hired someone to give an outsider’s opinion of our marketing programs?

If you answered ‘no’ to any of the above questions, it is probably a good idea for you to give me a call and at least see if we mesh well enough to work together. Your first consultation is on me, and I’ll give you as much help as I can immediately – I won’t hold back information in an attempt to gain future business. At that point, we’ll figure out if it really makes sense for you to hire me long-term.