How to Sell Advice

How niche should you go?

When you're just starting out as a
marketing consultant or freelancer,

that's what we're going to get into today.

And it comes from a great question
from Jack in the community.

He says that he introduced
himself as a B2B marketer.

He's currently working in house and
for a company that would probably

be classified as a B2B manufacturer.

So, uh, he says that his plan is
to go into an advisory strategy,

kind of independent practice in
the next, say, six months or so.

You know, something, all things go, go
well into plan and congratulations, Jack.

That's a fun leap to make.

And there's obviously things that you
can do to set yourself up for success.

Uh, like having a website and some, you
know, creating some content, even if you

don't quite put your name on it, or at
least you don't have any services on it.

Things that will eventually lie
to have a better home base when

you do eventually make that leap.

And I think we already talked a
little bit about that and I've

talked about that in the past before.

So the company or the COO the question
you're asking is, is about niching

and about where you should start off
when you do make the leap eventually.

And your three options were
well, should I go to general B2B?

Should I look at manufacturers
or should I look at fire

safety and security companies?

Um, which is I think the niche
that you currently work for.

And so that would be
like all the way down.

That's three levels deep.

Which I, which I tend to, like, by the
way, Or even four levels you might be, you

know, I do marketing for anyone then B2B.

Then manufacturers or B2B
manufacturers, and then maybe the

last one is fire and safety, fire
safety and security companies.

So it's an interesting proposition and
there's a few things to unpack there.

Number one is you can succeed by going
at any at any level to some extent

the, just the marketing plans and
tactics and how you're going to get

clients is going to vary dramatically,
depending on which one you choose.

To me, ultimately, if you end
up at the third level deep, the

lowest, the most specialized level.

That's when you really tap into sort of
category of one positioning, especially in

an industry like fire safety and security.

Uh, you basically become extremely
sought after, depending on what's out

there and there, there needs around
marketing and that sort of thing.

Now, should you start off with there?

My general thinking is probably not
because even if you, even if you had

the right, the right messaging, the
right products, the right services.

Which you still probably won't have
the right services until you get into

this business a little bit more and
talk to more people and figure out

exactly what you're going to offer.

Um, it's going to be.

Take a long time to kind of.

And get to get momentum and get started.

So if you're starting from a stance, so it
all comes down to what's your runway like,

and if you're starting from a standstill,

It, uh, you just have to know either way
it's going to be a little bit difficult.

So I would recommend going a little
broader and being, say a fractional

CMO for B2B companies or, or
something very broad like that.

I think picking B2B is still enough.

I've had people seek me
out when I ran an agency.

For me to be marketing in the local
area that I lived in, which was Toronto.

And so I think that can work and people
are looking for that kind of thing.

So it's, it's a thing, but it's
super broad and it will, you know,

There's a lot of down downsides to
living in that level of positioning.

Long-term.

For example, your interchangeable, the
world's, your, your, your, uh, your

competition, et cetera, et cetera.

You don't have repeatable.

This is a system that you can sell
and all, all kinds of other stuff.

But I think it's not a bad place to
start now, if you start at the B2B level.

So, um, you know, fractional CMO for B2B.

Uh, general B2B companies, or if you
had enough of a network and this is

the other part, if you had enough, if
you think the network you have and the

people that have access to matters a lot.

As well as the credibility
you have working for say, B2B

companies or B2B manufacturers.

Uh, or whatever niche you're claiming.

So those are really important
is what is your track record?

Do you look good on paper?

Do you look credible?

And two is who do you have access to?

Cause that's going to really
help drive momentum early on.

So I'm assuming you don't have a ton of
runway and you can either, you know, build

your web, you build your business on the
side where some people do on the low key.

And I can't advise that necessarily
in case you lose your job.

So don't, don't do that and come to
me and say you lost a job because

he built the thing on the side.

Um, But some people do that.

And if you can't do that, then you want
to stock up as much cash as you can.

And ideally you want to get
as much recurring revenue.

As possible in the door, because
that is the key to mental.

You know, Uh, ease when you are running
your business, you want recurring revenue.

The last thing you want is
to have these huge whoops and

swings of, of project revenue.

It becomes, becomes very difficult to,
to fill your pipeline enough unless.

Yeah, there's a whole bunch
of problems with that, but

won't get into that right now.

So ideally you have a bit
of a runway either way and.

If you're going to make the leap,
ideally you can find secure a client.

That's going to at
least pay your overhead.

Before you make the leap.

So maybe you reach out
to a few people and then.

And maybe you show them your blog
and your blog is kind of, you know,

under the radar, if you will, maybe
has your name, maybe it doesn't, you

reach out to people, you draw up some
conversations and then you, or you

transition your current job into a
fractional CMO or an advisor type role.

And that will at least give you
the base and you're not going to be

desperate because the last thing you
want to do is to be, to be desperate.

So.

Assuming you have a bit
of a runway to work with.

We're saying it's
staying at the B2B level.

And then going down and having what are
called audience pages or sub verticals.

And then having a landing page
that basically re-describe is what

you do, why you're credible, how
you help and the things you offer.

And maybe even has some access to
links in blog posts that you've

written for that particular vertical.

And that can be done with say
a blog category on WordPress,

and then it just displays.

That industry's category
of blog posts on the page.

However you do it.

Uh, it makes your landing page,
which is an audience page,

and maybe it's a dropdown.

Uh, you know, who I help.

And then it's got a few examples of people
you help, maybe it's manufacturers B2B.

Fire and safety, fire, safety,
and security, whatever.

Uh, then you can go and do some
outreach and point them to that landing

page and show them some content.

It kind of re re describes your
business in a way that feels very

specialized, even though your
general positioning is a bit broader.

And then you can still talk
about marketing related things

on LinkedIn and other places.

Even when you have a job without proning
yourself, but at least get gay or kind

of get people's awareness of you out
there as sort of a thought leader in

marketing in general sharing tips and
tidbits that people would resonate with.

As just a natural expression of who you
are as your personal brand, even though

you're not selling anything officially.

So we talked about a few little strategies
there for kind of maybe bridging that gap.

So you're not starting leaving your job
and then having zero income, uh, and

doing so in a way that allows you to be
what I consider to be both a specialist

and a generalist at the same time.

So by having audience pages,
that's kind of that middle gap.

It says, Hey, I'm a B2B marketer, but
I focus in on, here are some industries

that I've focused on and then it
has a whole landing page from value

proposition directly targeted toward them.

And one thing to remember is that.

And this is the thing, right?

In the passionate economy,
Adam Davidson, the book.

It's great.

You should read it.

I think chapter three,
there's a Baton of laws.

He said, he basically says that.

Actually, let me find the
quote for you right now.

He basically says you can never have
too narrow a niche or niche, but you

can rush to your knees too quickly.

And I totally agree with that.

And he says, it's possible that they
were best audience, three businesses.

Left-handed.

Uh, chefs with a hunger, for the
perfect knife, with which to cut an

onion or something very specific.

But it'll take some time to find those
members of that group and persuade

them that you were the only option.

Uh, right for the job and it
can be tempting to wake up.

Uh, to wake up one day, realize
that your customers aren't the right

fit and tell them all to go away.

Uh, but unless you have a sizable
war, chest of excess cash, it

can be best to transition slowly
and deliberately, and he goes on.

So definitely check it out.

The passion economy.

I think it's going to be perfect for
you right now in what you're trying

to do, but I totally agree with that.

So, um, knowing that maybe only 3% of
people are currently actively buying.

Your services and then maybe like
another 7% are intending to buy,

but they're not really proactively
looking, but they're sort of in the

market, they would be open to an offer.

Uh, it means that even if you had the
perfect message to the perfect offer,

the perfect website directly targeting
a specific niche, it's still gonna take

a long time to sort of develop and turn
into a real lasting, sustainable business.

So I.

I'm very practical in the sense that I
want you to be open to any opportunity

that comes your way so you can pay the
bills so you can avoid becoming desperate.

So that you can then begin to
niche and follow, follow the

course, and you can, you can apply
your outreach and your energy.

Uh, and your content marketing,
even to specific industries.

And, and then reach out to people
and point them to the areas on your

website that speak directly to them.

So you can basically actively market
in the niche, but remain a little

more general in your positioning,
which won't dissuade people in your

target market from working with you.

Ideally they would only see
themselves in your website, but

until that's fully practical, where
you can turn away all other work.

I don't recommend doing that.

So.

I do follow the method of starting
a little bit broader and then.

And then tightening as you go.

Um, you know, and I will,
I will say that there.

And eventually, yeah, you can get
right down to, you know, the fire

safety and security, or even.

More specific depending on the
size of the market and your

interest in it and all that stuff.

Uh, you basically want to be like the
expert in whatever it is you're selling.

And the fact that they have a
conference is great because you'd

be perfect to speak at one of those.

And.

Uh, and there's no one else sort
of translating the marketing

world directly to that industry.

So there's probably a lot.

That's probably like a small door that
opens like Narnia into a much bigger

world, even at a small niche like that.

So I love that, that idea of a
niche that small, that specific.

Keeping in mind that the
target is never the market.

So even though you would target
those folks, you'd still get people

in, in tangental or, um, adjacent
industries working with you.

So that's pretty cool as well.

Um,

What else?

Uh, yeah, so.

That's probably my general, my general
thoughts for you around, around niching.

I'd started a little broad
I'd take audience pages.

I'd start building content for that
specific industry and maybe B2B marketing.

At large, I would build up that website.

And then eventually when I did
make the leap out of services page

and go from there, or I would add
my name, maybe it's invisible.

And you don't share anything before that.

Uh, and then, uh, but I would
also try to pre-sell something.

So when you do make the leap,
you have a client in house,

you have a client ready to go.

You're probably going to need
to do some managed advisory

work like a fractional CMO.

I call it managed advisory stuff
where you're basically the alternative

to a part-time marketing manager.

You run the show, you don't necessarily
execute everything, but you manage and

run it and hire all the people and do it
and manage the budget and everything else.

That's probably going to be your
step gap between becoming a full-time

adviser and, uh, and working full time.

It's.

It is harder to sell advisory services.

People want someone to
just do it for them.

So you need to build up credibility and
experience and expertise and results.

To show that.

You're worthy of paying
just for your head.

So that's the transition of your face.

And you could probably do that
for four or five grand a month.

Maybe U S dollar.

So a little less than that.

In pounds, which are where you're from.

Uh, but that's up to you.

So the last thing I want to leave you
with though is around alignment of.

Uh, of the business you run
and your personal interests

and kind of your mission.

So what's going to end up happening.

I think you can thrive in a
small niche as long as you are.

Somewhat intrinsically motivated
to help that target market.

And I really think this is important.

To enjoy the people you help and
to enjoy the industry at large.

Ideally you like go into their
conferences, ideally you like

listening to podcasts related to it.

If they exist.

Ideally you like consuming
industry content.

And if you don't, that's fine.

This is still a viable business.

The question is, will you get tired of it?

Long-term is this a
business of opportunity?

And, or is this a, uh, or is this
genuinely something you want to do

for a long time and become the best
at which will still take a long time?

No matter what you do,
everything takes a long time.

So that's the question.

And, uh, I want to leave you with
that to think about, because you do

have an opportunity to remain a little
broader, to work with a few other

clients in a wider range of industries.

And over time you get to see who
you like working with, who you

resonate with most, and then you
can narrow down on the industry.

That's right for you.

So I wouldn't necessarily limit
yourself to that industry, although

it can be a great place to start.

You can learn a ton of skills.

Great.

A ton of repeatable assets create
memberships, courses, training

workshops do do speaking.

At these events, maybe there's a podcast
or two or several that you can get on.

You can start when yourself, there's a
lot of benefit to being that far down when

you're B2B, you're almost invisible, but
you get to catch opportunities that are

already in your network, through your.

Your friends.

And so forth and past
workers, coworkers, et cetera.

Uh, but when you're in B2B
manufacturing, you're a little less than.

Visible, but you're
still really invisible.

And, uh, maybe you then break out and
say I'm B2B manufacturing consultant.

I hear the industries I've worked with.

And then you talk about all the different
industries we've worked with in the past.

Like we just talked about
with those audience pages.

Uh, and then eventually you
can narrow it right down.

Um, but that's up to you, so
make sure you're interested.

Make sure you like it.

Uh, and if you look, if you've
got a runaway or you've got

opportunities to take on two or three
clients before you leave your job.

Or to transition your current
work into this kind of, uh,

into this kind of a role.

That would be extraordinary.

You could, you could jump right into that
niche right away and build that business.

Uh, from the gecko and it would be.

Much easier to sell.

You'd be able to do outreach and people
would actually like read your cold emails.

Except your LinkedIn invites.

Uh, et cetera.

And it's a really, you
become, the industry.

Associations would pull you in
the conferences would pull you

in because you'd be, you'd be the
expert that they were looking for.

And you could tell your story behind that.

So,

You could do it.

You can do all, any of
these things you want.

The prudent thing in my view is to start
a little broader and then have audience

pages and write content directed at
those that can feed into those pages.

Uh, as well, so that when you do talk
to someone and you point them to that

industry page to kind of give them a sense
of who you are and what you offer in.

For that industry, that there's a
whole, a whole sales pitch, tailored

to them and feels like it's custom fit.

Even if your general
positioning is a bit broader.

Uh, hope that helps there's
other ways you could do it.

You can have a general, I'm a,
I'm a B2B marketer, and then you

have a separate business that's
focused on the fire and safety.

And then basically depending
on who comes to you, you can.

You can bring them to whatever door
that just is a little bit harder because

now you're managing two websites.

I wouldn't recommend
that as your first thing.

So I hope that helps my friend, uh, let
me know in the comments, if you've got

any more questions and, and, uh, I think
I covered all the thoughts that I had.

You.

It really is about.

Paying your bells then getting
picky because the last thing

you want is to be desperate.

You can't sell.

Services at the right price.

If you're desperate for money.

Uh, and so you just have to kind
of be willing to be patient things,

take things, take time and a.

And you also want to make sure
you like the work that you do.

And I.

Yeah, I think that's really important.

So I'll leave that with you, Jack.

Thank you so much for the question
and if you've got any questions or

comments, please follow up in the
community and I'd be happy to follow up.

Thanks a lot Bye for now.