How to Sell Advice

Why I don't position myself as a fractional CMO. And that's going to be the topic today. There's kind of a large trend going on where people are hiring fractional CMOs, fractional CTO. CIO is. And. Well, it's a very valuable. Form of expertise. It's valuable for the client and valuable for you. It's just not how I want to position myself as a person.

Now there's a kind of a couple of nuances to this. Number one is that a lot of my ideal clients already have someone who's responsible for marketing in-house that person feels. They're like they're the leader of the marketing department and, or maybe they're just the only sole marketer in house. So it might be me calling myself a fractional CMO. It kind of comes in in a way that kind of puts me.

In competition with them. And I don't want people being like, wow. Okay. So I was running things and now they're bringing in someone. Who is ultimately going to be. Get what my manager now, something that's higher level than me. So I don't want the people I come in to help the client that the marketers on my client's team to feel threatened by me. When, when I come in.

Now in usually the cases when they do have marketing managers, they haven't been doing it for as long as I have. They've maybe been marketers in some capacity or I've kind of turned into marketers. You know, or the last, you know, three to five years. But so they don't have say a decade or two decades worth of experience. So in that case, you know, I come around and I bring in more of that senior level.

Experience that being said, I don't want to be. I don't want them to feel threatened that when I come in, I'm going to take over the role, manage them. Audit their work and to kind of be a negative force in the organization. I really want it to be, Hey, we're going to look for the things that are working in your business.

We're going to build on top of the momentum that you have. We're going to find additional ways to optimize what you're doing and to bring in the industry experience that I have to the organization. So we're really going to just build and build on and improve the work you do. And I'm an a, therefore, I, I kind of, uh, positioned myself as a consultant or as an advisor rather than, uh, what has an equivalent in an organization, which is a fractional CMO.

Now that being said, I do have a fractional CMO service and that's when, if you don't have, and it's clearly positioned this way on the website. If you don't have an in-house marketing manager and you want someone to come in, drop in, equip your team, get your systems, get your processes going and sort of do it all for you for a few months.

I cap it at three months and about 10 grand per month for the service, because I don't want to be doing this for very long at all. You kind of derails my business and becomes like a big weight on both my mind and my time. It kind of sucks up any free time I have in my business. But I do have that service available there for kind of a drop in, figure it out and then move to an advisory capacity.

And that does a couple of different things. So number one is I'm an advisor, but I can act as your, kind of like your interim CMO or your part-time. Uh, you know, stop gap CMO, and I'll do that for a bit, but, but it doesn't position me as coming in and being that for your organization. Full-time, it's kind of like a role that I can fill, but it's not.

Who I, who I am now, it also does show though that my advisory services, my consulting. Work is a senior level such that I would be on par with your average company's chief marketing officer. However, I'm not one, nor is my work resemblant of one. Although I do bring in the experience and expertise.

That a CMO may have, and just taking this on a tangent, I was talking with a past client today and he was even saying, you know, You bring in a marketing manager, maybe you pay them 70,000, a hundred thousand dollars a year, but they still don't have the expertise of fractional CMOs. He was referring to people like me.

Uh, who have, who have a lot deeper experience and can do a lot more and bring in people and kind of manage things and provide a lot level higher level of seniority. Is that even the hiring market, no matter who you hire at that price range, which is, you know, the higher end for a lot of small. Businesses.

I don't have the experience that a fractional CMO does. And I kind of said, well, that's true because if they're, if they're any good. There are other making multiple six figures at a big company or they're, they're, they're going out on their own and they're entrepreneurial and they can make more money in the market by working for themselves.

So I think clients are starting to figure this stuff out. They're starting to see the role of, okay. I have someone who's good as a manager that I can bring in house, and then I can hire some fractional executive style leadership to really kind of jet pack on top of the work that we're doing. So the trend that I'm kind of trying to get here is.

We're not a CMO. We're like we're on par with the top CMOs that most small businesses can't afford. And we bring in senior level expert experience and expertise and resources and people, templates and tools inside knowledge and a whole bunch of different businesses and just within their industry and without, so all those things. And that's another thing you said is that experience level of other organizations is invaluable.

So we bring that stuff, but we don't want to be seen as, an alternative to an employee necessarily. Because what happens is if you say I am a fractional CMO, not, not this service as a fractional CMO, not, not this part-time limited service is a fractional CMO service, but if you say I'm a fractional CMO, well, now they're saying, okay, well basically get a part-time marketing manager who.

Sure. Their senior leader ship level, so I can kind of pay them what I would pay a coordinator, but I get, you know, Uh, more senior leadership out of them. Great. That's awesome. So now I have a set of hands that knows what they're doing. I don't have to train them that much. That's not how you want people to be thinking.

You want people to be thinking of you as the, mastermind behind their marketing program? The. Person who can figure out how to build the structure, the systems, the methods, and hire the people and bring people in and, and ultimately know what things to work on. What things not to work on, how to oversee a budget allocate, spend.

But not the one to be the set of hands at the end of the day. You want them to be like, okay, I just want someone who knows what the hell we should do and how we should effectively. Build and manage our marketing, but I don't need them to be the set of hands necessarily. And so when they bring you on, they're not looking at you as a set of hands, we're looking at you as an expert, and it's an entirely different way that they're perceiving the work that you do, and they are legitimately then hiring you for the knowledge that you have, not for the set of hands that you can bring to the table, because that's ultimately going to just position you as a, as a commodity relative to your, your true strengths, which is your expertise.

So on the one hand, we don't want to scare off folks that have an in house marketing manager, specifically the people that were there to help. And when I, when I do walk into those organizations where there is a marketing manager, the whole message, the whole. Intention in the hole. Style of communicating is look.

Nobody's marketing is perfect. Your marketing is great. We're going to find all the things that are working really well. And we're going to build on top of those and we're going to add in and potentially. Expand on a few initiatives. And I can help support you by removing roadblocks and bringing in.

Folks to help execute and whatever we need to do to kind of get results. So this never is like, we're going to find all the problems and fix in, like in fact, any deliverable or any kind of outcome of your initial discovery should, should not be like, Hey, you're not doing this blah, blah, blah. It should be like, here's what I think is working here are some areas we can improve.

Rather than saying there's big holes in it. So it's, you know, that mentality is going to go a long way. Positioning yourself as a consultant or an advisor, ideally for the industry that they work in. So that. You're bringing in that industry experience, but even if not, you're just an advisor. You have a CMO package that typically only will get sold to people who don't have an in-house marketing manager, in which case that package is not threatening to the marketing manager. What they see is the proposal and the service that they're hiring you for.

Is an advisory. Relationship. And so they see that as, and your messaging on your website and in your proposals needs to be, I'm here to support you, your marketing team. If you have them, if you don't, I can help hire and build that team. Uh, in house or outside. And really it should be a supportive messaging, not like, you know, is your house on fire. You know, you don't want that kind of messaging in that service because it's only going to make people feel really defensive. And this is people's jobs at the end of the day, you know?

As consultants, we've got multiple clients that we can. Work with, and really spread our risk. But for these people, this, this is their income. And so for someone to come in and, you know, audit their work and then point out all the deficiencies that's, that's gotta be a really rough experience. So you don't really want to be that person. And I don't think it's going to help you have a constructive relationship. Once you do get into the.

The client. Um, Uh, business, all the marketing managers, many of the market managers that work with are, you know, maybe a little wary at first, but they're always warm. And, and because I, I basically try to disarm them with genuine attempts to help and to show them that I'm not here to, I don't talk behind the.

You're back. I don't the side or the other. And, uh, I just really just thought I'd be a collaborator on the project. And that tends to really just resonate with people. And I get lots of great reviews and testimonials from the marketing managers and the business owners when I work with clients as well.

And I don't think I could do that if I was just coming in and saying, Hey, here's my fractional CMO service, which was scared the bejesus out of them. And then, and then, you know, there's all these kind of like, Then the people a little more defensive. That's not a good place to be. So you're an advisor. You're a consultant.

Your marketing or growth or whatever you call yourself. You have a CMO package and that messaging is conveyed to people who don't have an in-house marketing manager or don't have senior leadership and are looking for it. And that's another thing. Um, okay, so there's that, and then typically it depends on your bandwidth, but I limit that.

To three months, 10 grand a month, just so that I don't get stuck in the weeds. Your advisory packages. Look, you've gotten momentum, whatever, and you're looking to build a system. I can help, uh, plug into your team or advise you on the process. Grape. And, uh, and yeah, and so that way they're really not seeing you as a set of hands, even when they do hire you as a fractional CMO on that high level.

Service and look, you can do that for years or whatever you want. It's up to you. I just, I personally don't have the bandwidth to do it for long periods of time, nor does it make sense for me. But the important thing is that they're not seeing you as just a set of hands. They're seeing you as an expert who brings. Experience needed to get a job done. And that's the real message that I want to convey. You don't want to be seen as the, as an employee. You don't wanna be seen as a set of hands. You don't wanna be seen as a.

Sort of, uh, as a force, who's going to. Threaten the in-house marketing team whatsoever. You want to be contributory and that sort of thing. So for that reason, I positioned myself as a, as a consultant. I have a fractional CMO plan. My, my, my ideal. Ideal client ideal project is that advisory, uh, project, which for me is $3,500 a month.

And then there's some down-sells and stuff and some upsells in that. But that's about it. And that way you're not seen as a set of hands, you're not threatening to your client's client, your client's team. And ultimately. I find that's how I've been able to navigate the positioning around what I do and who I do it for. And it's fine. If you want to get in there and talk about your relative positioning to agencies and that sort of thing. That's all good because there is a value prop where you are the alternative to hiring, say a senior leader.

Senior marketing person and, or a full service agency. So it's good to talk about that stuff in your sales copy in places you just want to be thinking in terms of who's going to read this, how's it going to affect what they think and how warm warmly are they going to welcome you? Uh, I even find that when I work with agencies,

On behalf of my clients, they end up being happier because they get what they need out of the client. I can help the client make value, judgements, and quality judgment. Some of the work they're doing, and ultimately they get better quality work. They get better feedback. The projects go smoother. And everyone wins. Everyone's happy. So you are a collaborator to all parties involved. The only way you succeed in business.

Is if you align incentives for all the people that are there. So that's, you you're aligned with the. They're your client's customers. You're aligned with the clients. Marketing team you're aligned with their suppliers. And obviously there's not going to be always a hundred percent perfect alignment, but as long as everyone's doing a good job, you should be able to fit into any organization. And that value.

And that's the message and that's the tone you want to convey. And. I just find it does it, you do it best by positioning yourself as a consultant. Um, with a fractional CMO service rather than a fractional CMO. I hope this helps. It's kind of in the weeds. Fractional CMO is out there. We'll get it advises me.

We got it. But, uh, if it's not for you. Stay tuned for the next one. Uh, the next one might be more relevant. And that's all for now. I look forward to chatting with you.

Oh, and before you go, I am going to close the doors for the group coaching program that I run at. Uh, kevin.me/group. It's the mind trust program and what it is is you, you get access to a slack group. We meet every other week and we go through things like your business models. We designed a business model on a product ladder.

Ah, that suits your particular needs and business. And allows you to kind of create the most. Streamlined experience possible for your clients and maximize the income you're able to make from different price points. We also look at your methodology and I basically help you turn your ideas into processes, into systems, into templates, into assets. And we record that and ultimately turn the work that you do into a well-oiled machine to make your work more efficient. You make your time more profitable and allow you to then take that IP and package it and sell it and also to, you know, use it in your marketing and all kinds of other good stuff.

So that's the other component, the business model, the method. And then the marketing is the other piece that we do where we talk about how do we build a system, not just, you know, random acts of marketing, but how do we build a marketing system that keeps. You booked solid, that keeps you full, that leverages other people's audiences that allows you to take your methodology and take your business model and really bring it out to scale. That's the kind of stuff we talk about, your model, your method, your marketing. And then we talk about the mindset of all these things.

And what do you need to be thinking about how do you need to be approaching this stuff? So we do that in the course of our coaching, the group coaching program. Uh, if there's six of us in there right now, about four of them are kind of marketing advisers. And a couple of them, a couple of folks in there, a couple of members are freelancers and it's great. It's a great way to just sort of connect, talk to people.

Uh, even freelancers are kind of building a little mini mini agencies as well. So we, you know, it's. It's a broad discussion around the business side of, you know, creative. A freelancing. Uh, technical, creative, freelancing, and, um, and consulting. So, if you're interested in that, get on in there, it's a great place to bridge into fractional CMO work, to, you know, build relationships with people who are doing other.

Yeah, the freelance men marketing consulting work. And ultimately to grow your business. And so we've had a lot of success in there so far, I'm going to close the doors. I might just kind of open and close it every so often just to sort of welcome people in, in kind of, uh, in phases rather than sort of drips and drabs.

So by getting it now, you're going to reserve the pricing as it is today. And, uh, and then I don't know what's going to happen after that. I might change up some of the formats, some of the content, I might include a little more training into a. There's lots of stuff over there.

Head over to kevin.me/group, get in the group and join now, and then we'll close the door. And then at some point in the future, I'll open it up again. And, uh, you know, we'll see how, how things look then. That's all for now. My friends. Thanks so much. Head over to kevin.me/group. If you're interested.

Otherwise, I'll talk to you soon. Bye.