MORE CLIENTS. BETTER RETURN ON INVESTMENT.
If you are looking for a small business marketing consultant, you are likely to be looking ultimately for the results that they can achieve for your business; namely to attract more clients for you.
You do not need more marketing noise, a 100 plus page report or a 12 month contract.
You need to know which marketing activities will put more money into your business bank account than they take out.
That is what a good small business marketing consultant should help you achieve.
This guide explains what you should expect from a small business marketing consultant, what you should avoid and how I help service business owners generate a steady and consistent flow of new clients.
THE SHORT VERSION
What Should A Small Business Marketing Consultant Do?
Ultimately, your small business marketing consultant should make your telephone ring more, or make your enquiry form or brochure download form be completed more.
A good consultant will find out about you and your business, identify the marketing activities most likely to attract your ideal clients, put them in priority order and help you implement them consistently.
The focus should always be results and return on investment.
A Little About This Small Business Marketing Consultant
First, a little about me.
I did not enter the small business marketing consulting world by following the usual path of University, marketing agency and then setting up my own business.
I always had an interest in marketing but decided to become a solicitor, mainly, in hindsight, to please my mother. However, my interest in marketing led me to running the marketing for the law firms that I worked for. I soon realised that I enjoyed this a lot more than the legal work.
Occasionally, I would invite a small business marketing consultant into my law firm to review my marketing activities and see if I was missing anything.
Without fail, they all traipsed in, charged me thousands of pounds, gave me a 100 plus page report — that no doubt they had largely copied and pasted from their standard report — and told me that I was doing just fine.
It was then I realised that I needed to become a full-time small business marketing consultant because I could do a better job for my clients than what was currently offered in the marketplace.
START HERE
Want To Know How I Think About Marketing?
Watch this short introduction, then use the guide below to discover how to attract ideal clients at the precise moment in time that they are ready to buy your services.
How Do You Know When You Find A Good Small Business Marketing Consultant?
In my opinion, there is only one criterion that you should look for when choosing a marketing consultant to help you grow your business:
You should be able to easily see reviews from clients who have worked with the consultant and achieved tangible results in terms of generating new clients and return on investment on any money spent.
Phrases such as “brand awareness” should never be the objective. The giant brands such as Coca-Cola and Microsoft can invest in brand awareness. Small businesses cannot afford to waste money on marketing they cannot track.
By all means, sponsor your son or daughter’s football team, but do it for fun, not return on investment.
When you run a small business, the result that you should look for from your marketing activities is return on investment. You need to know that if you spend £1, you generate £3 or more in instructions.
Three Warning Signs To Look Out For
1. They Only Talk About One Type Of Marketing
If the consultant only specialises in one type of marketing and pushes you in that direction, regardless of whether it will work for your business, that is a clear sign that they are not the well-rounded marketing consultant you need.
I have seen clients spend tens of thousands of pounds on completely the wrong forms of marketing. Sadly, they have often run out of budget by the time they reach me.
I HATE seeing people being duped into spending money on the wrong marketing activities. It is, in my opinion, what gives marketing or business growth consultancy a bad name.
2. They Do Not Ask Enough About Your Business
If you speak with a marketing consultant and all they do is talk about their business and how they work, without first asking anything about your business, they are not the consultant for you.
Marketing needs to be all about the business being marketed. If they do not talk to you about your business, how can they know what will work for you?
3. They Want You To Spend More Money Straight Out Of The Gate
The first thing any decent small business marketing consultant should do is review your current marketing activities and suggest tweaks and optimisations that will generate more enquiries.
Many of my new clients are surprised that they often end up spending less on marketing once they start working with me.
I often start with my clients’ websites because they are their 24/7/365 marketing tool. I can nearly always find ways to drive up enquiries from the people already reaching the website.
Why advise a client to spend money on new marketing activities when they have not optimised the ones they are already doing?
“Nick’s Advice And Guidance Has Been Excellent.”
He cuts through all the noise and brings clarity. His focus is on what is effective and what will achieve the objective. He knows what works and what doesn’t and shows you the best way to approach a strategy.
One particular aspect of marketing was hard to get my head around but Nick made everything so clear and easy to understand. When you speak to him you will see, he knows his stuff!
— Shan Phoenix, Financial Adviser
How Long A Contract Should You Sign?
You should not have to sign a contract for 12 months.
Why?
Because if the marketing consultant is any good at what they do, they should be confident that they can achieve results for you in the first month. Why would they need a 12 month contract?
I know that I can achieve great results for my consultancy clients in the first month of working with them, usually the first week, so I only ever work on a one-month rolling basis.
I am equally invested in achieving great results because, if I do not, my clients can leave at any time — as they should be able to do.
“
One particular aspect of marketing was hard to get my head around but Nick made everything so clear and easy to understand. When you speak to him you will see, he knows his stuff!
Thanks Nick.”
Shan Phoenix - Geneva Wealth
“
Nick is an excellent marketing consultant. Well worth a chat. Every time I use him my results improve and I make money. Do the sensible thing and pick up the phone to him as you won’t regret it.”
Phil O'Connor - Whitewell Financial Planning
”
My website is now attracting the right type of clients and brings in a lot more quality, and easy to convert, leads.
Nick is clear in what the marketing priorities are to get me the results I want.
Carolyne Wahlen - Gap HR
Should A Marketing Consultant Suggest A Grant To Fund Their Fees?
If you run a small business, all you should be interested in is attracting new clients and growing your profitability quickly.
Why, then, would your consultant push you through the tiresome, time-wasting and draining process of applying for a business grant to fund all or part of their fees?
If you do not have any skin in the game, you are less likely to do the work needed to generate the clients you want. I know this because I have seen it in operation time and time again.
It can also show that the consultant lacks confidence in their own ability to generate new clients for you.
Unless and until you do the right marketing activities consistently, you will not generate your steady and consistent flow of new client instructions.
What Are The Right Marketing Activities?
Not all marketing activities are created equal; far from it.
You want marketing activities that put at least three times the income into your business than they take out. Three to one should be your starting point.
The best forms of marketing are those that pitch your services to your ideal clients at the precise moment in time that they are ready to buy them.
That is the key part. It gives you the one thing that you want from your prospects: buyer intent.
I call this Easy Life Client Attraction because it is so much easier than trying to persuade someone who is not looking for your services to use them.
The Four Main Marketing Arteries
1. Your Website
A high-quality website with useful content proves your expertise so that prospects are pre-sold on your services by the time they contact you. Your website should continually evolve and grow by answering the questions your ideal prospects type into Google.
2. Google Ads
If your website already generates enquiries, you can amplify them with Google Ads. The prospect has gone to Google and typed in the name of your service, so you have the buyer intent you need.
3. Your Email List
Your old clients, referrers and people who have downloaded your guides already know, like and trust you. Keep in touch with them consistently and, when they need your services again, they are far less likely to look elsewhere.
4. Referral Partners
You probably already have one great referral partner. What would happen to your business if you had 12 of them?
These are the four main marketing arteries that any service business owner should be using. They are the ones that any small business marketing consultant worth their salt should discuss with you.
FREE BUSINESS GROWTH GUIDE
Would You Like A Predictable, Steady And Consistent Flow Of New Clients?
Discover the practical marketing systems I use to help service business owners attract more of the right enquiries and turn them into clients.
Get Predictable, Steady & Consistent Flow Of New Clients
Practical advice. No fluff. No vanity marketing.
Should You Hire A Consultant, Coach Or Mentor?
The main difference is that a coach asks you questions to get you to work out the answers for yourself, whereas a consultant has the answers you need and you pay them to give those answers to you.
You are buying their expertise in a specific area; in this case, marketing.
I have employed coaches for my own business, and it was helpful. However, it was only when I paid a consultant to tell me what to do, then to ensure that I did it, that I got the biggest results.
Life is too short. I want to achieve the results I crave for my business sooner rather than later.
How Much Should A Small Business Marketing Consultant Cost?
Many marketing consultants work on a retainer system. Fees range from around £1,000 a month to several thousand pounds each month.
Ultimately, the fee is irrelevant — cash flow aside — because it is all about the results.
I work on one month’s notice because I want you to get the results that persuade you to stay with me, not to stay because you have signed a contract.
You can access my expertise from as little as £50 a month in the More Clients Academy, or my full consultancy service starts from around £750 per month.
Nothing ties you in. You leave when you wish. My aim is that you never leave because I make you far more money than you pay me.
“I Implemented One Piece Of Advice Nick Gave Me And Immediately Generated £800 In Additional Revenue With Zero Marketing Spend!”
— Richard Hand, Urban Jump Trampoline Park
How Can I Help You Right Now?
There are many ways that I can help you immediately.
If you like what you are reading and would like to find out more about my methods, start with one of my free marketing guides:
- Marketing Plan — claim your one-page marketing plan
- Google Ads — discover how to generate more clients from the same or less Google spend
- Get Clients Fast — my most downloaded guide
- Website SEO — use my practical SEO cheat sheet
Alternatively, call me now on 0117 290 8555 and my amazing PA will schedule a time for us to talk.
READY TO GENERATE MORE CLIENTS?
Let’s Find The Biggest Marketing Wins In Your Business
I will look at what you are doing now, identify the activities most likely to generate results and put them into a clear order of priority.
Small Business Marketing Consultant FAQs
What Exactly Does A Small Business Marketing Consultant Do?
A small business marketing consultant should help you grow your business so that you get more clients through your door, more rings on your phone and more money in your account.
How Do I Know If I Have Found A Good Marketing Consultant?
Look for results, knowledge of several types of marketing, plenty of questions about your business and no rush to make you spend more money.
What Marketing Activities Are Right For A Service Business?
Marketing activities that put at least three times the income into your business than they take out. The best forms pitch your services to your ideal clients at the precise moment in time that they are ready to buy.
Do I Have To Sign A Long Contract?
No. Marketing consultants who are confident in their own ability should not need 12 months to start making a difference. I work with my clients on a one-month rolling basis.
Will This Work For My Niche Business?
Marketing is about getting more of the right clients through the door and converting them into new clients. The precise activities will depend on your business, which is why a good consultant must first ask plenty of questions.
FREE BUSINESS GROWTH GUIDE
Would You Like A Predictable, Steady And Consistent Flow Of New Clients?
Discover the practical marketing systems I use to help service business owners attract more of the right enquiries and turn them into clients.
Get Predictable, Steady & Consistent Flow Of New Clients
Practical advice. No fluff. No vanity marketing.
