You can get a pretty good understanding of my personality and work through my Free Weekly Marketing Tips.  You can sign up at the right and you will get a sense of the functional marketing help I offer.  No fluff – just solid marketing that works.

That depends on your commitment to results.  The information I share might take a while to sink in, but as my clients tell me – eventually, the light bulb goes on and they really start seeing the results. The best part is, I have many ways you can get help. You decide what works best for you.

If you choose a program that is suited for your particular situation (Services) you are sure to attract and convert more prospects into clients.  If you still aren’t certain which program is best, schedule a call and I will help you however I can.

Each of my programs has a guarantee of some sort.  Trial and measurement helps considerably.  However, your efforts and implementation will always increase your positive results exponentially.  If you follow all the exercises, implement the advice and work with me and your vendors you are certain to see results.  Marketing requires time and attention.  If you are consistent you will attract more clients than ever before.

My goal is always to provide my clients solutions that really work in converting prospects into clients.  This does require dedication to targeting and planning which many project requests do not value.  So, I really don't work with wishy-washy, indecisive people who are 'playing small'.  If you are comfortable in your business and don't want to be amazing, we're probably not right for one another.

Doesn’t everyone? Because marketing takes trial and error, I work best with people who are dedicated to their growth and success.  They understand that it’s going to be challenging, time consuming and everything needs to be measureable so we can learn what’s really working at attracting the ideal prospects.

My programs take into account your individual business situation.  I understand that everyone has very different circumstances in their business life cycle.  You might be trying to evolve your hobby into a business with little time and little money.  Or, you already have marketing in place but need some help getting it to convert clients better.  Some businesses have reached the point where they can’t grow any further without someone managing all their marketing.  I respect each step of the business life cycle and can help you grow beyond it.  Often, other programs are industry or size specific - e.g. targeting just Realtors, doctors, home entrepreneurs, large businesses, etc.  I look more at where you are, what you can manage at your stage and where you want to go next.

Because I focus on foundational elements that work for any business, I do not specialize in a particular industry.  I take successful programs and campaigns from any industry and apply them tactically after we focus on what your target audience wants to see.  Great marketing is not industry specific.

Personality is important.  You need to like and trust your consultant as that person will be affecting your business success.  I take time to fully educate myself in your business and I work with you to make sure we have the right target.  Marketing is not a magic money machine.  It takes trial, error, time and testing.  I don’t create elaborate bound reports – unless it’s part of our task.  I prefer real solutions based on solid lead generation and crystal clear targeting. 

Our entire engagement will focus on your ideal client and what they want from you. I have the gift of really getting inside the mind of any ideal client no matter what industry or product.  Beyond that, I do look at your entire process so there is a good synergy between your life goals and business goals.  There is nothing worse than helping someone succeed only to watch them burn out and not enjoy their life.

Mike Ditka – football great, former coach of the Chicago Bears and smart-aleck commentator had a name for us: Grabowskis.  What-you-see-is-what-you-get.  You don’t hire someone to help drive your marketing that’s going to coddle and praise you.  You need real information that works.  There are countless theories; charts and MBA level strategies that might not be a good fit for you.  I work from the foundation up – no matter what your business.  I speak English – not hi-brow consultant-speak.  I don’t try to be all things to all people.  I know the areas that I am excellent at influencing in your business.  Those foundational areas are where we begin.  Beyond that, I always encourage finding vendor professionals that can help.

I received my Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Marketing from Drake University in 1985.  After graduating and returning to my hometown Chicago, I learned the basics as a marketing assistant and then was offered a sales territory for a wine distributor (pretty fun for a gal just out of school!)  I spent the next 11 years working up through management and moved to San Francisco.  Although the wine industry is glamorous, it didn’t pay very well and San Francisco is not a cheap town to live in!  I changed to the higher paying ISP/telecommunications industry working for AT&T.  There is where I had the opportunity to affect both sales and marketing as a channel manager.  Like many back then, we hopped around like a pack of wolves.  VPs got better jobs then brought all their people over.  The experience really helped me become more flexible in my duties.  However, it made the short-sightedness of corporate planning very clear.

This was also around the time of the Dot.com surge.  Everyone in San Francisco seemed to be a stock option millionaire and was launching a start-up.  Naturally, they needed marketing plans.  I began freelance consulting helping develop marketing plans.  It was much more exciting than my day job and fortunately, the telecommunications implosion provided me an exit strategy.  That’s when I went out on my own in 2005.  I have been working privately for many years and have since expanded my services to include the DIY marketer as well.

Everyone communicates differently and I respect that.  Remember, I’m scheduled pretty intensely most days so you will probably get voicemail or my assistant.  I will call back within 1 business day, but may only have a little time before my next appointment.  Email is my most reliable and frequently checked communication device (unless my ISP goes down!)  All clients have access to me through email and the forum.

This will depend on your current resources.  If you have an assistant, graphic designers, or web developer and we’re working on things those people can manage you might merely be reading a few emails and approving their work.  If you want to find your own professionals or work with mine, it will take as long as you allow. 

The most time you will probably spend is on the Marketing Review because the questions can be thought provoking.  Otherwise, it will completely depend on your comfort delegating to professionals or if you need to micro-manage every detail.

That said, my most successful clients learn to focus on their most valuable activities like marketing and those only they can do. They get comfortable delegating everything else.

At the very least you will need to go through a Marketing Review.  All clients are sent this document when we begin our engagement and it must be completed and returned before we will schedule your regular calls.  During our first call, we will review areas that need work.  Rarely does any client come to me with all elements perfectly formulated.  Without these steps, forging forward into any media decisions is like getting on a plane and not knowing where to land.

Each of these areas is a specialty.  Rarely is someone good at all of them. An effective SEO plan takes a professional.  Pay per click is something that can be taught, but requires monitoring and testing.  I manage and work with these people to keep them focusing on our keywords. 

Online marketing encompasses social media platforms that generate traffic to your site and testing EVERYTHING on the site to produce the maximum conversion.  I will create your online marketing strategy, train anyone you want to maintain it and manage the web designers that will implement the site tests I create.

Specialized professionals in these areas are critical. I work with some and have a number of resources for my clients.