To be honest - potentially not. In general, in my experience, as a start up (0 to 3 years of trading) - you are still very much in 'experiment and test' mode. You are head deep in working out what it is exactly you are selling and to whom.

However, I have met the odd start-up who has pretty much nailed their market, their service/product and knows their target audience very well. If this is you - then by all means, drop me a line and let's see if you will benefit from this programme.

Definitely. In fact I love having a mix of mature businesses in a cohort, because generally your goals or business objectives are slightly different to businesses who are 4 to 5 years in. My consulting background is in franchising, so I am very familiar with also thinking about businesses who are further down their lifecycle and pivoting, or even building value for sale.

The programme is designed to give you a structure to achieve whatever direction it is you want to go in, with your business.

If this is you - then by all means, drop me a line and let's see if this programme would be good for you.

My answer to this is three-fold:

1. Either way, for business development work, you have to block out time to do it - otherwise everything else will always be more important
2. I have designed this work, knowing that you have a business to run at the same time (so I am sensitive to workload and timeframe)
3. You will need to allow for at least 5 hours a week to get the work done in the timeframe. If you don't, you won't get it done and everything will stay as it is in your business. With the change you want - you have to do something different.

Remember:

You will NOT be starting from scratch with EVERYTHING that is in this programme.

You will have done some work over the years and I'm going to remind you of it - so you can go find it in a folder somewhere and I help to you bring it up to date and in line with how you now envision your future to be. (So, going forward you are more focussed, on-brand and things are far more consistent and efficient).

Previous participants have specifically commented about this and loved that I've reminded them of work they had done 5 to 10 years before, but forgotten about.

The number varies depending on the time of year and who is available at the time (of course). You can expect to meet anything from 10 to 40 new brand owners in your programme.

Gosh, it is so varied as to who could sign up for a programme. They could be anything from a Health and Safety consultant to a Holistic Therapy coach. Basically the programme is designed particularly for service-led micro businesses (less than 10 people in business) who are trying to build a brand around their personal expertise or knowledge.

They tend to be crafting a personal brand and presence outside of their own business brand - or may be working on both. 

Please don't worry too much about this. It is rare that there will ever be two brand owners in a group cohort who will be direct competitors. The nature of how I run my programmes tends to attract collaborative, dynamic professionals who want to lift each other up. (Rising tides and all that).

If you have a real itchy worry that's holding you back, please just drop me a line - lets talk about it and get you comfortable.

This is an online learning programme, however - let me give you some context to see if it helps you make a decision on this

I have created this work in the shape of a group programme to make it as accessible as possible to as many micro businesses as possible. Not many small businesses can afford this level of consultancy and direct advice, and yet - they need it the most.

I also did not want to bore you. So I have designed the programme to delivered in such a way so that (a) the videos are not very long and (b) you have to take my advice and go away and complete the work (to then come back to the video).

My video recording is not just of powerpoint presentations with a talking head. I am on screen as much as possible, so we are together in spirit as much as is possible for online learning. The videos and exercises are all inside our learning software.

You also have your cohort peer community to lean on while you are doing your work, and the Q&A Group Calls to talk to me too.

If you managed to grab one of the 6 seats in the extra 5  Co-working Sessions - these are delivered on Zoom. (They are highly interactive and everyone is on screen).

If you have a real itchy worry that's holding you back, please just drop me a line - lets talk about it and get you comfortable.

I guess my answer would be: you don’t know what you don’t know. While the internet is rife with lots of free advice and information, and a new “expert” pops up every day. What you won’t get from “free” advice is someone with more than a decade of social media experience, online business modelling and working with businesses to help shape their product offer to gain clarity to market them better.

I reckon every consultant will provide you with different things and bring their special 'something' to the table. My special 'something' is being able to use my systems thinking and digital marketing expertise to teach you about the context of everything that goes into brand strategy. And...I find that, with perspective, you will be motivated to push through the things that are holding you back at the moment.

This is a common misconception of strategy work. And, let's be honest, you have found me today because you have been too quick to jump into action in the past and need to do things differently this time. Am I right?

When you work with me, you will not only get the plan, but you will also get all my insights into learning how to streamline your own team and how to go about implementing the strategy. Also, I will give you guidance on the roles different people play in digital marketing. I have packed in bonus material (templates, checklists, processes) - which are exclusively to help with the "doing".

I have run a digital marketing agency since 2010 and we manage implementation for dozens of clients. I give you the benefit of experience of many years of trialling tools, systems and processes.

REMEMBER: Planning is an important pre-cursor to action. (Keeps you effective and efficient.)

I am showing you what you need to do, however - I'm giving you the context for WHY you are doing it first, then I take you step-by-step through actually crafting or building the asset I'm teaching you about.

You will create pretty much everything I've listed on this page within the 16-weeks - save for a few things which you may need to get someone to help you with (like a copywriter or graphic designer for example).

I also show you how to work out who you need to ask to help you with what kinds of jobs (for now and for the future). I also have some very strong recommendations for specific people you can work with. I've got your back.

You will use the Live Group Q&A calls to run any questions you have by me. (You are not alone).

No, definitely not.  However, if you would be more comfortable talking to me first - then please do book a slot and let's talk. I realise this is a big investment of time and money and you want to make sure you are making the right move. I get it.

I do have a 100% Money Back Guarantee. While I'm really proud of the quality of the training and help I have put together for brand builders - your happiness and investment confidence is just as important to me. Thankfully I have never had a client that has ever asked for a refund in my more than 10 years of doing this work.

I have a 100% Money Back Guarantee to give you further confidence in choosing to do this work with me.

If, after completing the programme, you are not satisfied that the programme has helped build your brand strategy, I will refund you within 14 days of you requesting your refund. No questions asked.

I'm sure you will understand that the one caveat is that you can demonstrate that you have actively participated in the programme and completed the work prescribed and applied the advice given.*

* Every module has video training, exercises, templates and resources to give you everything you need for building each part to your brand compass. This is supplemented with live coaching calls to support your implementation.

Once you decide you want to go ahead and invest in a Brand Compass Programme, then all you do is click to join. (If you register for the wait list, then you'll receive some emails to walk you through when the next programme starts and sorting out payment in due course).

You have two payment options:

(1) Three instalments of £450 (incl. VAT)

These are billed 30 days apart, with the first one payable immediately, and the last one in the last month of your 12-week programme.

(2) One upfront payment of £1200 (incl. VAT)

This is payable immediately on booking. I provide a £150 discount to those paying upfront as a thank you.

You can read my full terms and conditions here. Obviously the prices above are the full retail price of the programme. We do have early bird rates which we open to the waitlist people first when the next term is on the horizon.

Once the initial timeframe of the programme ends, you have lifetime access to the programme (so you can keep going back to it in time - in case you launch a new brand, or evolve your current brand in a few years).

You are more than welcome to stay in the community you will become a part of as a result of doing this work.

On the anniversary of your first year in that community - you will have an opportunity to either opt-out or continue as a member for a small annual fee.

I created this after some great ideas from a previous cohort season. This is literally an added bonus to get extra help with getting the execution bit "done". We focus on Module 8 which is all about Marketing Execution.

The programme timeline allows for you to complete Modules 1 to 7 in its entirety, and then you can do Module 8 quite easily on your own. OR you can choose to do the bootcamp for an extra £195.

The bootcamp is a fun, interactive and supportive way to do with me and your peers LIVE on Zoom. We'll open the day and set the scene, then watch the videos together with slots for questions. Then you get cracking putting your plan together, with me staying in the Zoom Room to answer any questions throughout the day.