Common questions and answers

A consultant is someone who provides expert advice professionally. Our expertise is in marketing and branding. We have a few concerns ourselves with the word ‘consultant’ though, so we try to make this really clear: as part of our consulting services we also DO THINGS. We prepare digital marketing strategy and marketing plans for your business; we create and run marketing campaigns; we design and deliver brochures and other marketing collateral. These are tangible things which we deliver for our clients, alongside good advice, coaching and training. It all depends on your needs. Many times SMEs are looking for more than just advice, they need a pair of helping hands (or several pairs).

Working 9 to 5 in an office is becoming less fit for purpose for many businesses. Sometimes you’re running around for client meetings during the day. Sometimes you have family commitments, children to pick up from school, or a team of collaborators spread around the globe. Your marketing team should fit around your needs and deliver on your marketing objectives regardless of how you organise your life. That’s why we offer flexible meeting times, web conferencing and project management tools that will help you with achieving your goals without being bound to a particular time, place or business model. Our costs are also pretty flexible and with SMEs in mind. See our packages or read more about it under the question ‘How do you charge?’.

We have worked with many sectors including technology,  financial services, retail, travel, healthcare, hospitality, real estate, professional services, entertainment, advertising, social enterprises and charities. We keep adding new sectors on a regular basis because we don’t like to restrict ourselves – sometimes the experience we have with a particular client is very relevant for a client in another sector. Use our free consultation form to describe your marketing challenge and to find out if we can provide a solution for your problem/sector.

There are many reasons why our clients choose us. Here are some of the things we’ve heard from clients over the years: because we’re highly qualified and know what we’re talking about; because we’re down-to-earth and don’t speak from a pedestal; because we’re flexible and able to attend meetings after office hours; because we combine commercial marketing skills with branding and communications skills; because we listen to clients and try to understand where they’re coming from; because we’re focused on our clients’ marketing objectives; because someone else has recommended our services; because they’ve worked with us in the past and we’ve delivered a great service.

We have 3 main ways of charging for our services: on a project basis, on a monthly basis, or per half-day session.

If you’re a new client, on a project basis is the most common way because it’s likely that you’re coming to us with a particular challenge. After speaking to you or reading the free consultation form submitted, we’ll send you suggestions to solve your problem and a time/cost estimate to complete the project. The costs vary depending on time and skills required, but broadly speaking our clients tell us that we have very competitive costs for the quality we offer! A cost breakdown will be clearly shown in our quote.

For regular clients, on a monthly basis is the best package because it offers the highest savings (over 30% off the normal cost) and allows us to manage your regular marketing activity. It includes an agreed amount of weekly hours and you pay upfront for the month ahead. Top ups are available on a monthly basis. You can stop at any time but if you don’t use the hours agreed it doesn’t automatically rollover to the next month, you lose the credit.

Finally, the half day session is the best option for businesses that just want marketing guidance or a training session on a particular topic. It will be organised as a meeting, workshop or web conference with an agreed agenda and objectives.

To see the 3 types of package please visit our Packages page.

Absolutely. Think of a marketing consultant as a temporary Head of Marketing or Marketing Manager for your business, bringing skills, expertise and experience that are valuable for you for a certain amount of time or to solve a particular problem, big or small. The difference is that you pay for our expert services and advice on a fee basis, usually in small amounts which you can control and repeat if you’re happy with the services. Check our range of marketing services and our packages.

When choosing someone to help with your marketing, check for very important things like their marketing diplomas and qualifications, number of years of experience, client references and testimonials, if they’re a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing or another reputable professional body, and if they have professional indemnity insurance. The good news is that the marketing cube ticks all the boxes! We also offer a free consultation at the beginning and if we feel we’re not the best solution for your business, we’ll be honest about it. We’re not here to win business at any cost. We’re here to make customers happy!

Depending on the complexity of your marketing challenge, how important it is within your overall business strategy, and the amount of time, staff and resource available, there may be a case for using a specialist in your particular sector or in a particular marketing channel. Why don’t you ask us for advice using our free consultation form? We’ll help you with navigating the options and we’ll recommend a suitable specialist if appropriate.

First complete our online form for a free consultation or contact us for an informal chat. Within a few days we will email you an initial report with an idea of what to do next, plus a menu of implementation costs and timings. It’s totally up to you to take the work further, stay put or use another solution.