Keep Your Marketing Focused With a Guide On Demand
You have an agency or a small team. They are doing the work. But nobody is standing back and asking whether it is the right work. That is my job.
Who this is for
You already work with an agency. They are good. They are busy. They are doing exactly what you hired them to do.
But nobody is asking whether that is what you should be doing at all.
You need somebody with no stake in the game who will give you straight, honest feedback.
Or you have a small team of your own. A marketing coordinator. Somebody who is good at social. Maybe a designer you like.
They can execute. They just cannot tell you what to execute. And the one person who could is you, and you are busy running the company.
That is what a Certified StoryBrand Guide is trained to do. We look at your business from your customer’s side instead of your own.
It is the hardest thing to do from the inside. Which is why it helps to have somebody on the outside.
If what you need is a full diagnosis and a written plan, that is Strategy First. This is different. This is for when you are already moving and you want a hand on the wheel.
How it works
This starts after we have run a workshop together. That is a requirement, not a preference.
By then I know your business. Your message is clear. And we have already spotted a couple of things that need work. That is what makes the rest of this fast.
We set one goal
We meet at the beginning of every quarter and pick one thing.
Launch the new website. Build a lead generator. Write the email sequence.
One goal. Written down. Clear enough that we both know three months later whether you hit it.
After your first quarter, we start by looking back. What got done. What it produced. And what that tells us about where to point the next three months.
Your team does the work. I review it.
The work belongs to your people, or to the agency you already use.
My job is to look at what they make and tell you what I see. Is it on track? Does it still say what we agreed it should say? Will it get you to the goal?
Send me the page before it goes live. Send me the emails before they send. Ask me the question you keep going back and forth on.
We check in
Where are we against the goal. What stalled. What needs to change.
It is not a report you prepare for me. It is a conversation about whether this is actually moving.
What it costs
$4,500 / quarter
One working session to set the quarter. Three monthly check-ins. And me on call in between.
You pay by the quarter, so every three months you decide again whether it is worth it. No annual contract. Nothing to cancel.
Building things is not included. If we decide something needs to get built, I will quote it separately and you can decide whether your team does it or mine does.
Why quarterly. A month is too short to know whether something worked. A year is long enough to stop paying attention. Three months is about right.
I would rather keep the advice and the building apart. Advice is worth more when there is no invoice riding on it.
Questions I get asked
What does Quarterly Advisory cost?
$4,500 a quarter, renewed every quarter. That covers the working session that sets the quarter, three monthly check-ins, and access to me in between for questions and reviews. If something needs building, I quote that separately.
Do we need to do a workshop first?
Yes. Quarterly Advisory is only available to businesses that have completed a workshop and have a developed BrandScript.
How is this different from Strategy First?
It comes down to whether you already have a strategy.
Quarterly Advisory assumes you do. You have a plan you are working from, and I am there as a second opinion to keep it on track.
Strategy First is for when you need the plan itself. We look at what you have already done, what you are doing now, and what your top competitors are doing. Then we build the 30/60/90 day roadmap that gets you where you want to grow.
How is this different from a fractional CMO?
Think of this as the lighter version. As a fractional CMO I run your marketing. I make the calls, I own the areas you hand me, and I am accountable for the numbers.
Here, I am involved when you call on me. You set the pace. Your team does the work. I keep it pointed in the right direction. A fraction of the cost, because it is a fraction of the involvement.
What if we do not use you much one quarter?
That happens, and it is fine. Some quarters are busy and some are quiet. The session and the check-ins happen either way. And if a quarter goes by where it honestly was not worth the money, do not renew. That is why it is priced by the quarter.
Can this turn into something bigger?
It can. Working together for a few quarters is how we both find out whether a bigger arrangement would work. But it is not the pitch. Plenty of businesses stay right here, and that is a good outcome.
Who is actually on the call?
Me. Not an account manager. Not somebody junior. That is the whole thing you are paying for.
Do you work with businesses outside Iowa?
Yes. I am based in Waukee, Iowa, and my clients are all over the country. This runs over video and text, so it makes no practical difference where you are.
Tell me what you are working on
It is a free call and it is not a pitch. Tell me where the business is and what you keep going back and forth on. I will tell you honestly whether this is the right fit. And if it is not, I will tell you that too.
Who you would be talking to
Tim Yates is the founder of StoryWorks Marketing in Waukee, Iowa. He has been a Certified StoryBrand Guide since 2020 and is a Duct Tape Marketing Certified Fractional CMO. He has coached 102 businesses through the StoryBrand framework, from roofing and manufacturing to nonprofits, financial services and SaaS, and he manages more than thirty client websites around the country.
He has been building marketing for small businesses since before it was websites. TV and radio scripts. Jingles. Documentary video. Which is why the advice comes from somebody who has also had to build the thing.
Verify: StoryBrand Guide directory · Duct Tape Marketing directory · LinkedIn · 515-305-3096