Format
4 private sessions
Timeline
6 weeks
Investment
$4,500
Let’s try something.
Before I tell you what we’re going to build together, I want to try something.
01
Think about the last book you read, or the last movie or TV show you loved.
02
Now think about the hero or heroine. What did they do for a living?
03
Can’t remember? Exactly. And you probably remember what they wanted, what they were fighting for, what they got wrong, and why you were rooting for them. Their job wasn’t what made you care.
But it’s often the only story you’re telling in your business.
Your expertise isn’t the whole story.
What you do
puts you in a category.
What you fight for
gives people a reason to choose you.
And that’s the part most experts leave out of their marketing.
The part that’s missing
You don’t need another story to tell. You need to know which ones matter.
You’ve spent years doing the work. You’ve seen what happens when clients get bad advice, make the wrong decisions, or finally understand something that changes everything.
You have stories. Opinions. Proof. Things you believe that other people in your industry might argue with.
But when you sit down to market your business, somehow you’re back to talking about what you do. Or staring at a blank page trying to think of something interesting to say.
So you go looking for advice.
- Tell more stories.
- Niche down.
- Share your process.
- Be more personal.
- Post more often.
Wonderful. Five more things to add to your mental to-do list every day, and you’re still no closer to figuring out what makes someone choose you. So now you’re wondering whether you’ve been marketing the wrong way, talking to the wrong people, or building the wrong offers.
What if your business isn’t the thing that needs fixing?
What if we’ve been trying to fix the content before figuring out the story that should be driving it?
A different way to think about your story
A great business story isn’t a collection of interesting scenes.
Imagine reading a novel where every chapter introduced a new character, a new problem, and a new direction. Some of the scenes might be entertaining, but by chapter five, you’re wondering what the heck this book is about (and whether the author knows that either).
a new topic
a new tactic
something you think you’re supposed to talk about
That’s what happens when every piece of marketing starts with a new topic, a new tactic, or something you think you’re supposed to talk about.
beliefs
conflicts
choices
experiences
ideas
It’s the beliefs, conflicts, choices, experiences, and ideas that connect everything you do. It’s the reason your best stories belong together.
Your business story isn’t one origin story you tell on your About page.
And when you know what that bigger story is, you can stop treating every post, page, and email like a new writing assignment.
Your story becomes the foundation of your marketing. Not another thing on your content calendar.
What changes
Imagine not having to figure out what to say every time you sit down to say it.
- You open your marketing plan and already know which ideas belong there.
- You have client stories you can find instead of trying to remember.
- Perspectives you can return to without repeating yourself.
- Clear reasons someone should choose you that go beyond your résumé.
When someone suggests you should change your niche, rewrite your message, or jump on the latest content trend, you have something to measure that advice against.
You can still experiment, change things, and try new approaches. (Just ask me about my Mad Scientist award.) The difference is that one post that flops doesn’t send you into a three-day spiral of whether you need a new niche, a new message, or possibly an entirely different business.
You’ve already made the big decisions. Now your marketing gets to use them.
What we build together
Your Brand World. Out of your head and documented into something you can use.
Over four private working sessions, we’ll find the pieces of your story that matter and build your Brand World.
Not a giant branding encyclopedia you’ll never open again. A working reference built from the business you’ve already created.
01
Your Foundation Story
The beliefs, experiences, proof, and hard-won lessons that explain what your business stands for.
02
Your Positioning
Who you’re for, what makes your approach different, and why someone would choose you.
03
Your Narrative & Signature Ideas
The conflicts, perspectives, stories, and strongest existing ideas that give your marketing a recognizable point of view.
04
Your Brand World Reference
Those pieces organized into a foundation you can use for your website, content, offers, collaborators, and AI workflows.
We’ll also identify what your marketing needs to do with all of it first.
Because finding the story is only useful if you actually put it to work.
What it’s like to work with me
I’m going to pay attention to the things you almost didn’t say.
Wait. Go back.
You might spend ten minutes telling me about your services. Then casually mention something a client said last week.
And I’m going to stop you. Why did that bother you so much? Why do you handle that differently? Has that happened before?
Because sometimes the most important part of your business is the thing you’ve been doing for so long that you don’t even think it’s worth mentioning.
I’ve spent more than 25 years in marketing, including leading teams and building brands as a VP. I’ve also written three novels. I read brands like novels. I notice the missing connections, the conflicts, and the parts of the story that make everything else suddenly make sense.
And I don’t just point at the plot hole and leave you to fix it. We work through it together. I’ll ask questions you might not have thought to ask, challenge the assumptions we’ve all become a little too comfortable with, and show you the patterns I see. Then we’ll turn those discoveries into decisions you can actually use.
Because I don’t want you dependent on me to tell your story, either.
The engagement
Four sessions. Six weeks. One foundation you can build on.
Brand Foundations
$4,500
A private, hands-on strategy and coaching engagement for established expert business owners.
We’ll review the business and marketing you’ve already built, work through the questions and decisions that matter, and develop your Brand World together.
Need both? They’re built to work together, and we can plan them as one engagement. Just ask when we talk.
You’ll leave with
- Your documented story
- Your positioning
- Your narrative direction
- Your strongest existing signature ideas
- Clear priorities for using them
- One-year membership in the Smarter Marketing Lab community
This isn’t for someone still figuring out what business to build. You already have the experience, clients, and proof. We’re making sure your marketing knows what to do with them.
Questions
Questions you might be asking yourself about now
Is this about telling my personal story?
Only when your personal experiences help explain something important about your business.
We’re not digging through your childhood looking for a dramatic origin story. We’re finding the beliefs, experiences, decisions, and proof that make your business worth choosing.
What if I already have brand positioning or messaging?
Bring it. Seriously. We’re not throwing away perfectly good work just because we’re building something new. We’ll look at what still fits, what’s missing, and what your business has learned since you created it.
Will you write my website or create my content?
Not within Brand Foundations. We’re building the story and strategic decisions those things need.
You’ll know what belongs in your marketing and why, without having to figure it out again every time you create something.
Will I get a complete content strategy?
No, and that’s intentional. We’re identifying the strongest ideas, stories, and priorities your marketing should build from. We’re not creating 47 new frameworks or handing you a content calendar that becomes another full-time job.
The goal is a foundation you’ll actually use.
Can I use this with AI?
Absolutely. Your Brand World is designed to make your expertise and marketing decisions reusable.
If you also want a working AI system built around that knowledge, we can combine this engagement with Marketing AI Workflows.
Ready to find the rest of your story?
You’ve already done the work that makes your business interesting.
Let’s find the parts your marketing has been leaving out and build a foundation that makes the next website update, content idea, and marketing decision a whole lot easier.