A consultant, not an agency
Agencies are the right answer for some businesses. Here's the honest difference, so you can tell whether I'm one of them.
The person you met
At an agency you're sold by a strategist and served by a junior. Here the person on the call is the person writing the copy and cutting the video.
No relay
A change goes from your message to the work without passing through an account manager. Small businesses need that more than they need a bigger team.
No overhead to fund
You're paying for the work, not an office and a sales team. Where an agency needs a big retainer to be worth their while, I can start small and grow with you.
When an agency is the better call: you need several disciplines running at full volume at once, or you have the budget to fund a team and want one throat to choke. I'll tell you on the call if that's you.
Ways to work together
Three shapes an engagement usually takes. Scope and price get set on the call, once I know what you actually need.
Foundation
The audit and the written strategy. For owners who need direction more than hands.
- Marketing audit
- Messaging & offer definition
- 90-day plan you keep
- Two working sessions
Growth Retainer
Strategy plus execution on two channels. Where most clients settle in.
- Everything in Foundation
- Content production, two channels
- Account management
- Monthly reporting call
Scaling Engine
I own the whole marketing function. For businesses expanding with no hire to make.
- Everything in Growth Retainer
- Brand & website care
- Paid media management
- Weekly working sessions
Selected work
Brand, content and campaign work for small businesses and founders. Three engagements, and the production behind them.
Capitoline Intel
Intelligence & advisory · Gary Czaplewski, President
The problem
Gary Czaplewski, Capitoline Intel's president, had genuine authority in his field and was presenting like a consultant nobody had heard of. The credibility was real; nothing on the page carried it.
What I did
Rebuilt the visual presence around Gary himself — executive portraiture with the brand mark applied consistently — and wrote a storytelling piece drawn from his own service history, so the trust argument came from experience rather than a credentials list.
What shipped
Surreal Sips
Beverage brand
The problem
A new drinks brand with a good name, no visual language, and no idea what its product should look like in a customer's hand.
What I did
Built the concept out visually before a dollar went into production — product framing, the occasion the drink belongs to, and the surreal signature that makes it recognizable in a feed. Concept work first, so the launch had something to be consistent with.
What shipped
Concept boards · product imagery · launch social setPour Inc.
Identity refresh
The problem
An established mark that had aged badly and no rules for using it, so every application looked like a different company.
What I did
Kept what was recognizable and rebuilt the rest — the bottle-and-droplet monogram simplified, a copper-on-slate palette, and a typeface with the range to carry packaging and signage both. Delivered with the palette and type spelled out so it stays consistent without me.
What shipped
Refreshed mark · palette & type spec · applied mockupsProduction
Across retainer clients
The work that runs every month once the strategy is set.
Video
Social graphics
Content creation
Seasonal promotional content for a skincare line. The offer does the work — 15% off sitewide with free shipping at two products, so the discount and the basket size move together instead of against each other.
Email campaigns
A five-email nurture sequence for Capitoline Intel, written to move a home-care agency owner from problem to offer — awareness, pain, proof, a free trial, then the ask.
Full sequence with copy and guided links: read the campaign (PDF)
Reporting
Every retainer client gets the numbers monthly, in plain language.
Find out what's actually holding your marketing back.
Thirty minutes. I look at what you're running now and name the three things I'd change first — whether or not you hire me.
The 15-minute readiness check
Twenty questions across identity, audience, visibility, consistency and measurement — scored, so you know which one to fix first.
Not ready for a call? Start here. I'll send the occasional note on what's working in small-business marketing along with it.
By subscribing you agree to receive emails from MTT Market Talent, which may include business insights, marketing trends, educational content, promotional offers and updates. Your information is kept confidential and is never sold or shared with third parties. You may unsubscribe at any time, which immediately removes you from all future communications.
Questions people ask
What does it cost?
Depends on scope, and I'd rather quote you honestly than post a number that fits nobody. You'll have a written scope and price after the call — not an invoice surprise three weeks in.
How soon will I see something?
The written strategy lands in the first two weeks. Visible movement — engagement, inbound questions — usually shows inside the first month. Compounding results take longer, and anyone promising otherwise is selling.
What do you need from me?
A couple of hours up front to get the strategy right, access to your accounts, and a monthly review. I'd rather ask for that time once than guess about your business for six months.
What if it isn't working?
We look at the numbers every month against the plan. If something isn't performing we change it, and if the whole approach is wrong I'll say so rather than keep producing content.
Do you work outside Milwaukee?
Yes. Milwaukee is home and local work is my favorite, but strategy, content and campaigns all run fine remotely.
I already have someone doing marketing.
Then you may need direction rather than hands. Plenty of my work is a strategy an in-house person or a freelancer then executes — that's the Foundation engagement.
Who actually does the work?
I do. When a job needs a specialist — a developer, a photographer for a big shoot — I bring one in and tell you who they are.