Many people know me best as an online copywriter, site optimization expert and freelancer coach.
I am all of those things, but I’m also a marketing coach and advisor to online startups and other small companies marketing their products or services online. This is something I have been doing since the late 1990s.
I help companies bake smart online marketing into their business plans. I help create plans and messages that work.
What are my credentials?
I know my way around online marketing. I have worked as an online writer, marketer, optimization expert, speaker and trainer with an awful lot of companies, including…
J. Paul Getty Trust, MSN.com, Technogym, Encyclopedia Britannica, New York Times, Country Financial, Adorama, Reuters, WebEx, Yahoo!, Intuit, Walt Disney Attractions, Association of American Publishers, Novartis Pharma, John Deere, National Cancer Institute, Merck & Co., Textron, and the Information Technology Media Advisory Council.
I have also been involved with a number of online startups, either as an advisor or a shareholder. Here is some feedback from a few people I have worked with in an advisory capacity.
“Something that’s stuck with me since working with Nick in the early Internet days of the 90’s was his insistence on maintaining clarity of voice and purpose, always with the customer in mind. But his ability to teach us how to do that made the real difference. Our success today is certainly based, in part, on Nick’s guidance.”
Jay Steinfeld, Founder/CEO, Blinds.com
“Ninety minutes expert chat with Nick Usborne provides more insights than a full day at most marketing conferences! He is an accomplished online marketer and copywriter, a passionate, brilliant consultant, and (crucially) a dream to work with.”
Justin Deaville, CEO, Wordtracker
“The best writers are also clear thinkers who can distill complex issues and processes into something entirely more manageable. Nick does this well as a writer, certainly. But his talents apply more broadly to business as well. He has a real talent for seeing through the clutter, and recognizing what works and what doesn’t work when marketing online.”
Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer, MarketingProfs.com
“Nick has an exceptional knack of cutting quickly through to the essentials; he’s a very good listener, which makes him a very good communicator. As with all good mentors you emerge from a session with Nick happy you have found the answers all by yourself”.
Richard Gourlay, Managing Director, Sussex Place Ventures
What’s my core contribution?
The bottom line is that I’m a marketer. My task is to help you bake marketing into your business plan. And to match your marketing to the audience you want to reach. At its core, this is about creating and positioning your products or services in a way that they are a perfect match for what your audience already wants, even if they don’t know it yet.
I can also help you with your messaging. You need a message that you are totally committed to, and which your audience will respond to in a positive way – a message you love to share, and which they love to hear.
The best way to sell online is to have an audience-centric idea and a great message. Without those, you have to fall back on persuasion. And trying to persuade people to buy something they don’t really want is a steep hill to climb.
What do I do, exactly?
I’m a consultant and advisor. I’m not the guy who is going to rewrite your website’s About page or tomorrow’s tweets. I’m not your execution guy. You already have people for that, or can easily find them.
I’m the guy you want when you know you have a great product or service, but haven’t found a way to communicate that passion and value with your audience.
I can help at the startup phase, or can become your online marketing troubleshooter later on. In that latter case, it might be that your products or services are great…but your marketing approach just isn’t converting that value into sales.
How does my consulting business work, and what is the cost?
I work by phone, with some back and forth by email. I rarely work on-site. Essentially, I am working as a marketing coach with someone at your company…sometimes the founder, sometimes a senior marketing person.
I offer two consulting options, and am open to customized arrangements.
The first is a three-month option, which comprises 12 one-hour calls – one per week – and some back and forth by email between calls, priced at $9,900.
The second is the six-month option, with 24 calls, and email, priced at $17,500.
If that sounds like a lot, we’re probably not ready to work together yet. If it sounds about right, you probably already know my work and feel comfortable with the value I can offer.
Contact me through this form and we’ll set up a time to talk…