-THE-
STRATEGIC MARKETING MASTERCLASS
Earn more 💰💰💰 and make a greater impact with this 8-Week Marketing Skills Upgrade
8-WEEK SKILLS UPGRADE
16, 90-minute live classes with yours truly. I’ll give you the skills and experience you need to earn more 💰 and make a greater impact on the world.
“By the end of this course, I had so much clarity about not only how well-equipped I was to help clients, but also how to pivot and launch my new service offerings. Russ definitely knows how to teach and how to overdeliver on a promise..”
PRIVATE ACCESS
Network, collaborate, and ask me direct questions in our Private Slack Workspace. No irrelevant noise; just pure marketing talk. This will quickly become your go-to community.
“The community that you’ll build between the other participants is unmatched. Sometimes it felt more like a Mastermind group than a course.”
TOOLS YOU'LL USE
Each week you’ll receive the worksheets, checklists, and templates I use every day to grow the companies I work with. All tools and resources are yours to use however you like.
“I feel confident that I’ve got the tools I need to get results for my business and my client’s businesses.”
I’m Russ and back in 2004, I was…
…getting started as a freelance marketer for hire and realized:
- I was busy AF
- I wasn’t making SH*T for money
At the suggestion of my mentor, I sent an email to my clients and asked a simple question:
“What does Russ do?”
My clients said things like:
- Russ writes compelling SEO optimized copy for me
- Russ sets up and sends my email promotions
- Russ buys traffic from Facebook and Google
I brought these answers back to my mentor and he hit me with the bad news:
“You’re a mechanic.”
Huh? A mechanic?
He explained, “There are two types of marketers out there, Russ. The Specialist and The Strategist.”
Marketer 1 – The Specialist – The Specialist spends their day taking orders from clients/employers and DOING the marketing. As my mentor said, The Specialist is a mechanic.
There’s nothing wrong with being The Specialist. I ❤️ doing this work. The trouble is I was spending most of my time doing what my mentor was calling $10/hour work.
I shook my head. “I’m making more than $10 per hour,” I told him.
He clarified…
$10/hour work is what I call anything that will eventually be put into an instruction manual. It’s work that, if possible, will someday be automated by software. AI anyone?
This kind of work goes to the lowest bidder.
It’s a race to the bottom. 👇
And, if the only work you can do is Mechanic work, you’re replaceable and not all that valuable to your client.
“What should I do?”
I asked my mentor, hoping there was some silver bullet that would fix the problem.
He smiled and replied, “Add marketing strategy.”
Marketer 2 – The Strategist – The Strategist spends at least some of their time diagnosing business problems and prescribing marketing solutions. If the Specialist is a mechanic, The Strategist is a doctor.
“Adding the ability to talk marketing strategy will make you irreplaceable and priceless,” he said.
My mentor helped me come to the understanding that there is such a thing as $10/hour work, $50/hour work, $100/hour work, $500/hour work and beyond.
“$500/hour work? I like the sound of that.”, I said.
“Then you need to get busy learning how to get REAL results for businesses.”
So, I got to work upgrading my skill set
First, I learned to speak the language of my client.
I stopped selling my ability to create SEO optimized blog posts or set up and write ads and emails.
Instead, I positioned myself as a marketer that could impact the four objectives every business cares about:
- Awareness – Increase the number of prospective customers that know about the business.
- Lead Generation – Increase the number of prospective customers that have volunteered their contact information.
- Sales – Increase the number of buyers.
- Retention – Keep and sell more to the customers you already have.
Like a doctor, I learned to listen to the pain points of my clients and then prescribe the right course of treatment.
I studied other smart marketers, worked with amazing mentors, and put what I was learning into practice with clients.
The more I learned about impacting these four objectives, the more money I made.
Today, I still love doing the work of The Specialist but each year I’ve found that I spend more and more of my time as The Strategist.
I love this marketing stuff.
Especially the strategic side of marketing where we make a plan that intentionally and predictably grows a business. It feels like magic, but it isn’t.
It’s just good marketing.
Today, I make a mid-six-figure income as a freelance marketer and consultant. I’ve had years where I’ve made a little less and years where I’ve made a little more.
I’ve been in the trenches doing digital marketing for companies and clients for almost 20 years and teaching it to thousands of people for more than a decade.
I’ve worked with 100’s of brands like Salesforce.com, Kajabi, and Digital Marketer.
In fact, Ryan Deiss and I wrote the book on digital marketing.
In other words, I’ve earned my stripes being both The Mechanic and The Strategist.
And I’m here to tell you, adding the rare expertise of The Strategist to your specialist skills will be a turning point for you as a professional.
I want to get you there faster
I had to learn this stuff by piecing together information from books and podcasts and conference presentations.
I’ve also spent time working alongside and learning from some of the smartest marketers in the world whom I’m grateful to now call friends.
But learning and acquiring the skills of The Strategist doesn’t need to take a decade or even a year.
👉 I will train you in 8 weeks.
But before we get into the details of this Masterclass, let’s make sure you are the right fit for this training.
The Strategic Marketing Masterclass was not created for everyone.
If you can answer YES to all of these questions, you’re in:
- Are you doing freelance, agency, or in-house marketing work?
- Do you have (or are working on having) one or more existing digital marketing skills?
- Are you willing to commit a few hours per week to advance your business or career?
Do you meet this criteria? Cool, I built this training specifically for you.
The class lays out like this:
In the very first session, you’ll choose a product or service you want to sell more of.
Then, using the Strategic Marketing Plan template provided in this class, you’ll begin creating a plan to sell more of your chosen product or service.
Examples from the last class:
- Trent built a plan to sell more Electric Vehicle Charger installations for his client, Sarros Electrical.
- Stacy Lynn built a plan to sell more of her own freelance marketing services.
- Amy built a plan to sell more memberships to the Reading Simplified Academy for the company she works for.
NOTE: Once I show you how to build a plan to sell one product or service, you’ll know how to build a plan to sell more of anything. You can apply this system again and again.
Then, the fun begins…
Your Strategic Marketing Plan will be slowly built throughout the 8 weeks of this course.
In each session you’ll get the tools, processes, and frameworks needed to add another element to your plan.
These elements include:
The Offer – The most important and overlooked element of marketing and selling. You will learn the 10 components of a great offer and how to craft an irresistible proposition to prospective clients/customers. Then, stick your new offer into your Strategic Marketing Plan for safe keeping.
The Persona – I’ll teach you how to use your noggin plus Artificial Intelligence (this is wicked cool, actually) to find and focus on a market that’s hungry for the aforementioned OFFER you have created. Then, put your shiny new PERSONA in your plan!
The Position – I’ll teach you how to scan your PERSONA to find the right POSITION and marketing messaging. You’ll use this messaging everywhere from content to sales copy. Now, put that new position in your Strategic Marketing Plan.
The Proof – If you’re making a great OFFER to a focused PERSONA using a clear POSITION and they don’t buy — you don’t have enough PROOF that you can get the result you are claiming. I’ll teach you the many forms of PROOF and how to gather it and deploy it in your marketing. Then, you guessed it, put it in the plan!
The Plan – Now it’s time to determine precisely which marketing campaigns we need to deploy to get more sales for your product or service. You’ll learn about Front-End and Back-End marketing campaigns and receive 14 proven Marketing Campaign Maps you can deploy to sell more of anything. Now, put the campaign PLAN in your slide deck.
Then, I’ll teach you the process to sell Strategic Marketing Planning to clients, employers, and anyone else you’re serving as a marketer.
You’ll get a proven sales process and proposal template you can put to work right away.
And here’s the cherry on top 🍒
In the last four sessions we will do live consulting calls where I will work one-on-one with the students in this class to solve real marketing problems at the strategic level.
These last two weeks tie it all together. (Like Jeffrey Lebowski’s rug.)
These live “hot seats” were the most popular sessions from the last class by far.
Examples from the last class:
- Donna and I (and the class) sorted through some lead generation issues she was having with a client.
- Lisa and I reviewed a Lead Magnet campaign she was working on.
- Amy and I broke down the issues she was having selling a virtual event.
It’s so much fun because the class chimes in with advice and ideas as well. By this stage the class will feel more like a Mastermind than a class.
👉 Make sense? Have any questions? Send me an email at [email protected] and I’ll reply personally. That’s a pinky promise.
A week-by-week breakdown of this 8-week Masterclass:
“..take the course, it’s worth every penny.“
Here’s a smidge more of what we’ll cover in this 8-week class:
The primary output of this class is...
… a Strategic Marketing Plan built to sell a specific product or service. Each student will choose a product or service and build a strategic plan to sell more of it.
Watch this 3-minute video for the details:
Plus, get 14+ battle tested Marketing Campaign Maps you’ll use to 1) get results for clients and 2) sell your brilliant plan to clients and employers.
These Marketing Campaign Maps include:
And that’s just scratching the surface.
This class is designed to give you the knowledge, resources, and experience to become a more valuable marketer.
Here’s a bit more of what we will cover:
The 4 outcomes every client or employer wants (Shift your messaging so you are communicating what THEY want and, like magic, you will get what you want: higher pay.)
A new way to approach marketing at the top of the funnel (Use these 4 stages of awareness to bring in new eyeballs for the businesses you serve.)
The AI + PFC Buyer Persona Template – Use Chat GPT and your capable noggin to create the most valuable AI asset you could ever imagine. (My persona’s name is Sage and the marketing insight I get from this AI Persona is astounding.)
How to create a clear and compelling marketing messages so that customers understand, want, and buy your product or service. (This is your core messaging and is used everywhere including email, social, ads, product pages and anywhere else the brand is communicating.)
How to consistently gather and strategically deploy the most powerful element at the marketer’s disposal: PROOF (You’ll get my simple step-by-step “Proof Machine” process. Proof comes in many forms and I’ll teach you how to ramp up the gathering and deployment of proof.)
How to go from planning to execution (Each marketing campaign you’ll learn contains a “punch list” of content, copy, creative, and pages needed to execute that specific campaign)
Learn the two most important metrics in any business and the half-dozen “child metrics” that help you drill down further. (This is not difficult math and I have created a set of spreadsheets so you can just plug in the numbers and voila!)
The 3-Headed AI Marketing Framework – This is a process that can be repeated for any client or company you work for. The output from ChatGPT is astonishing.
14 Essential AI Prompt Formulas for Marketers – Once you’ve trained Chat GPT using the 3-Headed Framework, you’ll use these prompt formulas to deliver high-quality work with remarkable speed.
The Modern Marketer’s Scorecard – Plug your numbers into the same spreadsheet templates I use with my clients and you’ll instantly (just by reading the numbers left to right) spot the places where you can squeeze more ROI out of your campaign. That’s how a strategist does it.
14 Essential AI Prompt Formulas for Marketers – Once you’ve trained Chat GPT using the 3-Headed Framework, you’ll use these prompt formulas to deliver high-quality work with remarkable speed.
… and a whole heck of a lot more.
“This is probably the best money I’ve ever spent on myself…”
We will get wild 😏
While I have been known to get a little crazy on my training calls, that’s not what I mean by wild.
We will be studying the marketing strategy of REAL successful B2B, B2C, and DTC companies across diverse industries such as:
- The Farmer’s Dog (B2C)
- Grainger (B2B)
- Misook (DTC)
- CarMax (B2C)
- Notion (B2B)
- Blue Apron (B2C)
- Duolingo (B2C)
- Resilient Roofing
- Bench (B2B)
- Better Help (B2C)
- Lazar Spinal Care (B2C)
- Dave Ramsey (B2B and B2C)
- Rosetta Stone (B2C)
I don’t just teach concepts. I break those concepts down and then show you concrete live examples (in the wild) to solidify your understanding.
Not only do I now have a better handle on how an overarching strategy works – including all the pieces that could go into a highly effective plan – but I can also now confidently have that high-level conversation with others, knowing the immense value these new skills bring to the table.
I didn’t even pay these people to say these nice things.
Helped me earn well over 6 figures a year…
I’ve used his systems to train my clients and staff.
During this Masterclass I applied what I was learning to a client’s business … so I know it works in the real world.
This course was worth far more than what Russ charged…
This strategic marketing class has been a game changer for us.
If you have a chance to work with Russ, I highly recommend it.
Your Private Slack Workspace
Joining the private Slack Workspace is optional but here are the reasons I think it’s a huge benefit to you:
Networking: The private group transforms the class into a community. You can network, share experiences, and collaborate. It’s true, your network = your net worth.
The Expert’s Ear: You’ll have direct access to Russ. Wait, that’s me! 😀 Reach out to me any time you have questions or comments about what you’re learning in this class.
Safe Space: You’ll feel more comfortable sharing and, unlike Facebook, you won’t have to read the latest political rant from Crazy Uncle Eddie in your feed.
Accountability: Seeing other members of the class share progress, ask questions, or discuss assignments can motivate YOU stay on track.
Sharing: We will use Slack to share additional resources such as videos and articles that will enrich the training.
Who Is This Program For?
This training was built for digital marketers that want to earn more, AI-proof their skillset, and have more impact on the businesses they serve.
FREELANCE MARKETERS
Go from replaceable to priceless by adding a strategic marketing skillset.
“Russ infuses relatable, real-life situations to make the concepts he’s teaching more approachable. There have been so many “ah ha” moments in his classes. He’s taught me to see the bigger picture of what my role can be as a digital marketing strategist.”
IN-HOUSE MARKETERS
Gain access to the knowledge and skills to advance your career.
“The lessons Russ taught me helped me break into this industry. His trainings are in-depth and full of great examples that keep things entertaining while reinforcing the concept so you truly understand it. He shares marketing tactics you can start applying to your job that day.”
AGENCY MARKETERS
Become the smartest marketer on your next client status call.
“My name is Kathryn Aragon, founder and CEO of Jcurve Agency.. Russ has been instrumental to my career and success. Thanks to him, I now work with amazing clients and have a powerful network. And if I ever have a question, he’s there to help.”
Bonus Trainings that Don’t Suck
Each of these trainings is designed to compliment The Strategic Marketing Masterclass. You’ll learn to generate leads like a pro, implement a selling process, and scan a business for money that’s being left on the table.
🎁 BONUS 1 🎁
Lead Generation Mastery
Predictably generate leads and email subscribers using a lead magnet
⚡⚡ Note: This bonus training is available to you instantly. Register now and get access to this 70-minute course today. ⚡⚡
Here’s a smidge of what is covered in Lead Generation Mastery:
The 3 pieces of “lead generation equipment” you must have and how to acquire all three. (If you are missing any of these 3, you’ll get virtually zero leads and subscribers.)
8 types of lead magnet offers that turn even the coldest traffic into warm leads ready to buy from you.
7 ways to funnel traffic to your lead magnet page (many of these are FREE traffic sources) and generate leads and subscribers at scale.
Headlines and bullets are critical to your lead generation page. You’ll get 5 lead magnet headline formulas and 9 bullet formulas that are proven to convert. (My favorite is the “Piggyback” formula)
The math behind lead generation. This is the kind of stuff they don’t teach in business school. (You’ll just plug your numbers into our simple Scorecard spreadsheet)
The 10 elements every successful lead generation campaign has in place. (Some of the most critical are Specificity and Speed.)
🧰 Resources
The List Builder’s Checklist – The key to getting leads is to have the right offer and landing page. This checklist will get you there.
🎁 BONUS 2 🎁
The ‘3-Steps and Yep’ Selling Process
Use this easy-to-implement selling process to confidently and ethically win more business
(No more sweaty palms before sales calls)
Step 1 – Conducting the Discovery Call
Invite your potential client to a complimentary 60-minute with four phases:
Phase I – Pre-Call Homework – The 3 places to stalk your potential new customer and how to use what you’ve found to improve your chances of winning the business. (This preparation process will also make you feel 1000% more comfortable on the sales call.
Phase II – The Upfront Contract – In the first 2 minutes of the Discovery Call you will use the Upfront Contract to put a pin in the “gawd this is awkward” vibe. Everyone will relax, you will feel confident, and you’ll be much more likely to win the business. It’s easy, just follow our script.
Phase III – 5 Magic Questions – You shouldn’t be doing much talking on the Discovery Call. Sit back, listen, and take notes as you ask your prospect these 5 questions that will lead to the perfect proposal.
Phase IV – Confirm Next Steps – Don’t end The Discovery Call without having two dates on your calendar or this prospect might 👻 you. Simply follow Discovery Call Sales Script to ensure you and your prospect have agreed on next steps.
🧰 Resources
The Discovery Call Sales Script – This script will guide you through the Discovery Call so you don’t have to stress about what’s next and you’ll be sure you’re on the right track to winning the business.
Step 2 – Crafting the Perfect Proposal
Some proposals have too much information, others don’t have enough. This 3-part proposal template is perfect:
Part 1 – The Scope – Get this right and your life will be easier. Get it wrong and you run the risk of having what you will eventually refer to as the client from H-E-double-hockey-sticks. Kidding… not kidding.
Part 2 – The Plan – Craft the plan the way we teach you and watch your prospect scream “Where do I sign!?” This part of the proposal will separate you from the other chuckleheads this prospective customer is talking to. You will feel like such a pro when you present this proposal.
Part 3 – The Terms – Use the template to clearly communicate pricing, deliverables, and timeline so you’ll know how and when you’ll be paid for your hard work.
🧰 Resources
The Perfect Marketing Proposal Template – Use this proposal to separate yourself from the competition, ensure you will get the client results, and lock down a fee that calls for a celebration dinner.
Step 3 – The Proposal Review Call
This is where the sale is made.
Phase I – The Upfront Contract – Yep, you’ll do it again on this call. Just read the script and feel the tension evaporate instantly. This part of the script is designed to communicate that you and your potential client are on the same team. 🙌
Phase II – The Trial Close – Use this simple 10-word question to determine whether your prospective client is ready to sign on the dotted line and cut you a check.
Phase III – Overcoming Objections – The 6 most common reasons your prospect is saying “no” or “maybe” and the scripts you’ll use to save the deal.
🧰 Resources
The Proposal Review Call Sales Script – This script will guide you through the Proposal Review Call so you don’t have to stress about what’s next and you’ll be guaranteed to be in the best position to win the business.
🎁 BONUS 3 🎁
The Marketing “Quick Wins” Playbook
10 Hard-Hitting, Wicked Smart, One-and-Done Marketing Plays
Every successful business you serve is leaving money on the table.
You will find low-hanging fruit in literally 100% of the businesses you serve.
I’m going to hand you the playbook you need so you can:
- pluck the fruit off the tree 🍎
- hand it to your client or employer
- smile smugly to yourself ( ˘ ͜ʖ ˘)
I call this a “Quick Win” and I look for them before I meet potential new clients (often seals the deal) and immediately after signing a new client.
It takes the pressure off and proves that I know my S#IT.
And these aren’t little victories.
The ROI from these plays often far exceeds the fees or salary the business will pay you for the year… heck… for the next 10 years
I’ll teach you how to recognize the opportunity and then give you the process you’ll need to run plays like these:
The RF Grid – This play leverages the most powerful predictor of human behavior: recency.
The Slack Adjuster – Businesses as small as mom-and-pop and as big as CostCo use this play.
The Model Shift – This is how Google became Google and how you will look like a genius in the eyes of your client or employer.
The Brand Grab – This is the easiest and often the highest leverage play you can run. It literally takes 10 minutes of your time and the pay off can be off the charts. 📈
The Payoff – Works incredibly well for any subscription business including software, information, and service businesses.
… and five more plays you can return to again and again whenever you need a “Quick Win.”
🎁 BONUS 4 🎁
$60K/year Clients
How to Land and Service High-Ticket Retainer Clients
The final bonus is a training called “How to Land $60K/year Clients” and it’s built specifically for you if…
- …you want to earn between $150,000 and $400,000 per year…
- … doing a combination of Marketing Specialist and Marketing Strategist client work…
- … and you’re willing to put in the work to get there.
You’re not going to build a billion dollar company with the model I’ll teach you. And it won’t happen all by itself. It takes effort.
But if you set it up the way I’ll show you, you can be among the top 1% of earners in the United States and do it all with the flexibility to set your own hours and work from anywhere in the world.
In this training you will learn:
How to set up retainer deals worth between $5,000 and $10,000 per month (a full client load is between 3 and 5 clients depending on how much you want to be working)
The three characteristics of a business that will be thrilled to pay you that retainer amount (HINT: It’s actually cheaper and easier for this type of business to hire you than hire an employee)
Two ways to generate $60K/year client leads:
1) The “By Invitation Only” Campaign – Use this marketing funnel to simultaneously build an email list and generate $60K/year client leads.
2) The Referral Method – Use this process to intentionally engineer the most valuable client leads you can receive: REFERRALS.
How to structure your service so the client gets value that far exceeds what they are paying you without you putting in a 40 hour work week. (You’ll spend 5 to 10 hours per week, per client)
How to keep the client happy long term by avoiding what I call The 3 Pitfalls of Marketing Consulting (Gaining and losing clients is part of the game but you’ll learn how to maximize your chances of keeping clients long term)
Watch this training and you’ll find yourself side-stepping land mines and building a freelance marketing business you love working on every day.
👉 Enroll Here
Register now for…
$2995
just $1495
(you get a ~50% launch discount) 🚀
🤗 And here’s more good news… 🤗
You can save your slot for just $495
(Plus two additional payments of $495 in January and February of 2024)
Live Class Details
- Live sessions will be every Tuesday and Thursday from 2 pm to 3:30 PM Eastern Time via Zoom.
- Every session will be recorded and available to you in your Member’s Area in case you want to revisit the lesson or can’t make it live.
- Class begins Tuesday, January 9th 2024
- Last class is February 29th, 2024
Here’s what’s included:
8-Week Skills Upgrade – These 90-minute live trainings will increase your earnings and impact by upgrading your marketing capabilities from Specialist to Strategist.
AI Training – Cutting-edge training on the latest version of Chat GPT so you can do your job smarter and faster.
Tools you can use – Access the templates, checklists, worksheets, and Campaign Maps I use every day to get results for clients.
Private Slack workspace – Network, collaborate, and ask me direct questions in real-time.
Bonus #1 – Lead Generation Mastery – Learn to predictably generate leads and email subscribers using a lead magnet in this 70-minute mini-course.
Bonus #2 – The ‘3 Steps and Yep’ Selling Process – An easy to implement selling process to confidently and ethically win more business. (No more sweaty palms before sales calls)
Bonus #3 – The Marketing Quick Wins Playbook – 10 Hard-Hitting, Wicked Smart, One-and-Done Marketing Plays
Bonus #4 – $60K/Year Clients – How to Land and Service High-Ticket Retainer Clients
Click the button below to Save Your Slot
Russ's Risk-Free Guarantee
I doubt it will come to this, but let’s say you’re not finding the value in this training. Or, you can’t take even one more dad joke from me. Simply email [email protected] any time within the first 30 days of this training and we will give you a 100% refund. That’s a promise. 🤝