-THE-
STRATEGIC MARKETING MASTERCLASS
Elevate Your Impact and Earnings with this 6-Week Marketing Skills Upgrade
6-WEEK SKILLS UPGRADE
12, 90-minute live classes with yours truly. I’ll hand you the skills and experience it took me over a decade to acquire on a silver platter.
PRIVATE ACCESS
Network, collaborate, and ask me direct questions in our Private Slack Workspace. No irrelevant noise; just pure marketing talk.
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.
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 6 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.
Here’s how this 6-week Masterclass breaks down:
The Strategic Marketing Masterclass
Week 1 – Shifting Your Mindset from Specialist to Strategist
I built this training so you...
…can make a life-changing upgrade to your capabilities as a marketer. You’ll know more after the first two weeks than 99% of marketers on the planet.
Here’s some of what we will cover in Week 1:
- What the Marketing Strategist sees that The Specialist does not (This is the difference between being irreplaceable and expendable to the businesses you market.)
- Identify the 3 Players in The Marketing Ecosystem so you can create lucrative WIN-WIN-WIN scenarios (I learned this from a book that many OG sales people call The Sales Bible and I applied it to modern day digital marketing.)
- 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.)
- 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)
- 3 (extremely) different forms of lead generation you can employ to predictably increase subscribers, leads, and first-time buyers.
- The much overlooked “tiny hinge that swings big doors” (This type of marketing is more underrated than Lionel Richie but just as brilliant.)
Week 2 – Constructing the Foundation of a Dominant Marketing Strategy
Get the marketing fundamentals right...
…and watch how much easier the details get.
Here’s some of what we will cover in Week 2:
- The 4 P’s of fundamental marketing strategy (Apply these templates and processes to every product, service, or cause you promote and see how much easier life gets)
- How to use your brain plus the brain of Chat GPT to create a Buyer Persona you can literally speak to. (This is like doing marketing with a crystal ball) 🔮
- How to create a clear and compelling marketing message so that customers understand, want, and buy your product or service. (This core messaging 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 in Week 2 of this training.)
Resources:
- 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.)
- The Marketing Position Canvas – A paint-by-numbers worksheet that takes a business from lost to found in just a few steps.
- The Proof Machine Process – If you are marketing a good product or service (and if you’re not, please STOP! 😆) every ounce of proof you can gather is worth its weight in gold. Proof comes in many forms and, in Week 2, I’ll teach you how to ramp up the gathering and deployment of proof.
Week 3 – Planning Profitable Marketing Campaigns for Clients or Employers
Like a doctor, you will learn to...
… diagnose the problem and then prescribe the right marketing campaign to solve the problem. Strategists turn problems into opportunities, and they get paid more for it.
Here’s some of what we will cover in Week 3:
- Use this 4-step diagnostic process to decide which opportunities to pursue and when (This process culminates in a single fill-in-the-blank ensuring that you’ve prescribed the right solution to the right problem.)
- Learn the rules of drawing Campaign Maps that instantly communicate your growth plans (Your colleagues will think you’ve turned into Russell Crowe from A Beautiful Mind when you start drawing wicked smart campaign maps on the windows)
- How to go from planning to execution (Each 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!)
Resources:
The Marketing Campaign Planning Canvas – Use this with your clients or employer to create a bulletproof marketing campaign. This canvas will be used throughout this week so you’ll know exactly how to use it with the companies you are marketing.
The Modern Marketer’s Scorecard – Plug your numbers into these spreadsheet templates 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.
Week 4 – Harnessing the Power of Proven Marketing Campaign Templates
This is a big week!
I’ll toss you the keys to the actual marketing campaigns the best digital marketers in the world use every day to increase awareness, leads, sales, and retention.
Here’s some of what we will cover in Week 4:
- 16+ battle tested Campaign Maps you’ll use to 1) get results and 2) sell your brilliant plan to clients and employers. These maps include:
- The Channel Launch Campaign Map that catapults a new social media account from tired to trending. (Oh, and you’ll also get The Podcast Launch map in Week 4.)
- 5 lead generation maps including the Lead Magnet, Free-Trial, and SLO Offer campaigns. (No matter what business you are marketing, we have more than one lead generating campaign for you.)
- The Come Back, Onboarding, Cross-Sell and Google Reviews campaigns that maximize retention, reduce churn, and sell more to the customers and clients you already have.
- Sales campaigns (including The Phone Funnel, Flash Sale, and Product Launch campaigns) you’ll employ when you need to make the cash register ring.
Resources:
16+ Proven Marketing Campaign Maps – These are proven templates you’ll use to get clients the results they’re after and make yourself priceless. I use them every day to execute on marketing strategy work and now they are yours.
Here’s an example of a campaign map to drive registration and sales from a webinar:
Week 5 – Campaign Mapping Scenarios: Designing Tailor-Made Marketing Campaigns for Clients and Employers
In week five...
… you’ll learn how to work with a business to take the Campaign Map Templates you have and tailor them to their circumstances.
I will give you actual business scenarios and, believe it or not, you will be ready to build a custom solution that will get the company the results they want.
Then, if you’re willing, I will provide feedback on your strategic plan so you have the confidence that you’re ready to do this strategic work.
Again, this class is not theoretical or conceptual. During this week you will prove to yourself that you have the concrete understanding to DO this work.
Resources
Campaign Mapping Scenarios Worksheets – Use these worksheets to demonstrate your ability to do this work. Send them to me, if you wish, and I’ll give you my feedback on improving them
Week 6 – Leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) to Get Marketing Done
Being the strategist...
… doesn’t mean you won’t be doing tactical work like creating and executing on copywriting, content marketing, social media, email marketing, and SEO.
I will teach you how to use AI to become a more efficient and impactful marketer. AI cannot replace you but it will turn YOU into SUPERYOU. 🦸
Here’s what we’ll cover in Week 6:
The 3-Headed AI Marketing Framework to create assets quickly such as: editorial calendars, content strategy, social media posts, emails, ads, product pages, and literally anything else you can think of.
You will learn to pick up incredible speed and raise the quality of your work. This makes you more valuable.
Resources:
- The 3-Headed AI Marketing Framework – This is a process that can be repeated for any client or company you work for. The output 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.
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.
What others are saying…
Helped me earn well over 6 figures a year…
I’ve used his systems to train my clients and staff.
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.”
Your Questions and My Answers
Your Question:
I see that becoming a Marketing Strategist will make me more more valuable. But how do I win more clients?
My Answer:
Most marketers don’t have a good selling process in place. Selling is about diagnosing the pain point and prescribing the right solution.
So, I want to give you the selling process I have tweaked and honed over the years. You’ll feel confident and at ease before, during, and after every sales call when you use this process.
And, with this process in place, you’ll be far more likely to win the business.
Here are the details of this bonus training:
🎁 BONUS 1 🎁
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.
Your Question:
Is email marketing still valuable?
My Answer:
Ah, the age-old question. Did X, or Y, or Z kill email?
Nerp.
Learning how to generate leads and grow an email list is a skill that will skyrocket your value as a marketer.
You can use this skill to generate leads and subscribers for your client or employer AND use it to build an email list for yourself.
So, I want to give you my process for generating leads and email subscribers using a lead magnet with your registration to the Strategic Marketing Masterclass.
🎁 BONUS 2 🎁
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.
Your Question:
Will I really be able to get results like more sales for my clients or employer?
My Answer:
This entire masterclass is designed to make you a more valuable marketer.
Not only will I train you to be valuable over the long run but I’m going to give you the playbook to get high-impact results within one week.
I call it my “Quick Wins” Playbook. Details below.
🎁 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.”
Your Question:
How much can I earn as a Marketing Strategist?
My Answer:
So many factors figure in to how much you can earn but perhaps the most important is how you structure your service.
I recommend working toward 3 to 5 clients paying you between a $5,000 and $10,000 per month retainer.
This final bonus training will show you how its done.
🎁 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.
👉 Join the Waitlist
Here’s what’s included:
6-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 – The “3 Steps and Yep” Selling Process – Use this system to ethically and confidently win more business.
Bonus #2 – Lead Generation Mastery – Learn to predictably generate leads and email subscribers using a lead magnet in this 70-minute mini-course.
Bonus #3 – The Marketing “Quick Wins” Playbook – Use these 10 hard-hitting, wicked smart, one-and-done marketing plays any time you need a quick win.
Bonus #4 – $60K/year Clients – Learn how to land and service clients paying you a $5,000 to $10,000 per month retainer.
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.