Marketing strategies for small businesses and startups
"To do a common thing uncommonly well brings success"
Henry John Heinz
Henry John Heinz
You are an entrepreneur and take care of every aspect of your business: market research, product development, price setting, scoping out new sales channels, choosing people to join your team, setting goals for moving forward, and gathering client feedback. But it's hard to keep on top of everything, isn't it?
Your business is very important to you, you care about your professional reputation, and delivering a high-quality service is your mission. But what is the best way to find and keep your ideal clients? How should you go about growing your business? Indeed, in which directions should your business expand? Which tools and marketing activities should you invest your time, energy, and resources in, and which should you avoid?
You read books, watch lectures, and take courses, but you still don't have a clear picture. You know overall where you want to be, but you are not sure which is the best and quickest route to get there. It's ok. Most entrepreneurs face these challenges and it is no reason to get discouraged.
Your business is very important to you, you care about your professional reputation, and delivering a high-quality service is your mission. But what is the best way to find and keep your ideal clients? How should you go about growing your business? Indeed, in which directions should your business expand? Which tools and marketing activities should you invest your time, energy, and resources in, and which should you avoid?
You read books, watch lectures, and take courses, but you still don't have a clear picture. You know overall where you want to be, but you are not sure which is the best and quickest route to get there. It's ok. Most entrepreneurs face these challenges and it is no reason to get discouraged.
I have great news for you. You are not alone anymore.
Let's Get Acquainted!
My name is Oksana, and I am a marketing strategist with 15 years of experience. I started my career as a market analyst in a big media company. After three years, I left the office and created my own marketing agency. I developed positioning and promotional strategies for medium and large-sized companies in Eastern Europe and CIS. However, working with small businesses and startups brought me the most satisfaction. Helping them grow, sharing their cause, overcoming difficulties together, and celebrating their success was truly a humbling experience.
Since 2015, I have been living in Argentina and working remotely with entrepreneurs around the world. My clients live in 23 countries. I speak Russian, English, and Spanish. In 2018-2019, I collaborated as a mentor and business coach with the Ministry of Production of Argentina.
Since 2015, I have been living in Argentina and working remotely with entrepreneurs around the world. My clients live in 23 countries. I speak Russian, English, and Spanish. In 2018-2019, I collaborated as a mentor and business coach with the Ministry of Production of Argentina.
The Format
I offer business consulting and strategic planning services. I start with auditing your business across several categories: your current standing, your business goals, your positioning and the marketing tools currently in use. After which, I help you select the most relevant tools and implement them in the most efficient way to increase your customer flow. I predict possible dangers you may face in terms of your business growth and give recommendations on how to avoid them. When we are done, you will get a road map that will take you to your goal. I understand we are working within strict budgets. Therefore, the fee I charge is reasonable and affordable. But most importantly, this investment of time and money that you are making by hiring me quickly pays off.
The Process
1
You send me an e-mail to hello@oksanazheleznova.com describing your current business situation. Writing this description can itself be helpful for seeing the big picture. If it is hard for you to write down your thoughts, you can call me on Skype, zoom, WhatsApp or Telegram for 15-20 minutes and tell me about your needs. This allows me to get an idea of which issues we are dealing with.
2
I study the information you gave me, ask questions and determine if I can help you.
3
3. If I can, the next steps are:
a) I prepare the plan,
b) You transfer the payment,
c) We meet for one hour to an hour and a half for a Skype/zoom session where I present the action plan to you and we discuss it. After our conversation, I send you the summary and audio recording of the consultation, if required, via e-mail and answer any additional questions.
a) I prepare the plan,
b) You transfer the payment,
c) We meet for one hour to an hour and a half for a Skype/zoom session where I present the action plan to you and we discuss it. After our conversation, I send you the summary and audio recording of the consultation, if required, via e-mail and answer any additional questions.
4
You implement the action plan designed for your specific needs with my help or on your own. Continue reading to learn about different formats of support.
The cost of the consultation is 240 USD + 50 USD for the written summary.
Guarantee. I believe that clients come to me to resolve problems, and not for my time or expertise. If you have followed all my recommendations but still have not seen any positive results, it means that I was not able to resolve your problem. In this situation, you can communicate with me right away, we will analyze the situation together, and if the proposed plan has been 100% carried out, I will return the money for the consultation.
SPECIAL OFFER! 50% discount for sustainable and circular brands. If your business helps protect the environment, your strategic consultation will cost 120 USD + 25 USD for the written summary.
Guarantee. I believe that clients come to me to resolve problems, and not for my time or expertise. If you have followed all my recommendations but still have not seen any positive results, it means that I was not able to resolve your problem. In this situation, you can communicate with me right away, we will analyze the situation together, and if the proposed plan has been 100% carried out, I will return the money for the consultation.
SPECIAL OFFER! 50% discount for sustainable and circular brands. If your business helps protect the environment, your strategic consultation will cost 120 USD + 25 USD for the written summary.
Long-term support
For those who want to continue working with me on the marketing strategy implementation, I offer three formats of support
- Assistance with a specific questionAdditional consultation consisting of 1-1.5 hour session via Skype or zoom. Includes my preparation in advance, an audio recording and written summary of session.
Cost – 120 USD + 25 USD
written summary. - Step-by-step planBundle of 4 meetings (1-1.5 hour each) via Skype or zoom, during which we discuss the steps that have been implemented, the results you have obtained, and create a plan based on your objectives. Following each meeting, I will send you an audio recording and written summary.
Cost – 420 USD + 25 USD for each written summary,
saving 15 % or 60 USD. - Express consultation"Quick advice" for 45 minutes via Skype, zoom, or WhatsApp, with prior agreement of time, to discuss any question that may arise. The client is free to make an audio recording of the session, however a written summary will not be provided.
Cost – 55 USD.
Project management
Perhaps your business is already growing and the time has come to "overhaul" your marketing approach.
Perhaps your project has been running for many years now and everything is going well, but you are tired of figuring things out on your own and you would like an alternative perspective on your business and the market in general.
Or perhaps a consultation is not enough and you need an expert to take on some of the organizational work for launching the needed realignment.
In these situations, I am happy to offer my project management services. I ran my own business for four years, so I don't just talk the talk, I can walk the walk. By the way, our slogan was, "We'll make your business look great!"
Cost will be determined on a case-by-case basis, as it depends on the scale of the project and the volume of work.
Perhaps your project has been running for many years now and everything is going well, but you are tired of figuring things out on your own and you would like an alternative perspective on your business and the market in general.
Or perhaps a consultation is not enough and you need an expert to take on some of the organizational work for launching the needed realignment.
In these situations, I am happy to offer my project management services. I ran my own business for four years, so I don't just talk the talk, I can walk the walk. By the way, our slogan was, "We'll make your business look great!"
Cost will be determined on a case-by-case basis, as it depends on the scale of the project and the volume of work.
Success Stories
Training and public speaking
Throughout my career, I have often spoken, in English, Russian, and Spanish, at business events, conducted training sessions for my own team and clients' teams.
I am always happy to share my knowledge and experience at conferences, at meetings and through online webinars. If you are interested in working with me, get in touch via email hello@oksanazheleznova.com.
I am always happy to share my knowledge and experience at conferences, at meetings and through online webinars. If you are interested in working with me, get in touch via email hello@oksanazheleznova.com.
Testimonials
Frequently Asked Questions
Question:
WHY SO EXPENSIVE?
Answer:
Consider the following: once you implement that plan I designed for you, there will be no need to invest your time and money into other sessions, trainings, books, and unnecessary expensive activities such as creating useless websites, launching ads, developing and creating products or services that will be doomed to failure. Not only do these cost lots of money, they also take weeks, months, and even years for you to complete or learn your lesson. $240 USD suddenly is not perceived as expensive any more. In addition, when you invest money, it becomes a force of motivation to apply right away that which you learned. As I already mentioned, the results of my clients are important to me. Setting a fee that some may consider expensive allows to separate clients from those who are ready to make a change and those who are just curious.
Question:
WHY SO CHEAP?
Answer:
First it is important for me that this service is available to every entrepreneur. Secondly, work brings me pleasure, and this is more important for me than money.
Question:
WHAT CAN I DO TO MAKE THE CONSULTATION AS EFFECTIVE AS POSSIBLE?
Answer:
For our work together to yield positive results I will need as much information as possible, so I ask you to answer my questions providing as much detail as you can. But most importantly, the number one rule for making the consultation work for you is to start implementing the plan right away. The consultation will not change anything in your business by itself. It will give an idea of where you are in the market, a clear development strategy and a basis for future action. However, until you apply the recommendations, nothing will change. This is the reality: you will have to act on your own. As for the preparations, all you need do is to register and pay. You also need to understand what issues you want to solve. And it would be a good idea to have a notebook and a pen nearby, and jot down some notes, when we start our session.
Question:
AFTER WHAT PERIOD OF TIME WILL I NEED ANOTHER CONSULTATION?
Answer:
Usually, customers come back to see me in six months to a year, after our initial session. During this time, their circumstances have changed fundamentally, and so did their goals. After having obtained results and having reached a new level, you will encounter new difficulties. In this case, you may need a new consultation. In some cases, when the problem is very deep, you may want one or two additional consultations scheduled right away. Whichever rout you decide to take, understand that you need to put in the work between your consultations.
Question:
HOW CAN I UNDERSTAND IF I NEED YOUR SERVICES?
Answer:
IF YOU ARE:
- Just entering the market and do not know where to start;
- Exhausted, but your revenue barely covers your expenses;
- Not seeing the opportunity to increase profits by attracting more able-to-buy customers;
- Feeling that competitors are getting close and threatening to take away the market which you built with such difficulty;
- Not able to independently determine who your customers are and what is your message you send out to them;
- Looking to work with «your» clients and do not want to waste time and energy on those who will not like your conditions;
- Losing clients and do not understand what is happening;
- Feeling like you have reached the «ceiling» in your development and do not know where to grow;
- Making a business out of a hobby and it still is not bringing you a stable income;
- Successful in developing your business, but you feel that you are doing it chaotically and want to bring order to your practice, get rid of the excess and leave only effective tools that really bring in the customers;
- Experiencing difficulties in highly specialized marketing tasks (such as setting up targeted or contextual advertising, creating video, writing content for the website, managing social media accounts) and do not know where to find the right professionals and how to provide them with technical task descriptions.
IF ANY OF THE ABOVE CAN BE APPLIED TO YOU, YOU NEED MY SERVICES.
And I will gladly help you!
- Just entering the market and do not know where to start;
- Exhausted, but your revenue barely covers your expenses;
- Not seeing the opportunity to increase profits by attracting more able-to-buy customers;
- Feeling that competitors are getting close and threatening to take away the market which you built with such difficulty;
- Not able to independently determine who your customers are and what is your message you send out to them;
- Looking to work with «your» clients and do not want to waste time and energy on those who will not like your conditions;
- Losing clients and do not understand what is happening;
- Feeling like you have reached the «ceiling» in your development and do not know where to grow;
- Making a business out of a hobby and it still is not bringing you a stable income;
- Successful in developing your business, but you feel that you are doing it chaotically and want to bring order to your practice, get rid of the excess and leave only effective tools that really bring in the customers;
- Experiencing difficulties in highly specialized marketing tasks (such as setting up targeted or contextual advertising, creating video, writing content for the website, managing social media accounts) and do not know where to find the right professionals and how to provide them with technical task descriptions.
IF ANY OF THE ABOVE CAN BE APPLIED TO YOU, YOU NEED MY SERVICES.
And I will gladly help you!
Question:
CAN YOU REALLY PREDICT THE RESULT OF YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS, ONCE IMPLEMENTED?
Answer:
No. And it is unlikely that any expert could do so. Marketing is built on hypotheses and verification. I can say with almost total certainty that modernizing the structure and design of an outdated website will, all other conditions being equal, yield an increase in sales. However, I cannot say by how much. In my experience, it has been anything from +30% to +100%. Results depend on many other factors over which I, as an external specialist, have no control, from the overall economic state of the country or specific region where your clients live to your internal business processes. For example, maybe you take a long time answering incoming requests and customers therefore have time to find alternative solutions (a real example from my experience).
Contacts
