Overcome the perception of being a generic, cookie-cutter agency

Most solopreneurs struggle to create a compelling offer.

You've built a career's worth of expertise. You know your work makes a difference for your clients, and you have the receipts to prove it.

But when prospects ask, "What exactly do you do?" you give them a buffet of options.

The result? Clients start calling the shots. Scope creep becomes the norm. And that $20k MRR ceiling feels impossible to break through.

Here's what's really happening: You're too close to your own expertise to see what's truly valuable to others.

But instead of packaging these insights into a specific, repeatable offer, you custom-scope each new client engagement, and it's becoming impossible to manage.

Here's the insight most solopreneurs miss: The more times you deliver the same specific offer, the better you become at it.

→ Your time to value creation shrinks.
→ Your confidence grows.
→ Your results become more reliable.
→ Your pricing power explodes.

The offer isn't just part of your business.

The offer IS your business.

Fix the offer, and everything snaps into place. Marketing, sales, and delivery.

Keep it vague, and struggle to grow your business any further.

The choice is yours. But the ceiling is real.

Nick Bennett

For most solopreneurs, a large audience is not the flex you think it is.

Why?

Because the only way to increase the volume is to dilute it.

And a highly diluted audience means you can reach a ton of the wrong people. 

Here's what happens: 

The more traction you gain online, the more comfortable you become posting.

The more comfortable you become, the more you post about your life and your problems (instead of your buyers).

Know who resonates with your problems? People who look like you. 

Peers. 

And the vast majority of solopreneurs don't sell to their peers.

But the posts "work", so they keep doing it.

Parasocial post after parasocial post. 

Reaching all the wrong people, the follower count goes up.

And eventually, all roads lead to the same place.

A huge following and lumpy revenue.

We've seen this time and time again. 

And at this point, it's almost guaranteed.

The bigger following you have, the more anxiety you feel.

Because deep down you know that you can sell "access" (read: ads) to that audience, but you can't sell your services.

Growth consulting for scaling solopreneurs & micro-agencies | Co-Founder @ Duo Consulting

Grace Fellowship Church

Director of Communications

Pitch Purpose with Tony Winslow

In the Pitch Purpose with Tony Winslow podcast, I interview purpose-driven business leaders discussing their methods for inspiring others and operationalizing their purpose.

Podcast Host

Kenton County Fiscal Court

Communications Strategist

Swivel

After 9 years at Cengage, I was the Marketing Manager at a B2B marketing agency. During that time, I: 

- Led go-to-market strategy creation for a mid-sized organization in Northern Kentucky by interviewing key stakeholders, sales survey creation, competitive research, and positioning exercises.
- Directed the team in the creation of breakthrough content heroes, paid ads, and product messaging playbooks.

🚀𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭: In a short time, I gained valuable experience, including keyword research using SEMRUSH, audience research using SparkToro, paid media distribution, performance analysis, and web design.

Marketing Manager

Cengage Group

After consistently achieving performance goals, partnering with sales to win top opportunities, leading special and more, I was promoted to Marketing Manager. The role had 3 primary accountabilities: Market Expertise, Sales Enablement, Campaign Definition and Support. As MM, I: 

- Created and distributed content for blogs, e-newsletters, flyers, events, etc., across four product portfolios to increase webinar attendance, asset downloads, and product usage.
- Partnered with Product Management to establish go-to-market strategy, product development, and portfolio innovation.
- Analyzed market trends, competitive intelligence, and win/loss feedback to influence the product roadmap, pricing strategy, sales enablement materials, and go-to-market communication.
- Created and delivered training and enablement materials, including playbooks, one-pagers, decks, and email templates to support sales and customer success teams.

🚀𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭:
- Contributed to a portfolio increase of 1.4k digital units in FY22.
- Contributed to an 8% increase in new product activation from FY20 to FY22.
- Exceeded existing asset download conversion by 58% by focusing on delivering practical value to help customers engage their target audience.
- First Marketing Manager to write posts for the Cengage blog.

Marketing Manager, Cengage Higher Ed

Based on collaboration skills, creativity, and sales performance, I was promoted and responsible for developing sales collateral, training internal and external customers, developing sales strategies, and being an expert on the customer voice.

I developed a deep understanding of why customers adopted Cengage products and spread that knowledge to relevant stakeholders. I collaborated cross-functionally to influence product development, marketing campaigns, and sales strategy.

🚀 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭: 
- Contributed to a 27% increase in business units and 57% online platform activations in FY 2020.
- Contributed to a 29% increase in new product adoption during year 2 of availability.

Associate Marketing Manager & Product Specialist

Based on exceptional sales performance, promoted to Executive Learning Consultant responsible for
managing a $2 million territory and collaborating with Field Learning Consultants on key accounts.

Executive Learning Consultant

Hired to grow share as an Inside Learning Consultant selling online learning platforms to higher education
instructors. Analyzed $1 million territory revenues, trends, and new business opportunities to achieve sales targets.

🚀 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭: Based on sales performance over a 3-year period, chosen among top performers to join the “Circle of Excellence” for two consecutive years.

𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬: 2014 Sales Year Rookie of the Year, 2014 and 2016 Goal Achiever

Learning Consultant

University of Cincinnati

I holistically reviewed the College of Nursing to develop an integrated marketing strategy to increase program enrollment by 31%. I led project execution by partnering with staff to determine the competition, target market, and positioning. 

I wrote, designed, and distributed a Qualtrics survey to various sample groups through the partnership with UC Online. I synthesized insights and complex ideas into clear and concise narratives for different audiences.

🚀 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭: Synthesized 100+ page  final report into 25 slide/20-minute presentation. From Professor Hardin, “You did an outstanding job on a very diffi cult project!”

Marketing Strategist

The Underground Agency

Student Researcher at the Underground Agency; conducted marketing research with Generation Y, focused on re-positioning the Hoist brand. 

In a later semester, I was a Social Media Strategist at the Underground Agency. I developed a social media marketing plan designed to help P&G get 70% of wash loads converted to cold water by 2020.

🚀 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭: Both reports were selected by the marketing faculty at Haile/US Bank College of Business for publication.

Social Media Strategist & Marketing Researcher (Academic Client Projects)

2005, my first job at McDonald's, starting an 8-year stint in restaurants teaching me customer service, efficiency, empathy, and hard work.

2008, college. I wanted to "help people," so I tried nursing school. Long story short, not for me. I switched to marketing mostly because it wasn't math, science, or blood-related.

2011 brought my first marketing lightning strike. My professor is Czech, and the accent alone was a joy; plus, he brought us Nutella. Dr. Raska taught us "mindful marketing" and brand purpose and empowered us to use marketing to help solve global and cultural issues and change the world.

2013, I started in sales at Cengage, expecting to spend a year gaining experience. 4 years later, I hit my goal multiple times and was awarded the Circle of Excellence 2 years in a row.

2017, promoted to Product Specialist sitting in the marketing org. I worked on messaging, created tools, and trained sales through live training, fun videos, and Zoom calls. But I didn't feel like a "marketer." I convinced myself that I wasn't because I wasn't doing what I thought marketers did or what I went to school for.

2018, I pursued an MS in Marketing. My brothers both had their master's, and maybe getting an extra credential would open me up to more opportunities to be a marketer.

2020 was crazy. COVID, full-time school + job, my second child was born. I even finished a final paper in the hospital. But 2020 brought two more lightning strikes. My Brand Strategy course was about how brands must lead with purpose and authenticity. It ignited the passion I felt in 2011, and I became convinced that driving purpose in organizations is what I was meant to do.

Fall 2020, final semester. I still didn't feel like a marketer. I had applied many times to be Marketing Manager and was told no. But, mid-semester, my professor told me something that changed my life. He said, "You know when you become a marketer? When you decide you are a marketer."

Who cares if I didn't have a specific title? This mindset turned me into a lifelong marketing student and convinced me that I could create new opportunities for myself.  I became a marketer.

2021, pink slip. At this point, I had applied eight times to be a Marketing Manager at Cengage. 2 weeks to get hired, or I was jobless. There were three open MM roles. I was denied two, then lucky (God ordained, I should say) number 11 came.

2022, MM for Cengage. I left Cengage in October of that year to work for a small B2B Marketing Agency.

taplio

The Battle

Nick Bennett

Tony Winslow

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreNick Bennett's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Nick Bennett

Tony Winslow

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Nick Bennett's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreNick Bennett's LinkedIn Performance