For $1M to $20M founder-led businesses that want clearer positioning, consistent execution, and a pipeline they can count on.
Our Strategy First™ framework is the tool that helps you make the decisions underneath good marketing — who you’re for, what you stand for, and how the work all fits together. Built in days, not months. Yours to own, with or without us
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At $1M to $20M, marketing isn't always "broken." It's just not operational. And the hidden cost of that dynamic shows up in a few predictable ways.
Strategy First is the foundation everything else is built on. Positioning, ideal client, message, customer journey, channel priorities, and a 90-day execution calendar your team owns. You leave with a complete plan, not a slide deck.
We deliver it two ways: a single-day intensive with you and your team in the room, or a guided process over 6 to 8 weeks. Which one fits depends on your team and your timeline. We figure that out together on the call.
You will leave Strategy First with a plan you own. If you never work with us again, the plan still works.
Most clients do continue with us, into installation and ongoing fractional CMO leadership. That is always a separate decision you make with full information. Never bundled. Never automatic.
Founder-led B2B between $1M and $20M, where the founder is still the marketing department by default.
Comments from our business clients and certified advisor network.
“Our web traffic has improved significantly since we started using [Duct Tape Marketing] services.... Everything from initial consultation, ongoing consultation, and account management has been easy and straightforward.”
Cory and Janette Eckert
Alpine Ductless
“I truly had NO idea what went into building a brand, a website, and marketing a business. From SEO to targeted ads, social media presence to blog posts, [Duct Tape Marketing] has helped me make a dent in a saturated market.”
Elizabeth Turner
Fox Point Dental
“Our business skyrocketed almost immediately when we engaged Duct Tape Marketing to help with our marketing strategy. We now have a clear picture and roadmap for the future and our business is booming.”
Jake Schloegel
President & CEO Schloegel Design Remodel
Most clients continue with us into installation and ongoing fractional CMO leadership. We call this the Marketing Operating System. It is the same plan from Strategy First, executed week after week, with the dashboards and meetings to keep everything aligned.
Some clients take the plan and run it themselves. We don't talk them out of it. The plan works either way.
Strategy First starts at $10,000. Same price whether you choose the one-day intensive or the traditional three-to-four-week version. A two-payment option is available if that helps with cash flow. If you paid $500 for the diagnostic session that will be credited to your full Strategy First engagement.
No. Strategy First is a fixed-scope engagement. You walk away with the plan, the documents, and the tools.
If you want help executing it, that's a separate conversation. Most of our clients do continue with us into installation and ongoing fractional CMO leadership. Some take the plan and run it themselves. The plan works either way.
A complete plan, not a slide deck. The deliverables include a 40 to 60-page Strategy First document, your ideal client profiles, your core message and positioning, a customer journey map across the seven stages of the Marketing Hourglass, lead generation priorities, a content strategy, and a 90-day execution calendar.
Everything is documented well enough that your team or another vendor can run it without us.
Two formats. The one-day intensive is exactly that, one full working day with your team and ours. The traditional engagement runs three to four weeks across three structured meetings.
Either format requires a real decision-maker in the room. Other team members are useful but optional. Most of the research and analysis happens on our side between meetings, so the time commitment from your team is limited.
Strategy First is built for founder-led businesses doing $1M to $20M in revenue, typically 10 to 50 employees, in B2B services, professional services, home services, manufacturing, or distribution.
Below $1M, you're usually still figuring out the offer and the strategy work is premature. Above $20M, you probably need something heavier than what we deliver. If you're not sure where you fit, that's what the consultation is for.
Strategy First builds the plan. The Marketing Operating System runs it.
Strategy First is a fixed engagement that produces the strategy, the messaging, the customer journey, and the 90-day execution calendar. The Marketing Operating System is the ongoing installation and leadership that turns that plan into weekly execution.
You start with Strategy First. Whether you continue into the Marketing Operating System with us is a separate decision.
Duct Tape Marketing is founded on the simple belief that marketing is the most important small business system.
