The 5 Core Ingredients of a Strategic Advisory Business
If you're a seasoned marketer who's tired of being seen as the “doer” instead of the strategic mind behind the outcomes, you're not alone. Many experienced marketers are facing the changing landscape in the market with the rise of AI and knowing they need to elevate their position to get paid for their thinking, but they aren’t sure how to package, position, and price this shift.
At Mastering Strategic Advisory, we help marketers make the shift from project-driven businesses to strategic advisory models. This shift isn’t just about charging more—it’s about changing how you're perceived, how you sell, and how you structure your work.
Here are the 5 essential ingredients you need to build a business where your strategic thinking is the main event—not a free bonus.
1. Reposition Yourself as a Thinking Partner
To lead strategic engagements, your brand positioning must reflect your true value: business problem-solving and growth strategy.
If your marketing still talks only about creating websites, logos, or funnels, you're telling the market you’re a builder—not a business advisor.
That’s not bad, but it is limiting you. It does not say to a business leader that you’re someone they should hire as a thinking partner and mentor to their in-house team.
Shift your message to emphasize:
Your ability to uncover growth gaps
Your insight into marketing priorities and knowing what to focus on when
Your skill at guiding business decisions, not just executing deliverables
Ask yourself:
Does your website introduce you as a thinker or a technician?
Are your case studies about outcomes or just outputs?
Could a CEO look at your messaging and say “That’s who I want advising my leadership team”?
We work in-depth on the nitty-gritty of shifting your positioning in the Strategic Advisory Mastermind. If you want to see how other marketers are doing this, glean insights and best practices, and get feedback to make this shift better and faster, consider applying.
2. Create a Gateway Offer that Gets You Paid to Diagnose
The biggest mistake marketers make is diagnosing for free in the sales process. The solution? A paid diagnostic offer that gives clients clarity and sets you up as their strategic partner.
We call this a Marketing Assessment and Roadmap at Heights. Other names include:
Marketing Audit
Strategy Deep Dive
Gaps & Gains Assessment (coined by one of our mastermind alumni)
This offer should:
Be clear in scope (comprehensive or focused)
Address a real business pain
Deliver usable, prioritized recommendations that a client could implement if they didn’t hire you beyond this engagement
Choose your flavor:
Comprehensive (web, content, email, events)
Focused (website only, messaging only, SEO audit, etc.)
Start simple and evolve. Don’t get stuck thinking it needs to be perfect before you start.
Want the fast track to creating your gateway offer? Check out our Marketing Audit Toolkit, where you’ll find marketing language, proposal examples, templates for analysis, client-facing checklists, and even presentation formats.
3. Reinvent Your Sales Process to Stop Giving Strategy Away
Many marketers accidentally solve the client’s problem before a proposal is even sent. The discovery call turns into a free assessment.
This is bad news for your business, but it is also bad news for the client. Why? Chances are you’re jumping to conclusions without really allowing yourself to get a clear picture of what’s needed. This doesn’t serve anyone.
Instead, your sales process should:
Focus on identifying problems that need to be solved
Be boundaried—clear on what’s free and what’s paid
Demonstrate your strategic thinking without giving it away
Uncover root problems—not just what the client thinks they need
Recommendations:
Script out your discovery process to focus on problem clarity, not solution design
Use case stories to illustrate your thinking rather than solving in real-time
Offer the diagnostic as the next logical step when deeper insight is needed
Master the discipline of not jumping into execution (This is one of the essential skills we discuss in-depth in the Strategic Advisory Mastermind.)
4. Deliver Your Diagnostic to Build Buy-In (Not Overwhelm)
When it's time to deliver your assessment, it’s not about the "big reveal." It’s about guiding your client through discovery and co-creating a clear path forward.
A great diagnostic engagement:
Builds clarity session by session
Integrates insights into real-time conversations
Ends with a roadmap the client already believes in
Avoid this common trap:
Dumping a 30-page audit on the client in one sitting. That creates analysis paralysis and decision fatigue.
Do this instead:
Share findings gradually
Frame recommendations around business impactInvite their input and align on priorities together
You’re not trying to impress them—you’re trying to lead them.
At Heights, we haven’t always done this perfectly. We’ve learned the best way to deliver our findings through many reps over the past several years.
Don’t get discouraged. It’s so easy to fall into the trap of the big reveal or a big pitch instead of demonstrating the kind of strategic guidance and walking with the client that they can come to expect in an ongoing strategic retainer. It takes restraint and focus.
Speaking of ongoing strategic retainers…
5. Structure Your Retainers to Walk with Them, Not Do Everything for Them
Once you’ve diagnosed the problems, clients often ask: “Can you help us implement this?”
This is where many marketers slip back into execution mode. Instead, create clear options for ongoing advisory support that allow you to guide, coach, and partner with the client long-term.
At Heights, we offer options like:
Strategy Retainer – Ongoing support, accountability, and prioritization
Fractional CMO Retainer – Heavier involvement, stakeholder leadership, partner coordination
Strategy Session Packages – Limited-scope, high-impact coaching blocks
Add-On Content Retainers – Optional support for implementation where needed
Your goal is to:
Help the client decide what to do, not do everything for them
Guide hiring, vendor selection, investment decisions, and sequencing
Remain the thinking partner behind the execution
Final Thoughts
The shift from execution to advisory isn’t a light switch—it’s a skillset, a mindset, and a business model shift. But when you make it, everything changes. Your clients value you more, your work becomes more fulfilling, and your revenue becomes more scalable.
If you’re ready to stop giving away your thinking and start getting paid for it, these 5 ingredients will give you the foundation you need.
🧭 Want help building your diagnostic offer or revamping your positioning?
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