John Follis, nationally known marketing maven and president of Follis Inc, talks about his new model for businesses with limited marketing budgets: Marketing Therapy.

So, what is Marketing Therapy?

The best way to explain it might be to explain how it began.

Three years ago I got a call from an eager entrepreneur who knew about my agency's effective ad work. She wanted my help. As we chatted I discovered she had no ad budget to speak of. Yet, her business was suffering and she was desperate for marketing help. I finally came up with a consulting fee and she came to my office and poured her heart out. I felt like half marketing guy, half therapist. In a few sessions we came up with some cost-effective solutions to her problems. As I began getting more and more calls from similar business owners, it became clear how much "marketing" and one's personal concerns, perceptions, etc, overlap. It's a sensitive subject. Hence, Marketing Therapy.

Is there any documented support for this psychological connection?

Psychologist, Dr. James Fadiman, says, "When we get stuck trying to reach a goal, it usually isn't because we need to learn a new technique. Rather, it's because we've run up against one or more internal barriers. Until we deal with those inner obstacles, all the good intentions, plans, and motivational strategies in the world won't be good enough to see us through to our goals."

You certainly have the marketing credentials. What qualifies you for the therapist part?

(Laugh) I don't claim to be a therapist. But, I am empathetic. I know what questions to ask. And, I listen. I've learned that listening well allows you to pick up on what a client is feeling, not just what they're saying. Knowing that, and then addressing it, makes the process go smoother, faster, better.

And what makes you a good listener?

Well, I'm truly fascinated by peoples' businesses: what they do, how they do it, the challenges they face. That's the main thing. But also, when I was in my 20's, I volunteered for a 24-Hour Telephone Crisis Line. They wouldn't allow anyone on the lines who wasn't willing to go through an intense 50-hour training course. I took the training and learned some great listening skills which I still use.

Can you give an example of how Marketing Therapy works?

Sure. A typical client will initially tell me what they think they need...an ad campaign, direct mail effort, website update, logo, whatever. I listen and then ask a few questions. I often discover that they have no real sense of their own brand. No clear positioning or marketing strategy. No tagline. They may not even be exactly sure who their target audience is. All they really know is sales -- how to chase customers. But, they have no real clue how to attract. So, we talk. And, relatively quickly I find out what the real business issues are - which are often a bit different from what the business owner thinks they are -- and then we proceed the way a truly effective marketing effort needs to be done. For some businesses these issues are a matter of life or death.

Sometimes these are companies with limited budgets who were about to pour dollars into a faulty plan -- and I catch them just in time. It just happened with a current client with a niche product. Instead of a TV spot, which he was ready to do, he listened to my advice and agreed that a more targeted, more cost-effective online marketing effort made much more sense for his niche product. He said that I saved him 50k. I'm happy to say that there are dozens of cases where Marketing Therapy has saved, and/or made, my clients' many thousands of dollars. (See: Client Letters)

Was there ever a situation when Marketing Therapy didn't work?

Once when I began working with someone who claimed to need help, but then wasn't accepting it. I didn't understand her resistance after she'd hired me. When I reminded her of the need for her business to stand out from the competition, she strangely responded: "I have no competition." Her business? Web design. And she was totally convinced that she had no competition. So, in that case, I was able to get to her core issue, but I unfortunately couldn't resolve it. It goes back to what Dr. Fadiman was saying about peoples' internal barriers: "Until we deal with those inner obstacles, all the good intentions, plans, and motivational strategies in the world won't be good enough to see us through to our goals." So, in this case at least, she probably needed more than a Marketing Therapist. LOL

Marketing any business -- especially one's own -- is very tough. Which is why these people have welcomed Marketing Therapy.