From Brand Garbage to Crystal Clear Messaging
Strategic Positioning for Companies and Professionals Who’ve Outgrown Their Stories
Are You Tired of Sounding Like Everyone Else?
Hello…
If you threw all your company's decks, sales materials, or job application assets onto a conference table, would your Differentiated Value jump out? Or would you see a Frankenstein mash-up of outdated, inconsistent, and "just okay" messaging that makes you invisible to the people who matter most?
I help high-achieving professionals, job seekers, and small- and mid-sized businesses and consultants eliminate the Brand Garbage that’s costing them revenue, credibility, and confidence. Then I apply Communications Windex to POLISH their messaging until it shines with clarity, consistency, and strategic intent.
Muddy, inconsistent brand messaging sends your prospects and customers to the competition, especially if those guys can quickly and clearly explain their products’ value proposition.
What Muddy Messaging Means…
For Companies:
Your sales team all says something different—and it’s killing deals
Your website doesn’t address your customer or clients’ pain; it’s all about you and there’s no clear Call to Action.
Your messaging hasn’t been updated in years…or it changes every month or two.
Your brand feels like a Frankenstein’s monster.
You're bleeding clients to competitors with worse products but clearer positioning.
For Professionals:
You were earning six figures before the layoff. Now you’re invisible.
You’re getting interviews but not offers. Or you’re being ghosted.
You’re stuck using buzzwords no one remembers.
Your LinkedIn profile makes you cringe.
Three Clear Pathways
1. For B2B Companies on Burning Platforms
Sales are slipping. Departments aren’t aligned. Everyone tells a different story. I deliver a unified message that reverses declining close rates and becomes your internal messaging compass.
2. For Senior Executives & Consultants
You’ve built real expertise but others are getting the spotlight. My POLISH framework positions you as the go-to authority and gets your message working harder than your resume ever could.
3. For Job Seekers (New Grads & 50+ Professionals)
Whether you're just entering the workforce or an older executive looking for a new opportunity after a layoff, I help you cut through the noise and articulate the value only you can bring.
Where to Start: Snapshot or Strategy?
That’s up to you. We can “date” with a fast diagnostic to reveal misalignments and areas of messaging friction. For individuals and consultants, the price starts at $200 and for companies, the price starts at $1,000. The price can go up a bit if you want to do more than dip your toe in the water.
Or we can do a full brand positioning that becomes your Communications North Star. That includes a full communications audit, messaging architecture, audience alignment, value proposition, key messaging, and implementation support. The price for that starts at $1,500 for individuals and $5,000 for companies, but I’ll discount the price if you’re a student/recent graduate or you’re unemployed.
How to Speak Your Customer’s Language…Fluently
I’ve been at this for 40+ years, with experience in business journalism, corporate communications, and consulting. But I have also worked in Sales, Marketing, Business Development Education, and Compliance, fixing messaging breakdowns, clarifying value propositions, and talking to customers about their needs.
One of the things I’ve found working with clients is that their sales and service teams rarely do a good job of capturing the exact words that customers and prospects use when they ask questions or express concerns. When that process takes place, you can create articles for different parts of the funnel that answer those questions for others…in their words.
Consider this your menu to friction-free communications. Just like at your favorite diner, you can order exactly what you need.
What Goes Into Pricing These Sorts of Products?
Pricing for brand strategists who provide ongoing support is all over the board. I’m not the cheapest out there, but you’ll also find people who charge lots more. Pricing for a service is art, not science because you don’t know what barriers to success will come up, but the factors you should be considering are:
Experience Level. Senior strategists with proven track records command premium rates compared to newer professionals. If you’re a corporate executive or a multi-million-dollar company whose future depends on the strength of your brand messaging, then you should expect to pay more for someone who’s sat in the same rooms you do, who’s helped C-Suite leaders with their individual and corporate message in the heat of battle.
Project scope and complexity: Complex brand transformations, multi-channel campaigns, or specialized industry knowledge requirements typically cost more than simpler projects.
Timeline requirements: Rush jobs or quick turnarounds typically require premium pricing, while longer timelines might allow for more competitive rates.
Deliverable specifics: The number, type, and format of deliverables (strategy documents, content calendars, written pieces) directly impact pricing. In many cases, the Statement of Work may allow for a set number of revisions with additional charges if the client starts writing by committee or changes direction mid-stream. I try to avoid charging extra for that, but sometimes it’s egregious enough that I have to set these guardrails.
Ongoing relationship vs. one-time project: Long-term retainers often provide better value than one-off projects, with relationship-based pricing models offering discounts for consistent work.
Industry specialization: Expertise in specific industries (healthcare, finance, tech, higher education) typically commands higher rates due to specialized knowledge requirements.
Engagement Approach: Consultants may offer one or a combination of Done For You (most expensive), Done With You (iterative process with more engagement by you), and Done By You (these might be webinars or cohort-based sessions where we work on your messaging and copy, and tend to be the least expensive). I offer all three.
Our 30-minute discovery call significantly impacts my pricing. I’ll ask about your needs and then propose the products that appear you need. Individuals looking for a brand positioning document, a LinkedIn Profile refresh, and a Resume can expect to pay $1,500-$2,000 — although my pricing for recent college graduates and older executives struggling to get traction in their search might be a bit less because I’ve been in your shoes (as has my recent-grad daughter whose beefed up LinkedIn Profile got her noticed by a top NYC firm.
For companies and consultants with their own websites, the price is higher and dictated by project scope (e.g., the price to fix a 50-page website will be higher than a site with 5-7 pages. A starting point for companies is normally $5,000 for a brand positioning document driven by executive surveys, a “Why Us?” document, and some website copy upgrades for a Phase 1, with additional content (often sales enablement) following on a monthly retainer basis.
When you bring me multiple projects, I don't just stack up individual prices and call it a day. Think of it like buying in bulk—you get more value without the premium price tag. My bundled pricing reflects the efficiency of diving deep into your brand world once, rather than having to resurface and reorient with each new project.
My Brand Positioning Process
No fluff. No rinse-and-repeat frameworks. Just decades of editorial strategy, corporate comms, and positioning experience put to work to clarify your message—and move your business forward.
Step 1: I review your current materials while you complete a self-reflective set of questions based on the package you select.
Step 2: We complete a 45-60 minute Zoom call so I can get a transcript that enables me to capture your voice.
Step 3: I build your Brand Positioning document that will serve as your North Star for creating consistent marketing collateral, including your website, sales collateral, LinkedIn profile, resume, and other professional materials. This document provides your Strategic Foundation, Core Positioning Elements, Evidence and Examples, and Practical Application.
Step 4: You review and make changes in what becomes an iterative process.
Step 5: We use that document to update or create your marketing collateral.
I Can Do For You What I’ve Done for Others
I once worked for MBNA America Bank, a successful affinity credit-card company that sold its business to Bank of America. MBNA had hundreds of account executives, salespeople, and marketers handling 5,000 programs, with the result often feeling like the Wild West of communications. But there was a solution:
I built a customized sales package for use by 200+ account executives that led to 40+ successful RFP responses and renewal of 100+ top relationships ($100M in loan balances); a reduction in compensation exposure by 25%; and an increase in group-satisfaction scores by 20%. As a former business journalist and MBNA’s head of Media Relations, I could apply the answers to “what problem do we solve for customers” and “what makes us unique” to sales presentations, strategic messaging, and other customer-facing communications.
When was the last time you looked at letters you send to customers? I fixed all 1,400 of MBNA’s computer-generated letters to make them friendlier and ensured they answered people’s questions.
“Peter championed the execution of a negotiations strategy across the entire Business Development division, creating a foundation for every account executive in their dealings with business partners. An additional milestone in his career was successfully leading the re-engineering of critical Marketing and Business Development processes that secured two key objectives: consistency and compliance within the division.”
I Will Pay for Our First Conversation
Drop me a note at peter@frictionfreecommunications.com, and we’ll set up a free consultation to discuss eliminating the friction from your communications and bring clarity that your competitors don’t offer. Before that call, I’ll ask you to ask two questions to a few of your employees:
What problem do we solve for customers?
What makes us unique?
We’ll then get on a Zoom call and discuss the answers you received to the two questions (unless you want me to survey them and get into a bit more detail). We’ll talk about your website and the collateral you shared. You’ll see what it’s like working with me at no cost. You can take all that value and walk away, and we’ll still be friends. But I’m betting you won’t do that because you’ll want your brand to look like the window over there.
