Consulting
Strategic Digital Consultation for Business Leaders, Not Marketing Checklists
Most digital consultants hand you tactical recommendations without understanding your business model, competitive position, or operational realities. We provide strategic consultation that examines how digital infrastructure fits into your broader business ecosystem—then recommend solutions that actually work for how you operate.
We’re not here to sell you services. We’re here to tell you what’s actually wrong, what’s worth fixing, and what’s just noise from agencies trying to create billable work.
Why Business Leaders Need Strategic Digital Consultation
Your Digital Presence Reflects Business Strategy
Websites, search visibility, and paid advertising aren’t isolated marketing tactics—they’re operational infrastructure that either supports or undermines your business model. Most consultants optimize individual channels without understanding how they integrate with your sales process, customer service, and competitive positioning.
Technical Messes Require Engineering Solutions
Lost domain access, hijacked social accounts, website disasters, hosting nightmares—these aren’t marketing problems, they’re technical crises that require engineering expertise and systematic problem-solving, not generic advice from marketing consultants.
You Need Honest Assessment, Not Sales Pitches
Other agencies disguise sales calls as “free consultations” where they’re reverse-engineering your budget, not assessing your situation. We charge for strategic consultation because it requires real analysis, not superficial audits designed to generate proposals.
What Strategic Consultation Delivers
Business Ecosystem Analysis
We examine how your digital infrastructure supports (or undermines) your actual business operations—not just whether your website “looks good” or you “rank on Google.”
Strategic assessment includes:
- How customers actually find, evaluate, and choose your business
- Where your current digital presence creates friction in your sales process
- What your competitors understand about your market that you’re missing
- Which operational bottlenecks your digital infrastructure is creating
- Where you’re wasting money on tactics that don’t align with business economics
This analysis often reveals issues that have nothing to do with SEO or website design—and everything to do with business strategy.
Technical Infrastructure Audit
When technical disasters happen (and they do), you need engineering expertise that can diagnose root causes and implement actual solutions—not marketing consultants who’ll refer you to “their technical person.”
We troubleshoot and resolve:
- Domain ownership and DNS management disasters
- Hosting migrations and server infrastructure problems
- Website crashes, security breaches, and data recovery
- Lost access to social media accounts, Google Business Profiles, or advertising accounts
- Email deliverability issues and communication system failures
- Integration problems between your website and business systems (CRM, e-commerce, payment processing)
Competitive Intelligence & Market Positioning
We analyze what your competitors are doing, why it’s working (or not), and where vulnerabilities exist that you can exploit—then tell you honestly whether you have the resources and market position to capitalize on those opportunities.
Market analysis covers:
- Competitor digital strategy and resource allocation (SEO, PPC, content)
- Market saturation in key search categories and acquisition channels
- Price positioning and competitive differentiation in your market
- Geographic expansion opportunities and market entry barriers
- Realistic assessment of your competitive advantages versus marketing mythology
Digital Strategy Roadmap
Based on actual business objectives and competitive reality, we develop strategic roadmaps that prioritize initiatives by ROI potential and implementation complexity—not by what’s easiest to sell.
Strategic roadmap includes:
- 90-day, 6-month, and 12-month priority initiatives
- Resource requirements (budget, time, personnel)
- Expected outcomes with honest probability assessments
- Dependencies and prerequisite work before launching new initiatives
- What NOT to do (killing zombie projects that waste resources)
Vendor Management & Technical Due Diligence
If you’re working with other agencies, developers, or marketing consultants, we provide independent assessment of whether you’re getting value or being sold commodity services at premium prices.
We evaluate:
- Whether your current agency/vendor relationships are delivering results
- If technical implementations meet professional standards
- Whether pricing aligns with market rates for actual work being done
- If strategies being recommended serve your interests or vendor revenue
- Whether you need specialized expertise you don’t currently have access to
Consultation Service Structures
Strategic Discovery Session
Single intensive consultation for business leaders who need clarity on digital strategy priorities and honest assessment of their current situation.
What’s included:
- 90-minute strategic consultation (in-person in Illinois/Central Florida or video conference)
- Pre-consultation analysis of your current digital presence
- Competitive landscape assessment
- Strategic roadmap with prioritized recommendations
- Written summary of findings and action items
- 30-day email access for follow-up questions
Ideal for: Business owners evaluating major digital investments, leaders inheriting digital messes from previous management, companies considering agency relationships
Technical Crisis Resolution
Emergency consultation and hands-on resolution for businesses facing technical disasters that are disrupting operations.
Rapid response for:
- Lost domain ownership or DNS control
- Compromised social media or advertising accounts
- Website downtime, security breaches, or data loss
- Email system failures affecting business communications
- Critical integrations broken between business systems
What’s included:
- Immediate diagnostic assessment (within 24 hours of engagement)
- Hands-on technical resolution of critical issues
- Documentation of what went wrong and how to prevent recurrence
- Strategic recommendations for infrastructure improvements
- Post-resolution support for 14 days
Ideal for: Businesses in crisis mode, companies that discovered their agency can’t actually fix problems, organizations dealing with vendor failures
Ongoing Strategic Advisory – Monthly
Retained consultation for business leaders who need continuous strategic guidance as their digital ecosystem evolves.
Monthly advisory includes:
- Quarterly 90-minute strategic planning sessions
- Ongoing email/phone access for strategic questions
- Competitive monitoring and market intelligence updates
- Vendor management and technical due diligence as needed
- Strategic review of proposed initiatives before significant investment
- Crisis support when technical issues arise
Ideal for: Growing businesses with complex digital ecosystems, companies managing multiple vendors/agencies, organizations in competitive transition
Custom Engagement Structures
For complex organizational situations, multi-location businesses, or specialized industry requirements, we develop custom consultation structures based on your specific needs.
The TMG Consultation Difference
We Charge for Advice Because It Has Value Free consultations are sales calls disguised as strategy. We charge for strategic consultation because it requires real analysis, competitive intelligence gathering, and honest assessment—not regurgitated marketing platitudes.
Engineering Expertise, Not Just Marketing Theory When technical problems arise, we can actually fix them—not refer you to “our technical team” or recommend you hire developers. Our consultation includes hands-on problem-solving when needed.
No Conflict of Interest We’ll tell you honestly if your problem requires specialized expertise we don’t offer. We’ll recommend other vendors when appropriate. We’re not trying to force every solution through our service portfolio.
Business Strategy Focus We examine digital initiatives through the lens of business economics and competitive positioning, not marketing KPIs. If something won’t deliver positive ROI given your market reality, we’ll tell you before you waste money.
When You Need Strategic Consultation
You’re facing a technical crisis and your current vendors can’t (or won’t) resolve it. Lost domains, compromised accounts, website disasters, hosting catastrophes—you need engineering expertise, not marketing advice.
You’re evaluating major digital investments and want independent assessment before committing significant resources. New website, aggressive SEO campaign, paid advertising launch—does it make sense for your business model and competitive position?
Your current agency relationships aren’t delivering but you can’t tell if the problem is their capabilities, your expectations, or market realities. Independent audit of vendor performance and strategy quality.
You’re entering new markets (geographic or vertical) and need intelligence on competitive dynamics, realistic acquisition costs, and market entry barriers before investing.
Your digital ecosystem is fragmented with multiple vendors, platforms, and systems that don’t integrate effectively. You need someone to architect coherent strategy across channels.
You inherited a digital mess from previous management/agencies and need to understand what’s salvageable versus what needs rebuilt from scratch.
Ready for Honest Strategic Assessment?
We don’t disguise sales pitches as “free consultations.” If you want independent strategic analysis of your digital ecosystem, competitive position, and realistic opportunities—let’s have that conversation.
Common Consultation Questions
Why should we pay for consultation when other agencies offer free audits?
Because free audits are designed to generate proposals for billable services, not provide honest strategic assessment. We charge for consultation because it requires real analysis and often results in recommendations that don’t benefit us financially (like “your current vendor is actually doing fine” or “this initiative isn’t worth the investment”).
What if we decide to work with you after consultation?
The consultation fee is credited toward any service engagement over $3,000 within 90 days. But consultation stands alone as valuable strategic intelligence whether or not we work together long-term.
Can you fix technical problems during the consultation?
For Strategic Discovery Sessions, we identify and document problems but don’t perform hands-on fixes (that’s what Technical Crisis Resolution is for). If your situation requires immediate technical intervention, we’ll recommend that service structure instead.
Do you sign NDAs or confidentiality agreements?
Absolutely. We routinely work under NDAs for businesses with sensitive competitive information, proprietary processes, or confidential business data.
What if our situation is too complex for a single consultation?
We’ll tell you during initial conversation if your situation requires ongoing advisory rather than one-time consultation. Some organizational situations require sustained strategic guidance, not just snapshot recommendations.
Can you consult on industries you haven't worked in?
Our consultation focuses on digital infrastructure, competitive dynamics, and business strategy—principles that apply across industries. We’ll tell you honestly if your industry has specialized requirements beyond our expertise.
What if we're already working with other agencies?
We frequently provide independent assessment of existing agency relationships. Sometimes agencies are performing well and clients just need validation. Sometimes we uncover significant problems with strategy or execution. Either way, independent review has value.