How One B2B Consultant Grew Her Business 289% By Ditching the Online Marketing Playbook

Chief Momemtum Office, Alana Swain, runs a business management consultancy serving small businesses with teams. With a classical sales background—agency recruitment, outbound calling, leading sales teams—she'd always been a relationship-first type of person.

For years, Alana’s business hummed along on word-of-mouth. Former clients referred her. Strategic partners sent work her way. She'd have coffee chats, do some networking, and clients would materialize.

In the early years of her business, she got caught up by the algorithm that told her everything she was doing was wrong.

The Internet fed her advice from marketers who insisted conversations were “selling, not marketing.” She was told that she was doing “too much selling” and needed to do “more marketing” instead.

That's when the frustration started because she felt like she was building her business wrong..

“Most marketers don't believe that sales is marketing,” Alana says. “And they muddy the water between sales and marketing. I'm like, sales is just a conversation.”

But every marketing guru told her that conversations were selling—not marketing. That she was doing “too much selling” and needed to do “more marketing.”

“I don't want to because my best work is in conversation,” she reflects.

The pressure to follow the online business playbook—designed for people selling TO other online business owners—left her frustrated and disconnected from her natural strengths.

Why the Online Business Playbook Doesn’t Work for B2B Consultants.

During one of my summit interviews in 2023, something fundamental shifted for Alana.

“You were talking about every conversation is marketing. And I was like, see, everyone else has told me that's selling. Every single other person's like, no, no, no, that's selling. You do too much selling. You need to do more marketing.”

That distinction—that relationship-building IS marketing when you're selling to real-world clients—changed everything.

“The fact that you're wise enough to honor that a conversation is a marketing tool… I feel like that is part of what was pissing me off the most about the marketing industry. You guys aren't understanding and you're not respecting that I have decades of experience in this skill, and you're telling me it's not fit for purpose.”

When Alana discovered The Expert Up Club, she knew she'd found her people. But she also had a practical problem to solve: “I need to work out how to put the uniqueness of me on the outside of the label.”

Inside The Expert Up Club: Where Relationship Marketing Meets Message Clarity

Alana dove into the messaging sprints, attended live Q&A calls, and connected with other members in the community.

Since joining, her business has grown 289%.

Now before you think “that's going to happen for me too”—let me be clear: this is not a typical result. Alana showed up. She did the work. She attended calls even when she didn't have questions because she knew she'd learn something. She experimented. She made the club work for her specific business.

But her results prove what's possible when you finally stop following marketing advice designed for the online business world and start marketing like the B2B expert you actually are.

The Messaging Breakthrough

Through the messaging work, Alana finally figured out how to lead with something specific without sacrificing her generalist nature.

“I am a generalist, but I can be known for a thing. And I think that's part of where my really big mental disconnect has been—I don't want to have this specialist label because what I bring to the table is really generalist, and I just didn't want to dilute that.”

After working through the messaging sprints, the answer emerged: Joy is a strategy. And the umbrella? Doable business management.

“The big thing no one talks about that's hard about business is management. And management by its very nature is a generalist skill set.”

That clarity gave her something referable—something colleagues could easily explain when sending clients her way.

What Relationship Marketing Actually Looks Like in Practice

With her messaging dialed in and permission to market her way, Alana built a relationship-driven marketing system that actually works:

She prioritizes face-to-face connection: “Walkie talkie meetings” with her crazy dog locally, virtual coffees with interesting people, and a commitment to having at least one of these conversations every single week.

She creates her own stages: Launched LinkedIn Local events, then follows up with every attendee: “What did you enjoy about it?” Then she books new coffee or walkie talkie meetings. “Have the big thing. And then pick a couple of people who are like, oh, you're interesting, and learn more about each other.”

She leads with generosity: “I'm more interested in paying it forward first and just being interested in the humans. The business is a separate thing.” She regularly reaches out: “Oh, I haven't heard from that person in a while” or “I read this and this made me think of you.”

“The communities I belong to become part of my ecosystem because I'm more interested in having advocates than I am in having customers,” Alana explains. “I understand the long-term karma of a relationship cycle well.”

The Numbers Behind the 289% Growth

Here's what that revenue growth actually looks like:

70% comes from word-of-mouth: Previous clients, referrals from other clients, and people who've heard about her work through her network.

50% of total revenue comes from one offer: Her $695 “Brain Vac” session. This single-session offer became her discovery mechanism: “They come to me and they're like, I don't really know what you do because your website's shit. But everyone says to come book with you.”

Her three-month engagement model converted to long-term relationships: Instead of demanding lengthy retainers upfront, Alana created a three-month entry point. The result? Only one person ended after three months. Everyone else either continued or moved into a quarterly rhythm with her.

She achieved this growth without:

• Social media
• A finished website
• Weekly newsletters
• Lead magnets or funnels
• Any of the tactics the online business world insists you “must” do

The Surprising Truth About Marketing Without a Perfect Website

One of the most liberating lessons from Alana's story? Her website wasn't even finished for most of last year.

When your message is clear and your people know how to refer you, perfect marketing materials become optional.

And that's enough.”

The Real Magic: A Fertile Ground for Experts

When I asked Alana to sum up what the Expert Up Club created for her business, she offered this metaphor:

“What you've created is a fertile ground for experts to find a place to put down their roots. I have got awesome results, but it's because I'm in this really fertilized, rich thinking space. And so my roots are going deep and wide and I'm standing taller and so I'm getting the bookings, I'm getting the inquiries, I've got the price point right, I've got the services refined.”

Then she added something crucial: “But if it was all just business related for how I am, it wouldn't have worked.”

The community. The collective intelligence. The permission to market like an expert instead of an influencer. The validation that conversations ARE marketing when you're selling to real-world clients.

That's what makes the difference.

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Ready to stop following marketing advice designed for online business owners and start marketing like the B2B expert you are?

The Expert Up Club helps credentialed professionals—consultants, coaches, and service providers—market to corporate clients, established professionals, and real-world buyers through relationship-driven strategies that actually work.

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