And. We. Are. Back! Ash and Flo return from their summer breaks to discuss a book they both read on the beaches of Europe (so to speak) - Lou Downe‘s ”Good Services.” And, no: this isn‘t a paid book promo or anything... Just the two of them sharing the best ”service marketing” insights from the title.

Pls. find the shownotes to this episode at unbillable-hrs.com!

In this "workshop session," Ash, Flo, and friend of the show Ute Wellenberg brainstorm how marketers might help the business "upsell" accounts and win bigger deals through better messaging. Listen to the three build out ideas for a messaging framework, and hear how you could bring it to account teams and strategy meetings early on!

How could you measure the success of your campaigns? After so many episodes on content and content distribution, we thought it'd be high time to bring in an expert on marketing attribution, i.e.: the science of attributing business results to marketing (and content) efforts. Steffen Hedebrandt, co-founder at multi-touch attribution platform "dreamdata.io," was kind enough to answer our call for help - and shared his insights into the basics of proper marketing attribution here:

Consulting firms tend to be sales-driven. But... almost all of them also need marketing to grow beyond a certain size. So - how do you "switch on" the function, a strategy, and programs which work? We asked Mark Cowan, co-founder of innovation consultancy "happen" how he did it, back in the day - and he had some very surprising, very thoughtful answers. Don't miss them!

It's planning season! Or... reporting season? Ok, your experience will vary depending on where you work. But: This week's "unfair advantage edition's" tips for planning and reporting will be helpful no matter where you are, and what you'll be doing over the summer. Oh, and and - we have a little extra something for our listeners this week: A job opportunity with Ash's team! So, do take a listen, apply our tips... and maybe apply for a new job, too?

Well, we promised you an all-fun conversation about "social content" with LinkedIn's Bian Salins - and: Here it is! Join her and us for an insightful conversation about how content distribution is turning social, why content creation will go back to subject matter experts, and what it all means for consultancy marketers and their work.

Pretty much everything you need to know to create your very own, very awesome marketing scorecard and be oh-so much better off - in just under five minutes! Ok, technically... in a bit more than that, because in this bonus episode, we challenge you to find, read, and apply some background materials... Cf. the link below!

At last ... we get to discuss the big one: "Thought Leadership", the key discipline within all things professional services marketing. We reached out to PwC's Paul Barbagallo to hear how he thinks firms should design both their TL programs and individual pieces - and he had lots of answers. So, grab a pen and a notebook... and listen in?

Aaand... here you go! In this week's "unfair advantage edition" of the unbillable hours podcast, Ash and Flo challenge you to spend some time clarifying (and then: aligning around) a tight definition of what your function's or teams job should be in the firm. Listen to find out how doing so will help your efforts and career!