Marketing consultant for established businesses and independent schools · Isle of Man and UK
You do the passion. I'll do the marketing.
You've built something that works. Now the way customers find businesses has changed. I turn your marketing into a system that brings the right people to you every month, so you can grow past the ceiling without doing it all yourself.
Sound familiar?
Hope is not a strategy.
You've done the hard part. You have loyal customers, a good name and steady income. But growth has stalled, because you can't do everything yourself, and the way people find businesses has changed faster than anyone had time to keep up with.
So you post and hope people see it. You have a website and hope people find it. But a page or a website on its own is hope. Google and social media show more of you to the people who pay to be seen, and AI tools now answer the questions your customers used to search for.
Hoping
Post and wait for the algorithm to notice.
A strategy
Targeted ads, so the right people are guaranteed to see you, on a budget that doesn't need to be big.
Hoping
A website that sits there, waiting to be found.
A strategy
A website built for SEO and AEO, so Google and AI assistants both find and recommend you.
Hoping
Doing it all yourself, when you find the time.
A strategy
A system that runs every month, with AI doing the heavy lifting and you approving the result.
The early-adopter days of AI are over. The tools have grown up. For the first time, an established small business can market the way big businesses always have, without the big-business budget. This is the time to upgrade.
The big idea
Marketing is a lot like dating.
You can't sit at home and hope the right person finds you. You go where people like you already are: the book club or the kayaking club, rather than the pubs and clubs. You get to know each other, swap numbers, go on dates and, one day, commit. Then you keep working at it, so it never ends in divorce. Your customers choose you in exactly the same way.
- 1Go where your match isBeing seen
- 2Get to know each otherInterest
- 3Exchange numbersSign-up or enquiry
- 4Go on datesNurture
- 5CommitThe sale
- 6Keep the marriage aliveRepeat and referral
Most businesses only ever do stage one, then wonder why posting isn't working. The real value is in stages three to six.
Not ready to talk yet? Start with a first date
Marketing is a lot like dating.
Four pages on the six stages every customer goes through before they commit to you, and what each one is worth to your business. Then a short story in six chapters, one a day, from the desk of Olivia.
How I work
It's a system, not a post.
Strategy, delivered through people, processes and systems, with technology underneath. It's how I built customer programmes for twenty years, and it's how I'll build yours.
Strategy stays human
I set the direction from twenty years of doing this for small brands, big brands and listed companies.
Production moves fast
Posts, emails, content, pages and reports are built in days, not weeks, from systems set up once for your business.
You approve everything
I check every piece, and nothing goes live without your sign-off.
The question everyone asks
"Won't it sound like AI?"
Not if it starts with you. Generic AI content sounds generic because it has nothing of you to work from. So before anything is written or designed, I build a brand kit from what you already have, and everything is made from it.
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Your look, kept
Your colours, fonts, logo and style go into templates for posts, emails and pages, so new work looks like you, not a new brand.
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Your voice, written down
A voice guide built from your best posts, emails and the way you talk to customers: the words you use, and the ones you never would.
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Your real photos
Real pictures of your place, your people and your work come first. AI imagery is used sparingly and only where it looks natural, never that glossy, cartoon-like AI look.
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A human edit, then yours
I read every piece against your kit and cut anything that sounds like a robot. Then you approve it.
What I do
Two ways to work together
For owner-run businesses
The Marketing Engine
One monthly retainer that keeps all your marketing in one place and running.
- A brand kit built from your existing look and voice
- Website care, security and updates
- On-brand posts from templates built for you
- Google Ads managed and tracked
- Content, prices and offers updated as often as you need
- One clear report every month
For independent schools
The School Admissions Engine
Turning awareness into enrolments. A parent journey that follows every family from first search to signed acceptance.
- A brand and voice kit built from your school's own
- Admissions journey audit
- Parent guides and email nurture
- Paid search and social, with retargeting
- Reporting on enrolments, not clicks
Case studies
Work that shows up in the numbers
Independent boys' prep school, Johannesburg
From a third full to fully enrolled in a year
A weak Reception intake in a competitive market. We rebuilt the parent journey from first search to enrolment: targeted ads, a parent guide, nurture emails, teachers in the press, and personal follow-up from the admissions team.
21 → 66
Reception places confirmed out of 66, a year apart
225,575
parents reached in the school's catchment
7.87%
of visitors signed up for the parent guide
31
pieces of press coverage from 5 press releases
The Rock restaurant, Zanzibar
The media kit
My first job for The Rock: a brochure that tells the restaurant's story beautifully. A refreshed edition is on its way.
The Rock and Jua, Zanzibar
Website care
Ongoing care for two hospitality websites: security, SEO, booking tracking, and menus kept current in 13 languages.
Community fundraising campaign, Zanzibar
Be Their Rock: a customer journey built to grow donations
The Rock for Community raises money for 600 schoolchildren in Michamwi and Kae. Instead of one appeal and a hope, I mapped every point where a guest meets The Rock, before, during and after their visit, and gave each one a job in moving them towards giving, and giving again. The brief was an editorial look that still clearly belongs to The Rock family.
From brand and strategy to landing page, print and email.
Customer retention at scale
Group-wide CRM
Led the CRM and digital roll-out across a listed hospitality and entertainment group, from frontline teams to the executive.
Brands I've worked on
- The Beverly Hills, Umhlanga
- 54 on Bath, Rosebank
- The Palazzo, Montecasino
- Suncoast Towers, Durban
- The Rock, Zanzibar
- Jua Retreat, Zanzibar
- Be Their Rock
About
Hi, I'm Olivia
I've spent more than twenty years in marketing and customer retention, across small brands, big brands and listed companies. I build systems that keep your marketing running every month, so the work you love stays the work you do.
I'm based on the Isle of Man and work remotely with clients in the UK, South Africa and Tanzania. I hold a BBusSc (Hons) in Marketing and I'm an ICF-accredited coach.
Questions people ask
Straight answers
The questions I'm asked most, answered plainly.
Who do you work with?
I work with established, owner-run businesses and independent schools that have steady income and want to grow, but have hit a ceiling because the owner or team can't do everything. Most are in hospitality, professional services and education, in the UK, the Isle of Man, South Africa and Tanzania.
What does a marketing system include?
A marketing system is strategy carried by people, processes and systems, with technology underneath. In practice that means a brand kit, a monthly content rhythm, targeted ads, a website built for SEO and AEO, email nurture, and one clear report every month, all on one retainer.
Do I need to spend money on ads?
Yes, a little. A social page or a website on its own waits to be found, and that's hope, not a strategy. Google and social media show more of you to the people you pay to reach. A small, targeted budget is enough to put you in front of the right people, and you pay it directly to the platform.
What are SEO and AEO?
SEO (search engine optimisation) helps Google find, understand and rank your website. AEO (answer engine optimisation) helps AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Google's AI Overviews find your business and recommend it when someone asks a question. Clear answers, consistent details everywhere and structured data help with both.
Do you use AI, and will it sound like AI?
Yes, I use AI openly to do the heavy lifting, so work that took an agency weeks takes days. It won't sound like AI because everything starts from a brand kit built from your own look, voice and real photos. I edit every piece, and nothing goes out until you approve it.
How much does it cost?
Everything runs on one monthly retainer, so there are no surprise invoices for routine changes. The price depends on what you need. Book a free 30-minute call and I'll give you a clear figure and tell you honestly what I'd change first.
Not ready to talk yet? Start with the free guide.
Send me the guideLet's take marketing off your plate.
Book a 30-minute call. We'll look at what you do today and where the time goes, and I'll tell you honestly whether I can help.