Harness & Hone

Harness & Hone is a Digital Consulting Accelerator that has taught dozens of service-based Solopreneurs how to package their core competency into a repeatable, sellable, scalable business.

Unlike other programs, you won't just get advice -- you'll start selling a codified offer in 90 days, shift your business from deliverables to outcomes, and graduate with a level of personal income you've never thought possible.

Founder

1,000 Routes

Join me every week as I explore the stories, learn the lessons, and track the uncommon routes that common Solopreneurs take to get more clients, earn more money, and plant their flag.

Founder & Host

IMPACT

As a creator and member of the marketing leadership team, my main challenge was to create and scale net-new revenue programs to maturity and iterate and improve on existing ones. 

My focus is on creating content programs that truly resonate with our target audience. Guided by qualitative audience and customer research, my aim is to engage them in a way that keeps them coming back for more, whether it's attending events, listening to podcasts, or sharing our content with their peers, we can build a loyal and dedicated following that will support our business for years to come.

Setting the vision and strategy, our challenge was to move internal subject matter experts into leading, well-known thinkers within the sales and marketing category.  

Using a category lens, I guided the creation, refinement, and distribution of IMPACT's category POV and intellectual property. Through our SMEs, we intentionally moved our problem<>solution framing, languaging, and messaging into the marketplace. Primary internal and external channels include podcasts, newsletters, publications, YouTube, and social media.

Responsible for generating Stage 2 pipeline and achieving revenue targets for the Mastery business unit,  as well as all revenue and marketing operations.

Director of Demand

I created the content, campaigns, lead generation strategy, and sales process needed to accelerate the referral and event partner program growth.

I executed joint marketing campaigns for partners (e.g, sponsor booths, courses, promotional videos, speaking engagements, blogs, email, webinars, etc.) in collaboration with our video production team, content manager, and web designer.  Worked with partner teams to develop, plan and execute sales initiatives resulting in 356% revenue growth.

Account Executive, Partnerships & Events

As a HubSpot Certified Trainer, I provided ongoing tool support and training for sales, marketing, and leadership teams for all HubSpot hubs. This includes ongoing 1:1 and 1:many training and workshop sessions. Consistently staying up to date on new features and best practices.

Additionally, I created and executed on inbound sales and marketing strategies for up to 12 clients simultaneously.

HubSpot Enablement Specialist & Inbound Marketing Strategist

Verizon

During my time as a Solutions Specialist, I continually exceeded my monthly sales targets for all mission-critical KPIs including net-new sales, customer renewals, and revenue per transaction.

My core responsibility was to create personalized hardware and software solutions for all customers, B2B and B2C.

Awarded as the #10 salesperson in the New England area. Additionally, I created a peer-to-peer recognition program which was adopted as a standard throughout the region.

Solutions Specialist

Overcome the perception of being a generic, cookie-cutter agency

Most Solopreneurs face the same problems. 

They can’t tell you what they do or how they do it. 

It's taking longer, it's been harder, and most of the time you're picking up clients that aren't a great fit.

You have enough to get by, but you can't say you're successful.

It's kind of a grind.

And if you continue to work the offer you have, **nothing will ever change.**

You know you need a change, but are not sure how to do it **without risking your current customers who are paying the bills.**

Leaving so many talented Solopreneurs questioning why they even started a business in the first place.

The truth is you can’t outwork this problem. With your current offer, more of the same clients will bury you in work, and most won't pay you what you're worth.

Harness & Hone solves that problem. We give you the structured guidance you need to design a service that leverages what you do best, creates tangible value for your clients, and charges for the outcomes you produce.

Nick Bennett

Most solopreneurs frame their offer (and the problem they solve) through a buyer's failure.

"Your pipeline is empty."
"You're struggling to close deals."
"You don't know what to do next."

And they wonder why they only attract desperate buyers with shallow pockets.

I learned this lesson the hard way when I first started helping solopreneurs. 

I tried to hard to articulate a visceral, painful problem.

The response? Tons of engagement from people who needed a parachute.

I saw similar patterns across a few clients, too.

So we reframed the offer (and problem) around a buyer's success.

Suddenly, the quality of conversations changed completely.

→ From failure indicator: "Your website gets no traffic" 
→ To success indicator: "Your website gets 50K visitors/month, but you're only converting 1% when industry leaders in your space are at 3-5%"

→ From failure indicator: "Nobody knows who you are" 
→ To success indicator: "You have strong brand recognition in your niche, but you're struggling to break into the enterprise segment where deals are 10x larger"

→ From failure indicator: "Your sales team keeps missing quota" 
→ To success indicator: "Your sales team is hitting quota, but you're leaving money on the table because your top performers can't scale their approach to the rest of the team"

→ From failure indicator: "You can't afford to hire more salespeople" 
→ To success indicator: "You're profitable enough to expand your team, but you need a system that ensures new hires ramp as fast as your best rep did"

→ From failure indicator: "Your marketing isn't generating any ROI" 
→ To success indicator: "Your marketing generates consistent ROI, but you're capped at your current spend level and can't scale profitably past $X/month"

→ From failure indicator: "You can't deliver on time" 
→ To success indicator: "You're delivering on time, but manual processes mean you can only handle 20 clients when demand exists for 100+"

The difference is simple, but it makes a massive difference in your marketing effectiveness and pipeline strength.

Failure indicators attract people looking for a parachute. 

Success indicators attract people looking for partners.

When you frame through failure, you're fishing in shallow water. 

You get buyers who need all the help in the world but can't really afford it. 

They're trying to stop the bleeding, not build something better.

When you frame through success, you're fishing where the big fish swim. You get buyers who have already proven they can execute. 

They have the means to invest because they've already seen returns.

One frame brings you clients who haggle over every dollar. 

The other brings you clients who ask, "When can we start?"

Most solopreneurs never realize they're filtering their pipeline with their first sentence.

#plantyourflag

Nick Bennett 🏴‍☠️

Digital offer and content creation for scaling solopreneurs | Co-Founder @ Duo

Most solopreneurs never ask themselves, "What am I building toward?"

They just work to the end of the week, wake up on Monday, and do it again.

Getting through the week is the "plan."

And you feel like you're living the same day, over and over and over again.

One day, they wake up and realize they overlooked one of the most important questions in business.

But if it's so important, why do most solopreneurs skip it entirely?

Because casting a vision feels indulgent, impractical, too "woo-woo," or too overwhelming. 

You've got clients to serve, content to create, and revenue to generate. 

You don't have time to sit around pondering your ideal life when there are deadlines to hit.

Plus, the conventional business wisdom is clear: focus on the metrics. 

Revenue, growth, and scale matter most. Vision is something you figure out later, once you've "made it."

Except that's exactly backwards.

Success doesn't magically cure your limiting beliefs. 

It exposes them.

And it usually leads to a point where you wonder, "Is this what I actually want?"

It's easy to put off vision work because it's confronting and challenging. 

But if you want to escape Groundhog Day, chart a course beyond the end of the week.

#plantyourflag

Most solopreneurs get stuck in the Recognition Gap because they haven’t made a clear decision about what they want to be known for. 

They rely on word of mouth, custom-scope every project, and try to grow a business without ever getting anchored to the one thing they do best.

In our experience, this happens because we’re scared. 

Scared of prospects thinking we can’t do more than advertised. 

Scared of losing hard-won skills to atrophy. 

Scared of being seen as unable or unwilling to solve versatile problems.

The result is a business that evaporates the moment referrals slow down.

Worst of all, most referrals come in ice cold without context for who you are, how you think, or what problem you solve.

(Not ideal when you're trying to standardize what you do.)

But they do bring in money, which is why too many solopreneurs miss the Recognition Gap signs:

→ You can’t articulate what problem you solve (or who it’s for) in a clear and consistent way

→ Most of your work comes from referrals, and the few cold inbounds seem like miracles

→ You dread when a client leaves because you realize there’s no process to backfill clients

If nobody beyond your bubble knows what you do—or how you think—you don’t have a sustainable business.

Being good at what you do is required; it isn’t enough to hedge against risk.

If your only marketing channel is “people who already know me," your business is one slow season away from chaos. 

That's incredibly stressful. 

And it's why you can be at $20K, $30K, even $50K+ months and still feel like your business could evaporate overnight.

It’s deceiving because you’re busy, making good money, and are excellent at your work. Until one day you look up and…

Panic.

#plantyourflag

Grace Fellowship Church

Director of Communications

Pitch Purpose with Tony Winslow

In the Pitch Purpose with Tony Winslow podcast, I interview purpose-driven business leaders discussing their methods for inspiring others and operationalizing their purpose.

Podcast Host

Kenton County Fiscal Court

Communications Strategist

Swivel

After 9 years at Cengage, I was the Marketing Manager at a B2B marketing agency. During that time, I: 

- Led go-to-market strategy creation for a mid-sized organization in Northern Kentucky by interviewing key stakeholders, sales survey creation, competitive research, and positioning exercises.
- Directed the team in the creation of breakthrough content heroes, paid ads, and product messaging playbooks.

🚀𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭: In a short time, I gained valuable experience, including keyword research using SEMRUSH, audience research using SparkToro, paid media distribution, performance analysis, and web design.

Marketing Manager

Cengage Group

After consistently achieving performance goals, partnering with sales to win top opportunities, leading special and more, I was promoted to Marketing Manager. The role had 3 primary accountabilities: Market Expertise, Sales Enablement, Campaign Definition and Support. As MM, I: 

- Created and distributed content for blogs, e-newsletters, flyers, events, etc., across four product portfolios to increase webinar attendance, asset downloads, and product usage.
- Partnered with Product Management to establish go-to-market strategy, product development, and portfolio innovation.
- Analyzed market trends, competitive intelligence, and win/loss feedback to influence the product roadmap, pricing strategy, sales enablement materials, and go-to-market communication.
- Created and delivered training and enablement materials, including playbooks, one-pagers, decks, and email templates to support sales and customer success teams.

🚀𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭:
- Contributed to a portfolio increase of 1.4k digital units in FY22.
- Contributed to an 8% increase in new product activation from FY20 to FY22.
- Exceeded existing asset download conversion by 58% by focusing on delivering practical value to help customers engage their target audience.
- First Marketing Manager to write posts for the Cengage blog.

Marketing Manager, Cengage Higher Ed

Based on collaboration skills, creativity, and sales performance, I was promoted and responsible for developing sales collateral, training internal and external customers, developing sales strategies, and being an expert on the customer voice.

I developed a deep understanding of why customers adopted Cengage products and spread that knowledge to relevant stakeholders. I collaborated cross-functionally to influence product development, marketing campaigns, and sales strategy.

🚀 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭: 
- Contributed to a 27% increase in business units and 57% online platform activations in FY 2020.
- Contributed to a 29% increase in new product adoption during year 2 of availability.

Associate Marketing Manager & Product Specialist

Based on exceptional sales performance, promoted to Executive Learning Consultant responsible for
managing a $2 million territory and collaborating with Field Learning Consultants on key accounts.

Executive Learning Consultant

Hired to grow share as an Inside Learning Consultant selling online learning platforms to higher education
instructors. Analyzed $1 million territory revenues, trends, and new business opportunities to achieve sales targets.

🚀 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭: Based on sales performance over a 3-year period, chosen among top performers to join the “Circle of Excellence” for two consecutive years.

𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬: 2014 Sales Year Rookie of the Year, 2014 and 2016 Goal Achiever

Learning Consultant

University of Cincinnati

I holistically reviewed the College of Nursing to develop an integrated marketing strategy to increase program enrollment by 31%. I led project execution by partnering with staff to determine the competition, target market, and positioning. 

I wrote, designed, and distributed a Qualtrics survey to various sample groups through the partnership with UC Online. I synthesized insights and complex ideas into clear and concise narratives for different audiences.

🚀 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭: Synthesized 100+ page  final report into 25 slide/20-minute presentation. From Professor Hardin, “You did an outstanding job on a very diffi cult project!”

Marketing Strategist

The Underground Agency

Student Researcher at the Underground Agency; conducted marketing research with Generation Y, focused on re-positioning the Hoist brand. 

In a later semester, I was a Social Media Strategist at the Underground Agency. I developed a social media marketing plan designed to help P&G get 70% of wash loads converted to cold water by 2020.

🚀 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭: Both reports were selected by the marketing faculty at Haile/US Bank College of Business for publication.

Social Media Strategist & Marketing Researcher (Academic Client Projects)

2005, my first job at McDonald's, starting an 8-year stint in restaurants teaching me customer service, efficiency, empathy, and hard work.

2008, college. I wanted to "help people," so I tried nursing school. Long story short, not for me. I switched to marketing mostly because it wasn't math, science, or blood-related.

2011 brought my first marketing lightning strike. My professor is Czech, and the accent alone was a joy; plus, he brought us Nutella. Dr. Raska taught us "mindful marketing" and brand purpose and empowered us to use marketing to help solve global and cultural issues and change the world.

2013, I started in sales at Cengage, expecting to spend a year gaining experience. 4 years later, I hit my goal multiple times and was awarded the Circle of Excellence 2 years in a row.

2017, promoted to Product Specialist sitting in the marketing org. I worked on messaging, created tools, and trained sales through live training, fun videos, and Zoom calls. But I didn't feel like a "marketer." I convinced myself that I wasn't because I wasn't doing what I thought marketers did or what I went to school for.

2018, I pursued an MS in Marketing. My brothers both had their master's, and maybe getting an extra credential would open me up to more opportunities to be a marketer.

2020 was crazy. COVID, full-time school + job, my second child was born. I even finished a final paper in the hospital. But 2020 brought two more lightning strikes. My Brand Strategy course was about how brands must lead with purpose and authenticity. It ignited the passion I felt in 2011, and I became convinced that driving purpose in organizations is what I was meant to do.

Fall 2020, final semester. I still didn't feel like a marketer. I had applied many times to be Marketing Manager and was told no. But, mid-semester, my professor told me something that changed my life. He said, "You know when you become a marketer? When you decide you are a marketer."

Who cares if I didn't have a specific title? This mindset turned me into a lifelong marketing student and convinced me that I could create new opportunities for myself.  I became a marketer.

2021, pink slip. At this point, I had applied eight times to be a Marketing Manager at Cengage. 2 weeks to get hired, or I was jobless. There were three open MM roles. I was denied two, then lucky (God ordained, I should say) number 11 came.

2022, MM for Cengage. I left Cengage in October of that year to work for a small B2B Marketing Agency.

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Nick Bennett

Tony Winslow

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The Battle

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Tony Winslow

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Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Nick Bennett's LinkedIn Performance

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