Marketing, Consulting & Academic Support for Businesses and Students
Marketing and academic support from John and Kristen, a PhD and an MBA, from the first call to the finished work. No account managers, no handoffs.
Choose Your Path
Find the right help for you
Tell us who you are, and we’ll point you to exactly the marketing, consulting, or academic support you need.
Business Growth Solutions
Struggling to explain what differentiates your business? We help businesses grow by strengthening their brand through practical, evidence-based marketing strategy.
People usually come to us to:
- Attract higher-quality prospects
- Convert more website visitors into inquiries
- Clearly communicate your unique value
- Turn marketing data into actionable decisions
Services include:
Academic Coaching & Support
Stuck on a thesis, a dissertation, or a semester that keeps getting away from you? We coach you through it and edit your own words, so the work stays yours.
People usually come to us to:
- Complete your thesis or dissertation with confidence
- Get expert feedback on research design & methodology
- Improve academic writing & APA formatting
- Build study habits that last past this semester
Services include:
Moving to the Netherlands on the DAFT visa?
We made the same move and built this business under the treaty.
Real Feedback
What Our Clients Say
I appreciated the team’s responsiveness to working with changing demands and new information as we solidified our messaging and sales and marketing strategy. Kristen was a delight to work with, patient and collaborative.
Working with Kristen was transformative. She didn’t just design a website, she helped build our brand’s digital foundation. She translated our complex, innovation-focused work into a clear, compelling online presence with a strong visual identity.
Our Approach
How every project runs
Evidence before assumptions
We start with the facts: where things stand and what’s getting in the way, whether you’re growing a business or working toward a degree.
Tailored to your goals
Every business, scholar, and project is unique. We customize our approach to your objectives, voice, and style, whether you’re building a brand or publishing research.
Actionable next steps
Every engagement with Elevated Consulting Solutions ends the same way: you leave knowing the two or three moves that matter next, and why.
John & Kristen McAvoy
Who We Are
Meet the Founders
Hello, we’re John and Kristen McAvoy, a neurodivergent married duo who combine marketing, analytics, writing, and research.
Originally from Florida, we spent ten years in Texas and now call The Hague, Netherlands, home. We think differently, and that’s exactly what sets us apart.
The person on your first call is the person doing the work, and we take on few enough clients to keep it that way.
John McAvoy, PhD, and Kristen McAvoy, MBA. Connect on LinkedIn: John, Kristen.
Let’s Talk
Tell us what’s stuck. We’ll tell you what we’d do.
Book a free 30-minute call. Whether it’s a business that’s stopped growing or a dissertation that’s stopped moving, you’ll leave with a clear next step, even if that step isn’t us.
No pitch, no obligation.
Elevated Consulting FAQs
Working with us
What does Elevated Consulting Solutions do?
We offer marketing and academic support, run by John and Kristen McAvoy. For small businesses, that means marketing strategy, market research, business writing, and website design, all under Business Solutions. For students and researchers, it means academic coaching and dissertation and thesis editing, under Academic Solutions. The common thread is evidence: you always see the reasoning behind a recommendation, in plain language, before you act on it. Americans moving to the Netherlands on the DAFT visa come to us for DAFT visa support, because we made the same move ourselves.
How much does it cost to work with you?
The first consultation is free, and you always get the price in writing before any work starts. Marketing strategy starts at €1.200, market research at €1.250, website design at €1.495, and business writing at €215 for copyediting. You can also start smaller, with a Social Media Audit (€449, its fee counts toward a strategy package if you book within 30 days) or a website diagnostic from €95. Academic coaching starts with a single session from €95, credited in full if you continue, and editing starts at €25 per 1,000 words. If none of our packages fits, we scope a custom project around what you need and quote it up front.
Do you only take clients in the Netherlands?
No. We’re based in The Hague and work with businesses in the Netherlands and the United States, including expat-owned firms. Students join us from both countries and beyond. Our marketing and academic support runs entirely online, so distance has never been the constraint. To see how we think before you talk to us, read our free insights and resources.
What happens after I book a free consultation?
We spend 30 minutes on what you’re trying to do and what you have already tried. No pitch deck. If we’re a good fit, you get a written proposal with the deliverables and the price; if we aren’t, we’ll say so and point you somewhere more useful. Book your free consultation, or if you’d rather write it out first, send us a message or reach us on WhatsApp. We reply within one business day.
For businesses
Are you a marketing agency or a consultancy?
A consultancy, and a small one on purpose. You work directly with John and Kristen, the two people who own the company, with no account managers and no handoff to a junior team. That limits how many clients we take at once, and it’s why we can tell you what we actually think. Once the plan is set, you can run it yourself or hand the work to us. More about who we are and how we run projects.
Is hiring a marketing consultant worth it for a small business?
Usually, yes. Marketing done right takes real time and effort: a strategy grounded in research, then content that follows it week after week. Every hour you spend on that is an hour away from product development and the work you started the business to do. A consultant takes the strategy off your plate, so those hours go back to your business. We agree up front on what success looks like, usually a few metrics tied to revenue or qualified inquiries, and measure against your own numbers. Not sure where you stand? The free 5-minute Marketing Growth Audit shows where the gaps are, and our guide on how to tell if your marketing is working walks through the method.
For students
What is academic coaching?
Academic coaching is one-to-one help with how you plan and finish your work: time management, study systems, accountability, and structural feedback on writing you do yourself. A tutor teaches one subject; a coach works on how you handle all of them. We run four tracks online: Dissertation & PhD, ADHD & Neurodivergent, College Success, and Adult Learner. Each starts with a single session, credited in full if you continue. Compare the tracks.
Can you write my dissertation or thesis for me?
No, and we won’t, for any client at any price. We coach you through the writing and edit your own words so your argument reads clearly in English. Producing text you’d submit as your own scholarly work crosses a line we hold firmly. For support while you write, see dissertation and PhD coaching; for a finished draft, see dissertation and thesis editing.
From the blog
Insights & Resources
-
Vanity Metrics: How to Tell a Number That Feels Good From One That Tells You Something
Vanity metrics feel good but cannot guide decisions. Learn a 3-part test to tell a useful number from a flattering one, backed by 2026 benchmarks.
-
How Long Before Marketing Works? Set a Threshold, Not a Deadline
Google’s real guidance is “a few weeks,” not four months to a year. How long each marketing channel needs, and what to check at 30, 60,…
-
Where Do Your Best Customers Actually Come From? How to Track It Without Buying Anything
Find out where your customers come from without paying for attribution software. One question and a quarterly habit reveal it, no budget needed.
-
Customer Lifetime Value: The 3:1 Rule Wasn’t Written for Service Companies
The 3:1 customer lifetime value rule assumes an 80% margin, so for service businesses it overstates a customer’s worth. Here is what the evidence actually says.
Our Newsletter
One email a month. No filler.
Practical ideas, free resources, and recent blogs for business owners and academics. Unsubscribe anytime.