Practical guidance on building a marketing foundation that actually works — from positioning and messaging to go-to-market planning and knowing when to get outside help.
If you've decided it's time to invest in marketing, you've probably started looking at your options. And two keep coming up: hire an agency or bring in a Fractional CMO. They sound like they do the same thing. They don't. Here's the difference. An agency is a vendor. A Fractional CMO is a partner. When you hire an agency, you're a client. You brief them, they deliver, you pay the invoice. They're good at execution: campaigns, creative, media buying, PR. But they're working on
Most small business owners are great marketers by necessity. You built the website, figured out social media, hired someone to do graphics when you needed them, found a developer when the site needed updates. And it's worked well so far. But at some point you start wondering — is this actually doing what it should? Am I doing the right things? Do you know what your brand says about you to the customer? Are you reaching the right people, in the right places? And with a limited
