Working with Sharp Pencil
Marketing needs someone to lead it.
You may have a good designer, an agency, and people making things. You may still be the person choosing every priority and making sure the work gets done.
I help business owners work out what their marketing needs to accomplish, decide what to do next, and carry those decisions into the work. We agree on the responsibility before we begin.
When you need continuing leadership.
A fractional CMO takes responsibility for an agreed part of your marketing. That can mean setting priorities with you, coordinating your team and outside partners, and keeping the writing, design and website work connected to the plan.
For Burns, Henry & Kirksey, my involvement includes marketing advice, campaigns, public relations and systems strategy. When an attorney joined the firm, I recommended telling key clients and referral partners directly before the public announcement.
Read the BH&K case study or consider when a fractional CMO may fit.
When you need someone to think with.
You or someone on your team may already lead the marketing. Advice can help you decide which audience matters, what to say, where to spend, and what to leave alone. Your team remains responsible for putting those decisions into practice.
Compare advice with continuing leadership. The right arrangement depends on the decisions and work you want help with.
When the work also needs making.
I write, design and build websites as well as advise. We can include that work when it belongs in the engagement, with a clear scope and the right collaborators.
With Daniel Allen Coaching, the relationship connects identity, two websites, presentations and ongoing advice. For EQUIP, I worked on a clearer website and marketing alongside the people responsible for the organization.
See the Daniel Allen work and read the EQUIP case study. The client stories explain my role in each relationship.
Start with a real problem.
Bring the marketing question that keeps coming back to you. We can talk about who leads the work now, what needs a decision, and what you want someone else to own. Then we can agree on the scope, cost, responsibilities and how to review progress.
Sharp Pencil is my marketing leadership and advisory practice in Chattanooga, Tennessee. I am also the author of Human Is the New Vinyl and the founder of VerifiedHuman. Read more about my work.