Fractional CMO School

Start or scale as a fractional CMO

Fractional CMO School is a six-month coaching program and community designed to help marketers launch or scale as a fractional CMO, attract the clients they want, and build the business they had in mind.

Every single thing you need to launch and grow a fractional CMO business

Whether you’re working a nine-to-five or already have your own business, most experienced marketing professionals want to focus on strategy and get out of the weeds of execution. The problem is that starting a fractional CMO business is overwhelming without a roadmap. How do you know what to charge? How do you find great clients? And when you do, how do you actually show up as a fractional CMO?

Does any of this sound familiar?

• You want to move from doing to leadingA shift from hands-on tasks to crafting big-picture strategy: steering the ship, not rowing the boat.
• You’re craving growth and mentorshipNo one to learn from and no room to grow. You’re ready for a space where a marketing mind can expand.
• You’re stuck in a career rutBig ideas and an even bigger drive, but every day feels like the last one. You want a leap, not a step.
• You’re overwhelmed by work-life imbalanceToo many plates spinning, and no sign of the point where work complements life rather than consuming it.
• You’re craving diversity in your workThe current role is a one-note tune, and you’re ready for a variety of brands and challenges.

The program is a fit if…

• You’re a marketing expert with five or more years of experienceThis is about refining and positioning yourself to lead, not about learning marketing.
• You’re ready to leave the nine-to-five for entrepreneurshipThe effort goes into your own goals rather than someone else’s.
• You’re a marketing consultant adding fractional CMO servicesYou’re ready to offer big-picture strategy and work with executives.
• You’re already a fractional CMONow you need the systems, processes and guidance to grow and scale.

What you’ll learn

• How to find, pitch and convert the high-ticket clients you want to work with.
• How to make the switch from marketing executor to building strategy.
• Clear ways to create a significant impact inside the first thirty days.
• How to position yourself confidently at executive level, and back it up.
• How to approach brand and marketing strategy development for clients, with examples.

What’s inside

• The Fractional CMO courseAt-your-own-pace training covering the complete fractional CMO business blueprint, from launching to pitching clients and growing the practice: operations, sales, lead generation and the CMO role.
• The template vaultTemplates and swipe files, from pitch templates to swipeable marketing strategies, covering the working documents a fractional CMO needs.
• Group coaching callsCoaching in a group setting every other week.
• The communityAn exclusive private community for members.
• Interactive workshopsBuilding out client strategies, discussing challenges and creating tools for the business.
• Real client case studiesBreaking down client strategies and real examples of sales calls.
• Expert speaker seriesSessions with industry leaders inside the private community.

Inside the course

1. Module 1CMO Foundations

   The fractional CMO model: how it differs from the old CMO model and why more businesses choose this route. The module works through the CMO role, the core competencies and the switch from execution to pure strategy and leadership, and finishes on leveraging external partners.

   • The fractional CMO model, the old versus the new
   • Benefits of hiring a fractional CMO over a traditional full-time employee
   • The CMO role, and how to maintain those boundaries with clients
   • Core competencies: brand, positioning, strategy and team
   • Thinking like a CMO: the switch from execution to strategy
   • Letting go of ego, and leveraging external partners to close knowledge gaps

2. Module 2Business Foundations

   A step-by-step foundation for setting up a functional, profitable practice, covering legal, contracts, contract tools, invoicing, invoice tools, finance necessities and revenue tracking.

   • Legal: the material that protects a practice and its clients
   • Contract best practices, and the types of contract the work needs
   • Contract examples and tools, with real use cases
   • Invoice best practices and tools
   • Finance must-haves: tools, best practices and standard procedures
   • Revenue tracking, because profit cannot be monitored without it

3. Module 3Packages and Pricing

   How to position and structure offerings, broken into distinct offerings for different types of client, and how to set the level of each one against experience and skill set.

   • Strategy offerings
   • Power hours: hourly one-offs for smaller clients
   • The marketing brand assessment, a deep-dive audit
   • Strategy intensives, paired with coaching
   • Client examples of strategy
   • Advisory or coaching, close to a part-time fractional CMO
   • The integrated leader engagement
   • Positioning yourself confidently: mindset, market rates and where you fit

4. Module 4Attracting Dream Clients

   Building the sales funnel: niching down, knowing exactly who the ideal client is, building a clear personal brand, choosing channels, website strategy, inbound lead forms and podcast pitching.

   • Niches: the power of a niche, and how to choose one
   • Defining the ideal client
   • Your brand: online presence, channels and a cohesive whole
   • Social profiles, and how to optimize your own
   • Website strategy: how to craft a site that converts
   • Inbound leads: forms that qualify, so time is not wasted
   • Pitching podcasts, including standard procedures

5. Module 5Unslimey Selling

   A complete breakdown of the sales process from discovery to closing, with the outreach system and tracker, scripts, proposals and pitch decks, and how to handle objections and rejection.

   • The entire sales process, from discovery to closing
   • Outreach templates, and how to track outreach
   • Discovery call scripts and best practices
   • How to create winning proposals
   • Pitch decks
   • Behind-the-scenes fractional CMO pitch recordings
   • Objection and rejection handling
   • Shortening the sales cycle

6. Module 6Working With Clients

   Delivery once the client is signed: standard procedures for every offering, quarterly planning sessions, mastering KPIs, sales forecasting and budgets, plus campaign and calendar templates.

   • Standard operating procedures for each offering
   • Behind-the-scenes weekly marketing meeting recordings
   • KPIs and tracking: how to measure results and explain them to clients
   • Sales forecasting, and how marketing contributes to sales goals
   • Marketing templates

Program questions

• Who is this program for?

  Marketing experts with five or more years of experience who want to move into a fractional CMO role, and fractional CMOs looking to elevate their offerings, systematize or scale.

• What is the format of the program?

  Two options: the Learn to CMO course and template vault taken alone, or the full program with coaching, community and one-to-one mentorship.

• How long is the program?

  The full program runs for six months of coaching, community and program access, with lifetime access to the course and template vault, including future updates.

• When can I sign up?

  Doors are always open and learning is at your own pace. Replays of past calls and trainings are available.

• What if I can’t make all the live calls?

  Schedules get busy. All live calls are recorded, and asynchronous coaching is available in the community area.

• Is there a community aspect to this program?

  Yes. Members have access to a private community to connect with other members and the fractional CMO coaches, share ideas, ask questions and get support.

Read next: the CMO School Podcast, or about the practice.