Why Small Businesses Should Consider Hiring a Fractional CMO for Strategic Growth

Patrick McFadden • August 11, 2024

In the wake of economic disruptions like the COVID-19 pandemic, small businesses in Richmond VA have faced unprecedented challenges. Many have learned that without strategic guidance and leadership, navigating through crises can be chaotic and uncertain.


As businesses emerge from these challenging times, there's a growing recognition of the need for a more strategic approach to marketing—one that can help them not just survive but thrive in a competitive landscape.


Enter the fractional Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), a role that is rapidly gaining acceptance among small to medium-sized businesses. For organizations considering this option, it's crucial to understand that hiring a fractional CMO is about more than just executing marketing strategies; it's about integrating expert leadership into your team to drive sustainable growth.

The Transformation of Small Business Marketing

Small business marketing is undergoing a significant transformation. The pandemic has exposed the fragility of businesses that operate without a clear strategic direction. Many small businesses found themselves in a reactive mode, scrambling to adapt to sudden changes in the market. This experience has highlighted the importance of having a seasoned marketing leader who can provide strategic guidance and help businesses navigate through uncertainty.


The rise of fractional CMOs is part of this broader shift. Unlike traditional CMOs who work full-time within an organization, fractional CMOs provide their expertise on a part-time or contract basis. This model is particularly appealing to smaller businesses that need high-level marketing leadership but may not have the resources to hire a full-time CMO.

Maximizing Resources and Tapping into Expertise

One of the key benefits of hiring a fractional CMO is the ability to maximize your resources. A fractional CMO brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to your business, allowing you to tap into expert insights without the cost of a full-time executive. This approach enables you to get more value from your marketing budget by focusing on strategic initiatives that drive growth.


However, it's important for CEOs and business leaders to recognize that a fractional CMO's role goes beyond executing tactics. The real value lies in their ability to diagnose the specific challenges and opportunities within your business and develop a tailored strategy that addresses your unique needs. This "diagnosis before prescription" approach ensures that your marketing efforts are aligned with your overall business goals.

The Changing Landscape of Marketing Services

The marketing landscape has evolved significantly in recent years. Today, many marketing tactics have become commoditized, with services like AI-driven website creation available at incredibly low costs. As a result, the challenge for small businesses is no longer about finding affordable marketing services—it's about finding the right strategic partner who can guide them through the complexities of context, strategy, and collaboration.


A fractional CMO can provide that strategic direction. Rather than just executing individual tactics, they take a holistic view of your marketing efforts, ensuring that all activities are aligned with a clear, overarching strategy. This approach helps businesses avoid the common pitfall of relying on disjointed tactics that may deliver short-term results but fail to contribute to long-term growth.

The Role of a Fractional CMO in Your Local Service Business

A fractional CMO should be seen as an integral part of your leadership team. They are not just external consultants who offer advice from the sidelines; they are actively involved in shaping the direction of your business. By working closely with your internal executive and marketing team, a fractional CMO can ensure that your marketing efforts are fully integrated with your overall business strategy.


This level of involvement is crucial for small businesses that are looking to grow. A fractional CMO brings a strategic focus to your marketing efforts, helping you make informed decisions about where to allocate resources and how to achieve your business goals. They can also provide valuable insights into market trends, customer behavior, and competitive dynamics, ensuring that your business stays ahead of the curve.

Is a Fractional CMO Right for Your Local Service Business?

While a fractional CMO can be a valuable asset for many businesses, it's important to consider whether this model is the right fit for your organization. Based on my experience of working with local service businesses, fractional CMOs are often best suited for businesses that meet the following criteria:


  • Established Business: Your business has been operating for at least three years, giving you a solid foundation to build upon.
  • Revenue Range: You are generating between $2 to $10 million in revenue, indicating that your business has the potential for growth but may not yet have the resources to hire a full-time CMO.
  • Need for Consistency: You have been playing the guessing game with marketing tactics and need a consistent strategy that drives results.
  • Lack of a Strategic Leader: You recognize the absence of a strategic marketing leader who can provide direction, make informed decisions, and guide your team through complex marketing challenges.
  • Lack of Full Marketing Team: You do not have a full marketing team in place, meaning that you need someone who can lead and execute your marketing efforts.
  • No Clear Strategy: You lack a clear marketing strategy and leadership, which has made it difficult to achieve your business goals.
  • Commitment to Industry and Community: You are committed to your industry and community, and you want a marketing leader who can help you build strong, lasting relationships with your customers and stakeholders.

Conclusion

The role of a fractional CMO is more than just a cost-effective solution for small businesses; it's a strategic investment in your company's future. By bringing in a fractional CMO, you can gain access to high-level marketing expertise, develop a clear and consistent strategy, and ensure that your marketing efforts are fully aligned with your business goals.


As small businesses continue to navigate the complexities of today's market, the demand for strategic marketing leadership will only grow. For those ready to take their business to the next level, a fractional CMO could be the key to unlocking new opportunities and driving sustainable growth.

The Missing Layer in AI: Why Judgment, Not Just Data, Will Define the Next Era of Intelligence

By Patrick McFadden • May 2, 2025
Everyone is scaling outputs. Almost no one is scaling judgment.

Everyone Talks About AI Judgment. We Built It.

By Patrick McFadden • May 2, 2025
Ask anyone in tech where AI is headed, and they’ll tell you: “The next leap is reasoning.” “AI needs judgment.” “We need assistants that think, not just answer.” They’re right. But while everyone’s talking about it, almost no one is actually shipping it. So we did. We built Thinking OS™ —a system that doesn’t just help AI answer questions… It helps AI think like a strategist. It helps AI decide like an operator. It helps teams and platforms scale judgment, n ot just generate output. The Theory Isn’t New. The Implementation Is. The idea of layering strategic thinking and judgment into AI isn’t new in theory. The problem is, no one’s been able to implement it effectively at scale. Let’s look at the current landscape. 1. Big Tech Has the Muscle—But Not the Mind OpenAI / ChatGPT ✅ Strength: Best-in-class language generation ❌ Limitation: No built-in judgment or reasoning. You must provide the structure. Otherwise, it follows instructions, not strategy. Google DeepMind / Gemini ✅ Known for advanced decision-making (e.g., AlphaGo) ❌ But only in structured environments like games—not messy, real-world business scenarios. Anthropic (Claude), Meta (LLaMA), Microsoft Copilot ✅ Great at answering questions and following commands ❌ But they’re assistants, not advisors. They won’t reprioritize. They won’t challenge your assumptions. They don’t ask: “Is this the right move?” These tools are powerful—but they don’t think for outcomes the way a strategist or operator would. 2. Who’s Actually Building the Thinking Layer™? This is where it gets interesting—and thin. Startups and Indie Builders Some small teams are quietly: Creating custom GPTs that mimic how experts reason Layering in business context, priorities, and tradeoffs Embedding decision logic so AI can guide, not just execute But these efforts are: Highly manual Difficult to scale Fragmented and experimental Enterprise Experiments A few companies (Salesforce, HubSpot, and others) are exploring more “judgment-aware” AI copilots. These systems can: Flag inconsistencies Recommend next actions Occasionally surface priorities based on internal logic But most of it is still: In early R&D Custom-coded Unproven beyond narrow use cases That’s Why Thinking OS™ Is Different Instead of waiting for a lab to crack it, we built a modular thinking system that installs like infrastructure. Thinking OS™: Captures how real experts reason Embeds judgment into layers AI can use Deploys into tools like ChatGPT or enterprise systems Helps teams think together, consistently, at scale It’s not another assistant. It’s the missing layer that turns outputs into outcomes. So… Is This a New Innovation? Yes—in practice. Everyone says AI needs judgment. But judgment isn’t an idea. It’s a system. It requires: Persistent memory Contextual awareness Tradeoff evaluation Value-based decisions Strategy that evolves with goals Thinking OS™ delivers that. And unlike the R&D experiments in Big Tech, it’s built for: Operators Consultants Platform founders Growth-stage teams that need to scale decision quality, not just content creation If Someone Told You They’ve Built a Thinking + Judgment Layer™… They’ve built something only a handful of people in the world are even attempting. Because this isn’t just AI that speaks fluently. It’s AI that reasons, reflects , and chooses. And in a world that’s drowning in tools, judgment becomes the differentiator. That’s the OS We Built Thinking OS™ is not a prompt pack. It’s not a dashboard. It’s not a glorified chatbot. It’s a decision architecture you can license, embed, or deploy— To help your team, your platform, or your clients think better at scale. We’ve moved past content. We’re building cognition. Let’s talk.

We Found the Missing Layer AI Has Been Waiting For

By Patrick McFadden • May 2, 2025
In every era of innovation, there’s a silent bottleneck—something obvious in hindsight, but elusive until the moment it clicks. In today’s AI-driven world, that bottleneck is clear: AI has speed. It has scale. But it doesn’t have judgment . It doesn’t really think . What’s Actually Missing From AI? When experts talk about the “thinking and judgment layer” as the next leap for AI, they’re calling out a hard truth: Modern AI systems are powerful pattern machines. But they’re missing the human layer—the one that reasons, weighs tradeoffs, and makes strategic decisions in context. Let’s break that down: 1. The Thinking Layer = Reasoning with Purpose This layer doesn’t just process inputs— it structures logic. It’s the ability to: Ask the right questions before acting Break down complexity into solvable parts Adjust direction mid-course when reality changes Think beyond “what was asked” to uncover “what really matters” Today’s AI responds. But it rarely reflects. Unless told exactly what to do, it won’t work through problems the way a strategist or operator would. 2. The Judgment Layer = Decision-Making in the Gray Judgment is the ability to: Prioritize what matters most Choose between imperfect options Make decisions when there’s no clear answer Apply values, experience, and vision—not just data It’s why a founder might not pursue a lucrative deal. Why a marketer might ignore the click-through rate. Why a strategist knows when the timing isn’t right. AI doesn’t do this well. Not yet. Because judgment requires more than data—it requires discernment . Why This Is the Bottleneck Holding Back AI AI can write. It can summarize. It can automate. But it still can’t: Diagnose the real problem behind the question Evaluate tradeoffs like a founder or operator would Recommend a path based on context, constraints, and conviction AI today is still reactive. It follows instructions. But it doesn’t lead. It doesn’t guide. It doesn’t own the outcome. And for those building serious systems—whether you’re running a company, launching a platform, or leading a team—this is the wall you eventually hit. That’s Why We Built Thinking OS™ We stopped waiting for AI to learn judgment on its own. Instead, we created a system that embeds it—by design. Thinking OS™ is an installable decision layer that captures how top founders, strategists, and operators think… …and makes that thinking repeatable , scalable , and usable inside teams, tools, and platforms. It’s not a framework. It’s not a chatbot. It’s not another playbook. It’s the layer that knows how to: Think through complex decisions Apply judgment when rules don’t help Guide others —human or AI—toward strategic outcomes This Is the Missing Infrastructure Thinking OS™ isn’t just about better answers. It’s about better thinking—made operational. And that’s what’s been missing in AI, consulting, leadership development, and platform design. If you’re trying to scale expertise, install judgment, or move from tactical to strategic… You don’t need a faster AI. You need a thinking layer that knows what to do—and why. We built it. Let’s talk.
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