The data doesn't lie.
In the U.S. alone, companies pour over $359 billion a year into marketing.
Forrester reports that 80% of that spend is wasted.
Why? In all my years practicing marketing, the reason for failure is absolutely, positively, without a doubt the same: a lack of clarity and leadership behind it.
That begs the question—why the lack of clarity? Because buying marketing is easy. Executing marketing is easy.
Doing all of that the right way? Ah. Thats the trap.
Don't fall in.
5 Signs You Don’t Have Clarity Behind Your Marketing
- You’re always fussing with your website.
It’s activity, not strategy—and it never feels finished. - You’re in and out of your CRM constantly.
Busywork replaces true pipeline growth. - You dabble here and there.
A little SEO, a little social, a little email—without a cohesive plan. - Your spend feels random.
Budgets get allocated by instinct, not by discipline or ROI. - Sales and marketing don’t sound like the same team.
If they can’t tell the same story, you don’t have alignment—you have noise.
No more waste.
Getting marketing right isn’t as hard as it sounds.
It takes four things: a leader, a strategy, a plan, and consistent execution.
The problem? 80% of businesses skip the first three and jump straight to tactics. That’s why 80% of marketing fails.
Or worse—they try to save a few bucks and lead it themselves. Sure, you can pull your own tooth and save money. But should you? Absolutely not.
And now you know what the problem is. The question is, what do you do about it?
Simple: let me lead it for you. With clarity, strategy, and execution in place, your marketing stops being waste and starts driving growth.
We can be talking about this, this week. And put you in the 20% of those who get marketing right.
What to Look for in Independent Fractional Marketers.
One of the questions leaders often ask is: how can a single independent perform like a whole firm?
The answer is simple: the best of us are learning how to work with AI. Tools like Ella don’t replace judgment or experience, but they do remove the heavy, expensive layers that used to require big teams.
That’s how someone like me can bring the clarity and structure you’d expect from a large consultancy—just delivered faster, leaner, and without the overhead.
What you'll get when we work together.
- A clear, focused marketing strategy and plan
- A lead funnel built to convert, not just exist
- A Fractional Marketing Leader who leads and stays—not just advises and exits
- A structured marketing program that drives results
happy customers have this to say...
Mike Elness, ELDR.
John Christensen, FISH!
John Christensen, FISH!
As a growing tech company, there’s no way we could handle marketing on our own. It was overwhelming—until John stepped in. John is the marketing expert we need to take marketing off our backs and made it work. Over three years we grew an average 29% YOY with John as our FCMO.
John Christensen, FISH!
John Christensen, FISH!
John Christensen, FISH!
Marketing is just too much for a mid-market business like us to handle on our own. But hiring an agency? Too expensive. As our Fractional Marketing Leader, John fits like a glove—strategic, hands-on, affordable, always pushing us forward.
Keith Lauver, Ella Ai
Keith Lauver, Ella Ai
Keith Lauver, Ella Ai
John Arms is the best “ninja” I’ve ever seen at taking complex ideas and slicing them down to snack size. He cuts through the clutter, delivers substance over fluff, and brings clarity to chaos every time. When you want signal, not noise, John’s the antenna you need.
That's me, your CMO.
Keith Lauver, Ella Ai
Keith Lauver, Ella Ai
Fractional CMO. 30 Years of Strategy, Story, and Results. I become your affordable, fractional marketing leader to carry the weight of your marketing so you can lead your business. No more guessing. No more scattered efforts. Just smart, steady growth.