Fractional hiring for an entrepreneur is a way to bring someone into your business that has a lot of experience or expertise but at only a fraction of the cost.

Unlike full-time employees, fractional hires only work part-time in your business. They split their time between multiple businesses, which allows them to stay closely aligned with industry trends and insights. However, unlike consultants or freelancers, this role is not meant to be solely project-based.

Think of them like a business partner who doesn’t own any of your business. They will challenge your current process, are invested in the larger vision of your brand, and act as your sounding board.

You will know it’s time to hire someone in your business when you’ve hit any or all of these milestones.

1. You’ve been boostrappin’ and DIYing and you have an audience, but you aren’t sure how to sell to them. You need help monetizing the community you’ve built.
2. You spend way more time marketing yourself than you do serving your clients, and it’s exhausting. It’s not a good return on your energy or time.
3. You’re profitable, but your revenue isn’t consistent or it takes a lot of your energy to reach your goals. You’re not sure why sometimes you have high highs but also really low lows.

When you shouldn’t hire a fractional CMO or marketing strategist.

1. You’re brand new. At this point in your business, it’s powerful to be in the trial and error phase where you determine your brand voice, pillars, and even offerings (in this case, I’d recommend a strategy session)
2. You don’t want a thought partner. You have a clear vision and know exactly where you’re going and what needs to be done. Your biggest challenge is that there is no one to delegate to.
3. Your marketing is already automated, and you need support managing a full book of business. In this scenario, you may need help managing the minutia of the day-to-day (Virtual Assistant), get help putting your expertise into courses or an app (OBM), want to upgrade your mindset for more growth (Business Coach), or want to outsource your social media (DFY social media manager).

Let’s look at other common hires entrepreneurs make when they’re still early on in their business. There is no right or wrong order to hiring each of these roles. Some roles you may never hire for, and others you may have working for you simultaneously. It depends on your unique business needs and your strengths as a founder.

Virtual Assistants

Virtual Assistants are task masters who work inside your business and focus on execution. These are VAs, PAs, EAs, etc.

OBM (online business manager)

OBMs are usually more project based, and they manage systems and the operations of your business at a higher level. They also delegate work to the Virtual Assistants.

Business or Mindset Coaches

Coaches are usually people who help you grow as the leader of your business. They can be Mindset, Transformation, or Leadership Coaches (plus more).

DFY Service Providers/Freelancers

Done-for-you (DFY) Service Providers are SMEs (subject matter experts) and highly skilled at creating/building their thing. These people can be copywriters, website designers, developers, etc.

Strategist/Fractional Hires

Strategists are people who work ON your business to help you analyze or create strategies that help you reach your goals. They can be marketing, brand, content strategists, consultants (plus more), and are usually more of a jack-of-all trades type person that helps move your strategy forward.

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Here are some things you can expect with a Fractional Marketing Manager (like me!).

1. Weekly Reviews – these sessions are where both the founder the marketing manager step back and work ON the business rather than IN it. This is the time to review metrics, see how launches are tracking, discuss what’s working and what isn’t, and sync up on the plan for the upcoming week.
2. Strategic Thinking – Fractional hires have experience working in-depth with multiple businesses that are likely in the same industry. They have experience, contacts, and industry insights that are combined with marketing intel to create a plan that supports your unique goals.
3. Systemizing – Each fractional hire will have different strengths and assets, but almost all will automate and systemize marketing tactics to make processes flow more seamlessly and create easier tracking to replicate launches.
4. Execution – Fractional hires will either do some execution themselves OR they will guide and delegate execution. This depends on the size of the business you’re in, other team members, and strengths of your fractional hire.

Want a sneak peek inside your Fractional Marketing Manager’s work week?

Here’s an example of how I may schedule my week, depending on what my clients have going on and what my deliverables are.

MONDAYS

Hold “C-Suite” meetings with CEOs or Founders to review social media, website, email marketing metrics, compare our plan to actuals, and align on the upcoming week.

TUESDAYS & WEDNESDAYS

I work with solopreneurs, so a part of my offering is execution. These days are where I write copy for my clients, whether that’s for their email marketing, press releases, website copy, or IG captions. I also offer automation, so you could find me creating nurture sequences, running Ads, and setting up a CRM platform.

THURSDAYS

This day is less execution and more focused on brand positioning and market research. I look at who my client’s audience is, trends within the holistic health industry, and assess what other practitioners doing in their practices. This helps my clients stay up-to-date, avoids reinventing the wheel, and keeps our niche tight so that my clients remain differentiated.

FRIDAY

This is my review day, where I go through each client’s metrics, plan their social content for the next week or two, and set the agenda for Monday’s meetings.

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Feel ready to have a thought partner inside of your business? Apply to bring me on as your Fractional Marketing Manager to help magnify the magic in your marketing.