FRACTIONAL CMO · JASON SPENCER · ASHEVILLE, NC
A fractional CMO who owns strategy and delivery.
ROI.LIVE gives ecommerce and home service companies part-time marketing leadership with a named delivery team. Jason Spencer owns the plan, budget recommendations and review. The scope states who does the work and what it costs.
30 minutes. No purchase required. A brief summary and next steps.
Availability and start date confirmed before you commit.
Jason Spencer
Founder, ROI.LIVE · Asheville, NC
30 years building businessesSince 2008 in digital marketingAsheville, NC · serving US clients
01
THE DEFINITION
What a fractional CMO is
A fractional CMO leads marketing for an agreed part of the working week.
The role can cover strategy, budget allocation, team direction and performance review. The agreement defines authority and availability. Some fractional CMOs advise an existing team; ROI.LIVE also scopes specialist delivery. Read the plain definition.
| Role | Primary need | Responsibility to verify | Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fractional CMO | Part-time senior marketing leadership | Budget, priorities and team direction; delivery may be included or separately staffed. | Agreed in the contract. |
| Marketing consultant | Specialist advice or a defined problem | Advice, implementation and accountability vary with scope. | Project or ongoing agreement. |
| Interim CMO | Temporary executive cover | Decision authority and staffing during a transition; availability can vary. | Defined transition or recruitment period. |
| Marketing agency | A team with channel, creative or full-service capabilities | Some agencies provide strategy and revenue accountability; confirm the named owner and scope. | Project or retainer. |
02
THE THESIS
Who owns decisions and who delivers the work
Jason owns direction. Named specialists handle daily delivery.
Your proposal names the accountable operator, the specialists and the work included. Jason can inspect the ad accounts and measurement when needed; the promise is direct accountability, not that one person performs every task.
Ask to see how a decision becomes a brief, an approved change and a measured result.
THE WORK
One accountable owner across strategy and delivery
| Function | Accountable decision | Who delivers | Scope boundary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diagnosis, offer and positioning | Jason with the business owner | Jason prepares the diagnosis and priorities. | Record the baseline and evidence gaps before changes. |
| Budget and channel selection | Jason recommends; authorised human approves spending | Named specialist makes approved changes. | Platform spend is separate. |
| Paid search and social | Jason owns direction and review | Named paid-media specialist handles daily management. | Channels and creative quantities are agreed. |
| SEO and AI search visibility | Jason owns priorities and factual positioning | Search and content specialists build and check the pages. | No guaranteed ranking, recommendation or citation. |
| Email and SMS | Jason owns the plan and review | Named specialist builds and tests agreed flows or campaigns. | Licenses, consent requirements and send quantities are scoped. |
| Websites and landing pages | Jason owns direction and final agency review | Design and development specialists build; client approves facts and publication. | Page counts, integrations and revisions are written down. |
| Measurement | Jason owns definitions and interpretation | Specialists connect tags, reports and available sales records. | Unattributed revenue and data gaps stay visible. |
| Brand identity, video and photography | Jason can direct the brief | A scoped creative specialist or outside supplier produces it. | Outside production is quoted and approved separately. |
| PR, earned media and offline buying | Considered if relevant to the business | Existing partner or a separately scoped specialist. | Not automatically included; publication decisions belong to the outlet. |
| Existing staff and vendors | Client retains employment authority; Jason directs agreed marketing work | Your team and/or scoped ROI.LIVE specialists. | Staff replacement is not assumed. |
03
PRICING · PUBLISHED AUGUST 2026
What it costs
A published range. A written scope before you commit.
FRACTIONAL CMO · ROI.LIVE
$5K to $15K
ROI.LIVE engagements start at $5,000 a month, with most between $5,000 and $15,000. The written scope sets the fee, executive availability and specialist work. Media, software and approved outside production are separate.
VERSUS
ILLUSTRATIVE FULL-TIME MODEL
$400K
Hypothetical annual employment cost, not a US salary benchmark. Replace it with a real compensation package before making a hiring decision.
Compare executive time, specialist delivery, authority and total cost. A low or high quote alone cannot establish value. A retainer that includes production is not comparable to one employee’s salary without adjusting for that work.
Illustrative equal-hour-cost calculation: assume a full-time executive costs $400,000 a year for 2,080 paid hours. At $5,000, $10,000 and $15,000 a month, the equal hourly cost occurs at 6, 12 and 18 hours a week, respectively. Formula: monthly fee × 12 × 2,080 ÷ $400,000 ÷ 52. This compares cost per paid hour, not profit or business value. A retainer containing specialist delivery cannot be treated as executive pay alone.
04
CAPACITY
How capacity is agreed
Scoped
TIME AND COVER IN WRITING
Capacity is confirmed when the scope is agreed. Ask for committed executive hours, specialist hours, response expectations, cover during absence and the start date. A client count alone cannot establish whether someone has enough time.
Before signing, confirm the people, committed time, conflict-of-interest policy and start date.
Worked example: six accounts needing eight executive hours each require 48 hours before sales, administration or leave. Six accounts needing four hours require 24. The hours and support determine capacity; six is not a pass/fail rule.
05
THE PERSON ON YOUR ACCOUNT
Jason Spencer
Meet the accountable operator and know who will deliver the work.
30 years building and running businesses, 18 of them in digital marketing, across 55+ industries, from Asheville, North Carolina.
He did not start in a marketing department. He started as an IT innovator inside the largest private company in Philadelphia, left in 2004 to build an IT services company to a team of twelve, and sold it in 2008 to build ROI.LIVE. That is the difference between managing a marketing budget and carrying a payroll.
30
years building businesses
18
years in digital marketing
55+
industries served
One
accountable senior owner
Ask for a relevant reference with the engagement’s start and end dates. Average relationship length and executive tenure measure different things and should not be compared as if they were the same.
06
THE RECEIPTS
Read the period and cost behind the result
Blue Tree’s cost per won job includes all marketing costs.
BLUE TREE · JANUARY–JUNE 2026
460 jobs
Recorded won jobs during the six-month period. Won revenue was $3,417,690; a won job is not the same as collected cash. The full case explains its sources and gaps.
DATED SALES RECORD
COASTAL CAROLINA COMFORT · HVAC
$1.32M → $2.18M
Coastal Carolina Comfort reported $1.32M revenue in 2023, when its ROI.LIVE engagement began, and $2.184M in 2025, a 65% increase. This is reported business revenue; ROI.LIVE does not claim sole causation or credit for the later acquisition.
2023 TO 2025 · REPORTED
BLUE TREE · POOL & OUTDOOR LIVING
$172
January–June 2026: $79,242 in all marketing costs ÷ 460 won jobs = $172.27 per won job. Source attribution is incomplete; won work is not collected cash or company profit. Read the case and definitions.
COST PER OUTCOME
COASTAL · TRACKING WINDOW
2,591 jobs
Completed jobs from July 2024 through February 2026, alongside 3,928 tracked leads. These counts span the stated window and do not establish a simple lead-to-job conversion rate.
JULY 2024–FEBRUARY 2026
WINDOWS SOURCE OF HOUSTON · META
4.86x
September 18, 2024–May 2025: $170,893.50 in Meta-attributed sales ÷ $35,194.81 in ad spend = 4.86x. Agency fees and job costs are excluded. This is an ad-spend ratio, not profit.
SALES / AD SPEND
WINDOWS SOURCE OF HOUSTON
25.72x
September 18, 2024–May 2025: $578,646.82 organic/SEO/GBP sales ÷ $22,500 in tracked link investment. The denominator excludes agency fees. This is not a total marketing return or net-profit measure.
SALES / LINK INVESTMENT
07
FIT
Who this is for, and who should not hire me
I will tell you on the first call, not after the first invoice.
Hire me if
- You have evidence of demand and enough contribution margin to fund the full programme.
- Marketing decisions need a senior owner with agreed authority.
- Your team or a scoped delivery team can implement the work.
- You can provide sales and cost records and make time for decisions.
- The business can fulfil additional demand without damaging service or cash flow.
Do not hire me if
- The fee would consume the cash needed to deliver your existing orders.
- You need a full-time executive for daily management or on-site work.
- Your leadership is covered and the gap is a specific production task.
- You want advice while retaining all decisions; a consulting engagement may fit.
- You are still testing demand on a small budget; a bounded customer or offer test may be the better first purchase.
The named cases demonstrate experience in ecommerce and home services. Revenue size alone does not establish fit; check margin, implementation capacity and the cost of the whole programme.
08
ILLUSTRATIVE FIRST 90 DAYS
An example of the first 90 days
Start with the evidence and record the baseline before changing the work.
01
DAYS 1 TO 14
The diagnosis
Agree access and decision authority. Record ad spend, available sales outcomes, margin and source coverage before intervention. Interviews or a workshop may be useful if the offer or customer is unclear.
You get: documented baseline and initial diagnosis
02
DAYS 15 TO 30
The plan
Rank the issues by evidence and business impact. Write the initial plan with owners, dates, cost limits and acceptance checks. Confirm changes to the original scope before doing additional work.
You get: a written 90-day plan
03
DAYS 31 TO 60
Changes ship
Release the agreed changes after review. The initial work may address the offer, campaign structure or enquiry journey. Keep a dated change log; a launch does not itself prove the constraint is solved.
You get: approved changes and a change log
04
DAYS 61 TO 90
Measurement
Compare outcomes with the starting baseline, allowing for sales lag, seasonality and tracking gaps. Decide what the evidence supports and which question to test next.
You get: scorecard, interpretation and next decision
09
THE COMPARISON
Fractional CMO, agency, full-time, or director
Choose the arrangement that covers your leadership and delivery needs.
A fractional CMO can fill a part-time leadership gap. An agency can provide strategy and execution if those responsibilities are in its scope. A full-time executive fits sustained daily leadership. Compare the actual proposals, not the titles.
| Question | ROI.LIVE fractional CMO | Marketing agency | Full-time CMO |
|---|---|---|---|
| What are you buying? | Part-time leadership and the delivery agreed in the scope. | A specialist or full-service team; strategy may be included. | A dedicated employee with executive responsibilities. |
| Who makes decisions? | Jason and the client agree budget authority; named specialists execute approved work. | Check whether a senior strategist or the client owns budget and priorities. | The executive operates within the company’s authority and governance. |
| What does it cost? | $5,000–$15,000 monthly is the usual ROI.LIVE range, plus stated separate costs. | Request a scoped quote including management, production and media. | Use an actual compensation package, employer costs and recruitment quote. |
| Who does the work? | A named specialist or the existing team under Jason’s direction. | The roles and individual staffing in the proposal. | Employees and/or agencies the executive directs. |
| When can it start? | Agreed after capacity, access and scope are confirmed. | Agreed from team availability and scope. | Depends on recruiting, notice and onboarding. |
| Who owns accounts and assets? | Client controls business accounts; the contract defines custom work and licensed assets. | Verify account ownership, asset rights and exit provisions. | Company policy and employment/IP agreements apply. |
| When is it a good fit? | Leadership is missing but does not need a full working week. | The proposed team and strategy cover the gap at a sensible total cost. | Daily leadership and organisational demands justify a dedicated executive. |
10
WAYS TO HIRE
Other ways to find the right operator
A direct operator, a bench firm and a marketplace can each be useful.
Check the agreement and meet the person who will do the work. The selection process, replacement rights and production support matter more than a provider’s label.
11
THE FAILURE MODES
Why a fractional CMO engagement can fall short
Check capacity, scope, delivery and evidence before signing.
01
Split attention
An operator can have too little time for the responsibilities they have accepted. Ask for the total committed executive workload and the support available during a difficult week.
The control: written time commitments, response expectations and cover.
02
No written scope
When the scope omits owners, quantities or acceptance checks, the client and operator can expect different work for the same fee.
The control: a written scope before work starts, with changes approved as they arise.
03
The plan lacks delivery capacity
A sound plan needs people with time, skills and authority to implement it. The CMO may direct rather than build every part of the work, but the delivery responsibilities must be explicit.
The control: named delivery owners, agreed review and a dated change log.
04
AI slop as the deliverable
A report can be polished and still lack checked facts or a useful decision. Ask for a permissioned example showing sources, review and what happened next.
The control: evidence beside the recommendation and a named human reviewer.
12
THE AI QUESTION
Do I use AI to do this work?
AI helps with the tasks below. A human owns the decisions.
AI assists research, analysis, drafts and quality checks. Jason owns the recommendation and budget decisions. A human reviews publication and live account changes. Ask to see a finished example and the evidence behind it.
LOOMeria
THE ENGINE WE BUILT IN-HOUSE
- Client context covering the offer, audience, voice and available evidence.
- Past work that the team can retrieve and check against the current task.
- Documented production methods and quality checks.
- A named human responsible for factual review and publication.
A frontier model wrapped in your brand and our judgment, not a model we trained from scratch. A human owns every publish decision.
Search Command
HOW THE SEARCH WORK GETS SIZED
- Collects buyer questions and available demand evidence.
- Groups overlapping questions so pages have distinct purposes.
- Maps gaps to useful pages and checks that links lead to the right destination.
- Tests the map against observed search and customer behaviour.
The question map is a planning tool. A search visit alone does not prove that the method caused a ranking or a sale.
Open the line-by-line: where AI is used, and where it is not
| Task | AI first pass | A human decides | Never automated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Market and competitor research | Yes | What it means for you | |
| Query and demand analysis | Yes | What we go after | |
| Copy and content first drafts | Yes | Every word that ships | |
| Data analysis and reporting | Yes | The recommendation attached | |
| Budget and bid changes | Human-invoked, one run at a time | ||
| Live ad account writes | Dry run read by a human first | ||
| Strategy and the constraint call | Jason | ||
| Anything published in your name | Jason approves |
13
THE SCORECARD
How to vet any fractional CMO, including me
Use seven evidence checks. Any critical contract gap must be resolved before signing.
Evidence
Request a document, named person or permissioned reference.
Follow-up
Record what remains unknown and who will answer it.
Decision
Check fit, budget and delivery capacity; no automatic pass score.
01
How many clients are you carrying right now, and what is your cap?
Evidence to request Reserved executive hours, specialist capacity, response times and cover. ROI.LIVE confirms these with the start date before commitment; no live slot count is implied.
02
Who works in my ad account, and what is their name?
ROI.LIVE approach Jason owns structure and budget recommendations. The proposal names the specialist responsible for daily build and the approval route for live changes.
03
What would you do in the first 30 days?
ROI.LIVE approach Record the baseline before changes, review the accounts and business context, and write the initial plan with owners and dates. The schedule depends on access and the agreed scope.
04
Show me one client you have kept longer than three years.
Evidence to request A client relationship lasting more than 36 months, confirmed by dates and a permissioned reference. A three-year case or an average does not answer this question.
05
What does a failed engagement look like in your history?
Evidence to request A permissioned example with the original objective, what went wrong, the result and the change made afterward. Confidentiality may require an anonymised account; the explanation still needs specifics.
06
How do you make money besides my retainer?
ROI.LIVE approach The agreement separates fees, media, software and outside production, and discloses any referral compensation, vendor incentive or markup that applies. Ask for this in writing.
07
What number will you be measured on?
ROI.LIVE approach Agree a business outcome, its baseline and source, alongside margin and cash constraints. Diagnostic measures can help explain the result. Marketing cannot guarantee a bank balance.
14
TWO WAYS TO START
Start with a conversation, or start with a diagnosis
The free call checks fit. The paid Snapshot produces a scoped written diagnostic.
START HERE · FREE
The free growth call
Free30 minutes · on my calendar
A free 30-minute growth call to review your goals, headline numbers and fit. You leave with a brief summary of the conversation and next steps. Account-level investigation, forecasts and a full written strategy require separate agreed work.
- Bring revenue, marketing spend and the question you need answered.
- Review the current situation and likely next step in 30 minutes.
- Keep a brief written summary of the discussion.
- No purchase or ongoing commitment is required.
Book the free growth call
Keep the brief call summary. Detailed investigation is separate work.
PAID DIAGNOSTIC · FIXED SCOPE
The Growth Constraint Snapshot
$2,500Written deliverable · not a sales call
The $2,500 Growth Constraint Snapshot is a separate written diagnostic using the accounts and records agreed in its scope. It identifies the best-supported growth constraint, evidence gaps and a sequence of actions. More than one issue may contribute to the problem.
- Agreed account and business-record review.
- Written diagnosis with sources, assumptions and remaining gaps.
- Prioritised actions with owners and indicative costs.
- Review call to explain the diagnostic.
- Scope, access, payment and delivery terms confirmed before purchase.
Discuss the Snapshot
The Snapshot is a separate purchase. Any credit toward ongoing work must be written into the agreed terms; none is assumed.
Discuss the Snapshot on the free call first. Confirm its scope, required access, payment and delivery dates before purchasing.
Discuss the Growth Constraint Snapshot
15
QUESTIONS
Questions founders ask before they book
What does the engagement include, and can you work with our team?
Jason Spencer owns strategy, budget recommendations and performance review. The written scope names the specialists or existing staff and agencies who deliver the work, their capacity and included quantities. Your company retains employment decisions. AI may assist research and drafts, but a human reviews publication and live account changes. See the responsibilities and sample month.
How much does it cost and how long is the commitment?
ROI.LIVE engagements start at $5,000 a month, with most between $5,000 and $15,000. The written scope sets the fee, executive availability and specialist work. Media, software and approved outside production are separate. Before work starts, the agreement states the initial term, renewal, cancellation notice, payment dates and handover. There is no universal month-to-month or 90-day commitment promised on this page.
How do we know whether a fractional CMO is a fit?
Check contribution margin, cash, decision authority and implementation capacity. A business must be able to fund the whole programme and fulfil additional demand. Annual revenue alone, including $2M, does not establish fit. Capacity is confirmed when the scope is agreed. Ask for committed executive hours, specialist hours, response expectations, cover during absence and the start date. A client count alone cannot establish whether someone has enough time.
How does the cost compare with a full-time hire?
Illustrative equal-hour-cost calculation: assume a full-time executive costs $400,000 a year for 2,080 paid hours. At $5,000, $10,000 and $15,000 a month, the equal hourly cost occurs at 6, 12 and 18 hours a week, respectively. Formula: monthly fee × 12 × 2,080 ÷ $400,000 ÷ 52. This compares cost per paid hour, not profit or business value. A retainer containing specialist delivery cannot be treated as executive pay alone.
What is the difference between the free call and the $2,500 Snapshot?
A free 30-minute growth call to review your goals, headline numbers and fit. You leave with a brief summary of the conversation and next steps. Account-level investigation, forecasts and a full written strategy require separate agreed work. The $2,500 Growth Constraint Snapshot is a separate written diagnostic using the accounts and records agreed in its scope. It identifies the best-supported growth constraint, evidence gaps and a sequence of actions. More than one issue may contribute to the problem. Discuss the scope on a free call; payment and delivery terms are agreed before purchase.
What happens to our accounts and work when the engagement ends?
Your business retains control of its business accounts. The contract defines ownership of custom work, licensed third-party assets, outstanding payments and the handover. Read the initial term, renewal and cancellation notice before signing. No total ownership promise overrides a third-party license.
THE NEXT STEP
Bring your numbers.
I will tell you whether you have a leadership problem, an execution problem, or a measurement problem. If it is not mine to own, I will say so.
Availability and start date confirmed before you commit.