Your marketing is busy. It just isn’t going anywhere.
At your size, the marketing department is you, usually after 8:00pm. The website was built three years ago by someone you can’t reach. The agency sends a monthly report that says “impressions are up,” but no one ever says the phone rang more. The freelancer is good at whatever you remember to ask for. Instagram posts happen in the parking lot during your kid’s soccer practice.
Everyone is doing something, but nobody is steering.
The usual fixes don’t fit small business. A full-time CMO in LA runs well into six figures before benefits, which is more than the role can justify. Agencies are paid to sell you more agency. Doing it yourself means doing it tired, inconsistently, and between everything else.
Meanwhile, your competitor on Rosecrans has a clear message, shows up on top of Google, and is getting recommended when customers ask ChatGPT who is best.
Doing nothing still costs you, one lost customer at a time.
Meet your Fractional CMO.
You get executive-level marketing leadership for a fraction of a full-time hire. We start with strategy: who you sell to, what you say, where you say it, and what to stop paying for. Then, if you need it, Twisted Puppy can build and execute the plan. If you already have good vendors, we manage them. It’s month-to-month, with no lock-in.
Most fractional CMOs come out of big-company marketing departments with big-company budgets. I’ve spent 20+ years building businesses where every marketing dollar came out of the company’s own pocket. I helped build Webapper, a cloud engineering consultancy and long-standing AWS partner. I’m product owner for CloudSee Drive, a SaaS product sold on AWS Marketplace, and I run all of its go-to-market. I relaunched Twisted Puppy to bring that same playbook to South Bay businesses.
That means I understand margins and operations, not just messaging. I can also tell when a “technical” vendor is bluffing. And I’m a 5 minute drive from you, so when something needs attention, I show up.
What this can look like for you…
These are the problems I fix most often.
Know exactly who you’re selling to.
Before: “Our customers are pretty much everyone,” so your ads speak to no one. And your website tries to please all of them.
After: A one-page plan that names your best customer, what they search for, and the message that makes them pick up the phone. Every vendor works from the same page.
Spend the budget where it pays back.
Before: Money goes to ads nobody can explain, a directory listing renewed out of habit, and the occasional boosted post that felt like a good idea at the time.
After: Each channel gets a metric to hit. Spending that works gets more budget. Spending that doesn’t gets cut, with a reason you can repeat to your business partner.
Get your vendors pulling in one direction.
Before: The agency, the web guy, and the social media freelancer each email you separately, each sure their piece is the important one. You’re the project manager by default.
After: One person sets priorities, reviews the work, and translates the metrics. You get one monthly update instead of four, and it helps you decide what’s next.
Show up when customers go looking.
Before: The blog hasn’t been touched since launch, and when someone asks ChatGPT for a recommendation in your category, it names your competitor.
After: A content plan built around what your customers search for. AI handles the first drafts and research, we edit them into your voice, and you start appearing in Google and AI answers.
Your business has its own version of these. A free audit is where we find it.
Common Questions
A fractional CMO is a senior marketing executive you share instead of hire. You get the strategy, budget decisions, and accountability of a Chief Marketing Officer for a set amount of time each month, without the full-time salary, benefits, or months-long search. It’s built for businesses that need marketing leadership but can’t justify a six-figure hire.
Most clients start at 16 hours per month, including a monthly strategy review, regular check-ins, and direct access between them. Early months can run heavier while we build the plan, then settle into a steady rhythm.
Strategy always comes first. Once there’s a plan, Twisted Puppy can execute it: websites, SEO, content, email, and ads. Or I can direct the vendors you already have. Either way, someone senior owns the outcome.
An agency sells you its services. A fractional CMO decides which services you need in the first place, and that sometimes means fewer of them. I set the strategy, hold vendors accountable, and report results in plain English. If Twisted Puppy is the right team to execute, great. If your current agency is doing good work, I’ll manage them instead of replacing them.
Probably not. Fractional CMOs work best for businesses doing roughly $500K to $5M a year. That’s big enough that marketing mistakes get expensive, and small enough that a full-time executive doesn’t make sense. If you’re spending real money on marketing and can’t see what it’s returning, you’re the right size.
Twisted Puppy is based in Manhattan Beach and works with businesses across the South Bay, including Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, El Segundo, Torrance, and the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Being local means I can sit in on a team meeting or meet you for coffee, not just send a Zoom link.
That said, we can also work with remote clients.
You’ll have a written marketing plan within the first 30 days, and that’s usually when the wasted spending stops. Quick fixes, like your Google Business Profile, website conversion problems, or underperforming ads, often show results within the first couple of months. SEO and content compound over 6 to 12 months. I’ll tell you which is which up front.
Twisted Puppy’s fractional CMO engagements start at $1,000 per month, billed month-to-month. A full-time CMO in Los Angeles runs well into six figures before benefits. If you need execution too, such as content, SEO, or a new website, that’s quoted separately, so you only pay for the work you need.
What Clients Say About Twisted Puppy
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You don’t need another vendor. You need someone in charge of the ones you already have. The options below are free, and each one ends with a straight answer on whether a fractional Manhattan Beach CMO makes sense for you.