James' approach across 8 key business areas
GTM Strategy
I’ve learned to build solid GTM strategies by understanding the market I’m working in, helping my peers with their ownership of GTM, and helping the CEO drive it home. Data is crucial in ensuring the right decisions are made based on relevant insights that can drive decisions, build repeatable outcomes and promote wins. Additionally, cross-team collaboration is so vital to success here.
Brand
This might be the most overlooked and misunderstood part of a business. but in reality it is the most important aspect of marketing. My favorite definition of a brand is from Disney’s Michael Eisner, who said it’s “the product of a thousand small gestures.” It’s your employees and their interaction with the market, your sales team and their interaction with prospects, your CS team, and their interaction with customers. The brand can fast-track growth or stall it. And yes it's also the colors, smells, sights, sounds, and look of your assets. lastly you can't forget about accessibility.
customer experience
no this is not some fluffy term or metric. i can teach you how to structure it, a team, which influencers in this space are worth the time, which tools to leverage, and especially how to measure it's impact. If you want your org to have a focus on retention, nrr, and one that is customer-centric than i'm your guy! I spent 3 years in the CX space learning what it takes to develop best-in-class experiences with some of the most iconic brands in the world. Those experiences have a higher impact on growth and revenue than any other area of a business, but so many companies just don’t know how to measure it.
building the right team
As a leader, I know nothing I do is without the team behind me or in front of me. Growing a world-class team is something I love to do, and I think I’m pretty good at it. I believe in empowering my team, hiring the best and letting them run. I serve my team, not the other way around, which means if I need to get my hands dirty for them, I will. I can coach you on how to build the right structure in marketing and one that is innovative and can grow with the trends.
culture
the ceo and founders must lead this but your c-level execs should help drive the action behind it. I’ve been fortunate to be at very early stages of start-ups where culture hadn’t been established yet. Building culture is fun and challenging but is ultimately the heartbeat for all employees if done correctly. I’ve helped lead culture-driven orgs at 3 companies as the cmo now, creating company cultures that were unforgettable. I can help you structure it, identify gaps that you can address, and how to be more inclusive in your decisions.
Operations & Data
Many would say this is my greatest strength and superpower. I’m an avid and constant learner, and data and the financial side of things are what I’ve built my marketing career around and why I believe I’m a step ahead of others. Numbers and data speak to me and I have mastered utilizing them for award-winning marketing at just about every level of growth. Understanding this facet can also help with product-market fit and should be a driver in decision making. Owning a budget is second nature to me and measuring the impact on growth is in my DNA.
Bridging the communication thread and processes between departments is one of my superpowers. Wearing multiple hats is not foreign to me: IT, HR, employee onboarding and development, data security, accounting, sales, and of course, marketing. How you get them all to work together is a thing of beauty, ask me how i can help you here.
MESSAGING & POSITIONING
As marketers, we are the storytellers that bring the product to life. How you structure your messaging and positioning can be the difference between whether the market is ready for you or not.
Simplicity is almost always the best option. No technical jargon and identify early who the villain and hero is of your story. Donald Miller's framework in the Story Brand is a fun exercise as a leadership team
I like to say three lenses should be applied to all marketing: those who sell, those who buy, and those who keep the customer happy. your messaging should be looking through all 3 lenses as it is rolled out.
MARKETING
I’m fortunate to be well-versed in all facets of marketing, and I believe that marketing should own a number with revenue. I can help you build a strong content strategy, growth engine, ops strategy, tech stack, seo strategy, paid strategy, social strategy, pr/media, product marketing, recruiting strategy, comms strategy, product releases, and so much more.
Need some more innovative ideas or unconventional approaches? That's my M.O. Yes i can teach you how to leverage ChatGPT too :).
​
if you are a seed stage needing help figuring out where to start let's chat. If you are a bigger company and need help filling in the gaps i can help you.
Joe Salesky, CA
“james has the mindset you need at a startup. a bias for action but a strategic one."
Sangram Vajre, GA
"James is the type of person that does incredibly well under pressure. sometimes the more you give him the better he does."
Taylor Joyce, UT
“I have never enjoyed my career as much as i have when i worked with james in two separate companies”