Angela Frank is a fractional CMO with a decade-long track record of generating multimillion-dollar marketing revenue for clients. She is the founder of The Growth Directive, a marketing consultancy helping brands create sustainable marketing programs.

Her new book Your Marketing Ecosystem: How Brands Can Market Less and Sell More helps business owners, founders, and corporate leaders create straightforward and profitable marketing strategies.

Angela also hosts The Growth Pod podcast, where she shares actionable tips to help you build a profitable brand you love.

Key Moments

[00:02:18] – Angela Frank’s Journey into Fractional CMO Business:

• Angela shares how she started her journey with an ecommerce business and transitioned into corporate roles before becoming a fractional CMO.

[00:04:22] – Understanding Marketing Strategy for Growing Businesses:

• Angela discusses the realization that businesses between $1M-$20M often don’t need full-time marketing leaders but still need a solid marketing strategy.

[00:07:59] – Launch of Angela’s Podcast:

• Angela talks about starting her podcast “The Growth Pod” in January and how it provides valuable insights and learning opportunities.

[00:09:35] – Best Thing About Being an Entrepreneur:

• Angela shares her favorite aspects of being an entrepreneur, including quality of life and flexibility.

[00:10:35] – Challenges of Entrepreneurship:

• Discussion on what keeps Angela up at night and the challenges of managing work with a small team, including working with her husband.

[00:12:19] – Essential Items for Entrepreneurs:

• Angela highlights the importance of staying hydrated and always carrying water.

Find Angela Online

https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelabfrank

https://www.growthpod.fm

https://www.growthdirective.com

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Transcript Provided By CastMagic.io

Intro Voice Guy [00:00:14]:
You’re listening to Entrepreneur’s Enigma, a podcast about the ups and downs of the entrepreneurial journey. Every week, your host, Seth Goldstein, interviews entrepreneurs from all walks of life about their entrepreneurial journeys. From store owners to fortune 500 CEOs, we all have stories to tell. So sit back and join us for the next 20 or so minutes while we explore the entrepreneurial world.

Seth [00:00:49]:
Hey, everybody. Welcome to another edition of the entrepreneurs enigma podcast over at 200 and something episodes. You know who I am? I’m Seth, your host with the most today. I have Angela Frank on here. The show. I don’t know how to introduce you, but I do. Angela Frank is a fractional CMO with a decade long track record of generating multimillion dollar marketing revenue for clients. That’s really multi $1,000,000.

Seth [00:01:15]:
That’s pretty cool. She’s a founder of the growth directive, a marketing consultancy, helping brands create sustainable marketing programs. She has a book out. So everyone should go rush and get the book. Your marketing ecosystem, colon, how brands can market less and sell more and how business owners, founders, and corporate leaders create straightforward and profitable marketing strategies. She has a podcast that she was on. That’s where we met. And where she shares actionable tips to help you build a profitable brand around what you love.

Seth [00:01:50]:
And it’s called the Growth Pod Podcast. So that’s a ring to it. So, Angela, welcome. How are you doing?

Angela Frank [00:01:56]:
Seth, I’m doing great. Thank you so much for having me on.

Seth [00:01:59]:
You’re one of the few people who have a good microphone to have on the show. A good microphone. I’m not even wearing headphones. I’m like I’m like, I’m evil. You’re at least wearing headphones. You’re a better podcaster than me. So, nana, booboo.

Angela Frank [00:02:09]:
No. I’m just I have to hear myself in my headphones, so that way I know if I’m

Seth [00:02:14]:
making weird noises in

Angela Frank [00:02:15]:
the mic. I gotta do it.

Seth [00:02:18]:
Oh, the weird mouth noise. Just gotta watch out for those, like, some tips and dips and all that stuff. Yeah. So, Angela, how did you get into the fractional C Mail business? Well, how does journey start? This decade long track record.

Angela Frank [00:02:29]:
Yeah. So it actually started when I started my own little ecommerce business. I was moving every couple of months when my husband was in the military, and I needed something that moved with us. This was before remote work was really a thing. So I started a little Etsy shop. And the first thing that you realize when you get into business is, like, marketing is so critical to your success because nobody knows about you. So how are you gonna help people know

Seth [00:02:58]:
about you? You are literally a tree in a forest. Yeah. Exactly.

Angela Frank [00:03:01]:
A 100%. So then my husband got out of the military, and I’d really didn’t like selling products. And so I’m like, okay. Great. We’re gonna be somewhere for a while. Let me get a more traditional job. And I was able to get a few different roles as marketing director, head of growth, you know, just kind of doing the corporate ladder climb and trying to see where I

Seth [00:03:21]:
could take it. So you you did jump into corporate. Yeah. Exactly.

Angela Frank [00:03:24]:
Yeah. And I really realized that businesses between that, like, $1,20,000,000 mark really don’t need somebody leading marketing full time, but they still need that marketing strategy.

Seth [00:03:39]:
Don’t tell the CMOs that. No.

Angela Frank [00:03:40]:
Don’t tell them.

Seth [00:03:41]:
Exactly.

Angela Frank [00:03:41]:
No. But they still do need marketing strategy. And the other thing that I noticed is, again, don’t tell the CMOs, but a lot of them aren’t actually that great at marketing strategy because they can go through their narrow lane of marketing. Right? If you’re, like, just running paid ads for your whole career and then you get to that top of the ladder. Well, how do you know how everything works together? And I found that a lot of them really don’t. And so with those two things that I realized they don’t need full time support, but they still need strategy and not a lot of people can provide that, I was able to transition my role into a fractional fractional support role, and I started building my client portfolio just from there.

Seth [00:04:22]:
There you go. So you’ve been doing that for a decade?

Angela Frank [00:04:24]:
Yeah.

Seth [00:04:25]:
So you’ve been doing the entrepreneurial journey for a decade. That’s awesome. Yeah. I mean, a lot of people, it’s the 5 year mark and they’re like, I’m going at the corporate or I’m this isn’t working or you seriously have hit you hit your stride and you just keep on going. Yeah. That’s great. So and then you decided to write the book on it, which is kinda cool. That’s a whole another endeavor and no one’s prepared to do.

Seth [00:04:48]:
So

Angela Frank [00:04:49]:
Yeah. I

Seth [00:04:50]:
I’ve had when when did you write the book? Is that is that that’s a recent endeavor. Right?

Angela Frank [00:04:53]:
Yep. It came out in July, July 13th

Seth [00:04:56]:
Oh, really?

Angela Frank [00:04:57]:
Of this year. So

Seth [00:04:58]:
Yeah.

Angela Frank [00:04:59]:
It was something that wasn’t really on my road map for this year, but I interviewed Mike Capuzzi on my podcast, and he has this, method called Ashok, a short helpful book. Right? I see you are an avid reader just like me. And the thing with business books are they’re very long. And so, normally, you kinda get the gist of what’s going on in the first couple of chapters, and then they kind of in

Seth [00:05:25]:
in inter an introduction, really.

Angela Frank [00:05:27]:
Yeah. And then they just kind of reiterate that point over and over again. But with Mike’s method, you write a really short book. So my book is only, like, a 100 pages, and it’s designed to be a super quick, impactful cut the fluff so you can go learn the system and implement it in your business. And Right. One, the reason that I wrote it was so people could understand my process.

Seth [00:05:50]:
She’s got props, everybody. She’s got props. I’ve got props. We’re gonna take a quick break, hear from our sponsors, and get right back to the show.

Angela Frank [00:05:58]:
So people could understand my process, but also through writing the book, I really found that, you know, one of my insecurities going into business was that I was more of a, a marketing generalist. But the superpower behind that I’ve kind of already alluded to is understanding how everything plays together in

Seth [00:06:17]:
a broader strategy perspective.

Angela Frank [00:06:17]:
You’re at the zapier of marketing. Yeah. Right? Exactly. Zapier

Seth [00:06:21]:
of marketing. Yeah.

Angela Frank [00:06:21]:
Right. Exactly. The the dots and stuff. Yeah.

Seth [00:06:23]:
Got it. Yeah. Because it’s like you can be in one field. I mean, like, you may have a favorite side of marketing, but you need to know how we’re thinking that. Yeah. If you don’t, it’s like you’re just kinda treading water. Yeah.

Angela Frank [00:06:36]:
So the book was good one for explaining my process, but 2, helping me realize that, you know, there is like a unique value proposition in what I can provide my clients. So

Seth [00:06:47]:
I love that. I love that. Yeah. I wrote a, podcasting 101 book. This is lead capture for I think it’s like 28 pages and like people were like, this is great because it’s like 28 pages. It’s like you can read in 5 minutes and walk away with at least a tip. Like, these business books, like, I I buy them. I read most of them.

Seth [00:07:08]:
I never finished most of them. I really don’t. And I I I always blame it on my ADHD, which, you know, is strong. It’s my superpower and all that. But also I only have to be taught that forever and ever and ever. Unless they have good stories. Like Jay Baer is known for his stories and his antics and stuff like that. Jason Falls is, you know, on my network here that does runs the marketing podcast network.

Seth [00:07:31]:
Great stories in the book. So it’s like he had the book to make it more of a book. But if you’re just trying to get to the point, get to the point. Give me the meat and let’s get let’s get on with it. Let me let me go, you know, I’ll write your testimonial and all that, but you don’t have to give me, like, you know, to kill a bunch of trees.

Angela Frank [00:07:45]:
Yeah.

Seth [00:07:46]:
That kind of thing.

Angela Frank [00:07:46]:
I love that.

Seth [00:07:47]:
That’s awesome. So when did the podcast come out? Because I mean, all these things are like little branches off your tray. Like, you did you’re doing the business. You wrote the book. I mean, you’ve had the podcast for a little bit longer. Right?

Angela Frank [00:07:59]:
Yes. So the podcast, we started January of this year. So we’re coming in almost up on the year mark for that, and it’s been really amazing. I know, like, you can probably relate. You learn so much when you bring somebody on. Your episode, you mentioned at the start, to me before we started recording is about 20 minutes. That’s what I do too. And when you do that shutter window, you really can, like, learn somebody’s expertise.

Angela Frank [00:08:23]:
And so often I’m like, that is a no brainer. Why am I not doing that? And so then I can leave the episode and go and immediately implement.

Seth [00:08:31]:
It also gets me to be able to be able to meet people that would not normally have reason to reach out to or not have a call to action. Hey. Be on my podcast. Let’s chat for 20 minutes. There’s no there’s nothing I’m selling. It’s just let’s chat for 20 minutes and let’s go from there. You know, I think and I’ll have I’ve I’ve found you on threads. So you’re prolific on threads, which I’m very happy to say because I’m I’ve gone off the Musk train a long time ago.

Seth [00:08:57]:
And, you know, there’s stuff going on in the WordPress ecosystem that I kind of wish I was on Twitter to look at right now. We’ll not call it x. But, you know, I’m I’m happy to see people jumping on threads. So that’s a gateway drug to the the Federer’s. Well, I’m very big on the Federer’s. So I’m very happy to see you’re on there. And, so here’s the question. What is the best thing about being an entrepreneur for him? You’ve done, well, you’ve done entrepreneur, like literally, you know, homegrown entrepreneur, making products, selling on Etsy, then you’ve gone corporate and then you’re like, you’re calling about, I don’t know if I could do this better and not do on my own.

Seth [00:09:31]:
And you went back to entrepreneurship. What’s the best thing about being entrepreneur? Both sides, actually. You know?

Angela Frank [00:09:35]:
Yeah. I think just the ability to okay. So there’s a couple things. Oh, of course. Since really taking the consulting business seriously, it’s been amazing. 1, just on quality of life. Today, I got up at 9:30 because I’m a late sleeper.

Seth [00:09:54]:
Rub it in.

Angela Frank [00:09:54]:
Yeah. And sometimes I can’t do that because I’ll have an early morning meeting, but just being able to more honor, like, the way that my body wants to operate instead of, like, what the corporate world wants me to operate. I’m able to show up more rested, more excited, and have just better creative thinking. And not only is that great for my business, but it helps my clients as well because I can bring my best self to the table every day. They are always getting, like, the best version of me when we are meeting.

Seth [00:10:23]:
Wait. You’re awake.

Angela Frank [00:10:24]:
Yeah. Kind of important.

Seth [00:10:26]:
Kind of important. That’s great. And what what’s then what keeps you up at night as an entrepreneur? I mean, the flip side, obviously, you know, there’s always there’s never it’s not all roses and, you know, daffodil daffodil.

Angela Frank [00:10:35]:
Yeah. I think And

Seth [00:10:36]:
sign rainbows is the term I thought.

Angela Frank [00:10:38]:
If I were able to clone myself, and make, like, 4 or 5 clones of myself, I think all of my entrepreneurial problems would be solved. Really, it’s just there’s a bulk of work that needs to be done. Our team right now is quite small. It’s me and my husband full time, and then we have a team of contract workers.

Seth [00:10:56]:
You work with your husband. You’re brave.

Angela Frank [00:10:57]:
Yeah.

Seth [00:10:58]:
I mean, I work my alright. I’ll I’ll honestly, my wife does do the books and stuff like that. But if we were working full time together, we kill each other.

Angela Frank [00:11:05]:
Yeah. So he completely owns the content arm of our business. He has worked previously for mister Beast, and so he comes and

Seth [00:11:13]:
Oh, he’s the content dude.

Angela Frank [00:11:14]:
Yeah.

Seth [00:11:15]:
Yeah.

Angela Frank [00:11:15]:
So we’re still ramping up some of our systems and processes, but that’s really what he owns and is in charge of. Especially because we’re the You

Seth [00:11:23]:
have your lane.

Angela Frank [00:11:23]:
Yeah.

Seth [00:11:24]:
That’s kind of important.

Angela Frank [00:11:25]:
Yeah. And

Seth [00:11:26]:
You’re still the boss.

Angela Frank [00:11:27]:
That is how we’ve structured it so we don’t argue forever because we’re both very, opinionated, strong willed type of people. But that was something that when he came on, he’s like, listen. I will fight if I feel that it is worth fighting over. But at the end of the day, you have the final say. And, you know, if you just don’t Smart man.

Seth [00:11:48]:
Smart man. Happy wife. Happy life. Yeah. Both in business and in in life. Right. Even though I own the company fully, it’s my company. All that.

Seth [00:12:01]:
Like, so I defer to my wife and a lot of things. I’m like, look, hon, You have a better business brain sometimes than I do. What do you think about this? And she’s like, oh, and tells me. So Yeah. So here’s the question of the hour or the hour of the podcast here. What is the most important thing to carry with you all the time?

Angela Frank [00:12:19]:
Water. I’ve got my water bottle right here.

Seth [00:12:22]:
No one’s ever said that. No one has ever said that on this podcast in 240 plus episodes.

Angela Frank [00:12:28]:
Yeah. No. I always have water on me. It actually was such a pervasive thing in high school that my mom thought I was a diabetic, and she had me tested for diabetes several times. But I just like to be hydrated.

Seth [00:12:42]:
Oh, because you like to you like you like to water. Oh, that’s kinda

Angela Frank [00:12:45]:
strange. And and also I had, I’ll, like, go a while without eating, so then my blood sugar will get really low. But that’s really just how I am. I’m I’m not diabetic. So

Seth [00:12:56]:
No. You you eat when you wanna eat. And you wanna eat, you don’t eat. That’s kinda how it works. Exactly. So, Angela, this has been so much fun. If people wanna find you, LinkedIn, threads, where where is the best place? I mean, we’ll have all the links and all the things in the show notes. But, like, where is your biggest watering hole online?

Angela Frank [00:13:14]:
It’s definitely LinkedIn. But also if you enjoyed our conversation and you love business, I’d also recommend my podcast, the Growth Pod, which you can find at growth pod dot f m. Links to all your

Seth [00:13:26]:
favorite podcast. F m. Wow. That’s the expensive one.

Angela Frank [00:13:29]:
Yeah. It was on sale. I did see it’s up for renewal, and it’s a little bit more expensive than I am.

Seth [00:13:34]:
Yeah. Oh, yeah.

Angela Frank [00:13:35]:
But here we go.

Seth [00:13:36]:
Oh, god. Yeah. FM wise, less than $90 now. It’s like, oh my god. Yeah. And it’s it’s a Federated States in Micronesia. If you if you want to know what it actually belongs to.

Angela Frank [00:13:46]:
Really? Yeah. That’s so interesting. I didn’t know that.

Seth [00:13:50]:
I always look them up and I was like, I know what most of my names, what they belong to. Yeah. So I’m like, why, like, like, TV is Tivolo, which is it might disappear if it goes on the water. So that’d be interesting. So

Angela Frank [00:14:02]:
Interesting.

Seth [00:14:03]:
The more you know. Right? So LinkedIn, go find Angela on LinkedIn. Get her book. Is it on it’s on Amazon. Right?

Angela Frank [00:14:09]:
Yeah. It’s on Amazon. But you could also get a free digital copy, yourbrandevolved.comforward/freebook, one word. And you can download a free digital version, but it’s also on Amazon if you’re like me and you like the physical copy. Yeah.

Seth [00:14:23]:
Yeah. Something about physical copies of remarketing and stuff like that. I mean, I already have the digit. I I knew about the digital. I kinda got it. I read it. It was very good.

Angela Frank [00:14:31]:
Oh, thank you.

Seth [00:14:33]:
Yeah. And guess what? We’ll see everyone next week.

Intro Voice Guy [00:14:37]:
That was a great show. If you’re enjoying Entrepreneur’s Enigma, please consider giving us a review in the podcast directory of your choice. Every review helps us reach new listeners. If you like Entrepreneur’s Enigma, consider the other shows on the marketing podcast network at marketing podcast dot net.

Seth [00:15:11]:
Goldstein Media hopes you have enjoyed this episode.