The title kept changing.
The results didn’t.
I’ve led digital strategy through every era of the web, for global brands and boutique firms alike. The role has gone by different names over the years. The job has always been the same. Understand the business, find where its buyers are, and set the strategy that gets it found and chosen. Here is some of that work.
How did I end up
advising the U.S. Army?
Before the role even had a name, I had a hunch. I built a small site describing exactly this kind of outside strategist, someone who directs digital strategy without building the site. Within two weeks, it brought me a lead I never expected. The U.S. Army.
At the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, GoArmy.com was the Army’s number one recruiting tool, and recruiting was mission-critical. They had gone looking for someone who offered exactly the independent strategic review I had described, and they told me I was the only one they could find. They engaged me for a year. I worked on site at Fort Knox, met at the Pentagon, and audited the recruiting sites of the other branches, the Marines, Air Force, and Navy, then delivered the Army a full set of findings and recommendations.
When it ended, I went back to building websites. But I had felt the work I really wanted to do, lead the strategy, not the build. That engagement is what set me on the path to the role I hold today.
I work with small & mid-sized organizations, but not always.
I have always led the strategy. A sample of the brands I have done that for: ESPN, BBC America, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Johns Hopkins, Princeton University, Autism Speaks, Seagram’s Coolers, and Russell Athletic, among others.
None of them called it a fractional Chief Digital Officer. That is exactly what it was. I now bring that same level of expertise to smaller organizations.
What happens when an organization brings me in?
Strauss and Associates is a boutique accounting firm that specializes in community association work. Their website was not doing the firm justice. I led their rebrand and architected a new site built around who they are and who they serve. When it launched, the response from their clients, prospects, and their own team was immediate. So were the leads. They came in fast enough that the firm paused its marketing until it could hire more accountants to keep up with the new work.
“Michael has been the Outsourced Chief Digital Officer for my company for many years. He has provided key direction to our company’s digital strategy that has been of great value and enhanced our growth. It is a pleasure dealing with a person of such high integrity.”
Lawrence Brown, Founder and CEO
BEFORE
AFTER
Who do I do this for now?
Companies like Strauss. Small and mid-sized B2B firms that need senior digital leadership without a full-time hire. Larger organizations have the scale to put a Chief Digital Officer on staff. Most smaller firms do not need one full-time, and that is exactly where I see results come fastest. If that sounds like you, the best first step is the free AI visibility check.