AI is making marketing faster, but it is also exposing where strategy was missing. In this edition of The CMO Marketing Mindset, Julie Fisher looks at why positioning, brand clarity, and leadership still have to come before AI execution.

One year ago I launched The CMO Marketing Mindset with a simple goal: create a space for real conversations about marketing strategy and business growth. Now, 1,059 subscribers later, I'm sharing the biggest lesson from year one, the new direction for the newsletter, and where this next chapter is headed.

SMART goals were never meant to be a percentage and a deadline dressed up as a management plan. When businesses turn KPIs into goals without defining the strategy, activities, ownership and resources behind them, employees are left chasing numbers instead of business results. This article looks at how SMART goals evolved—and how law firms and businesses can bring them back to their management roots.

Fisher Marketing Services LLC is expanding its Fractional CMO services in 2026 to serve more professional-service and client-facing businesses in California and nationwide, while continuing to support law firms with strategic marketing leadership.

You network, you follow up, you show up—but the referrals never flow. If your business development efforts aren't translating into quality cases, you may be facing the referral relationship gap. This blog explains why law firms fall short in turning connections into consistent referrals and offers a proven framework to help close that gap and build reliable, lasting partnerships.