Draye Redfern: Is Your Marketing Broken—Or Just Blind?

21st Century Entrepreneurship

Draye Redfern is a serial entrepreneur, marketing expert, and founder of Fractional CMO. We spoke about how most business owners aren't dealing with broken marketing—they're just missing clear visibility into what works. From attracting leads to building self-managing companies, Draye laid out the exact framework he uses with billion-dollar clients and mom-and-pop shops alike.

The centerpiece of the conversation is his ANCHOR Framework—Attract, Nurture, Convert, Humanize, Optimize, and Retain—which acts like a set of “small hinges that swing big doors.” As Draye puts it, “You should be stopping the stuff that's not working… and doing more of what is.” This simple shift in mindset—paired with the right systems—can lead to radical improvements in marketing outcomes and overall business health.

We also explored:

• Why consistency beats complexity in marketing (“You can make anything work—but only if you stay consistent.”)
  
• The power of humanized outreach in an AI world (“We’re now in an H2H world—human to human.”)
  
• The biggest invisible opportunities in business growth, including underused KPIs and neglected client retention strategies
  
• Why every business should be built as if it’s ready to sell—even if you never do: “That’s the type of company that any buyer wants to buy.”

“Even some of the best private equity firms managing $20 billion are missing at least two parts of the ANCHOR Framework.”

“Would you rather get a personalized video that says your name… or another generic ‘buy my stuff’ pitch?”

Key takeaways:

• Attraction is not the problem—optics are. Most businesses rely on one lead source, usually referrals. Draye recommends 2–3 to escape the feast-or-famine cycle.
  
• Write 52 nurture emails once. Then automate. One per week for a year. Rinse and repeat.
  
• Conversion is more than a sale. Track the right 2–4 metrics—booked calls, opt-ins, and close rate are Draye’s personal drivers.
  
• Retention > new acquisition. It’s 5–25x cheaper to retain a client. Personal touches (like birthday notes via Handwritten.com) matter more than flashy funnels.
  
• Build a business worth selling. Not because you will—but because a self-running business is the most freeing one to own.

From marketing clarity to life alignment, this episode is packed with tactical advice and grounded wisdom from someone who’s scaled to $40M+, sold to a Berkshire Hathaway company, and now builds businesses designed to serve, scale, and sustain.