Law Smith

Law Smith is Tocobaga’s President and a seasoned fractional CMO and strategic advisor with a global clientele. He’s guided well over a thousand small-to-medium businesses (SMBs) through growth marketing and business strategy. A sought-after educator and speaker, Law frequently teaches marketing at legal and business conferences – even authoring Florida Bar CLE courses on law-firm marketing and ethics. Uniquely, he maintains a dual career as a nationally touring stand-up comedian and marketing strategist. In fact, he hosts 500+ episodes of his business-comedy podcasts (Sweat Equity, now the ROI Podcast) – even trademarking Sweat Equity and selling it to a tech buyer along the way. Law’s specialty is crafting ROI-driven, omnichannel campaigns for SMB growth.

Law’s content strategy is as clever as his comics routine. He treats each piece of content as an “edutainment” opportunity – his ROI Podcast blends industry know-how with on-stage banter to build trust. He insists every campaign be measured by profit, not vanity metrics: Tocobaga anchors marketing in the company’s “4 Holy Metrics” of EBITDA. In other words, he ties every creative idea back to the bottom line (“campaigns must be profit-accretive”). This strategy-first, ROI-minded approach mirrors Tocobaga’s brand mantra of exponential client ROI.

On stage and off, Law’s voice is warm, confident and unpretentious. His persona – self-described as a “high-functioning freak” – keeps Tocobaga’s tone human and engaging. Whether he’s sketching complex strategy on a whiteboard or telling a courtroom joke, he sharpens his communication to fit the client. For Law, marketing is never just about tactics; it’s about solving a business puzzle from qualitative and quantitative angles, with a bit of humor thrown in to make it stick.

  • 1,000+ small-to-medium businesses strategically advised

  • 30+ business plans written/published

  • 300+ websites produced (developed and designed)

  • 500+ brands and rebrands developed

  • 600+ successful integrated marketing campaigns executed

  • 1,000,000+ high-performing emails deployed

  • Avg. client ROI reported 7.8x (with Tocobaga fee included)

  • Law’s approach is intentionally structured because most marketing problems are not “missing tactics.” They are missing decisions.

    His operating system follows six phases:

    1. Define objectives, S.M.A.R.T. goals, and a current analysis and resource audit
      This includes strategy review, branding assessment, resource audit, and marketing performance reporting.

    2. Thorough research
      Market, competitors, customer behavior, and messaging reality checks.

    3. Develop an integrated, omnichannel strategy in lock-step communication with the client
      The goal is alignment before execution, not “approve this ad set” ten times a week.

    4. Project-managed execution tied to KPIs, budgets, and resources
      If it is not owned, scheduled, and resourced, it is not a plan.

    5. Quantitative and qualitative reporting
      Dashboards plus human interpretation. Numbers plus context.

    6. Continuous improvement
      Iterate what works, cut what does not, and keep the system improving instead of restarting every quarter.

    In practice, this means Law tries to protect clients from the most common agency failure pattern: starting with tactics because tactics are easy to sell, then blaming the market when the outcomes do not show up.

  • Law leads Tocobaga at the intersection of business advisory and growth marketing. His lane spans the full stack: business planning, strategy, branding, website production, lead generation, demand generation, customer acquisition, marketing automation, email marketing campaigns, online reputation, SEO-driven content writing, multimedia content creation, online advertising, and product marketing. The through-line is integrated execution, not disconnected tactics with a “trust me” invoice attached.

    He tends to be brought in when one of these is true:

    • The business is growing, but the marketing is duct-taped together.

    • The owner has a dozen tactics, but no strategy that explains what to do next.

    • The team is busy, but the pipeline is not.

    • Someone is spending money, but nobody can explain the ROI in plain English.

    Tocobaga’s approach is strategy-first, with transparent tradeoffs and measurable targets. The goal is not “more marketing.” The goal is predictable customer acquisition and a brand that can carry the weight of that growth.

    Law’s specialties include: strategy, lead generation, demand generation, customer acquisition, value marketing, relationship marketing, online advertising, branding, website production, SEO, marketing automation, and product marketing.

    He’s particularly useful when a business has “marketing activity” but not “marketing leverage.” Lots of motion, not enough traction.

  • Law’s core belief is that the biggest gaffe in outsourced marketing is starting with tactics. If the first conversation is “we need PPC,” but nobody can clearly answer “who are we” and “who exactly are we trying to reach,” you are basically buying speed without a steering wheel.

    His planning style works big-to-small, macro-to-micro, using a structured sequence that keeps strategy and execution in lockstep:

    1. Define objectives, SMART goals, and current analysis/resource audit

    2. Conduct thorough research

    3. Build an integrated, omnichannel strategy with clear approvals

    4. Execute with project management discipline, tied to KPIs, budgets, and resources

    5. Analyze performance with quantitative and qualitative reporting

    6. Continuously improve

    If that feels “too structured,” good. That structure is what keeps your marketing from becoming a monthly reinvention hobby.

  • Law teaches that if you know four numbers, you can logically deduce almost everything else in marketing and sales. Everything else becomes math and decision-making, not vibes:

    • Cost per lead

    • Cost per acquisition (CPA)

    • Average revenue of a new client

    • Lifetime value (LTV)

    Why this matters: a channel can look “expensive” until you understand LTV. A lead source can look “cheap” until you understand conversion rate and close quality. These four numbers force clarity, and clarity saves money.

  • Law’s background is deliberately broad. He has supported and advised organizations ranging from local SMBs to multi-location and mid-market operators, including:

    • B2B tech and SaaS

    • Professional services (including law firms and legal services)

    • Healthcare and dental (with HIPAA constraints)

    • Logistics and supply chain

    • Manufacturing

    • Financial firms

    • Private equity and venture-backed environments

    • Marketing agencies

    • IT and managed service providers (MSPs)

    • Consumer packaged goods and wellness brands

    • E-commerce retailers

    This mix is useful because patterns repeat across industries. Buyers still buy for reasons. Funnels still leak in predictable places. And execution still fails when nobody owns it.

  • Expect a mix of clarity, candid feedback, and a bias toward action. Law is friendly, but he is not precious about strategy decks that never touch execution. His default is transparency and business ethics, because marketing is not separate from the company’s standards, compliance constraints, and reputation risk.

    A few behaviors clients tend to notice:

    • He asks “annoying” questions early, so you do not pay for mistakes later.

    • He cares about client service, including the small stuff (he’s known to send handwritten thank-you letters because it still works).

    • He designs marketing to be operated, not admired.

    • He builds around KPIs, benchmarks, and ROI, then iterates without ego.

  • Law’s execution experience spans both online and offline integrated marketing, with particular emphasis on:

    • Pay-per-click (PPC) and paid search

    • Paid social campaigns and organic social management

    • SEO-driven content writing and multimedia content creation

    • Email marketing campaigns and marketing automation

    • Online reputation and review ecosystems

    • Branding and rebranding

    • Website production, UX/UI, and conversion paths

    He also has strong opinions about “random acts of marketing.” If the channel mix is not integrated, tracked, and aligned to the funnel, it’s just activity.

  • Law’s certifications and training reflect a practical operator’s stack, including:

    • HubSpot Marketing Certified

    • The Trade Desk (Programmatic Ads)

    • Google Ads: Search, Display, Mobile, Shopping, Video, and Ads Fundamentals

    • Google Analytics Individual Qualification

    • Wrike Project Management (Bronze)

    • Microsoft Bing Ads Certification

    Education:

    • Auburn University, Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (Entrepreneurship and Family Business Management)

    • Auburn University, Master of Business Administration (Distance Program)