Can Fractional Work Actually Replace Full Time Pay?
Most people screw up fractional work before they even start. They try to compare it to a full-time salary, crunch the numbers, and think, There’s no way I can make as much as I did in a job. So they either undercharge, burn out trying to match their old paycheck, or give up entirely and go back to being an employee.
This happens because they’re using the wrong equation. A salary isn’t just the number on your paycheck—it comes with benefits. When you go fractional, those benefits disappear, so if you’re only charging what you made as an employee, you’re taking a massive pay cut without realizing it.
But when you structure it right, fractional work isn’t a downgrade—it’s an upgrade. You can make more, work less, and build a business that pays you far beyond what any employer would. The catch? You have to stop thinking like an employee and start thinking like an owner.
Why Your Old Salary Wasn’t the Full Picture
Let’s do some basic math.
Say you were making $150K in a full-time CMO role. On paper, that looks like $12,500 per month. But your employer was also covering health insurance, retirement contributions, paid vacation, and other perks. When you add it all up, your real compensation was closer to $200K.
That means if you become a fractional CMO and only charge $150K per year, you’re leaving at least $50K on the table. You might feel like you’re making the same, but once you pay for your own benefits and take unpaid time off, your take-home pay is significantly lower.
The fix is simple: add at least 30% to your old salary to account for everything your employer used to pay for. That means if you were earning $150K, you need to be making at least $200K–$220K as a fractional. That’s about $16K–$18K per month.
At first, that number sounds high—until you realize plenty of fractionals are making far more than that. The difference is they don’t price themselves like employees.
How High-Earning Fractionals Think Differently
Most low-earning fractionals charge by the hour. They price themselves at $200 or $300 per hour and hope they can fill enough hours to hit their income goal. But there’s a hard ceiling with that model. If you charge by the hour, your income is capped by your time, and you end up working more just to make the same amount.
High-earning fractionals don’t play that game. They set monthly retainers and minimum engagements so they never have to chase hours. Instead of selling time, they sell value.
A general “marketing consultant” who charges $150 per hour will struggle to break six figures. A fractional CMO who specializes in scaling B2B SaaS companies can charge $10K–$20K per month—for the same number of hours. The difference isn’t the work itself. It’s how it’s positioned and packaged.
Why Hourly Rates Kill Your Fractional Income
If you charge by the hour, you’re positioning yourself as a freelancer. That means your clients see you as an expense to minimize instead of an asset that drives revenue. They’ll push back on your rates, ask you to discount, and micromanage your hours because they see every hour as a cost.
The solution is to package your expertise into monthly retainers. Instead of saying, I charge $250 per hour, say:
- “I work with companies doing at least $5M ARR. My rate is $12K per month with a 6-month minimum.”
- “I take on 3-5 clients at a time, with a $15K/month engagement.”
With this approach, you’re not just stringing together billable hours—you’re locking in predictable, recurring revenue.
If a company balks at your pricing, they’re probably not a fit. The right clients will pay for expertise that drives results, not just hours on a timesheet.
Your Fractional Business Structure Matters More Than You Think
Making $20K+ per month as a fractional is only half the equation. The other half is keeping as much of it as possible. That’s where taxes, benefits, and legal structure come in.
Too many US fractionals operate as sole proprietors or single-member LLCs without realizing how much money they’re wasting. If you don’t set up the right business structure, you’ll end up paying thousands more in taxes than you need to.
For most high-earning fractionals, an S-Corp is the best option. It allows you to take part of your income as a salary and the rest as distributions, which are taxed at a lower rate. That one change alone can save you $10K+ per year.
Beyond that, you need to set up self-funded benefits. Your employer used to pay for your 401(k) and health insurance, but now that’s on you. The smart move is to set up a Solo 401(k), which allows you to contribute around $69K per year tax-free (2024 rate). That’s more than double what you could contribute at a regular job.
When you add these tax and retirement savings together, you’re keeping far more of what you earn—making your $200K+ income go even further.
How to Hit $20K+ Per Month as a Fractional Leader
Most fractionals struggle because they approach this like a freelancer instead of a business. If you want to break through that ceiling, you need to structure things correctly from the start.
The fastest path to $20K/month and beyond is to:
- Pick a niche where businesses have real budgets. If you try to sell fractional services to startups that are barely making payroll, you’re going to struggle. You need companies that can afford to invest.
- Charge for value, not hours. Set a minimum monthly engagement and require at least a 3-6 month contract to create predictable revenue.
- Choose the right business structure. An S-Corp will save you thousands in taxes and make your income work harder for you.
- Automate the business side. Set up invoicing, contracts, and admin systems so you’re not wasting time on non-billable work.
- Stop taking calls for free. Too many fractionals spend hours on unpaid “discovery” calls. A well-positioned fractional sells strategy, not just execution.
How to Market Yourself More Effectively
The first step is positioning yourself properly. You’re not just another consultant. You’re a trusted expert, and your online presence needs to reflect that. That starts with your LinkedIn profile. If your profile still reads like a job seeker’s resume, you’re doing it wrong. You’re not looking for a job—you’re selling an outcome.
Your LinkedIn profile should reflect who you help, how you do it, and why you’re the best at it. Too many fractionals bury their value under vague job descriptions. If a CEO lands on your profile and still has to ask what you do, you’ve already lost them.
Your headline should be crystal clear. Instead of “Fractional CFO | Helping Companies Scale,” it should say something like, “Fractional CFO | Helping B2B SaaS companies become more profitable and secure funding without burning through cash.” That specificity is what gets the right people to pay attention.
Beyond the profile, your content is what drives demand. Most fractionals rely too much on referrals, which is a slow, unpredictable way to grow. The ones making real money put themselves out there consistently. They post insights about their expertise, share lessons from client work, and position themselves as the go-to person for their niche.
That content builds familiarity, and familiarity leads to inbound leads. The people who see your posts regularly won’t need to be convinced when the time comes—they’ll already trust you. Here are some LinkedIn post ideas to start with—tailored for fractionals.
If you’re relying on word-of-mouth, you’re gambling with your pipeline. If you’re showing up on LinkedIn, sharing valuable content, and engaging with the right people, you’re engineering inbound demand instead of hoping for it.
Fractional Work is a Business, Not a Side Gig
Many executives get into fractional work thinking they’re just freelancing on the side. And so they continue to struggle.
The ones who succeed treat it like a real business. They charge what they’re worth, structure their services to maximize value, and build long-term revenue instead of chasing gigs.
Once you make the shift from employee thinking to business owner thinking, you’ll never go back. You’ll wonder why you ever settled for a salary in the first place.
How We Help Fractional Executives Land Clients Through LinkedIn
Fractional experts know they need to market themselves properly, but many lack the time or systems to do it consistently. That’s where we come in.
At Column, we help fractional leaders build their personal brands, establish authority, and land higher-paying clients through LinkedIn content and outreach.
We take the entire process off your plate, from defining your niche and positioning (in a two-hour session) to creating high-quality content that positions you as a leader in your space.
Our LinkedIn growth strategy ensures that the right people—decision-makers, founders, and executives—see your content, engage with it, and reach out when they need your expertise.
Beyond content, we run targeted outreach campaigns that connect you with the right clients. Not just cold DMs, but a warm, value-driven approach that builds relationships and opens doors to serious business. We also use LinkedIn Thought Leader Ads to get you in front of the right eyes.
LinkedIn isn’t optional anymore. You need to be visible and seen as the go-to expert. And you need a system in place that ensures you never have to worry about where your next client is coming from.
We help you build that system.
If you’re ready to take your fractional business to the next level, get in touch.
Mo is the founder and CEO of Column Content, a thought leadership content agency that helps leaders get seen. Connect with him on LinkedIn.
