How I Built a Marketing Machine That (nearly) Runs Itself
My name is Scott Bronstad. I grew up on the west side of San Antonio, and I have an art degree from UT. After college, I eventually got into graphic design (that's a whole 'nother story). In my lifetime I've seen 3 major shifts in technology: the computer age, the internet age, and (in the last 2 years) the age of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
I got laid off from my Creative Director gig in late 2007 (in the middle of the economic meltdown). That's how I found myself at Star Time Supply back in 2008, a traditional watch parts supplier in Houston. They had an old bank building packed to the rafters with everything a watchmaker could dream of, but their sales were stuck in the pre-internet age (phones ringing constantly, people very stressed out).
They hired me to make catalogs. Instead, I saw an opportunity. What if we could bring this treasure trove of watch parts online? What if we could make the phones stop ringing and have folks place orders themselves? E-commerce was still relatively new, and I had zero experience building an online store. But armed with a healthy dose of naivete and a can-do attitude, I pitched the idea: "let me build you an e-commerce empire that will double your sales in 5 years."
From Skepticism to 15,000 SKUs
The owner, Charlie, was skeptical. "Are you crazy?" But something in my enthusiasm must have (eventually) convinced them, because he gave me the green light. I dove headfirst into the world of e-commerce, leaning on my background as a serial entrepreneur - everything from website development to product photography.
Nine months later, we launched a fully functional online store with a staggering 9,700 SKUs (that eventually grew to over 15,000). Each category page was meticulously crafted, with detailed descriptions, high-quality images, and even custom ordering pages tailored to different types of watch parts. The first month we did a few thousand dollars in sales.
The Marketing Machine Takes Shape
But building the website was just the beginning. I knew we needed a marketing engine to drive traffic and convert visitors into customers. I implemented weekly email blasts featuring "specials," offered free shipping to incentivize purchases (also had the effect of almost doubling the average sale), and even created how-to videos for high-value tools and movements.
The results were explosive. Sales doubled within five years to over $360K/month. But here's the kicker: the systems and processes I put in place were so efficient that I was able to manage the entire operation working just three days a week!
The Birth of an Accidental Fractional CMO
Fast forward to 2025. Star Time Supply is still thriving, using the same e-commerce platform and marketing strategies I implemented more than a decade ago. And me? That experience ignited a passion for helping businesses achieve explosive growth through efficient, scalable marketing solutions.
Inadvertently, I had become a fractional marketing director, working with startups and small businesses to build marketing machines that run themselves. I bring the expertise, the strategy, and the systems, empowering businesses to achieve their goals without the overhead of a full-time marketing department.