Small Business Marketing Sweet Spot

Before you pick a platform for your paid ads, ask this question... Is your audience already looking for what you offer? Or do they not know they need it yet? That gives you direction to where you should spend your ad budget. In part 2 of this paid ads series, we're covering the where: Google, Meta, LinkedIn, TikTok, and a few options you probably haven't considered. You'll get real industry examples of what fits where.Enjoy the episode!👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.🗓️ Free webinar = ⁠How to Increase Revenue with Paid Ads⁠. It's on September 24. You’ll leave with a clear answer on whether paid ads make sense for your business right now, and what running them well would look like. Be there or be square!🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool. This week’s recommended tool is Google Search Console.One of my go-to tools to find what phrases people find my (and clients') websites on. I gotta say, Google has been stepping up their Google Search Console game. It provides a dashboard insights area, you can see where your socials appear in search results and they are even showing some AI phrases if your website comes up in the AI overviews. Definitely worth checking out to inform your SEO and AI SEO strategy.Peek inside my toolbox. 🗞️ Digital Marketing TakeawayDigital marketing advice that doesn't require a dictionary.Short enough to read. Useful enough to use. Every week.About This ShowThe Get More Website Traffic Podcast covers the strategies, tools, and tactics that help small business owners get more people to their website and turn that traffic into leads. Host Barb Davids breaks it down in plain language every week, with bonus episodes featuring other business owners sharing their expertise on topics that matter to running a small business. Produced by Compass Digital Strategies.

Maybe you’ve tried an IG boosted post or a Google campaign once and it didn’t do much. Or maybe you’ve never run any paid ads because you don’t know what it should cost or where to start.​This episode is the first in a series of 3 episodes where you’re going to get straight answers on what paid ads cost, where to run them, and what has to be done for them to pay off, so you can make the call with real information instead of relying on a vendor’s pitch.Paid advertising is a fast track option to more revenue when you have the right messaging, goals and tracking in place.Enjoy the episode!🗓️ Free webinar = How to Increase Revenue with Paid Ads.It's on September 24. You’ll leave with a clear answer on whether paid ads make sense for your business right now, and what running them well would look like. Be there or be square!🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool.This week's recommend tool is Luma. I used to create events with Zoom and still do but Luma has a super simple set up and interface. And notifications for the event are automatically sent. I can even send an email following with the replay. It's a free tool. It let's you link your zoom or YouTube or whatever platform you're hosting the event from. If you try it out, let me know how you like it!Peek inside my toolbox. 🗞️ Digital Marketing TakeawayDigital marketing advice that doesn't require a dictionary.Short enough to read. Useful enough to use. Every week.About This ShowThe Get More Website Traffic Podcast covers the strategies, tools, and tactics that help small business owners get more people to their website and turn that traffic into leads. Host Barb Davids breaks it down in plain language every week, with bonus episodes featuring other business owners sharing their expertise on topics that matter to running a small business. Produced by Compass Digital Strategies.

Not every SEO fix takes weeks to prove itself. 4 tactics you can test now and get a real answer in days, from site health to conversions.Enjoy the episode!Links mentioned in the episode:⁠[webinar] Updating Your SEO Strategy for AI Search⁠⁠Schedule a Clarity Call⁠🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool. This week’s recommended tool is Fathom Notetaker.Love this tool! Having a notetaker lets me be more focused on the conversation without the fear of potentially forgetting something or not writing it down correctly. I like that it has various methods of recapping the meeting, you can ask questions about the meeting, and it even has some ready-made lists like what questions came up. It's rare I have to correct the summary, which is super convenient.🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is The Neuroscience of Overthinking and How to Finally Stop on the Em on the Brain podcast. I appreciated the tactical actions to help move out of overthinking.If you listen to the episode, let me know how you like it!Find other recommended episodes here. 🗞️ Digital Marketing TakeawayDigital marketing advice that doesn't require a dictionary.Short enough to read. Useful enough to use. Every week.About This ShowThe Get More Website Traffic Podcast covers the strategies, tools, and tactics that help small business owners get more people to their website and turn that traffic into leads. Host Barb Davids breaks it down in plain language every week, with bonus episodes featuring other business owners sharing their expertise on topics that matter to running a small business. Produced by Compass Digital Strategies.

The short answer in how to build your AI SEO roadmap is add in an updated website copy strategy and up your off page SEO game. We'll cover this by bringing it into two buckets (I love bucketing things), on page and off page tactics. And then what goes into each one of those. At the end I share where to start and a webinar with more information.Enjoy the episode!🔗 Webinar : Updating Your SEO Strategy for AI Search🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool. This week’s recommended tool is a network for people who want to build AI systems for their business call Her AI Club.I love the founders, in particular, Kinsey Soderberg. Been following her content for years. She's a genuine human being. The club resources are uncomparable.  It's how I learned to automate out my Blog Page Power-Up Plan™. Instead of copy/pasting about a thousand times and rethinking the format every time I opened it up, I automated it up to the point of delivery. It generates the document, drafts the email, sends me an email notification with some of the back end checks I'd do before building out the plan, it's saved me about an hour's worth of work for every plan delivered. Anyway, I'm getting off track. Her AI Club is a great resource. Affordable. Definite ROI for your business.Peek inside my toolbox. 🗞️ Digital Marketing TakeawayDigital marketing advice that doesn't require a dictionary.Short enough to read. Useful enough to use. Every week.About This ShowThe Get More Website Traffic Podcast covers the strategies, tools, and tactics that help small business owners get more people to their website and turn that traffic into leads. Host Barb Davids breaks it down in plain language every week, with bonus episodes featuring other business owners sharing their expertise on topics that matter to running a small business. Produced by Compass Digital Strategies.

AI search brings new SEO metrics. I cover mentions vs citations, share of voice, where to find your numbers, and my gripe with prompt tracking.Enjoy the episode!Listen to part of 1 of this 3-part series. Resource Links[webinar] Updating Your SEO Strategy for AI SearchDo you really need an SEO tool to show up in Google?Amadora AI LLM TrackingData Studio - I think I called it Looker in the podcast but it changed names, again.🗞️ Digital Marketing TakeawayDigital marketing advice that doesn't require a dictionary.Short enough to read. Useful enough to use. Every week.About This ShowThe Get More Website Traffic Podcast covers the strategies, tools, and tactics that help small business owners get more people to their website and turn that traffic into leads. Host Barb Davids breaks it down in plain language every week, with bonus episodes featuring other business owners sharing their expertise on topics that matter to running a small business. Produced by Compass Digital Strategies.🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool. This week’s recommended tool is Make.Make is a behind-the-scenes wizard for automating all the little stuff that fragments your day. Like connecting all your favorite apps so they talk to each other without you lifting a finger.Let’s say someone fills out a form on your site. With Make, you can auto-pop that data into a spreadsheet, ping your Slack, create a task in your fave task tool, and even send a personalized email… all without a single post-it-note reminder.Aaaand... you don’t need to know how to code. Just drag, drop, and map out your automations visually. It’s super powerful and kinda fun once you get going.Peek inside my toolbox. 🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is AI Tools Transforming My Business This Summer on the Website Design Made Simple show with Jenny Belanger. I always love to hear what other people are doing their business and this was a fun one. Take a listen and see if anything tickles your fancy.If you listen to the book, let me know how you like it!Find other recommended episodes here.

Whether you personally or professionally use AI or not, has zero effect on whether or not your audience is using AI. I'm going to share a couple of staggering stats with you…37% of consumers begin their research with AI tools rather than traditional search enginesAI-driven traffic converts 5× higher than organicSo we have to optimize our website not only for Google but for AI. In order for your client or customer to find your website, it needs to speak to 3 different types searchers. Enjoy the episode![webinar] Updating Your SEO Strategy for AI SearchReplays sent free for registered attendees. 🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool. This week’s recommended tool is answersocrates.comWhile traditionally I used this for finding more ideas around keyword topics, I've recently been using this for LLM tracking. Where and how my clients are showing up for certain topics. It shows share of voice and competitors. And it's affordable.🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is Should You Put Pricing on Your Website on the Small Business Casual podcast with Emily Aborn. I am forever a fan and this question as old as the internet itself. And still just as debateable. Emily asked 5 service providers their advice, including yours truly.If you listen to the book, let me know how you like it!Find other recommended episodes here.🗞️ Digital Marketing TakeawayDigital marketing advice that doesn't require a dictionary.Short enough to read. Useful enough to use. Every week.About This ShowThe Get More Website Traffic Podcast covers the strategies, tools, and tactics that help small business owners get more people to their website and turn that traffic into leads. Host Barb Davids breaks it down in plain language every week, with bonus episodes featuring other business owners sharing their expertise on topics that matter to running a small business. Produced by Compass Digital Strategies.

We can't control the outcome of our marketing. What we can control is the where, when, and how, and sometimes how much we spend. We try to control it anyway. If I do this, then I'll get that. This episode is me going through what's in your control when it comes to getting more website traffic, and what's not. Enjoy the episode![webinar] Messaging Momentum: A Flexible Repurposing Plan. It's covering:​How to tell which pieces of content are actually worth repurposing, and which ones aren't​A short list of tactics that are productive to getting your plan done​How to separate your content structure from your message, so the plan holds for a quarter while the words inside it stay flexible​A simple scoring system to sort through your backlog of ideas, so you know what's worth repurposing and what's notBe there or be square!🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool. This week’s recommended tool is if-so plugin for Setapp for macsIt's Multiple apps for your mac. All with only one subscription. I used it for a time for an app that provided shortcuts. So I would type say, unicorns pooping rainbows and it would replace that with a paragraph about how they don't poop rainbows. I kid of course. But the app is for real. There is a 7 day free trial if you want to see what it has and check it out.Peek inside my toolbox. 🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is The Random Show — Tim and Kevin Talk Retreats, Mortality, AI Predictions, Supplements, Rock Climbing at (Almost) 50, and Not Waiting for “Someday”This was a long one… I used the chapters to jump into and around the parts of the discussion I was interested in. I most liked to hear about Kevin's micro-insight around there is not sense of lack.If you listen to the book, let me know how you like it!Find other recommended episodes here. 🗞️ Digital Marketing TakeawayDigital marketing advice that doesn't require a dictionary.Short enough to read. Useful enough to use. Every Wednesday.About This ShowThe Get More Website Traffic Podcast covers the strategies, tools, and tactics that help small business owners get more people to their website and turn that traffic into leads. Host Barb Davids breaks it down in plain language every week, with bonus episodes featuring other business owners sharing their expertise on topics that matter to running a small business. Produced by Compass Digital Strategies.

If you've ever felt like turning one piece of content into ten more is just too big to tackle, this one's for you. I'm sharing what's actually behind the dread and a solution that gets things moving. 4 reasons and a funeral for excuses. Hah!Enjoy the episode!🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool. This week’s recommended tool is if-so plugin for WordPress.The thing I most use it for is showing different copy on a page depending on where the visitor is coming from. For a client of mine in particular, has a contact inquiry form on multiple pages. After the form is submitted, the visitor is taken to a thank you page. That thank you page has different copy depending on the page the visitor came from. Other personalization ideas use time of day, where they are located. So many options. The idea is to show more personalized information to increase conversion rates.Peek inside my toolbox. 👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.🗞️ Digital Marketing TakeawayDigital marketing advice that doesn't require a dictionary.Short enough to read. Useful enough to use. Every week.About This ShowThe Get More Website Traffic Podcast covers the strategies, tools, and tactics that help small business owners get more people to their website and turn that traffic into leads. Host Barb Davids breaks it down in plain language every week, with bonus episodes featuring other business owners sharing their expertise on topics that matter to running a small business. Produced by Compass Digital Strategies.

You've got content sitting around that you haven't touched since you published it. Before you decide what to do with it (or whether to do anything at all) there's a fast and simple way to figure out which ones are worth the time. I'm sharing three signals I look for before I repurpose, plus a quick test you can run in less than 30 seconds.Enjoy the episode!🗓️ ⁠⁠Webinar for Flexible Repurposing System⁠🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool. This week’s recommended tool is Canva.I almost feel like duh, on this one and yet I'm still surprised when occasionally I mention this and some people don't know about it. I use it mostly for social graphics and podcast thumbnails. I have create animated .gifs from videos for my emails. I've used it to create bulk post creatives in the past. I was doing a set of tips for 30 days and I put them all in a spreadsheet and bulk added then into Canva to give me the 30 graphics. So much easier than copy/pasting the full 30.🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is How to Let Go & Start Over (4 Shifts That Will Change Your Life) on the On Purpose with Jay Shetty podcast.My biggest takeaway is why we hold on to things we're trying to let go of. I can't tell you what it is! Go listen to the episode!If you listen to the book, let me know how you like it!Find other recommended episodes here.🗞️ ⁠Digital Marketing Takeaway⁠Digital marketing advice that doesn't require a dictionary.Short enough to read. Useful enough to use. Every week.About This ShowThe Get More Website Traffic Podcast covers the strategies, tools, and tactics that help small business owners get more people to their website and turn that traffic into leads. Host Barb Davids breaks it down in plain language every week, with bonus episodes featuring other business owners sharing their expertise on topics that matter to running a small business. Produced by Compass Digital Strategies.

I’ve got a stack of courses, checklists, and AI tools that promise to solve my content repurposing problem. I still don’t use them consistently. There are three reasons that keeps happening and maybe for you too. This episode goes into why the repurposing plan hasn’t happened yet, and what’s helping me move forward.Enjoy the episode!🗓️ ⁠Webinar for Flexible Repurposing System⁠🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool. This week’s recommended tool is Scoop.itA content curation tool, bookmark tool, information finder… it has multiple uses. I like it as a sort of other search engine. I really like how they have made an effort to prevent crap content by allowing only paid users to curate publicly and free users content only shows up in the community. I perosnally like it to find new information vs posting to it.🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is Build Solid Confidence on the Adult Chair Podcast. This one I loved as it wasn’t like “fake it til you make it”. It was around how trust in ourselves build confidence.If you listen to the book, let me know how you like it!Find other recommended episodes here. 🗞️ Digital Marketing TakeawayDigital marketing advice that doesn't require a dictionary.Short enough to read. Useful enough to use. Every week.About This ShowThe Get More Website Traffic Podcast covers the strategies, tools, and tactics that help small business owners get more people to their website and turn that traffic into leads. Host Barb Davids breaks it down in plain language every week, with bonus episodes featuring other business owners sharing their expertise on topics that matter to running a small business. Produced by Compass Digital Strategies.

I used to think repurposing content meant posting the same thing across every platform and calling it a strategy. Or even, dumping one piece of content into a scheduling tool and letting it spit out ten more. In this episode I’m walking through what repurposing content means, because I don’t think it’s as simple as some makes it sound. This is part one of a four part series, so if you’re doing all the marketing and would like a flexible repurposing system instead of 100 pieces generated that you’ll never use, you’re in the right place.Enjoy the episode!~~~~~Webinar: Messaging Momentum: A Flexible Repurposing System When You're the Entire Marketing DepartmentReplay available.~~~~~🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool.This week’s recommended tool is Quso.aiHelpful took that generates short form videos from one longer video. You can also schedule your post straight from here to social channels. This tool has one of the simpler interfaces I’ve seen in these types of tools.Peek inside my toolbox.~~~~~🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is When You’re Addicted to Thinking (And What to Do Instead) on The One You Feed. Admittedly I can’t recall what I took away from it but I liked it enough to put it in my ‘Episodes I Like’ playlist. I wish Spotify would let you put notes for things like this. And as I said that I went to look if Spotify by chance does… it doesn’t. But you can comment on episodes so maybe I just comment with my takeaway. I’m sure the host would love to hear it.If you listen to the episode, let me know how you like it!~~~~~🗞️ Digital Marketing TakeawayDigital marketing advice that doesn't require a dictionary.Short enough to read. Useful enough to use. Every week.~~~~~About This ShowThe Get More Website Traffic Podcast covers the strategies, tools, and tactics that help small business owners get more people to their website and turn that traffic into leads. Host Barb Davids breaks it down in plain language every week, with bonus episodes featuring other business owners sharing their expertise on topics that matter to running a small business. Produced by Compass Digital Strategies.~~~~~👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.

Okay, so most of us treat a blog post like we've painted a room. Painted, done, nothing left to do. But that's not really how it works. We need to treat them like plants and water them to keep them alive. Some of your older posts might be losing their "green", and I want to walk you through why that happens and what to do about it. I'll share a real example from one of my clients, plus the two updates I'd do first. If you've got a post you wrote years ago that you swore was perfect, I challenge you to think again.Enjoy the episode!And, if you join me Friday, June 26 on a free webinar I'm hosting, I'll be sharing how to decide what blog posts to water and go beyond the two recommendations in the episode.🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool. This week’s recommended tool is Serpstat.One of many SEO tools to help do keyword research, sleuth in on your competitors and watch your rankings. There's a free 7 day trial if you've been looking for a tool to help you do such things.🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is actually an audio book… I liked it that much. I listened to it on my road trip from AZ to MN. It's called The Dark Side of the Light Chasers by Debbie Ford.  I like learning about our shadow sides and this one is very good on that. Some of it was hard to hear. If you listen to the book, let me know how you like it!Find other recommended episodes here.🗞️ Digital Marketing TakeawayDigital marketing advice that doesn't require a dictionary.Short enough to read. Useful enough to use. Every week.About This ShowThe Get More Website Traffic Podcast covers the strategies, tools, and tactics that help small business owners get more people to their website and turn that traffic into leads. Host Barb Davids breaks it down in plain language every week, with bonus episodes featuring other business owners sharing their expertise on topics that matter to running a small business. Produced by Compass Digital Strategies.

I'm getting specific this week about which pages on your website Google actually sees and why you might not want it to see all of them. We're also stepping into how AI search tools handle your site differently from Google, and where a newer file type fits into all of it.Enjoy the episode!🔗 Resource Links🗓️ What if you could update an existing blog post and get double the traffic or increase your leads? This tactic is lesser known and can be super effective for more website traffic. In this upcoming free webinar, I'm walking you through how to audit and update your existing pages so they rank higher for more website traffic, including what Google looks at when deciding whether to bump your content higher, how to spot which pages have the most potential with just a few targeted updates, and exactly what to change and in what order.This one's happening June 26th at 9:00 AM Pacific. ⁠⁠Grab your spot here.⁠⁠ Be there or be square!🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool. This week’s recommended tool is Repurpose.io.Does just what it says. Upload content and repurpose to other channels and sends it automatically. So many hours to save. More time for creativity, relaxing, or just binge-watching Schitt’s Creek.⁠Peek inside my toolbox.🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is 5 Signals That Reveal Where Your Podcast Funnel Leaking. This one is for my fellow podcast hosts. The show is Podcasting for Financial Professionals, however even though I'm not that, the host Virginia Elder is a wealth of knowledge.Find other recommended episodes here. 💻 Supporting ⁠⁠blog post here⁠⁠.

In this episode I'm walking you through earned traffic, which is basically when other people do the talking for you. Think podcast interviews, Reddit mentions, PR, guest posts, people linking to your site because they actually want to. It's the slowest of the three traffic methods we've covered in this series, but it's also the most durable and long lasting.Enjoy the episode!00:00 Earned Traffic Intro00:50 Podcast Setup01:27 Why Earned Wins01:50 Is It Right03:08 Guesting Strategy03:26 Digital PR Tips03:51 Forums and Collabs04:42 Media Catching Tools05:10 Key Takeaways05:29 Series Wrap and CTA05:48 Tool of the Week06:30 Podcast Recommendation🔗 Resource LinksBecome Their Favorite Podcast Guest🗓️ What if you could update an existing blog post and get double the traffic or increase your leads? This tactic is lesser known and can be super effective for more website traffic. In this upcoming free webinar, I'm walking you through how to audit and update your existing pages so they rank higher for more website traffic, including what Google looks at when deciding whether to bump your content higher, how to spot which pages have the most potential with just a few targeted updates, and exactly what to change and in what order.This one's happening June 26th at 9:00 AM Pacific. ⁠Grab your spot here.⁠ Be there or be square!🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool.This week’s recommended tool is ⁠Berrycast⁠.If you're familiar with Loom, this is like that. A screen recording tool that allows users to capture their screen, record their webcam, and create videos effortlessly. I like the interface better than Loom. ⁠Peek inside my toolbox.🎧  This week's recommended podcast episode is Your Next Breakthrough Won't Come From Working Harder (Do This Instead) with Frencesca Sipma on the Earn Your Happy podcast. I am seriously loving this podcast right now. I really felt this episode in my bones. My takeaway came in the form of validation and thinking I'm not alone.💻 Supporting ⁠blog post here⁠.

So this is the paid advertising episode. It's part three in my series on the three methods of getting more website traffic and honestly it's the one I get the most questions about because people are either scared to try it or they've tried it and it didn't go the way they expected.I cover several paid channels including Google, Meta, display, newsletter, and podcast advertising. I also brought in two experts, one for Google Ads and one for Meta, and they both said something that I think is the most important thing to take away from this episode before you spend a single dollar.Enjoy the episode!00:00 Paid Ads Overview01:14 Free Webinar Invite01:53 Paid Traffic Basics03:30 Google Ads Today11:30 Meta Ads Setup13:46 Display Retargeting14:40 Newsletter Sponsorships15:56 Podcast Advertising16:52 Choosing The Right Channel18:25 Tool And Podcast Picks20:26 Final Wrap Up🔗 Resource LinksReach out to Dewan Chapman on LinkedIn.Reach out to Allison Harpole-Coley via her website.Your Website Affects Your Google Ads + More Insider Tipshttps://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001047-ads-in-chatgpt 🗓️ What if you could update an existing blog post and get double the traffic or increase your leads? This tactic is lesser known and can be super effective for more website traffic. In this upcoming free webinar, I'm walking you through how to audit and update your existing pages so they rank higher for more website traffic, including what Google looks at when deciding whether to bump your content higher, how to spot which pages have the most potential with just a few targeted updates, and exactly what to change and in what order.This one's happening June 26th at 9:00 AM Pacific. Grab your spot here. Be there or be square!🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool.This week’s recommended tool is Berrycast.If you're familiar with Loom, this is like that. A screen recording tool that allows users to capture their screen, record their webcam, and create videos effortlessly. I like the interface better than Loom. Peek inside my toolbox.🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is The Internet Got Made at a Made Bed: Shamed or Just Shown? on Home and Hosting with Loui Burke. I've been making my bed for years. Like I don't know how to leave the bedroom without making the bed.  It's very minimalistic. One pillow, sheets and cover. I don't do all the decorative pillows. Mostly because a few years back my dog, Phoebe would sleep on them and I didn't want hair all over my pillows. So I'd always cover up my pillows. And if you have too many well, that's just annoying to me. Anyway, the point of my story… the other day I saw someone making the bed and sharing his opinion and showing what he does. It said the way I was doing it looked like a teenager's room or something. And then he showed a better way. And it was simple! And in fact it looks so much nicer! Turns out he upset people. Or rather people got upset by his video. So he put out this podcast in response. And it's really good. It talks about the dynamics of people and social and misunderstandings. I'm truly trying not judge the people who got mad but come on! I know everyone has their triggers… but it was just someone making a f-ing bed! If you listen to the episode, let me know how you like it!  💻 Supporting blog post here.

So you know how everyone talks about organic traffic like it's just SEO? It's actually way more than that. Google is changing things up again with their default search page, and I break down what that means for us. But also, there are so many other ways to get traffic without paying for ads. I also tie in those five questions from last week so you can start connecting the dots on your strategy.Enjoy the episode!**************************************Stop wasting time, energy and money on AI-generated content that never shows up in search results. The goal of SEO content is to appear when someone is searching for your service or offer.In this upcoming free webinar, I'm walking you through:• the practical way to use AI for SEO content that actually ranks• what Google thinks about AI content• why ChatGPT is not a keyword research tool• how to structure a blog post so it shows up in both Google and AI search.This shing ding is going down on May 29th at 10am Pacific time. Grab your spot here. Be there or be square!**************************************🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool. This week’s recommended tool is Wispr Flow.I had my reservations about always saying what I wanted to type. For some reason it felt like more work. And I was wrong. Wow! The ability to speak to text in any app or platform is incredibily more useful that I expected. The benefit is it saves me the frustration of having to always type everything out. And I feel like I'm a pretty fast typer. I'm not a fan of texting as much as I used to be. It's much simpler to say something and it just be there. Because sometimes the other person doesn't want to hear but read. The downside is I'm much more wordy when it comes to talking vs typing. I appreciate the convenience of this tool.🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is Fastest Way to Quantum Leap Your Life on the Earn Your Happy podcast. I feel like they use the "quantum leap" phrase a little too loosely in definition but I can appreciate perspective. Lately I've been becoming a lot more aware of the fact that we can't make things happen when we want to. If we could, everything would happen right now, right? And everything we do to affect changes in our life are only allowed when we are capable of keeping them. There are some good self reflection questions in this episode.Other Resource LinksNew Google Search PageGoogle's AI Optimization GuideUse This Code to Track Your MarketingAbout This ShowThe Get More Website Traffic Podcast covers the strategies, tools, and tactics that help small business owners get more people to their website and turn that traffic into leads. Host Barb Davids breaks it down in plain language every week, with bonus episodes featuring other business owners sharing their expertise on topics that matter to running a small business. Produced by Compass Digital Strategies

This episode kicks off a four-part series on getting more website traffic, and I’m starting with the big picture: there’s more than one way to do this. I break down the three main methods and walk you through the questions you should be asking yourself before you decide which approach fits your business best.Enjoy the episode!👇Stop wasting time, energy and money on AI-generated content that never shows up in search results. The goal of SEO content is to appear when someone is searching for your service or offer.In this upcoming free webinar, I’m walking you through:• the practical way to use AI for SEO content that actually ranks• what Google thinks about AI content• why ChatGPT is not a keyword research tool• how to structure a blog post so it shows up in both Google and AI search.This shing ding is going down on May 29th at 10am Pacific time. Grab your spot here. Be there or be square!🗞️ Digital Marketing TakeawayDigital marketing advice that doesn't require a dictionary.Short enough to read. Useful enough to use. Every Wednesday.🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool. This week’s recommended tool is Podchaser.I use it to get notified anytime my name appears in a podcast. Sometimes podcast hosts don’t let you know when your guest appearance goes live so this is a great way to know. It also sometimes finds mentioned if you’re not a guest. So if someone mentions your name in the show notes, you get notified.Peek inside my toolbox. 🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is How Constraints Help You Focus, Create, and Finish on the Art of Manliness podcast. I can’t recall why I liked this one specifically; it was in my like list and I feel like it helped put some awareness around my procrastination habits.About This ShowThe Get More Website Traffic Podcast covers the strategies, tools, and tactics that help small business owners get more people to their website and turn that traffic into leads. Host Barb Davids breaks it down in plain language every week, with bonus episodes featuring other business owners sharing their expertise on topics that matter to running a small business. Produced by Compass Digital Strategies.

Webinar sign up through my newsletter...🗞️ Digital Marketing TakeawayDigital marketing advice that doesn't require a dictionary.Short enough to read. Useful enough to use. Every Wednesday.AI can't make you rank. But if you want to use AI, please let me help you use it properly. Join my webinar on May 29th and learn how to use AI for ranking your blog posts. Be sure to join my newsletter list above for details.🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool.This week’s recommended tool is Answer SocratesIt's a search tool that shows you what questions people are asking around a core topic. For example, I typed in "website traffic" and it shows a bunch of questions in categories like all the questions around that topic that start with "how", "can", "what", "where" and others. Peek inside my toolbox.🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is How to Make the Most of Uncertainty with Simone Stolzoff on the Jordan Harbinger Show. My favorite thinking piece is, and I quote… "trust your future self to handle future problems". I have been struggling with this unknown as a business owner so much lately since AI is shaking up the search world. And some decisions in my day because I should be doing something else, and this all sort of intertwines together. It gave some practical steps to practice uncertainty, something as simple as taking a new way to work or experiment with smaller choices like something as something that you woudln't normally order at a restaurant. If you listen to the episode, let me know how you like it! About This ShowCreated by Compass Digital Strategies, the Small Business Marketing Sweet Spot is a weekly podcast for service-based small business owners who want more website visibility, traffic, and leads. Hosted by Barb Davids, each episode covers the what, why, and how of SEO, AI SEO, content marketing, and digital strategy. Plus expert guest conversations on productivity, branding, and mindset. Because growing your business and loving your life aren't separate goals.

I am sharing a prompt I use when I'm looking at a blog post that should be getting more traffic than it is. Instead of writing something new, I walk you through how to use AI to evaluate what you already have, what variables you need to fill in to get useful recommendations, and where the prompt has limits so you're not expecting it to do something it can't. If you've got a post sitting on your site that isn't doing much, start here.Enjoy the episode!🗞️ ⁠Digital Marketing Takeaway⁠Digital marketing advice that doesn't require a dictionary.Short enough to read. Useful enough to use. Every Wednesday.👉 For all the prompt, links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.👉 Stop second-guessing your to-do list and grab the Marketing Energy Matrix to focus on the tasks that actually get you results. 🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool.This week’s recommended tool is Her AI Club.For women who want to use AI and automation in their business, there is no better community. There are monthly calls that help you troubleshoot, build and connect with other people want to improve their business. The ladies who build the community are engaging and always improving the club benefits. I’ve enjoyed getting to meet new people and learn from others. And it’s how I first learned how to build out a full on automated playbook! Super nerdy and super fun. The club also offers tutorials around AI tools and provides skills builder tools to help you customize your Claude.Peek inside my toolbox.🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is [name of show and who by][insert description]About This ShowCreated by Compass Digital Strategies, the Small Business Marketing Sweet Spot is a weekly podcast for service-based small business owners who want more website visibility, traffic, and leads. Hosted by Barb Davids, each episode covers the what, why, and how of SEO, AI SEO, content marketing, and digital strategy. Plus expert guest conversations on productivity, branding, and mindset. Because growing your business and loving your life aren't separate goals.

I’ve been getting a lot of questions lately about AI search and whether it changes everything we know about SEO. So in this episode I’m breaking down something I think is worth understanding: the difference between being found on Google and being cited by AI. They’re not the same experience, and they don’t work exactly the same way. I walk through how Google finds and ranks your website, how AI search tools decide whether to reference you, and why the foundation for both comes back to the same thing and that is how credible and consistent your presence looks across the web.I also bust a couple of myths that are floating around out there, because I almost fell for one of them myself.If you’ve been wondering whether any of this actually matters for your small business, this episode is for you.Enjoy the episode!👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.👉 Stop second-guessing your to-do list and grab the Marketing Energy Matrix to focus on the tasks that actually get you results. 🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool.This week’s recommended tool is Exploding Topics.It’s a tool that discovers trends. There’s a paid version and a free version. I like it just for the informative nature of what’s trending as it goes across all kinds of industries. Like “dog food maker”. Apparently a big thing right now. Even Dash has one for making treats.Peek inside my toolbox.🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is The Real Reason You Procrastinate (It’s Not Why You Think) on All it Takes is a Goal with Jon Acuff. I like his episodes. They are short and to the point. I have a habit of procrastinating. I have a habit of overthinking. And I know the two are related. I loved the angle of this episode and what he boiled procrastination down to. I’m not gonna tell you because that would ruin the effect of listening to it. He also mentioned he has a new book called Procrastination Proof. I bought it and read it in two days. I took quite a few notes and know where I get hung. And am actively trying to keep one of his suggestions active in my head to work through my procrastination habit.🗞️ Digital Marketing TakeawayDigital marketing advice that doesn't require a dictionary.Short enough to read. Useful enough to use. Every Wednesday.About This ShowCreated by Compass Digital Strategies, the Small Business Marketing Sweet Spot is a weekly podcast for service-based small business owners who want more website visibility, traffic, and leads. Hosted by Barb Davids, each episode covers the what, why, and how of SEO, content marketing, and digital strategy. Plus expert guest conversations on productivity, branding, and mindset. Because growing your business and loving your life aren't separate goals.

This one is a little different. I took the podcast on the road... well, on the trail... and went to Sedona with Sheila Kofahl, founder of And Then She Did.Sheila leads women on guided hiking adventures. She handles everything: the van, the itinerary, the driving, the parking permits, even the daily briefings. You just show up, lace up, and let her take over. It's honestly the most appealing thing I've heard in a while.But her story is the real thing. Sheila lost her home in the market crash, walked away from a 20-year marriage, and found herself answering a therapist's question she hadn't thought about in years: what do you actually like to do? The answer was hiking. Solo travel. Getting outside. And then she did.We talked about the women who book these trips and why they come. Spoiler: it's usually not just for the hiking. Life transitions, empty nesting, grief, illness, fresh starts. The trail has a way of making room for all of it.Enjoy the episode!👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.Stop second-guessing your to-do list and grab the Marketing Energy Matrix to focus on the tasks that actually get you results.🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool. Peek inside my toolbox.🗞️ Like newsletters? Digital Marketing TakeawayAbout This ShowCreated by Compass Digital Strategies, the Small Business Marketing Sweet Spot is a weekly podcast for service-based small business owners who want more website visibility, traffic, and leads. Hosted by Barb Davids, each episode covers the what, why, and how of SEO, content marketing, and digital strategy. Plus expert guest conversations on productivity, branding, and mindset. Because growing your business and loving your life aren't separate goals.

Stop losing visitors to "tab clutter" and accidental exits. Learn the golden rule of link settings of when to use "open in a new tab" and how it impacts your bounce rate and SEO. Plus, a quick tip on tracking your traffic attribution correctly.Enjoy the episode!👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.Stop second-guessing your to-do list and grab the Marketing Energy Matrix to focus on the tasks that actually get you results. 🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool.This week’s recommended tool is Vizard.ai.This tool is incredible! It’s so easy to use. It automatically creates short clips from long videos. And does a great job at it. Super simple editor to take out sections and add them. And easily add an outro scene to the end for branding. Peek inside my toolbox.🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode isis not an episode but a Spotify audio book. Did you know they have them for paid users? I listened to Surrender Experiment by Michael Singer. Interestingly, maybe more to me than you lol, I tried to get the physical book. I thought it was in stock at teh local Barnes and Noble but then they texted and said they didn't have it. So ok, I guess I'll just get teh audio version then… which is funny because generally I like reading books vs listening to them. I can skip through parts faster. But this time, the audio seemed to be what I was doing. And it just happened I was going on a trip and I ended up listening to a large portion of it on the plane ride and my long drive from the airport to my destination. For someone who has been searching for how to let go, it is very timely. Now that I gave you that big ole backstory, you'd probably like to know what it's about. It's about a guy who stopped controlling his life and lived. 🗞️ Like newsletters? Digital Marketing TakeawayAbout This ShowCreated by Compass Digital Strategies, the Small Business Marketing Sweet Spot is a weekly podcast for service-based small business owners who want more website visibility, traffic, and leads. Hosted by Barb Davids, each episode covers the what, why, and how of SEO, content marketing, and digital strategy. Plus expert guest conversations on productivity, branding, and mindset. Because growing your business and loving your life aren't separate goals.

Tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity are changing how people find businesses. But — and this is the part most people are getting confused about — your website still matters. A lot. AI doesn't rank pages the way Google does, but it still scans your content, reads your pages, and pulls from what you've got on it. So if your service pages are thin, your About page is vague, or your Google Business Profile is half-finished, AI is going to skip right past you.I'm running a live virtual workshop on April 22, from 1-3pm PT on YouTube. So if you want to be in the room and get feedback on your actual website, here's your shot. And if you can't make it or you want to go through it on your own time, I'm also making a recorded version available. To watch the replay, you'll need to be on my newsletter list.  I'm streaming iit live on YouTube so nobody had to sign up for anything, because frankly I just wanted to get it out to you without overthinking it. Working on my overthinking. LOL🗞️ Replay for newsletter subscribers... Digital Marketing TakeawayAbout This ShowCreated by Compass Digital Strategies, the Small Business Marketing Sweet Spot is a weekly podcast for service-based small business owners who want more website visibility, traffic, and leads. Hosted by Barb Davids, each episode covers the what, why, and how of SEO, content marketing, and digital strategy. Plus expert guest conversations on productivity, branding, and mindset. Because growing your business and loving your life aren't separate goals.

I am fascinated at how NotebookLM is taking a lot of anguish out of my day. I wanted to get more clarity about some client calls and better understand how they come in to my world, and how they leave. Like what’s their “transformation”.  Because a lot of what I do doesn’t transpire to immediate results. Here are 4 ways how I’m using NotebookLM for my business.Enjoy the episode!👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.Stop second-guessing your to-do list and grab the Marketing Energy Matrix to focus on the tasks that actually get you results. 👉 https://compassdigitalstrategies.com/digital-marketing-services/marketing-energy-matrix/🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool.This week’s recommended tool is AppSumo.Speaking of tools, this is the grand daddy of the tools finders. It's been around for quite some time and offers a lot of lifetime offers on tools. Now, use at your own risk. One time I bought a "lifetime" offer app and then later they said, oh we're not supporting that anymore, we're in a new version and that doesn't apply to the lifetime offer. That said, I also know a lot of people who that didn't happen to. My TidyCal is one that successfully came from that. Tidycal is a calendar booking system.Peek inside my toolbox.🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is The Hidden Link Between Trauma and High Achievement in Women with Farya Barlas on the show Tried and True with a Dash of Woo. I'm beginning to think when people use "high achiever" in their content, they mean workaholics. LOL Just my personal connection. I didn't get any actionable takeaways from this one but I enjoyed the conversation. 🗞️ Like newsletters? Digital Marketing TakeawayAbout This ShowCreated by Compass Digital Strategies, the Small Business Marketing Sweet Spot is a weekly podcast for service-based small business owners who want more website visibility, traffic, and leads. Hosted by Barb Davids, each episode covers the what, why, and how of SEO, content marketing, and digital strategy. Plus expert guest conversations on productivity, branding, and mindset. Because growing your business and loving your life aren't separate goals.

I sat down with a talented brand designer whose business had evolved, but her search rankings were still stuck years in the past. We dug into her data and realized she was accidentally attracting beginners instead of her new ideal, established clients simply because Google loved an old post she wrote back in 2017. It was such a powerful "under the hood" moment to see that even with a new URL resetting her progress, we could identify exactly which premium phrases Google was already considering her for. We focused on the long game of refreshing content to turn her website into a 24/7 salesperson that generates sustainable leads rather than just random clicks. It was a fantastic session that proved how taking a few hours to review the reasoning behind your data can replace guessing with a real strategy.Enjoy the episode!👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.Stop second-guessing your to-do list and grab the Marketing Energy Matrix to focus on the tasks that actually get you results. 👉 https://compassdigitalstrategies.com/digital-marketing-services/marketing-energy-matrix/🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool.This week’s recommended tool is Beaver Builder.It's a website builder that sits on your WordPress. I really like the ease of use and the ability to add content blocks in various parts of the site. I have one in particular that is the notification bar at the top. It's not from an added plugin to make that happen.Peek inside my toolbox.🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is What's Working in Marketing (And What's Not) by The Marketing Millenials.One of the things is using all caps as a subject line. Someone is testing it. And while I'm cringing at that idea, testing is always good. 🗞️ Like newsletters? Digital Marketing TakeawayAbout This ShowCreated by Compass Digital Strategies, the Small Business Marketing Sweet Spot offers an eclectic mix of episodes, all meant to help you find the sweet spot in your business. Each week, you'll hear the what, why, and how's of getting more visibility on your website for the goal of more traffic and leads, along with bonus episodes, some experiential from other business owners sharing their own sweet spot.We talk about everything that influences creating an atmosphere around and inside you that you actually love because how you grow your business and how you move through your life are connected, and neither of them are linear.

I’m chatting with Heather Ferrari about the transformative power of an abundance mindset in business networking. We dive into why creating a supportive community for female entrepreneurs is essential for moving past the "salesy" hustle and finding a more meaningful way to grow together.Enjoy the episode!Connect with Heather Ferrari:⁠Instagram⁠⁠Website⁠⁠EventBrite⁠👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting ⁠blog post here⁠.Stop second-guessing your to-do list and grab the Marketing Energy Matrix to focus on the tasks that actually get you results. 👉 ⁠https://compassdigitalstrategies.com/digital-marketing-services/marketing-energy-matrix/⁠🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool. ⁠Peek inside my toolbox.⁠🗞️ Like newsletters? ⁠Digital Marketing Takeaway⁠About This ShowCreated by Compass Digital Strategies, the Small Business Marketing Sweet Spot offers an eclectic mix of episodes, all meant to help you find the sweet spot in your business. Each week, you'll hear the what, why, and how's of getting more visibility on your website for the goal of more traffic and leads, along with bonus episodes, some experiential from other business owners sharing their own sweet spot.We talk about everything that influences creating an atmosphere around and inside you that you actually love because how you grow your business and how you move through your life are connected, and neither of them are linear.Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): ⁠https://uppbeat.io/t/abbynoise/puncher⁠ License code: OEIJ8O6EGGPMSKBU

If you’ve ever felt too shy to ask for help or felt like networking was just an extrovert’s game, this episode is for you. • Networking is just "in-person" visibility. A year and a half ago, I wouldn’t even get out of the car. I was too afraid to get in front of people because I had this idea that networking was a "client hunt"... where you were either the predator or the prey (Jurrasic Park is popping in to my head). It felt heavy, salesy, and frankly, gross.In this episode, I’m sharing my experience of showing up over the last 18 months and how I’ve changed my mind about what networking actually is to me.I’m diving into:The "Business Card Shove": The moment I realized why some networking feels so icky (and how I checked out immediately).The Client Hunt Myth: Why shifting from "finding clients" to "expanding business contacts" changed my energy.The "Ask" Gap: My fascination with why we ask for help in a group, get a literal solution, and then… never follow up.The Visibility Connection: How meeting people in person actually feeds your website visibility and long-term SEO.Enjoy the episode!👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.💡 Related Episodes⁠4 Networking Techniques for Solopreneurs Who Want Quality, Not Quantity⁠⁠How To Escape The Networking Friend Zone Immediately⁠⁠4 Creative Ways to Partner for Growth and Opportunity⁠Stop second-guessing your to-do list and grab the Marketing Energy Matrix to focus on the tasks that actually get you results. 👉 https://compassdigitalstrategies.com/digital-marketing-services/marketing-energy-matrix/🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool.This week’s recommended tool is Glimpse.A trends analyzer in the form of a Chrome extension. I use it for specific keywords to see the trend YOY. There is a paid version that gives you more data early on as it claims to see trends before they hit. It's designed to watch rising search volume specifically. Peek inside my toolbox.🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is Is Any Brand Really Authentic in Marketing? by Marketing Millenials.This reminds me of a time I went to a conference, I forget what year it was, and I was in awe at a speaker. He seemed so genuine and real and he was truly different than the other speakers. And then he said, this is me, what you see is what you get or something like that, I can't recall the exact words, but he lost me at that moment. But now looking back, I wonder if he said it out of nervousness. Anyway, the point being, saying your authentic or saying it a way to justify doesn't actually make you authentic. I don't know how that word go so overused but now it feels gross to me. 🗞️ Like newsletters? Digital Marketing TakeawayAbout This ShowCreated by Compass Digital Strategies, the Small Business Marketing Sweet Spot offers an eclectic mix of episodes, all meant to help you find the sweet spot in your business. Each week, you'll hear the what, why, and how's of getting more visibility on your website for the goal of more traffic and leads, along with bonus episodes, some experiential from other business owners sharing their own sweet spot.We talk about everything that influences creating an atmosphere around and inside you that you actually love because how you grow your business and how you move through your life are connected, and neither of them are linear.

If you’re anything like me, getting in front of the camera can feel incredibly awkward, and the thought of needing a massive production crew just to post on social media is completely a big fat no. But with AI increasingly blurring the lines of what is real online, showing up as ourselves has never been more important for building trust.In this episode, I chat with McKenzi Taylor, founder of Taylored Photo. McKenzi shares how she is helping business owners ditch the overwhelm through her innovative “Content Happy Hour”… a low-stress, real-world environment where entrepreneurs can network, (sometimes) grab a glass of wine, and capture authentic B-roll and high-quality photos alongside a supportive community.Join us as we discuss why consumers are craving real human connection, how to drop your perfectionism so you can just “show up,” and the secret to repurposing a single video clip for weeks without anyone noticing. We also dive into McKenzi’s 20-year entrepreneurial journey, exploring why dropping rigidity and embracing adaptability is the true key to surviving in today’s fast-paced market.Enjoy the episode!Connect with McKenzi Taylor at Taylored Photo:IG: https://www.instagram.com/tayloredphoto/?hl=enWebsite: https://tayloredphotomemories.com/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tayloredphoto👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.Stop second-guessing your to-do list and grab the Marketing Energy Matrix to focus on the tasks that actually get you results. 👉 ⁠⁠⁠https://compassdigitalstrategies.com/digital-marketing-services/marketing-energy-matrix/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Peek inside my toolbox for all my tools.⁠⁠⁠Visit ⁠⁠⁠Episodes I Like Playlist⁠⁠⁠ for other recommended episodes I've enjoyed.🗞️ Like newsletters?⁠⁠⁠ Digital Marketing Takeaway⁠⁠⁠About This ShowSmall Business Sweet Spot is a podcast show created by Compass Digital Strategies LLC. Founder, Barb Davids, wanted to create a show that was more direct and to the point around topics that improve our small businesses and personal lives. A self-professed podcast junkie, she listens to a variety of shows on her runs and road trips.Compass Digital Strategies is for people who are tired of their website being the thing that stresses them out. Around here, it gets simpler. We’re not here to add more to your plate. This is about having someone who sees what you’re dealing with and helps you sort it out. Clearly. Personally. In a way that doesn’t make you want to pull your hair out.

ChatGPT is lying to you about your keyword strategy. It has zero data on keyword volume, which means you could be targeting phrases that exactly zero people are typing into a search box.Enjoy the episode! 👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.Stop second-guessing your to-do list and grab the Marketing Energy Matrix to focus on the tasks that actually get you results. 👉 https://compassdigitalstrategies.com/digital-marketing-services/marketing-energy-matrix/🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool. This week’s recommended tool is OpusClip.A video repurposing tool that turns your long videos into short videos.Peek inside my toolbox.🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is You Might Also Like: The Tamsen ShowIt's a bonus episode on the Marketing Companion Show podcast.I break my self promises all the time. I used to justify it by saying I changed my mind or thinking I need to give myself grace. But every time I don't keep my promise, it tells my brain that I can't trust myself. There's this weird line between giving myself grace and holding my promises. I don't think there's anything ground breaking in this one but I did enjoy listening to the one promise tactic.Visit Episodes I Like Playlist for other recommended episodes I've enjoyed.🗞️ Like newsletters? Digital Marketing TakeawayAbout This ShowCreated by Compass Digital Strategies, the Small Business Marketing Sweet Spot offers an eclectic mix of episodes, all meant to help you find the sweet spot in your business. Each week, you'll hear the what, why, and how's of getting more visibility on your website for the goal of more traffic and leads, along with bonus episodes, some experiential from other business owners sharing their own sweet spot.We talk about everything that influences creating an atmosphere around and inside you that you actually love because how you grow your business and how you move through your life are connected, and neither of them are linear.

Google doesn't care how pretty your website is. A gorgeous design with a searchability score of zero is nothing more than an expensive digital brochure sitting in a dark corner of the internet where nobody can find it. If that makes you gasp, you'll enjoy this episode. 👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.Stop second-guessing your to-do list and grab the Marketing Energy Matrix to focus on the tasks that actually get you results. 👉 https://compassdigitalstrategies.com/digital-marketing-services/marketing-energy-matrix/🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool. This week’s recommended tool is wave.video.This tool can create videos from existing blog posts!Peek inside my toolbox.🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is Knowledge Mindfulness for Complex Times with Dr. Laila Marouf on the Speaking Your Brand podcast.Speaking of being an expert, Dr. Marouf spoke about how we "tend to just cling to what we know in many ways, defend what we know in many ways, become static, become hardened of what we know." She encourages us to open up to different views and different perspectives.Visit Episodes I Like Playlist for other recommended episodes I've enjoyed.🗞️ Like newsletters? Digital Marketing TakeawayAbout This ShowCreated by Compass Digital Strategies, the Small Business Marketing Sweet Spot offers an eclectic mix of episodes, all meant to help you find the sweet spot in your business. Each week, you'll hear the what, why, and how's of getting more visibility on your website for the goal of more traffic and leads, along with bonus episodes, some experiential from other business owners sharing their own sweet spot.We talk about everything that influences creating an atmosphere around and inside you that you actually love because how you grow your business and how you move through your life are connected, and neither of them are linear.

If you’ve ever felt too shy to ask for help or felt like networking was just an extrovert’s game, this episode is for you. • Networking is just "in-person" visibility. A year and a half ago, I wouldn’t even get out of the car. I was too afraid to get in front of people because I had this idea that networking was a "client hunt"... where you were either the predator or the prey (Jurrasic Park is popping in to my head). It felt heavy, salesy, and frankly, gross.In this episode, I’m sharing my experience of showing up over the last 18 months and how I’ve changed my mind about what networking actually is to me.I’m diving into:The "Business Card Shove": The moment I realized why some networking feels so icky (and how I checked out immediately).The Client Hunt Myth: Why shifting from "finding clients" to "expanding business contacts" changed my energy.The "Ask" Gap: My fascination with why we ask for help in a group, get a literal solution, and then… never follow up.The Visibility Connection: How meeting people in person actually feeds your website visibility and long-term SEO.Enjoy the episode! 👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool. This week’s recommended tool is Glimpse.A trends analyzer in the form of a Chrome extension. I use it for specific keywords to see the trend YOY. There is a paid version that gives you more data early on as it claims to see trends before they hit. It's designed to watch rising search volume specifically. Peek inside my toolbox. 🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is Is Any Brand Really Authentic in Marketing? by Marketing Millenials.This reminds me of a time I went to a conference, I forget what year it was, and I was in awe at a speaker. He seemed so genuine and real and he was truly different than the other speakers. And then he said, this is me, what you see is what you get or something like that, I can't recall the exact words, but he lost me at that moment. But now looking back, I wonder if he said it out of nervousness. Anyway, the point being, saying your authentic or saying it a way to justify doesn't actually make you authentic. I don't know how that word go so overused but now it feels gross to me. 🗞️ Like newsletters? Digital Marketing Takeaway💡 Related EpisodesHow To Escape The Networking Friend Zone Immediately4 Creative Ways to Partner for Growth and Opportunity4 Networking Techniques for Solopreneurs Who Want Quality, Not QuantityAbout This ShowCreated by Compass Digital Strategies, the Small Business Marketing Sweet Spot offers an eclectic mix of episodes, all meant to help you find the sweet spot in your business. Each week, you'll hear the what, why, and how's of getting more visibility on your website for the goal of more traffic and leads, along with bonus episodes, some experiential from other business owners sharing their own sweet spot.We talk about everything that influences creating an atmosphere around and inside you that you actually love because how you grow your business and how you move through your life are connected, and neither of them are linear.

4 signals to help you spot what’s behind your marketing that you might not consciously see. This episode encourages you to review the energy behind your content. It’s a conversation about fear, compassion, and the difference between proving and actually connecting. Not a how-to, a perspective shift that may drive better results from your marketing efforts.Enjoy the episode!👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.Stop second-guessing your to-do list and grab the Marketing Energy Matrix to focus on the tasks that actually get you results. 👉 https://compassdigitalstrategies.com/digital-marketing-services/marketing-energy-matrix/🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool. This week’s recommended tool is Streak for Gmail.I love this tool! Mostly for the ability to get links to specific emails. I used to use it for workflow when I did various types of outreach and wanted to follow up. It has multiple ways to view emails, whether it's incoming support or sales. The free version used to let you save templates. That used to be my favorite part because of the batching capability.Peek inside my toolbox for all my tools.🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is You Don’t Need More Discipline, You Need More Trust on the Small Business Straight Talk podcast. Talk about hitting the nail on the head, looking in a mirror all those cliches. If you think you've failed at improving discipline or if you keep moving your tasks to the next day, this would be a good episode to check out. Visit Episodes I Like Playlist for other recommended episodes I've enjoyed.🗞️ Like newsletters? Digital Marketing TakeawayAbout This ShowCreated by Compass Digital Strategies, the Small Business Sweet Spot offers an eclectic mix of episodes, all meant to help you find the sweet spot in your business. Each week, you'll hear the what, why, and how's of getting more visibility on your website for the goal of more traffic and leads, along with bonus episodes, some experiential from other business owners sharing their own sweet spot.We talk about everything that influences creating an atmosphere around and inside you that you actually love because how you grow your business and how you move through your life are connected, and neither of them are linear.

After hitting publish or turning on a new marketing tactic, there’s often a quiet period where nothing seems to happen. In this episode, I use a quick story about getting stuck in a car wash to explain why that waiting period feels so uncomfortable. I talk about how search visibility, Google Ads, and AI tools take time to respond to changes, even when you’ve done everything right. I share how long I typically wait before evaluating results and what to look for during that time. If you find yourself wondering whether to stay the course or move on too quickly, this episode offers a more realistic way to think about the wait. Enjoy the episode!👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.Stop second-guessing your to-do list and grab the Marketing Energy Matrix to focus on the tasks that actually get you results. 👉 https://compassdigitalstrategies.com/digital-marketing-services/marketing-energy-matrix/🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool. This week’s recommended tool is Cinchshare.A social media planning platform that is especially useful if you have FB groups. I was impressed at it's batching capability and the templates it has.Peek inside my toolbox for all my tools.🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is Time is your truest form of wealth (and travel helps you embrace your riches) on the Deviate podcast. I enjoyed the tip about going to markets or squares vs standing in line for touristy things. Lots of good info in this one.Visit Episodes I Like Playlist for other recommended episodes I've enjoyed.🗞️ Like newsletters? Digital Marketing TakeawayAbout This ShowCreated by Compass Digital Strategies, the Small Business Sweet Spot offers an eclectic mix of episodes, all meant to help you find the sweet spot in your business. Each week, you'll hear the what, why, and how's of getting more visibility on your website for the goal of more traffic and leads, along with bonus episodes, some experiential from other business owners sharing their own sweet spot.We talk about everything that influences creating an atmosphere around and inside you that you actually love because how you grow your business and how you move through your life are connected, and neither of them are linear.

Is it possible to take a vacation from work without actually taking the traditional vacation? What started as a simple way to teach myself, I don't have to work all the time, so that someday I might actually take more than a day or two off work turned into some fun revelations and a new softer start to my days. Now, let me be clear. I'm not sharing anything about time management. This was more about releasing the pressure that I feel to be productive, even though I was thinking going into it, I'd be productive as hell.Enjoy the episode!👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.Stop second-guessing your to-do list and grab the Marketing Energy Matrix to focus on the tasks that actually get you results. 👉 https://compassdigitalstrategies.com/digital-marketing-services/marketing-energy-matrix/🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool. This week’s recommended tool is Better Proposals.An online software that enables you to create attention-grabbing proposals with the help of an easy-to-use editor and a library of templates.Peek inside my toolbox for all my tools.🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is How to Get Unstuck: The Science and Soul of Releasing Emotional Loops with Katie Morton. Katie shared a quote from the book, the Artist's Way, that says "Perfectionism I always thought was seeking out the best in things but it was actually me looking for the worst." Mind… blowing… right?Visit Episodes I Like Playlist for other recommended episodes I've enjoyed.🗞️ Like newsletters? Digital Marketing TakeawayAbout This ShowCreated by Compass Digital Strategies, the Small Business Sweet Spot offers an eclectic mix of episodes, all meant to help you find the sweet spot in your business. Each week, you'll hear the what, why, and how's of getting more visibility on your website for the goal of more traffic and leads, along with bonus episodes, some experiential from other business owners sharing their own sweet spot.We talk about everything that influences creating an atmosphere around and inside you that you actually love because how you grow your business and how you move through your life are connected, and neither of them are linear.

If you're feeling stuck on what goal to set for your website, don't just aim for "better SEO." Use this rule instead. Enjoy the episode!👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.Stop second-guessing your to-do list and grab the Marketing Energy Matrix to focus on the tasks that actually get you results. 👉 https://compassdigitalstrategies.com/digital-marketing-services/marketing-energy-matrix/🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool. This week’s recommended tool is Flick.A social marketing platform that helps you schedule your social posts, generate hashtags and helps with caption writing. It has some really cool reporting too. Peek inside my toolbox for all my tools.🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is Coming Home to True Refuge by Tara Brach.Tara's talks often provide insights for me. New awareness into what's in my brain. She says "we habitually leave presence and go for what I call false refuge." She goes on to say that it's not false because it's bad, but because it blocks your way to true refuge, true peace. We need to see them to choose to change them. Fascinating episode.Visit Episodes I Like Playlist for other recommended episodes I've enjoyed. 🗞️ Like newsletters? Digital Marketing TakeawayAbout This ShowCreated by Compass Digital Strategies, the Small Business Sweet Spot offers an eclectic mix of episodes, all meant to help you find the sweet spot in your business. Each week, you'll hear the what, why, and how's of getting more visibility on your website for the goal of more traffic and leads, along with bonus episodes, some experiential from other business owners sharing their own sweet spot.We talk about everything that influences creating an atmosphere around and inside you that you actually love because how you grow your business and how you move through your life are connected, and neither of them are linear.

Wanna get a coffee with me? Depending on your location, we can meet in person or do a virtual. I'm gonna be all over the US this year so there's a good chance I'll show up in your area. The reason I'm offering is because sometimes it's helpful to meet who we will work with. I pride myself and my business on having integrity and being true. And I had an experience lately that was the opposite of that. I ignored the signs and gut feelings and gave the person a shot and I got burned. Thankfully not for a lot of cash but definitely for not trusting myself. So how can we show integrity and good values in our marketing as people are getting to know us? That's what we're going to cover today.Digital Street Cred👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.Stop second-guessing your to-do list and grab the Marketing Energy Matrix to focus on the tasks that actually get you results. 👉 https://compassdigitalstrategies.com/digital-marketing-services/marketing-energy-matrix/🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool. This week’s recommended tool is Termageddon.Speaking of digital street cred… this tool is an easy to use app for generating things like a privacy policy, various disclaimers, terms and conditions and end user license agreements.Peek inside my toolbox for all my tools.🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is Micheal J. Fox on Literally! with Rob Lowe. I'm about halfway through but so cool hearing them talk back and forth. I forgot that Michael J. Fox wrote some books, quite a few and now I want them all.Visit Episodes I Like Playlist for other recommended episodes I've enjoyed.🗞️ Like newsletters? Digital Marketing TakeawayAbout This ShowCreated by Compass Digital Strategies, the Small Business Sweet Spot offers an eclectic mix of episodes, all meant to help you find the sweet spot in your business. Each week, you'll hear the what, why, and how's of getting more visibility on your website for the goal of more traffic and leads, along with bonus episodes, some experiential from other business owners sharing their own sweet spot.We talk about everything that influences creating an atmosphere around and inside you that you actually love because how you grow your business and how you move through your life are connected, and neither of them are linear.

Do you ever find yourself moving "crap" from your desk to your kitchen counter just to feel like you have a "clean" workspace, only to move it back again when you need to cook dinner? If your home feels like a constant shuffle of clutter, it's possible your home’s layout might be sabotaging your focus. In this conversation with Julie Corcoran, owner of JC Renovators, we got into why "pretty" design is secondary to functionality and how the "hidden science" of your home impacts your mental well-being and business performance.Enjoy the episode!Julie’s Instagram ProfileConnect with Julie at ⁠@jcrenovators⁠⁠Julie's Home Remodel Calculator⁠Timeline01:29 Introduction to Julie Corcoran and JC Renovators02:31 The Importance of Functional Design03:41 Maximizing Small Spaces04:25 The Power of Layered Lighting06:01 Navigating Design Choices07:30 AI vs. Professional Design Expertise09:25 Impact of Home Design on Mental Health09:35 Creating a Functional Home Office👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.Stop second-guessing your to-do list and grab the Marketing Energy Matrix to focus on the tasks that actually get you results. 👉 ⁠⁠⁠https://compassdigitalstrategies.com/digital-marketing-services/marketing-energy-matrix/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Peek inside my toolbox for all my tools.⁠⁠⁠Visit ⁠⁠⁠Episodes I Like Playlist⁠⁠⁠ for other recommended episodes I've enjoyed.🗞️ Like newsletters?⁠⁠⁠ Digital Marketing Takeaway⁠⁠⁠About This ShowSmall Business Sweet Spot is a podcast show created by Compass Digital Strategies LLC. Founder, Barb Davids, wanted to create a show that was more direct and to the point around topics that improve our small businesses and personal lives. A self-professed podcast junkie, she listens to a variety of shows on her runs and road trips.Compass Digital Strategies is for people who are tired of their website being the thing that stresses them out. Around here, it gets simpler. We’re not here to add more to your plate. This is about having someone who sees what you’re dealing with and helps you sort it out. Clearly. Personally. In a way that doesn’t make you want to pull your hair out.

It's quite possibly I'm taking everyone's story telling advice a little too far in this episode. LOL But you know what? It's ok. What I'm about to share is how it happened. I'm going to share about my trying to get drunk from non-aholic beer and then relate that to our avoidance in business.I identify four key areas where business owners often avoid tasks (visibility, finances, marketing, and analytics) and practical steps to confront these avoidances. Additionally, I introduce the helpful digital marketing tool of the week and recommend a podcast episode. The episode wraps up with an invitation for you to identify and share their own areas of avoidance.Enjoy the episode!👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.Stop second-guessing your to-do list and grab the Marketing Energy Matrix to focus on the tasks that actually get you results. 👉 https://compassdigitalstrategies.com/digital-marketing-services/marketing-energy-matrix/🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool. This week’s recommended tool is Napkin AI.You plug in numbers, it outputs a pretty format. Literally a few seconds. It's quite amazing.Peek inside my toolbox for all my tools.🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is 5 Hard Truths That Changed My Design Business in 2025 from The McClain Method podcast. It wasn't a wrap up like some do; he went in to share specific learnings that as a business owner we can benefit from.Visit Episodes I Like Playlist for other recommended episodes I've enjoyed.🗞️ Like newsletters? Digital Marketing TakeawayAbout This ShowSmall Business Sweet Spot is a podcast show created by Compass Digital Strategies LLC. Founder, Barb Davids, wanted to create a show that has actionable topics that grow our business and personal life. A self-professed podcast junkie, she listens to a variety of shows on her runs and road trips.Small Business Sweet Spot is a place for business owners wondering what matters in growing their business. Episodes range from quick, tactical advice on improving website visibility, marketing and analytics to guest interviews with experts on topics like productivity, branding, and mindset to support the "whole" business owner. Let’s find the sweet spot between business and life so you can enjoy both.

SEO related questions I've been asked or have seen a lot in discussions on various platforms.Enjoy the episode!👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.Stop second-guessing your to-do list and grab the Marketing Energy Matrix to focus on the tasks that actually get you results. 👉 https://compassdigitalstrategies.com/digital-marketing-services/marketing-energy-matrix/🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool. This week’s recommended tool is Gamma.Quite literally the most thought out tool from a business perspective. The functionally in this thing is what every business owner has been looking for. It creates presentations for you! PDFs too. You can load up your bullet list of notes or word for word what you want and then answer a couple of questions, and bam! You got yourself a handy presentation. I've used it to present ideas and share pricing with prospects. It's so much prettier than a word doc. This visually takes away the boring.Peek inside my toolbox for all my tools.🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is The Liberating Power of Conscious Intention part 1 by Tara Brach. If you've ever wondered how to get more intentional with your day, this is a good one to listen to.Visit Episodes I Like Playlist for other recommended episodes I've enjoyed.🗞️ Like newsletters? Digital Marketing TakeawayAbout This ShowSmall Business Sweet Spot is a podcast show created by Compass Digital Strategies LLC. Founder, Barb Davids, wanted to create a show that has actionable topics that grow our business and personal life. A self-professed podcast junkie, she listens to a variety of shows on her runs and road trips.Small Business Sweet Spot is a place for business owners wondering what matters in growing their business. Episodes range from quick, tactical advice on improving website visibility, marketing and analytics to guest interviews with experts on topics like productivity, branding, and mindset to support the "whole" business owner. Let’s find the sweet spot between business and life so you can enjoy both.

A lot of businesses that come to me have a "skeleton website". Bare bones pages that fall short of informing, building trust, and definitely not ranking in search engines. I have 4 questions you can ask to see if your website is a skeleton website.Enjoy the episode!👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.Stop second-guessing your to-do list and grab the Marketing Energy Matrix to focus on the tasks that actually get you results. 👉 https://compassdigitalstrategies.com/digital-marketing-services/marketing-energy-matrix/🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool. This week’s recommended tool is Keywords Everywhere.It installs as Chrome Extension and keyword data shows in the search results page. If you connect it with Google Analytics and Google Search Console, it adds columns for search volume, CPC, competition and trending.Peek inside my toolbox for all my tools.🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is Shaman's tips for An Amazing 2026 Part 6 on the Jim Fortin Podcast.I realize that not a lot of people are interested in content around shaman advice, however, this was a good episode around person responsibility and convenience.Visit Episodes I Like Playlist for other recommended episodes I've enjoyed.🗞️ Like newsletters? Digital Marketing TakeawayAbout This ShowSmall Business Sweet Spot is a podcast show created by Compass Digital Strategies LLC. Founder, Barb Davids, wanted to create a show that has actionable topics that grow our business and personal life. A self-professed podcast junkie, she listens to a variety of shows on her runs and road trips.Small Business Sweet Spot is a place for business owners wondering what matters in growing their business. Episodes range from quick, tactical advice on improving website visibility, marketing and analytics to guest interviews with experts on topics like productivity, branding, and mindset to support the "whole" business owner. Let’s find the sweet spot between business and life so you can enjoy both.

This episode was inspired by a friend's IG post on consistency. I feel like I've struggled with it so I decided to ask myself, what does consistency mean to me. How do I stay consistent? The answer turned out to be through resiliency. In this episode, I explore the idea of resiliency as I see it and I’ve also brought in four fellow business owners to weigh in with their stories. Plus I share 6 ways to build that resiliency muscle.Enjoy the episode!Timestamps00:27 Defining Consistency and Resiliency00:51 Exploring Resiliency01:27 Personal Story: Falling Off the Horse03:39 Diana Knezevici's resiliency definition03:59 Sheila Kofahl's Tree in the Storm Analogy05:02 Resiliency in Business06:23 Six Ways to Build Resiliency06:27 Refocus Your Attention07:23 Phone a Friend07:55 Leslie Marshall's story of resiliency09:08 Less Social Media10:21 Acknowledge and Accept11:01 Find Optimism11:34 Isabel Chen's advice for resiliency12:33 Respond Intentionally14:26 Final Thoughts on ResiliencyResourcesLeslie Marshall • Wyldflower NomadWebsite | InstagramSheila Kofahl • And Then She DidWebsite | InstagramDiana Knezevici • Embodied Leadership CoachWebsite | InstagramIsabel Chen • Fairy Fox DigitalWebsite | Instagram | Pinterest👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.Stop second-guessing your to-do list and grab the Marketing Energy Matrix to focus on the tasks that actually get you results. 👉 https://compassdigitalstrategies.com/digital-marketing-services/marketing-energy-matrix/🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool. This week’s recommended tool is SEO Pro Extension⁠. The most clean and simple extension to see the headings and other SEO details for a single page on your website.Peek inside my toolbox for all my tools.⁠⁠🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is from ⁠Diary of a CEO, with Brené Brown: The Algorithms Have Forced Us Into A Hidden Epidemic, This Is The Only Way Out!⁠ The title would have you believe it's a bit on the chaos side or pulling at your panic feelers. In fact, it was a wonderful conversation about so many things. Trust being one of them that I particularly enjoyed.Visit Episodes I Like Playlist for other recommended episodes I've enjoyed.🗞️ Like newsletters? Digital Marketing TakeawayAbout This ShowSmall Business Sweet Spot is a podcast show created by Compass Digital Strategies LLC. Founder, Barb Davids, wanted to create a show that has actionable topics that grow our business and personal life. A self-professed podcast junkie, she listens to a variety of shows on her runs and road trips.Small Business Sweet Spot is a place for business owners wondering what matters in growing their business. Episodes range from quick, tactical advice on improving website visibility, marketing and analytics to guest interviews with experts on topics like productivity, branding, and mindset to support the "whole" business owner. Let’s find the sweet spot between business and life so you can enjoy both.

What a fun convo with fellow marketer Sarah Gemmell! She helps small business owners and solopreneurs who don't have a dedicated marketing team. Sarah has amazing advice around following up, whether to invest time and energy into free or paid networking and shares how we have gotten so scared of being salesy that we've flipped our possible business opportunities to the friend zone.Enjoy the episode!👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.Stop second-guessing your to-do list and grab the Marketing Energy Matrix to focus on the tasks that actually get you results. 👉 ⁠⁠⁠https://compassdigitalstrategies.com/digital-marketing-services/marketing-energy-matrix/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Peek inside my toolbox for all my tools.⁠⁠⁠Visit ⁠⁠⁠Episodes I Like Playlist⁠⁠⁠ for other recommended episodes I've enjoyed.🗞️ Like newsletters?⁠⁠⁠ Digital Marketing Takeaway⁠⁠⁠About This ShowSmall Business Sweet Spot is a podcast show created by Compass Digital Strategies LLC. Founder, Barb Davids, wanted to create a show that was more direct and to the point around topics that improve our small businesses and personal lives. A self-professed podcast junkie, she listens to a variety of shows on her runs and road trips.Compass Digital Strategies is for people who are tired of their website being the thing that stresses them out. Around here, it gets simpler. We’re not here to add more to your plate. This is about having someone who sees what you’re dealing with and helps you sort it out. Clearly. Personally. In a way that doesn’t make you want to pull your hair out.

In this episode, I’m walking through six clues that help you figure out which marketing channels are actually working for your business and how they can help you decide what to keep, cut, or bring in.Enjoy the episode!👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.Stop second-guessing your to-do list and grab the Marketing Energy Matrix to focus on the tasks that actually get you results. 👉 https://compassdigitalstrategies.com/digital-marketing-services/marketing-energy-matrix/🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool. This week’s recommended tool is BrightLocal.A local SEO tool used by both business owners and SEO professionals. See who your competitors are in the Google map pack and track your keywords for the maps also. Super handy. Peek inside my toolbox for all my tools.🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is from Diary of a CEO, called Anxiety Is Just a Prediction. It's one of their most replayed moments. The host, Steven Bartlett, interviewed Lisa Feldman Barrett. It blew my mind. I knew of the concept already but not quiet in this way. And it's one of the reason I continue to listen to episodes even if the title sounds like something I already know. Different people, different perspectives and ways of explaining things. Visit Episodes I Like Playlist for other recommended episodes I've enjoyed.🗞️ Like newsletters? Digital Marketing TakeawayAbout This ShowSmall Business Sweet Spot is a podcast show created by Compass Digital Strategies LLC. Founder, Barb Davids, wanted to create a show that has actionable topics that grow our business and personal life. A self-professed podcast junkie, she listens to a variety of shows on her runs and road trips.Small Business Sweet Spot is a place for business owners wondering what matters in growing their business. Episodes range from quick, tactical advice on improving website visibility, marketing and analytics to guest interviews with experts on topics like productivity, branding, and mindset to support the "whole" business owner. Let’s find the sweet spot between business and life so you can enjoy both.

In this episode, I’m joined by Jessie Geroux, a serial entrepreneur, travel expert, and passionate advocate for families navigating life with special needs. Jessie shares her journey of pivoting from real estate into the travel industry, how she’s built businesses that align with both purpose and profit, and why she believes travel is one of the most powerful investments we can make in ourselves. Whether you're in the middle of a business transition or just dreaming about your next trip, Jessie’s story is full of wisdom, warmth, and real-world insight.Enjoy the episode!Timeline00:00 Introduction and Guest Overview00:58 Meet Jessie Geroux: Entrepreneurial Journey02:01 Networking and Business Pivoting03:10 Travel Business and Special Needs Advocacy10:02 Faith and Community Involvement14:34 The Value of Travel18:46 Conclusion and Contact Information👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.Stop second-guessing your to-do list and grab the Marketing Energy Matrix to focus on the tasks that actually get you results. 👉 ⁠⁠⁠https://compassdigitalstrategies.com/digital-marketing-services/marketing-energy-matrix/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Peek inside my toolbox for all my tools.⁠⁠⁠Visit ⁠⁠⁠Episodes I Like Playlist⁠⁠⁠ for other recommended episodes I've enjoyed.🗞️ Like newsletters?⁠⁠⁠ Digital Marketing Takeaway⁠⁠⁠About This ShowSmall Business Sweet Spot is a podcast show created by Compass Digital Strategies LLC. Founder, Barb Davids, wanted to create a show that was more direct and to the point around topics that improve our small businesses and personal lives. A self-professed podcast junkie, she listens to a variety of shows on her runs and road trips.Compass Digital Strategies is for people who are tired of their website being the thing that stresses them out. Around here, it gets simpler. We’re not here to add more to your plate. This is about having someone who sees what you’re dealing with and helps you sort it out. Clearly. Personally. In a way that doesn’t make you want to pull your hair out.

Zero-click searches get tossed around a lot in the search world, usually in alarmist posts that make business owners feel like they’re behind. In this episode, I’m sharing what it actually means and how to factor it into your website marketing strategy.Enjoy the episode!👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.Stop second-guessing your to-do list and grab the Marketing Energy Matrix to focus on the tasks that actually get you results. 👉 https://compassdigitalstrategies.com/digital-marketing-services/marketing-energy-matrix/🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool. This week’s recommended tool is How To ClickUp.If you're a fan of ClickUp, you're gonna love this! Learn ClickUp basics in just one day. Taught by ProcessDriven, one of the most knowledgeable teachers on the tool. It's one of the most comprehensive and easy courses I've ever taken. I took it when I first started using ClickUp.Peek inside my toolbox for all my tools.🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is Say "NO" to Awkward Networking with Special Guest, Ande Lyons on the Small Business Casual show. Emily is doing a NO-vember theme and I really appreciate this episode. The word networking has such an icky connotation to it. This episode offers an angle to make it not-icky. Emily's questions are so great. Ande talks about how she follows up and Emily asked what I was exactly thinking, that's a lot of people! She asked how many do we follow up with. Ande also provides a way to help ease the anxiety before going into a magical meetup. When you listen to the episode, you'll understand why I call it a magical meetup.  Visit Episodes I Like Playlist for other recommended episodes I've enjoyed.🗞️ Like newsletters? Digital Marketing TakeawayAbout This ShowSmall Business Sweet Spot is a podcast show created by Compass Digital Strategies LLC. Founder, Barb Davids, wanted to create a show that was more direct and to the point around topics that improve our small businesses and personal lives. A self-professed podcast junkie, she listens to a variety of shows on her runs and road trips.Compass Digital Strategies is for people who are tired of their website being the thing that stresses them out. Around here, it gets simpler. We’re not here to add more to your plate. This is about having someone who sees what you’re dealing with and helps you sort it out. Clearly. Personally. In a way that doesn’t make you want to pull your hair out.

I was overwhelmed because my all-black, minimalist wardrobe didn't match where I was in my business, and I wanted a strategic, intentional closet. So I brought brand stylist Jackie Wheeler on the show to go through her entire process, starting with the core idea that your personal style is your most powerful nonverbal brand message. You'll hear us go through my color analysis and right into my closet, where Jackie showed me how to build combinations and a strategic shopping list. This episode is about ditching decision fatigue and gaining the kind of confidence that makes getting dressed feel like a strategic move.Enjoy the episode!👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.Stop second-guessing your to-do list and grab the Marketing Energy Matrix to focus on the tasks that actually get you results. 👉 ⁠⁠⁠https://compassdigitalstrategies.com/digital-marketing-services/marketing-energy-matrix/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Peek inside my toolbox for all my tools.⁠⁠⁠Visit ⁠⁠⁠Episodes I Like Playlist⁠⁠⁠ for other recommended episodes I've enjoyed.🗞️ Like newsletters?⁠⁠⁠ Digital Marketing Takeaway⁠⁠⁠About This ShowSmall Business Sweet Spot is a podcast show created by Compass Digital Strategies LLC. Founder, Barb Davids, wanted to create a show that was more direct and to the point around topics that improve our small businesses and personal lives. A self-professed podcast junkie, she listens to a variety of shows on her runs and road trips.Compass Digital Strategies is for people who are tired of their website being the thing that stresses them out. Around here, it gets simpler. We’re not here to add more to your plate. This is about having someone who sees what you’re dealing with and helps you sort it out. Clearly. Personally. In a way that doesn’t make you want to pull your hair out.

 You've probably seen like 47,000 posts about how social media is ruining everything, how the algorithms are trash, and how we should just all delete our accounts and return to carrier pigeons. I even saw a headline from Marketing Brew that said, quote, social media use is plateauing as users face scroll fatigue.Despite that and how I've been feeling personally, I'm not quite ready to poo poo social media as a marketing channel. For some businesses, it works for coaches, creators, and service providers who sell what they know. It can be incredibly strategic, and even for the rest of us, it serves a purpose. Just maybe not one that's commonly shared.Enjoy the show!👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.Stop second-guessing your to-do list and grab the Marketing Energy Matrix to focus on the tasks that actually get you results. 👉 https://compassdigitalstrategies.com/digital-marketing-services/marketing-energy-matrix/🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool. This week’s recommended tool is SE Ranking.There are many apps out there claiming they are an SEO tool. This is one of them. My preferred one. It has a simple interface. Support has been responsive when I use it. I use it for site audits, page specific audits, and finding back links for client websites. I definitely underutilize this tool. (They claim they are an agency tool, but solopreneurs can benefit from it as well.)Peek inside my toolbox for all my tools.🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is Why Do You Always Feel Like You're Struggling on the Sabrina Zohar show.Visit ⁠Episodes I Like Playlist⁠ for other recommended episodes I've enjoyed.🗞️ Like newsletters? Digital Marketing TakeawayAbout This ShowSmall Business Sweet Spot is a podcast show created by Compass Digital Strategies LLC. Founder, Barb Davids, wanted to create a show that was more direct and to the point around topics that improve our small businesses and personal lives. A self-professed podcast junkie, she listens to a variety of shows on her runs and road trips.Compass Digital Strategies is for people who are tired of their website being the thing that stresses them out. Around here, it gets simpler. We’re not here to add more to your plate. This is about having someone who sees what you’re dealing with and helps you sort it out. Clearly. Personally. In a way that doesn’t make you want to pull your hair out.

 I've been noticing more and more of you experimenting with Google ads, which is exciting and a question keeps coming up. Should you send that traffic to your homepage or create a dedicated landing page? It's a great question because it affects your ad spend and your return. So let's talk about it.Enjoy the episode!👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.Stop second-guessing your to-do list and grab the Marketing Energy Matrix to focus on the tasks that actually get you results. 👉 https://compassdigitalstrategies.com/digital-marketing-services/marketing-energy-matrix/🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool. This week’s recommended tool is ClickUp. For projects and tasks, I have used this in the past for my own business and for clients. I love their support. I don't think there's anything it doesn't do. The bit I like the most about it was the ability to email right from inside a task. I haven't used it for awhile but of course like to recommend it because everyone has varied tool preferences. It's worth a test run.Peek inside my toolbox for all my tools.🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is AI Manipulating Your Mental Health on the Jordan Harbinger Show. This is a disturbing albeit educational episode. My jaw kept dropping.Visit ⁠Episodes I Like Playlist⁠ for other recommended episodes I've enjoyed.🗞️ Like newsletters? Digital Marketing TakeawayAbout This ShowSmall Business Sweet Spot is a podcast show created by Compass Digital Strategies LLC. Founder, Barb Davids, wanted to create a show that was more direct and to the point around topics that improve our small businesses and personal lives. A self-professed podcast junkie, she listens to a variety of shows on her runs and road trips.Compass Digital Strategies is for people who are tired of their website being the thing that stresses them out. Around here, it gets simpler. We’re not here to add more to your plate. This is about having someone who sees what you’re dealing with and helps you sort it out. Clearly. Personally. In a way that doesn’t make you want to pull your hair out.

Strategic Business Coach, Marci Rossi, spills the beans of systems and processes, the benefits of proper onboarding, and the challenges of solo entrepreneurship. She shares her favorite digital tools along with tips for using templates and documenting procedures. She also reveals why she quit social media and how shifting her focus to collaborations and email marketing significantly grew her business. Tune in for actionable advice on optimizing your workflows and increasing productivity.Enjoy the episode!01:19 Marcy Rossi's Business Coaching Insights03:22 Importance of Systems and Processes05:33 Defining Your Audience and Business Pivoting12:12 Favorite Tools and Software Recommendations17:58 Choosing Between Zapier and PLI18:53 The Importance of Templates and SOPs20:27 Managing and Storing SOPs21:38 Finding the Right System for You24:37 Balancing Multiple Tabs and Windows28:35 The Case for Systems and Documentation30:04 Stepping Away from Social Media👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.Stop second-guessing your to-do list and grab the Marketing Energy Matrix to focus on the tasks that actually get you results. 👉 ⁠⁠⁠https://compassdigitalstrategies.com/digital-marketing-services/marketing-energy-matrix/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Peek inside my toolbox for all my tools.⁠⁠⁠Visit ⁠⁠⁠Episodes I Like Playlist⁠⁠⁠ for other recommended episodes I've enjoyed.🗞️ Like newsletters?⁠⁠⁠ Digital Marketing Takeaway⁠⁠⁠About This ShowSmall Business Sweet Spot is a podcast show created by Compass Digital Strategies LLC. Founder, Barb Davids, wanted to create a show that was more direct and to the point around topics that improve our small businesses and personal lives. A self-professed podcast junkie, she listens to a variety of shows on her runs and road trips.Compass Digital Strategies is for people who are tired of their website being the thing that stresses them out. Around here, it gets simpler. We’re not here to add more to your plate. This is about having someone who sees what you’re dealing with and helps you sort it out. Clearly. Personally. In a way that doesn’t make you want to pull your hair out.

I thought nomading was care-free and spontaneous. I envisioned a massive amount of freedom. I didn't realize how much planning was involved nor did I realize the amount of self reflection that got slapped into my face. This is my story of nomading for 14 months and what I got out of it in the event you have been considering it and want to hear one unstoppable woman's perspective; that's me.Enjoy the episode!👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.Stop second-guessing your to-do list and grab the Marketing Energy Matrix to focus on the tasks that actually get you results. 👉 https://compassdigitalstrategies.com/digital-marketing-services/marketing-energy-matrix/🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool. This week’s recommended tool is Time Management Made Simple. It's put on my productivity specialist Amber De La Garza.I've always wanted to get more organized with my calendar and tasks and have a clean inbox. When I have a clean inbox, oh baby. That's a good day. This is a direct course, you can go at your own pace. If you're looking to find more time, this course will help you find it.Peek inside my toolbox for all my tools.🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is  by Dan Koe. It's called Social Media Keeps Getting Worse, how Your Dopamine Is Being Hijacked. I found this one pretty interesting. And it goes into a little bit of history as well, but I had some good takeaways and just, I like getting more information around this whole social media thing.Especially it seems like the whole collective, like everybody, there's just like this big change in how social media is being looked at. And as business owners it's even more concerning or more confusing because how do we use social media and maybe stay away from it sometimes personally.  if you listen to the episode, let me know how you like it. I've saved this and other episodes I like into a playlist on Spotify.Visit Episodes I Like Playlist for other recommended episodes I've enjoyed.🗞️ Like newsletters? Digital Marketing TakeawayAbout This ShowSmall Business Sweet Spot is a podcast show created by Compass Digital Strategies LLC. Founder, Barb Davids, wanted to create a show that was more direct and to the point around topics that improve our small businesses and personal lives. A self-professed podcast junkie, she listens to a variety of shows on her runs and road trips.Compass Digital Strategies is for people who are tired of their website being the thing that stresses them out. Around here, it gets simpler. We’re not here to add more to your plate. This is about having someone who sees what you’re dealing with and helps you sort it out. Clearly. Personally. In a way that doesn’t make you want to pull your hair out.