There's so many marketing channels out there adding to the noise that is the digital space, it's hard to figure out which ones are worth your time. Here are my top 5:

1. Chaos & Confusion

A sister duo helps you to navigate the digital marketing world with a fun and entertaining approach. They also cover generational differences, mental health awareness, hustle culture, and anything else that may be on their minds that week. There is no shortage of laughs, while also offering up some of their best business marketing hacks. They are on TikTok and Instagram.

2. Online Marketing Made Easy Podcast

Amy Porterfield is always a relatable listen, while providing valuable information for the modern-day entrepreneur. You can find her podcast here. 

3. Social Exchange Marketing 

Lela is a master at incorporating witty humor into her account that also offers up plenty of applicable advice for small business owners. She focuses mostly on equine marketing, but her posts benefit all entrepreneur...

I'm dropping a truth bomb here: 

Customers are lazy. That's the honest truth. Before you disagree, listen for a second.

They don't want to be bothered with multiple steps and several clicks or to be brought here and there and everywhere. They don't have the time and chances are, someone else will be doing the same thing as you in less steps and in an easier way that they'll buy from instead. 

Personally, I don't consider myself a lazy person in any way except this one. If I have to go on some extravagant freaking man hunt to buy your product, let me tell you, I'm going somewhere else. Make it easy for me to purchase and I will be back time and time again.

Limit the number of steps to purchasing or receiving the offer to as few as possible. The fewer the steps, the greater your conversion rate. That's all there is to it. 

This is a novel concept to a lot of people, which is funny to me because it's always just seemed like an obvious approach to business marketing in my mind. But you should be treating yourself as a small business even if you aren't. Think: dentists and doctors with their own practice, salesmen, realtors, insurance agents, etc. This is how you set yourself apart from all the others in your industry even if you aren't technically a small business. 

Create business accounts on social media for yourself, spend time engaging with your ICA, create behind the scenes videos, go live, post entertaining, thoughtful content, develop a loyal following, and the in-person business will come easily. 

Hardly anyone in any of the industries that aren't conventionally considered small businesses are marketing in this way. Get started and get ahead of the game before everyone else catches up and the return on investment will be tenfold. Even small businesses in the trades such as plumbers and electricia...

Maybe your product sucks. But if you're confident it doesn't and you're not making the money you want, then you need better marketing.

If profits aren't where they should be, you're either not reaching enough people, not reaching the right people, or not resonating with those people. That is where effective marketing comes in.  

So how do you reconcile this? It's simple. It's not necessarily easy, but it is simple.  You need one or more likely, a combination, of the following: 

+ a stronger brand

+ more relevant content 

+ a defined and strategic marketing plan in relation to specific platforms (email and social media)

+ a more memorable customer experience

These encompass what I call "The Profitable 5 of Digital Minimalism." That is, the five pillars of marketing that will actually move the needle forward in your business. The other so-called strategies and trendy "must-dos" are time-wasters that can be decluttered and purged.

If you're intrigued and could use some more mon...

When I was younger, I was a voracious reader. As adult life took over, that pastime sadly suffered. After I graduated college and got done reading all the required textbooks, I realized I missed it. I missed learning. And so, my love for audiobooks emerged. I listened to almost 30 books in 2020 and I'm sharing with you my very favorites. Some were fiction (historical fiction is my jam), but most are geared towards self-development and business. 

1. Untamed by Glennon Doyle

2. Building a Storybrand by Donald Miller

3. Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

4. Think Like a Monk by Jay Shetty

5. Super Attractor by Gabby Bernstein

6. Atomic Habits by James Clear

7. Stories That Stick by Kendra Hall (I later took her course that was great as well)

8. Superfans by Pat Flynn

9. Profit First by Mike Michalowicz (this completely altered my perspective and approach to money)

10. Braving The Wilderness, Daring Greatly, and Rising Strong by Brene Brown (sorry, I cheated but I loved them all)

I ...

Marketing is all about connecting right? And nothing fosters connection better than stories. They have the ability to get people to relate to what you're saying on an emotional level like no other marketing strategy can. This is where the power in stories lies. 

 Any story can be used to further develop your marketing strategy, from the things that completely change your life to the every day situations we all come across. No matter the kind of story it is, I highly suggest including all the details you can. The details are where connection happens. For instance, if you're recalling a time from your childhood, and you mention the old Coke machine in the corner... that brings with it a whole feeling of nostalgia for so many people. Maybe the Coke machine isn't technically pertinent to the story, but that's something your audience can connect to. This is not to say, however, that your stories shouldn't have a conclusion or point...they absolutely should. A story with no conclusion is ki...

You've heard the old song and dance over and over, serve your audience. But the people you hear it from aren't just saying it. Listen up.

I teach this concept in my course, the Digital Marketing Guide to Profits. Serve, add value, blah blah blah, right? But think about it this way: if you're hearing it over and over again from experts in the marketing industry, it must have some merit.

If you serve your audience 3 times more than you sell to them, you'll do 3 times the sales once you do sell. Read that again. You're going to triple the sales you would otherwise if you serve your audience by being attentive to their needs and adding value for free the majority of the time. That means: not selling their ears off. No one wants to be sold to. That's the plain and simple truth. I don't know about you, but I have never heard anyone say, "gosh I so enjoyed the experience of this person pressuring me into buying this thing."

Ok so now you know you need to serve your audience, but maybe you ...