Can I shoot straight with you? If you Google “questions to ask a marketing agency,” you’ll find about 400 articles written by — wait for it — marketing agencies. Each one has the same recycled 10 questions. “What’s your experience in our industry?” “Can you share case studies?” “What does your reporting look like?” Here’s […]
Category: Digital Marketing
How Much Should a Small Business Spend on Marketing in 2026? Real Numbers, Not Percentages.
If you’ve spent more than 10 minutes Googling this question, you already know the answer everyone gives. “5 to 20% of revenue.” HubSpot says it. Neil Patel says it. Every agency blog says it. The SBA says it. Your buddy who took a marketing class in 2014 says it. Can I shoot straight with you? […]
Marketing Feels Overwhelming. Here’s Why That’s Not Your Fault (And What to Do First)
You started your business because you’re great at what you do. Cutting hair, fixing HVAC systems, coaching executives, designing kitchens, whatever it is, you’re the person people call when they need it done right. Nobody handed you a marketing degree along the way. So if you’re overwhelmed by marketing and don’t know what to do […]
DIY Marketing vs. Hiring an Agency: Here’s When Each Makes Sense (And When It Doesn’t)
You’ve been running your own marketing for two years and you’re exhausted. Or you hired an agency and they blew $8,000 of your money on brand awareness that didn’t move the needle. Either way, you’re asking the right question now: should I be doing this myself, or should I hire someone? Here’s the thing most […]
Marketing Agency Red Flags: 7 Signs It’s Time to Walk Away
Most agencies earn retainers whether they perform or not. Five specific behaviors identify bad ones: vanity-metric reports, owning your accounts, long contracts with no benchmarks, unexplainable work, and never connecting activity to revenue.
Is AI Replacing Marketing Agencies? Here’s the Honest Answer
AI is already doing a lot of what bad agencies charge you for. Here’s an honest breakdown of what gets automated — and what still requires a real person who cares about your results.
I Fired My Marketing Agency. Now What?
Most business owners fire their marketing agency too late. Before you hire someone new, there are four things to do first — starting with finding out what you actually own.
Open up the vault and repurpose your content
When you’re focused on running a business you don’t always have time to pump out new content. And that’s ok! That’s where taking content you’ve created previously and repackaging it can be super helpful. We all have stuff in the vault that we can clean up and make it shine again. But, when it comes […]
5 Tips to Grow Your Traffic and Sales
If you’re a small business owner you probably use your email list a ton (hopefully). You’re sending out product updates, asking for reviews, letting people know about deals and promos and more. One of my favorite marketing quips is ‘The Money is in the List.’ But here’s the kicker. People join that list through visiting […]
