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.
🌟 Wish your website pulled in more leads? The Website Power-Up Plan™ is built for service-based business owners who feel like their website should be doing more but aren’t sure what’s standing in the way. Let’s make that darned thing work!
🧰 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.
🗞️ Like newsletters? Digital Marketing Takeaway
About This Show
Small 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.
01:19 Marcy Rossi's Business Coaching Insights
03:22 Importance of Systems and Processes
05:33 Defining Your Audience and Business Pivoting
12:12 Favorite Tools and Software Recommendations
17:58 Choosing Between Zapier and PLI
18:53 The Importance of Templates and SOPs
20:27 Managing and Storing SOPs
21:38 Finding the Right System for You
24:37 Balancing Multiple Tabs and Windows
28:35 The Case for Systems and Documentation
30:04 Stepping Away from Social Media
Enjoy the episode!
👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.
🌟 Wish your website pulled in more leads? The Website Power-Up Plan™ is built for service-based business owners who feel like their website should be doing more but aren’t sure what’s standing in the way. Let’s make that darned thing work!
🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool.
Peek inside my toolbox for all my tools.
🗞️ Like newsletters? Digital Marketing Takeaway
About This Show
Small 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.
🌟 Wish your website pulled in more leads? The Website Power-Up Plan™ is built for service-based business owners who feel like their website should be doing more but aren’t sure what’s standing in the way. Let’s make that darned thing work!
🧰 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 Takeaway
About This Show
Small 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.
And as business owners, sometimes we feel like we have to be on all the time or like we have to be there. And sometimes it just doesn't quite work like that. I am so glad to have Karen Jones on the show. She is a grief, recovery and resilience coach, and we talked about some myths around grief and what to say to people, what not to say to people, and also understanding it a little bit more because there was a lot, I felt like grief and people going through a lot of stuff recently.
Enjoy the episode!
Timeline
00:45 Karen Jones' Background and Approach to Grief
01:37 Starting the Conversation on Grief
03:13 Debunking Myths About Grief
05:36 The Process of Healing and Coping Mechanisms
08:56 Addressing Different Types of Grief
10:43 Supporting Others Through Grief
19:16 The Importance of Witnessing Grief
22:24 Final Thoughts and Resources
If you’d like to learn more about Karen or download her guides...
Website: iamkarenjones.com
Guides: Download here
LinkedIn
👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.
🌟 Wish your website pulled in more leads? The Website Power-Up Plan™ is built for service-based business owners who feel like their website should be doing more but aren’t sure what’s standing in the way. Let’s make that darned thing work!
🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool.
Peek inside my toolbox for all my tools.
🗞️ Like newsletters? Digital Marketing Takeaway
About This Show
Small 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.
A lot of business owners skip conversion tracking, assuming their inbox is enough, but without those numbers in your analytics, you can’t really see which marketing efforts are paying off. In this episode, we’ll walk through simple ways to set up tracking so you can make smarter decisions about where to spend your time and energy.
Enjoy the episode!
👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.
🌟 Wish your website pulled in more leads? The Website Power-Up Plan™ is built for service-based business owners who feel like their website should be doing more but aren’t sure what’s standing in the way. Let’s make that darned thing work!
🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool.This week’s recommended tool is Streamyard.I use Streamyard for lives that I wanna do and sometimes for my podcast guesting because it has extra elements that I can put on the video while I'm doing it. So mostly the lives, but I can put banners down at the bottom. I can also share my screen and have somebody else come with me on the entire video. I can have snippets of like things to pop up in advance and ready to show on the screen. So for me, it's mostly for lives , but it can also be used for like workshop type presentations.
Peek inside my toolbox for all my tools.
🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is Self-Discipline is Easy, Actually by Dan Koe.
🗞️ Like newsletters? Digital Marketing Takeaway
About This Show
Small 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.
This was a great conversation with Kathryn Yarborough because I had questions. We talked about payment or paying for speaking engagements, we talked about whether or not to use slides. We talked about the time involved. We talked about the backgrounds of speaking, and she had a lot of great advice and perspective on how she runs her. Speaking and what she's done and things that we can think about.
Timeline
01:20 Getting to Know Kathryn
03:29 Kathryn's Sweet Spot
04:48 Hosting Summits: Kathryn's Passion
08:15 The Women Loving Life Summit Series
09:36 The Origin of 'Small Business Sweet Spot'
11:47 Benefits of Speaking for Small Businesses
14:37 Getting Started with Speaking
19:32 Engaging Your Ideal Audience
21:25 Payment for Speaking Engagements
26:41 Overcoming the Fear of Public Speaking
28:53 Effective Use of Slides and Backgrounds
34:13 Optimal Presentation Lengths
37:25 Final Thoughts and Takeaways
👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.
🌟 Wish your website pulled in more leads? The Website Power-Up Plan™ is built for service-based business owners who feel like their website should be doing more but aren’t sure what’s standing in the way. Let’s make that darned thing work!
🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool.
Peek inside my toolbox for all my tools.
🗞️ Like newsletters? Digital Marketing Takeaway
About This Show
Small 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 not just button colors that can improve conversion rates. And for most of us small business owners, changing a button color doesn't produce significant enough difference. But these 3 things inside the episode might. Learn the 3 ways plus a general guideline for what conversion rate percentage you can use as a goal.
Enjoy the episode!
14 Examples of Lead Magnets & Why They Work
👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.
🌟 Wish your website pulled in more leads? The Website Power-Up Plan™ is built for service-based business owners who feel like their website should be doing more but aren’t sure what’s standing in the way. Let’s make that darned thing work!
🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool.This week’s recommended tool is Descript.My podcast and video editor. I like that I can highlight words and move or remove them. I can add “commercials” or snippets of things that are repeated in multiple pieces of content. I find it’s one of the easier editing tools.
Peek inside my toolbox for all my tools.
🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is How to Make Your Business Page More Professional with Carli LeBlanc on The Side-HustlHER Podcast.
🗞️ Like newsletters? Digital Marketing Takeaway
About This Show
Small 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.
If your business growth has slowed or you've found yourself saying "I'll get to that later,” this episode is a gentle nudge to pause and think. Complacency can sneak into your business under the disguise of comfort, hesitation, or routine. Inside this episode are simple, mindful steps to help you shift back into intentional action.
Enjoy the episode!
👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.
🌟 Wish your website pulled in more leads? The Website Power-Up Plan™ is built for service-based business owners who feel like their website should be doing more but aren’t sure what’s standing in the way. Let’s make that darned thing work!
🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool. Peek inside my toolbox.
🗞️ Like newsletters? Digital Marketing Takeaway
Small 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.
Google ads can be a great supplement to lower lead periods. If you've been considering Google Ads, there are some things that are helpful to know for before the click performance vs after the click performance. Because just getting impressions and ad clicks doesn't equals sales or return on your ad spend. And that's what this episode is about.
👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.
🗞️ Newsletter - Digital Marketing Takeaway
🔥 Putting off your website because it feels like too much? The Website Power-Up Plan gives you clear, personalized answers on what to fix first, what can wait, and how to make the most of the time you do have.
📝 Stuck on what to blog about? The Instant Blog Planner™ helps you map out 6 months of strategic blog content, informed with your own website data, in a single afternoon so you can stop guessing and start getting found.
What in the world does journaling have to do with business ownership? For me, it's been a huge helper in the success of my business. I see a lot of people offering journals or the idea of journaling. The other day I saw somebody on Instagram doing a skit about journaling and I can't remember who it was, but they were writing in their journal and then they got really mad and they tore the journal up and said… "oh, great! The journaling works!" And so, I want to share with you my journaling story and whyyyyy it's something to consider doing if you're not already.
👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.
🗞️ Newsletter - Digital Marketing Takeaway
📊 Want a simple way to see what traffic you’re missing and where to focus your website marketing efforts? The Website Power-Up Plan gives you just that—no fluff, just clear insights and a path forward.
📝 Stuck on what to blog about? The Instant Blog Planner™ helps you map out 6 months of strategic blog content, informed with your own website data, in a single afternoon—so you can stop guessing and start getting found.
I’m sharing 6 types of blog posts every service-based business should have on their website. Blog posts aren’t just for filling space. They’re help your site rank higher in search engines and give your visitors a reason to stick around and take action. You’ve only got one shot when someone lands on your site to prove you know your stuff, show you’re the right fit, and answer the questions already spinning in their head. These blog post types will do exactly that.
👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.
🗞️ Newsletter - Digital Marketing Takeaway
📊 Want a simple way to see what traffic you’re missing and where to focus your website marketing efforts? The Website Power-Up Plan gives you just that—no fluff, just clear insights and a path forward.
📝 Stuck on what to blog about? The Instant Blog Planner™ helps you map out 6 months of strategic blog content, informed with your own website data, in a single afternoon—so you can stop guessing and start getting found.
I think sometimes, it can feel like we are doing all the right things to get more leads in our business. And we think we're doing them correctly. And we're still not seeing leads. Doing all the posts on all our channels. And then checking our email and the inquiries aren’t there. That’s when the guessing starts. This episode tells you how you can stop guessing.
👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.
🗞️ Newsletter - Digital Marketing Takeaway
📊 Want a simple way to see what traffic you’re missing and where to focus your website marketing efforts? The Website Power-Up Plan gives you just that... clear insights and a path forward.
📝 Stuck on what to blog about? The Instant Blog Planner™ helps you map out 6 months of strategic blog content, informed with your own website data, in a single afternoon—so you can stop guessing and start getting found.
If you've been wondering whether podcast guesting is actually worth your time, let me tell you... it. Is. And not just in the "some expert said it works" kind of way. I teamed up with copywriter Emily Aborn and podcast pro Ande Lyons to talk about how podcast guesting can actually work as a solid marketing strategy, not just a one-off visibility boost. We covered what makes a great pitch, how to prep for interviews (without overdoing it), and the kind of energy that gets you asked back again.
👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.
🗞️ Newsletter - Digital Marketing Takeaway
📊 Want a simple way to see what traffic you’re missing and where to focus your SEO efforts? The SEO Power-Up Plan gives you just that—no fluff, just clear insights and a path forward.
📝 Stuck on what to blog about? The Instant Blog Planner™ helps you map out 6 months of strategic blog content, informed with your own website data, in a single afternoon—so you can stop guessing and start getting found.
Resources
For a lot of us, marketing is the last thing that we wanna do. It may be why you're listening to this podcast... to learn what in fact you can do to increase the visibility of your business and get more people to your website. Well you're in luck! I'm going to share some super specific things that you can do based on various effort levels.
👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.
🗞️ Newsletter - Digital Marketing Takeaway
📊 Want a simple way to see what traffic you’re missing and where to focus your SEO efforts? The SEO Power-Up Plan gives you just that—no fluff, just clear insights and a path forward.
📝 Stuck on what to blog about? The Instant Blog Planner™ helps you map out 6 months of strategic blog content, informed with your own website data, in a single afternoon—so you can stop guessing and start getting found.
People say "just do it". Like it's some act of pulling a lever that dispenses Reese's peanut butter cups. Of course I can just do thaaaat. 🤪 But following through with better morning routines, posting that great idea for a social skit (of which I have so many on my list, it's not even funny), or even publishing that ultimate guide for your blog. That's easier said than done, right? If you could just do it, it would be done. You've probably been hoping to get all those things done. In this episode, I wanna share why we have to stop hoping for results for our business and instead replace it with intention and how to go about doing that.
👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.
🗞️ Newsletter - Digital Marketing Takeaway
📊 Want a simple way to see what traffic you’re missing and where to focus your SEO efforts? The SEO Power-Up Plan gives you just that—no fluff, just clear insights and a path forward.
📝 Stuck on what to blog about? The Instant Blog Planner™ helps you map out 6 months of strategic blog content, informed with your own website data, in a single afternoon—so you can stop guessing and start getting found.
In this episode I chat with Rael Bricker, a seasoned business owner living in Perth, Australia. He starts with the essential aspect of prioritizing sales over marketing for entrepreneurial success and discusses how integral sales skills are in the business world. Rael also provides valuable strategies on becoming a successful public speaker, emphasizing the importance of having a compelling message and effectively structuring presentations. The conversation transitions into practical AI tools for business productivity. Wrapping up, Rael emphasizes the significance of resilience, embracing change, and focusing on solution-oriented thinking for business growth.
00:00 Introduction to the Small Business Sweet Spot
00:26 A Personal Insight on Life in Perth
02:31 The Importance of Sales Over Marketing
07:55 The Journey to Becoming a Professional Speaker
17:15 Building Resilience and Positivity in Business
21:04 Personal Reflections
21:27 Starting a Business - From Fluke to Success
21:54 The Flaws of Consulting Firms
22:25 Winning Contracts and Seizing Opportunities
23:28 The Evolution of a Mortgage Business
24:11 The Importance of Passion and Flexibility in Business
25:46 Embracing Emerging Technologies
27:36 Practical AI Tools for Entrepreneurs
31:10 The Future of Work and AI
36:16 Give Up Control to Gain Control
👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.
🗞️ Newsletter - Digital Marketing Takeaway
📊 Want a simple way to see what traffic you’re missing and where to focus your SEO efforts? The SEO Power-Up Plan gives you just that—no fluff, just clear insights and a path forward.
📝 Stuck on what to blog about? The Instant Blog Planner™ helps you map out 6 months of strategic blog content, informed with your own website data, in a single afternoon—so you can stop guessing and start getting found.
🤗 You are personally invited! Listen for details on an upcoming live workshop for podcast guesting.
No over complicated tool need to track changes you make on your website. 💡 Listen in for the simplest way to keep track of your changes.
👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.
🗞️ Newsletter - Digital Marketing Takeaway
📊 Want a simple way to see what traffic you’re missing and where to focus your SEO efforts? The SEO Power-Up Plan gives you just that—no fluff, just clear insights and a path forward.
📝 Stuck on what to blog about? The Instant Blog Planner™ helps you map out 6 months of strategic blog content, informed with your own website data, in a single afternoon—so you can stop guessing and start getting found.
A couple of the myths around starting a podcast are pretty beat to death. And Carl Richards, of Podcast Solutions Made Simple, shares some new ones. Listen in as he shares 5 myths and his perspective on the role of AI in podcasting and whether or not video is required.
👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.
🗞️ Newsletter - Digital Marketing Takeaway
📊 Want a simple way to see what traffic you’re missing and where to focus your SEO efforts? The SEO Power-Up Plan gives you just that—no fluff, just clear insights and a path forward.
📝 Stuck on what to blog about? The Instant Blog Planner™ helps you map out 6 months of strategic blog content, informed with your own website data, in a single afternoon—so you can stop guessing and start getting found.
Lots of businesses use AI copywriters... but should you or I?
👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.
🗞️ Newsletter - Digital Marketing Takeaway
📊 Want a simple way to see what traffic you’re missing and where to focus your SEO efforts? The SEO Power-Up Plan gives you just that—no fluff, just clear insights and a path forward.
📝 Stuck on what to blog about? The Instant Blog Planner™ helps you map out 6 months of strategic blog content, informed with your own website data, in a single afternoon—so you can stop guessing and start getting found.