Send us Fan Mail

You can study marketing for years and still feel unprepared the first time a real client and a real deadline land on your plate. Mattie and Alexis step in for Shelby and tell the honest version of what it looks like to break into a marketing career when your path is not perfectly linear, from a creative background to an esthetics business owner who fell in love with the marketing side before learning the fundamentals through an online digital marketing program.

We get into how both of us actually got hired at a marketing agency, including the awkward part nobody talks about: reaching out when you think you are “not qualified enough.” One of us moved to Arkansas with no local network and job hunted through Facebook, emails, and a single Zoom call. The other leaned into persistence, followed up multiple times, and discovered that initiative and coachability can matter as much as a four year degree. If you’re searching for an entry level marketing job, a marketing internship, or a way into digital marketing without a perfect resume, you’ll hear practical, real world context.

Then we share what we’ve learned working with a marketer who stays authentic with her team and her clients, and why hands on client work changes how you think about SEO, social media strategy, content creation, and results. We close with two simple marketing tips that drive outsized impact: stay consistent with your posting schedule, and get crystal clear on your target audience so your content converts.

If this helped you, subscribe to the Marketing Happy Hour Podcast, share the episode with a friend who’s trying to get into marketing, and leave a review so more people can find it.

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

One painful week in a 500 square foot apartment changed everything for Shelby McFarland and it eventually became the foundation for how she leads, sells, and builds. Shelby shares the part of her story she rarely tells, then connects it to a simple framework she uses to guide decisions when life feels messy and business feels heavy.

We break down her BOSS mindset acronym: Bold, Opportunistic, Strong, and Service Minded. Shelby gets specific about what “bold” looks like when you’re scared, how to treat rejection as redirection, and why strength is not about pretending you’re fine, it’s about showing up anyway and owning your choices. Her favorite piece is servant-hearted leadership, and she tells a real story about helping a long-time prospect even after he signed with someone else, because doing the right thing is the brand.

Then we shift into practical digital marketing: how to increase visibility with consistency, why video is so powerful right now, what to watch in your analytics (impressions matter), and how SEO supports everything you do. Shelby also shares how she uses tools like ChatGPT for prompts and keywords while still rewriting to keep content authentic. If you’re building a business, a personal brand, or a team, you’ll leave with a mindset you can practice and a marketing plan you can stick with. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs a push, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway.

Purchase "Market Like A Boss" at shelbysmarketingbook.com

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

Your best marketing content is already happening, and it sounds a lot like the questions people keep asking you. We take the everyday conversations from sales pitches, client meetings, and team chats and turn them into a simple, repeatable content engine. When you notice the same 10 to 15 questions showing up over and over, you’re not stuck for ideas anymore, you’re sitting on a roadmap for what your audience actually needs to hear before they trust you and buy.

We walk through practical ways to reuse those answers across your marketing strategy: creating a Frequently Asked Questions page on your website, turning each question into a short video for Reels or TikTok, and rewriting the same idea as a clear static post for people who prefer text. Along the way, we connect the dots to SEO and discoverability, because when someone is searching on Google or asking AI tools for recommendations, you want your answers to be the ones that show up, sound credible, and are easy to understand.

Then we add one mindset shift that changes how you post: decide what kind of comments you want before you hit publish. Are you looking for questions, agreement, or personal stories? That one choice shapes your hook, your caption, and your call to action, and it makes your content feel intentional instead of random. Listen, grab five questions you answered today, and turn them into five days of posts, then subscribe, share the show with a business friend, and leave a review. What’s the number one question you get from potential clients?

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

People don’t choose the “best” service on paper. They choose the person they trust with their money, their time, and their expectations. Shelby McFarland sits down with Alexis Valenti to talk about what we’re both seeing right now in sales and why buyers feel more cautious, especially when they’ve had a bad experience with a past provider.

We break down the real differentiators that make someone pick you over a competitor: authenticity in your pitch, the courage to tell the truth when a solution isn’t a fit, and the patience it takes to rebuild trust after it’s been broken. Alexis brings a unique perspective as both a digital marketing consultant and an aesthetician, so we connect the dots between marketing results and personal-service results, and why both require consistency and proof over time.

We also get practical about follow-up, ghosting, and timelines. If someone isn’t interested, we’d rather hear a clear “no” than chase a “maybe” for weeks. On the business side, we talk about building a respectful sales process that sets expectations, keeps communication clean, and protects your energy. Then we dig into value vs price, including why high retainers and extra travel costs don’t automatically mean better outcomes, and how a local marketing agency can be an advantage when responsiveness and accountability matter.

If you want a stronger sales process, better proposals, and a client experience that makes trust easier, this conversation will help. Subscribe, share this with a business owner who’s hiring help right now, and leave a review. What makes you trust a provider fast?

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

Marketing can feel like a black hole: you post, you pay, you wait, and somehow nothing changes. We get real about why so many small business owners reach the point of saying, “I don’t think my marketing is working,” and why that feeling is often a signal that the strategy, expectations, or partner relationship is off, not that your business is doomed.

Shelby brings Mattie onto the mic, the teammate behind the b-roll videos and the edits, to talk about what they see in everyday conversations with business owners. We dig into the damage caused when a marketing agency promises outrageously high results and then underdelivers, leaving people skeptical of every “expert” who comes next. We also talk about what trust actually looks like in a healthy agency relationship: clear communication, realistic timelines, measurable deliverables, and a plan that fits a real-world budget.

From there we zoom out to the work itself. Mattie shares the difference between learning digital marketing in school and doing hands-on client work where budgets are tight, doubts are real, and ghosting can happen if the value is not crystal clear. We connect the dots between sales and marketing, why they have to move together, and how the right systems help you stay consistent: analytics, scheduling, CRM tools, content creation resources, and a full team focused on execution.

If you want a practical next step, we also point you to a free SEO audit so you can spot quick wins in your search engine optimization and see how you stack up against competitors. Subscribe for more small business marketing strategy, share this with a friend who feels stuck, and leave a review if it helped. What part of your marketing feels most “not working” right now?

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

You can post every day, run Google Ads, perfect your Google Business Profile, and still wonder why revenue feels stuck. The missing piece usually isn’t another platform or another funnel, it’s sales. We talk through a hard truth for small business owners and service providers: digital marketing creates interest, but it doesn’t replace the face-to-face trust that closes deals.

We dig into how social media marketing used to feel effortless when Facebook and Instagram delivered massive organic reach, then shifted as algorithms and regulation changed the game. Consistent content and smart paid ads still matter, but they work best when they support a real sales process. I share a client story from a niche product where we tried everything: social posts, AI marketing, Meta ads, Google ads, email campaigns, and broader outreach. The result was clear: none of it replaced the need to network, show up, and sell.

We also get practical about what happens after you meet someone. If you’re collecting business cards, sending proposals, or booking calls, your follow-up system is the difference between “interested” and “signed.” I explain the follow-up mindset I use, how to back your sales team with digital credibility like reviews and a solid website, and why owners often still need to be visible in the community.

If you found this helpful, subscribe, share it with a friend who’s trying to grow without a big budget, and leave a review so more business owners can find it. What part of your sales process needs the most tightening right now?

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

You know that moment when your marketing agency pulls up a dashboard and someone says, “So you’re just going to show me numbers?” We get it. But those numbers are the receipt. In this Marketing Happy Hour conversation, we walk through the core Meta analytics that show real progress on Facebook and Instagram, then translate them into plain English so you can actually use them to grow your business.

We dig into the metrics that matter most inside Meta Insights, including the difference between views and viewers, why that change is helpful, and how repetition supports the seven to ten touches people often need before they buy. We also unpack clicks, what they can represent, and why Meta’s reported website clicks might not match what you see in your website analytics. If you have ever felt confused by social media metrics, this gives you a clean way to think about tracking and reporting.

Then we talk about the frustrating reality many brands are seeing: follows and engagement are slower than they used to be. Instead of panicking, we share how to validate performance by checking whether you are still landing in news feeds and reaching the right people. You will leave with a practical monthly review mindset, plus a simple challenge to go post by post and spot what truly worked.

If this helped, subscribe, share the episode with a business owner who hates dashboards, and leave a review so more people can find the show. What metric do you want us to break down next?

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

Trying to post everywhere, run ads, keep up with algorithms, and still deliver for clients? That’s not a marketing plan, that’s burnout. We’re coming to you from a casual volunteer day at a local nonprofit that supports small businesses, and we crack open Chapter Nine of my book Market Like a Boss for a reset you can actually use.

We talk about how marketing has evolved from “hard copy” Yellow Pages and local TV to Facebook business pages, SEO, Google Business Profile, and today’s world of Meta ads, Google ads, geofencing, and constant content across multiple platforms. If it feels like the playbook changes every few years, you’re not imagining it. The point isn’t to chase every new channel. The point is to be present and consistent where it matters.

You’ll learn a practical framework: start by getting crystal clear on your ideal client avatar, then identify the top places they spend time, and pick a focused starting point instead of trying to launch five “storefronts” at once. We also cover when to delegate, how to decide what to outsource, and why “marketing magic” can’t replace hustle and ownership. Plus, we share a real story of an interior designer who built traction through networking, a strong website, and purposeful posting before scaling up.

If you found this helpful, subscribe, share the show with a friend, and leave a review so more entrepreneurs can find a simpler small business marketing strategy. What’s the one channel you’re going to commit to this month?

Support the show