Thomas asks, “Is SEO still accessible to small businesses?” SEO is a high knowledge discipline. That knowledge is largely free, though some of the tools are not. However, it’s not something that’s both high knowledge and high cost, like search engine marketing (SEM) is. SEO requires three kinds of knowledge: domain expertise, audience knowledge, and…
Summary In today's episode, I answer Thomas's question about whether SEO is still accessible to small businesses and break down the three branches of knowledge required to make it work. Here's what this means for you. SEO is financially within reach for small businesses, but it demands a serious time investment across technical, domain, and…
Summary In today's episode, I break down how to choose the right landing page platform for a short-term client campaign and why you may not need a separate tool at all. Here's what this means for you. You'll save money and avoid analytics headaches by leveraging your existing website, CMS, or marketing automation software instead…
Robyn asks, “What recommendations for an ecommerce platform do you have for selling digital goods?” The answer depends on the kinds of products you’re selling. For books, videos, and most digital goods, I like Gumroad. For courses, I like LearnDash. It all comes down to where the customers are, where you are, and what the…
Summary In today's episode, I walk through recommendations for e-commerce platforms tailored to selling digital goods, comparing options like Gumroad, Stripe, PayPal, and LearnDash along with marketing and CRM tools that complement them. Here's what this means for you. You can pick the right platform for what you're actually selling without overpaying in transaction fees…
Summary In today's episode, I answer Michelle's question about the single most important piece of advice for small businesses preparing for economic recovery. Here's what this means for you. You gain a clear framework for understanding cash flow, margins, and how to keep your business alive when revenue drops. You'll also learn these concepts: why…
Summary In today's episode, I address a listener's question about job losses, economic shrinkage, recovery duration, and real estate values during the pandemic, comparing the current situation to historical shocks like 9/11 and the Great Recession. Here's what this means for you. You gain a realistic framework for understanding why this downturn is fundamentally different…
Mark asks, “How do I set up virtual lessons on video with YouTube for paying customers of my company?” The simplest way to do this is with YouTube unlisted videos and your email list. Please share this video with any small business owner who isn’t sure how to get started with virtual lessons – it…
Summary In today's episode, I walk through how a small subscription brand can find the right collaboration partners by starting with the customer instead of guessing based on similar business models. Here's what this means for you. You'll move from random outreach to a data-driven shortlist of brands your customers already trust and overlap with.…
Dan asks, “What are your suggestions for an inexpensive marketing automation platform that integrates with SalesForce and either scales well or can easily be migrated to a more powerful platform down the road.” This depends on what you mean by inexpensive. How large a marketing budget are we talking? At Trust Insights, we use self-hosted…
