Blog
The latest articles, guides, and updates from our team.
How to Choose a Small Business Marketing Agency (2026)
Almost every small business owner I talk to has a story about a marketing company that didn't work out. Long contracts. Reports full of numbers nobody could explain. A Google Ads account they didn't own. A "dedicated strategist" who turned out to be a different junior hire every quarter. Hiring the…
21 Local Marketing Ideas for Small Businesses (2026)
Local marketing is the one place small businesses have a real edge. You can't outspend a national chain, but you can out-know, out-show-up, and out-respond them in your own town. These 21 ideas are grouped by where they work: online, in your community, and with your existing customers. Most cost…
Email Marketing for Small Businesses: 2026 Setup Guide
Email is the one marketing channel you own. Google can change its algorithm, Facebook can change its feed, and ad costs can climb — but your customer list stays yours.Litmus reports an average return of $36 for every $1 spent on email marketing (Litmus). You won't hit that by sending a newsletter…
Social Media Marketing for Small Business: 2026 Guide
Most small businesses approach social media backwards. They open an account on every platform, post when they remember, and judge success by likes. Six months later they quit, convinced social "doesn't work for us."Social media works for small businesses when it has a narrow job: build trust with…
Small Business Advertising: Where to Spend First (2026)
Advertising is the fastest way to get in front of buyers — and the fastest way to waste money if you pick the wrong channel or send traffic to a weak website. This guide compares the main small business advertising options, what they actually cost, and how I'd spend a first test budget for a local…
How Much Should a Small Business Spend on Marketing? (2026)
"What should I spend?" is the first question nearly every owner asks me, and the internet's answer — "7 to 8% of revenue, per the SBA" — is only half right.This post gives you real benchmarks, a better way to set your number, and a starter split for where the money should go. It's part of our Small…
Small Business Marketing Plan: One-Page Template (2026)
Most small business marketing plans die in a folder. They're 30 pages long, written once for a loan application, and never opened again.A plan you'll use is short enough to tape to your monitor. This post walks through a one-page marketing plan, section by section, with a fill-in template at the…
Marketing Strategies for Small Businesses: 2026 Guide
Most small business marketing advice is a list of 50 tactics. That is the problem. Owners do not fail because they lack ideas; they fail because they spread a small budget across too many channels, never follow up on the leads they do get, and can't tell what's working.This guide is the hub of our…
How Google's 2026 Updates Impact Small Businesses – A Guide
Three Big Shifts You Need to Understand1. The March 2026 Core Update Was One of the Wildest in YearsGoogle's first major core update of 2026 began rolling out on March 27 and completed on April 8. The numbers tell the story: nearly 80% of URLs in the top three search positions changed their…