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Everyone can post a photo. That does not mean they know how to market a business. We take over the mic this week and pull back the curtain on what real marketing work looks like when it is done by an actual marketing agency, not a “pop-up” marketer chasing vanity metrics. We talk through the unglamorous parts that make the glamorous parts work: client discovery meetings, defining goals, building a content strategy, doing keyword research for SEO, and writing captions with int

You can feel it before you can name it: the calendar is packed, your brain is fried, clients keep coming, and the business still won’t move to the next level. We sit down with Leia, an adult ADHD and executive function coach, to talk about the real pivot point for entrepreneurs, the moment you either cap your growth or you start delegating the work that’s quietly draining your energy. We get specific about what delegation looks like when you’re neurodivergent. Shelby shares h

Everybody has a “rule” about marketing, and most of them sound right until you try to build a real business with them. We sit down and call out four popular marketing myths that quietly waste your time: the idea that you must be on every social media platform, that good marketing should produce immediate results, that more followers automatically means more sales, and that a good product will sell itself. We talk through what actually works for small business marketing in a c

$48,000 in two weeks sounds like a book sales story, until you hear the truth: only $710 came from selling copies. What changed everything was treating the book as a marketing tool that drives real business revenue, not as the revenue itself. We share the behind the scenes strategy of how becoming “an author” can instantly upgrade your positioning, shorten the trust gap with prospects, and give you a clear reason to follow up without sounding salesy. We talk through the minds

AI is already in your customers’ feeds, your competitors’ workflows, and probably your own browser history, so the real question is whether you’ll use it with intention or let it dilute your brand. Shelby McFarland, marketing boss at The Marketing Broker, shares a grounded take on AI for small business marketing: what’s helpful, what’s overhyped, and what can quietly make your business look like everyone else. We get specific about the “don’ts,” especially AI-generated graphi

One day you’re grinding 60 to 70 hours a week and planning expansion. The next day the world shuts down, your clients panic, and your business has to reinvent itself before the bills hit. I’m Shelby McFarland, the marketing boss, and I’m telling the real story of how I survived the COVID years as both a sign shop owner and a digital marketing broker. You’ll hear how opening a second sign shop location in Stuttgart, Arkansas felt like a smart risk in January 2020 and quickly t

LinkedIn can feel like a noisy room full of “experts,” automation, and awkward cold DMs. We want to cut through that with something more useful: what’s working right now when you’re a real person trying to grow a business, land better opportunities, or build a personal brand without turning into a corporate robot. Shelby McFarland talks with LinkedIn specialist Katie Rasure about the surprising strategy that keeps paying off: human connection. We get into why giving away help

A packed room, quick questions, and the kind of answers you only get when people stop performing and start telling the truth. We’re in Conway, Arkansas at a Women in Business Showcase talking with founders, operators, and creators across interior design, events, yoga, HVAC, construction, insurance, counseling, accounting, law, and more. The focus isn’t hype, it’s what actually helps women build a business and keep their life intact while doing it. You’ll hear how entrepreneur

If you’ve ever paid for marketing and still felt like nothing changed, we’re saying the quiet part out loud: marketing can’t replace selling. Shelby McFarlane sits down with Arkansas insurance agent Nick Tubberville to unpack the difference between being visible and actually closing business, especially in industries where you’re selling something intangible like insurance coverage or digital marketing services. We talk about what really moves the needle when the phone isn’t

If your agency’s marketing sounds like “great service” and “competitive rates,” you’re not building trust, you’re blending in. On this episode, Alexis and Mattie step in for Shelby and get blunt about the phrases that make insurance agents invisible online, even when they’re genuinely excellent at what they do. When your website copy and social media posts read like everyone else’s, prospects default to price shopping or pick the brand they already recognize. We talk through

Your next month of insurance marketing is hiding in the questions your clients ask you every single day. If you’ve been stuck trying to “come up with content,” we’re flipping the process: we start with real conversations from sales calls and turn them into posts that feel natural, helpful, and easy to batch. We walk through a simple challenge: write down five questions you hear nonstop and make five pieces of content this week. Think pricing, what info you need to quote, whet

Random posting doesn’t fail because you’re not trying hard enough. It fails because it doesn’t give people a reason to trust you, understand you, or take action. We share a simple framework built for insurance agencies that want consistent leads without living on social media: three post types that work across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and beyond. First, we get clear on educational posts that actually help. Think coverage explainers, quick guidance on when to review a pol

You’re posting, you’re trying to stay consistent, and the likes are still… not there. If you’re an insurance agent staring at low engagement and wondering whether social media marketing is a waste of time, I’m going to challenge three myths that quietly sabotage good digital marketing for insurance agents. First, “If I post more, I’ll get more leads.” Consistency is non-negotiable, but more posts don’t guarantee instant inbound leads anymore because your entire community is o

If you have ever wondered “Is AI going to take my job?” I want to flip that question into something practical: how do we make AI work for your insurance agency. I share my no-hype approach to getting found on ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, and whatever comes next, without paying thousands to someone selling “AI marketing” as a mystery box. The real win is visibility, and visibility comes from becoming a clear authority online. We start with the easiest lever: your keywords. I explain

Your social media can look quiet and still be doing its job. We’re pulling back the curtain on Meta analytics so you can stop guessing and start managing your insurance agency marketing with real numbers. We walk through where to find your data inside Meta Business Suite and why reviewing a clean 30-day window makes decision-making easier. Then we unpack the metrics that matter most: viewers versus views, what that difference reveals about frequency, and why repeated exposure

Your carrier’s name might be famous, but your neighbors buy from the person they trust. We’re talking about the power of personal branding for insurance agents and why “just using the corporate logo” isn’t enough when multiple agents in the same town represent the same big-name company. I share how I like to position an agency brand so your name leads, your community remembers you, and your online profiles reinforce that recognition with consistent keywords and a clean, local

Marketing keeps changing, but most small business owners are still stuck with the same problem: trying to do everything at once and ending up exhausted. From a super casual recording spot while I’m volunteering with a local nonprofit that supports entrepreneurs, I crack open Chapter Nine of my book, Market Like A Boss, and get practical about what actually moves the needle when your time and budget are tight. The big idea is simple: you don’t need to be everywhere, just ever

The hardest truth in business might be the simplest: if you’re not funding visibility, you’re funding invisibility. Shelby opens chapter three of Market Like a Boss and takes us straight into the mindset shift that turns “How much does it cost?” into “How much should I invest to hit my goals?” From there, we get a practical, plain-english blueprint for building a real marketing budget, avoiding random acts of marketing, and creating consistency that compounds. We unpack why t

Curious why AI summaries seem to spotlight other agencies instead of yours? We dig into how tools like Google’s AI Overview, ChatGPT, and Grok actually choose their sources—and how you can become one of them. Our focus is practical and tactical: turn the questions your clients already ask into the content that search and AI love, then repeat it with a cadence you can sustain. We walk through the essentials for independent agencies who control their websites: dialed-in meta ti

Feeling lost in the AI noise? We cut through it with a clear path that blends proven SEO habits with smart, practical use of AI tools like ChatGPT and Grok—no mystery fees, no jargon. Shelby shares how to lock down your foundations first, then use AI to research, plan, and publish content that actually moves rankings and drives local traffic. We start by demystifying what AI search really does: it pulls from the open web. That means your Google Business Profile, your on-site