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Your ads can get clicks like crazy and still produce zero sales. That’s the uncomfortable truth we’re getting into, and I’m sharing a story I don’t love telling because it felt like failure even when I did the work the right way. An out-of-state client found me through Google, signed on for a bigger-than-usual proposal, and I thought it was proof my marketing strategy and SEO efforts were paying off. Then the real test hit: launching a construction software product in a bruta

Your business can be solid and you can still have weeks that feel like the wheels are about to come off. I talk through one of those stretches: long days, nonstop demands, and that nagging feeling that everyone wants everything “yesterday.” But instead of spiraling, I focus on the mindset shifts that keep me steady as a business owner and service provider, especially as I write my next book, Hustle Like a Boss (launching January 2027). We get practical about boundaries that p

Leadership can look powerful on the outside while feeling painfully quiet on the inside. We’re Kayla and Shelby, and we get real about the loneliness that shows up when you’re a woman leading teams, building a business, and trying to have a life that doesn’t collapse under the mental load. If you’ve ever skipped the networking night because it’s your only time with your kid, or felt like nobody in the room understands what you’re carrying, this conversation is for you. We tal

“Reasonable” sounds friendly until you’re the one paying the bills behind the scenes. I’m Shelby McFarland, and I’m joined by my hair boss Rachel Harris to get real about the stuff small business owners vent about after hours: price pressure, discount culture, picky customers, and the quiet fear of a bad review when you’re doing everything you can to make it right. We talk about why you truly can’t have “the best” and “the cheap” at the same time, and how experience, licensin

Meta ads can feel like a maze, especially if you remember when running Facebook and Instagram ads meant guessing at budgets, demographics, and settings you did not fully trust. I walk you through the approach I use now, after years of hands-on work, to make Meta ads simpler, more predictable, and far more useful for small businesses and local service brands that want real results. We talk budget strategy with clear examples, including what to do when you only have $100 per mo

You can run a business, manage clients, and make high-stakes calls all day then suddenly feel stuck choosing dinner, deciding whether your kid needs the doctor, or figuring out what to wear. That’s not a character flaw. That’s decision fatigue, and it’s often fueled by the mental load we carry as women, moms, and default planners. We dig into the real-life moments that drain us: last-minute school updates, sick kids, travel choices, and the constant stream of questions that l

Your marketing budget feels tight because it is tight and that’s exactly why your first moves matter. We sit down and answer the same questions we got on a local marketing panel, with straight talk on what to do first when you can’t afford to waste time or money. If you’ve ever asked “How much should I spend?” or “Where should I start?” we walk through how to think about your industry, your price point, and where your customers actually come from before you throw dollars at a

If you’ve ever stared at a quiet inbox and wondered whether you should quit and go back to a 9 to 5, this conversation is for you. I’m Shelby McFarland, the marketing broker, and I’m laying out the mindset shift that keeps entrepreneurs, salespeople, and marketers moving when doubt gets loud: you are in control of your business success, but only if you act like it. I walk through a real story from my own business where I set an aggressive goal to make $8,000 in sales in seven

Recruiting can feel like a totally different world from marketing, until you hear how Demi Mathis actually does it. Demi is a business development officer at Northwestern Mutual in Arkansas, and her day-to-day sounds a lot like what marketers preach: know your audience, show up consistently, start real conversations, and build trust long before you ask for a yes. We get into the behind-the-scenes of what it takes to attract interns, career changers, and entrepreneurial people

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