Small Business Marketing

It’s time for my daily dose of marketing caffeine. Today I’m talking about the customer journey and the theory of constraints. First, what is the theory of constraints? To keep it really simple, it’s a bottleneck that’s preventing you from achieving your goal. For example, if you want to pour soda from a bottle into your glass it has to pass through the bottleneck. You can’t pour it any faster because the bottleneck is small. But the interesting thing is actually how most people try to solve this problem. They get a bigger mug, they shake the bottle, they ask someone else to do it!! It doesn’t matter what you change, if you don’t deal with the bottleneck you can’t speed up the process. Now what does that have to do with marketing and the customer journey? Your customer is on a journey right now. First they need to become aware of your product or service. Then they can consider and compare you to arrive at a buying decision. If you’re a good fit you acquire them and take their money. Then they move to the adoption phase, they start using your product or service. If they’re happy they end up at the end of their journey in the advocate stage where they tell others. This journey has a bottleneck. It’s different for each business, and only you know where it is. The key is for you to put all your energy into fixing the bottleneck, nothing else. If you’re successful the bottleneck will change and you can repeat the process. Where people go wrong is they put energy into marketing that has zero impact on the bottleneck. If nobody knows about you, it doesn’t matter how good your product is. …more

I will build a free website for any new coach or consultant who subscribes to Radi8 this month. For most coaches and consultants going out on their own, the website is the thing that never gets done. You know it matters. It's where a referral goes to size you up before they ever reach out. But it sits at the bottom of the list, behind actual client work — half-built, and saying a fraction of what you'd say if someone asked you across a table. But a website isn't decoration. It's evidence. It's where the market watches how you think before they decide to book a call. When it's vague, the people most likely to hire you quietly move on, and you never see it happen. So this month I'm doing something about it. Anyone who subscribes to Radi8 this month, I'll build the website myself, no charge. Radi8 keeps you visible and posting consistently. The site gives that work a home the right clients can actually find. This isn't a blank template you look wrestle with alone. We get the positioning right first — who you help and what changes for them — then I build a site that carries it. If yours has been on the someday list, consider this the nudge. Details and link in the first comment. What's the one thing your current website fails to say about the work you actually do? #IndependentConsultant #Coaching #Positioning #PersonalBrand #GoingIndependent …more

I'm putting on a workshop for small business owners on May 28th in San Jose at the MLK Library. It's hosted by the Silicon Valley Small Business Development Center, and the focus is simple: how to use AI and social media without living on it all day. Most small business owners I work with tell me the same thing. They know they need to post. They know they need to stay active. But they hate the time it takes, and they never know what to say. That's the problem I solve. Not with another content calendar template. Not with another AI tool that spits out generic posts. But with one repeatable workflow that takes 15 minutes a day and fits your business. I've launched three startups. One ended in an acquisition. I've spent years building go-to-market strategies and helping founders run their own marketing without burning out. The truth is you don't need a marketing team. You need one habit that works. At this workshop, I'll walk you through the practical workflows and time-saving templates you can start using the next day. No fluff. No theory. Just the systems I use with clients who need to stay visible without adding another full-time job. If you can't make it to San Jose but you want help building your own 15-minute marketing habit, I'm offering free 15–20 minute marketing audits. I'll review what you're doing now, give you one or two quick wins, and build your first week of content with you. Book the audit: https://www.radi8.com/free-audit?utm_source=linkedin&utm_campaign=free_audit&utm_content=post_id Or if you're in the Bay Area on May 28th, I'd love to see you at the workshop. …more

Radi8 Beta is over - We are live! Try it free https://www.radi8.com If you have been putting off consistent marketing because it felt like too much time or too much money, Radi8 is built for that exact problem. Send me a message if you want a walkthrough or have questions about which plan makes sense for your business. https://www.radi8.com/pricing …more

As founder of my own Santa Cruz Startup, @Radi8, I encourage Santa Cruz small business owners to complete the Santa Cruz Works Work-Life survey. Your responses will help shape local programs, events and benefits. All participants are entered to win gifts from UpperCrust, Merge4, Laili, Pleasure Pizza, Big Basin Vineyards, Humble Sea and Chaminade Resort and Spa. Winners announced May 7. Take the survey: https://www.santacruzworks.org/news/2026worklivesurvey If you're a local business owner, comment and I’ll reach out to discuss simple marketing steps based on the results. #SantaCruz …more

As founder of Radi8, I see how many small business owners dislike posting but know they must stay visible. Today Radi8 introduced CMO Agent, an AI agent that builds your digital marketing strategy, coordinates content creation, and schedules posts. It turns marketing from a time sink into a reliable system so you can stay engaged without extra hours. See for yourself at https://www.radi8.com #smallbusiness …more

You’ve heard of SBDC and SBIR/STTR, but probably not APEX. APEX Accelerators are government-funded programs that help small businesses win federal, state, and local contracts at no cost. We have an APEX Accelerator in Monterey Bay that is well connected and can get your technology in front of the right government orgs. If you’re rethinking growth channels and want practical next steps, send me a message. #govcon https://montereybayapex.org/ …more

From running small growth experiments at startups, I learned that local businesses do best when attention is tied to action. Flip's approach, building simple systems that link social posts, customer data, and basic automation, turns organic interest into predictable, trackable revenue without paid ads. Practical steps: map the post-to-sale journey, capture contact data early, automate low-friction follow-up, and measure conversions not impressions. If you are testing organic channels, send me a message. #startups https://www.santacruzworks.org/news/flip-commerce-rethinking …more