Are hashtags still relevant on Instagram in 2026… or are they basically pointless now? There’s a lot of confusion around hashtags right now, especially with so many people saying different things. In this episode, Leslie breaks down what hashtags can still do specifically for local business owners, what’s changed on Instagram and how local business owners should think about visibility in 2026.

Tune into this episode to learn:

• How Instagram determines who to show your content to in 2026
• The 2 best practices for using hashtags to reach more local people in 2026
• The difference between being proactive and being optimized on Instagram — and why you need both
  
  

Mentioned in this episode:

• Get found, followed and booked by people in your city with The Local Instagram Formula
• Download my Free Guide: How To Grow Your Local Instagram Following
• Get fully booked inside The Localpreneur Academy
• Follow me on Instagram @‌lesliepresnall

If you’re ready to grow your local business and bring in a steady stream of clients, you need to check out The Localpreneur Academy. Click here to join me inside.

Rate, Review & Follow:

“I LOVE listening to the episodes, especially since they’re focused on local businesses and it’s not just generic marketing advice.” If you love the show too, please leave a rating and review. This helps me reach more people just like you who want to reach more local people and create a business they love.

FREE TRAINING:
How To Get Local Clients From Social Media (Even If Your Reach Is Low)

Click here to register for this free training happening on Monday, March 30 at 12PM CT

Are you waiting for something outside of you to finally make you feel more confident, more legit or more established in your city?

In this episode, Leslie breaks down one of the sneaky thoughts that can keep local business owners playing smaller than they want to. If you’ve been hesitating to follow up, put yourself out there, send the email, pitch the collaboration or market your business more boldly, this episode will help you see what may really be going on underneath the surface.

Tune into this episode to learn:

• The sneaky thought that may be keeping you stuck at your current level and how it's affecting how you market and sell in your business
• Why waiting to feel “established” is slowing your growth
• Why feeling established, confident, and credible starts with your thinking first — not your circumstances.
  
  

Mentioned in this episode:

• Work with me inside The Localpreneur Academy
• Follow me on Instagram @‌lesliepresnall
• Download my Free Guide: How To Grow Your Local Instagram Following
  
  

If you’re ready to grow your local business and bring in a steady stream of clients, you need to check out The Localpreneur Academy. Click here to join me inside.

Rate, Review & Follow:

“I LOVE listening to the episodes, especially since they’re focused on local businesses and it’s not just generic marketing advice.” If you love the show too, please leave a rating and review. This helps me reach more people just like you who want to reach more local people and create a business they love.

FREE TRAINING:
How To Get Local Clients From Social Media (Even If Your Reach Is Low)

Click here to register for this free training happening on Monday, March 30 at 12PM CT

In this special 150th episode of the Grow Your Local Business Podcast, I’m doing something different.

I originally planned to record an Ask Me Anything episode, but after seeing how many of your questions were really about me and my story, I decided to take this episode in a different direction.

So today, I’m pulling back the curtain and sharing the full journey... from growing up in North Louisiana, to dreaming of working for a fashion magazine in New York City, to becoming a teacher, blogger, event host, social media manager and eventually the local marketing coach I am today.

This episode is personal, but it’s also a lesson for you: your audience wants to know you.

They don’t just want your tips, your strategy or your how-to content. They want your story, your personality, your life and the things that make you you.

That connection is what builds trust, relationships and real demand over time.

Inside this episode, I’m sharing how I built a name for myself locally in Baton Rouge, how my local blog turned into sold-out events and a thriving community, how I left teaching, found coaching, launched The Localpreneur Academy, and why I eventually let go of one business to fully go all in on the one I have now.

If you’ve ever wondered where I started, how I got here, or what this whole business journey has really looked like behind the scenes, this is it.

Tune into this episode to learn:

• How my career evolved from magazine editor to teacher, blogger, event host, social media manager and coach
• The pivot that helped me stand out locally and become known in my city
• How letting go of old identities, offers and distractions helped me focus and grow faster
  
  

Mentioned in this episode:

• Work with me inside The Localpreneur Academy
• Follow me on Instagram @‌lesliepresnall
• Download my Free Guide: How To Grow Your Local Instagram Following
• Episode #63: Leaving My Full-time Job and Facing My Worst Case Scenario
  
  

If you’re ready to grow your local business and bring in a steady stream of clients, you need to check out The Localpreneur Academy. Click here to join me inside.

Rate, Review & Follow:

“I LOVE listening to the episodes, especially since they’re focused on local businesses and it’s not just generic marketing advice.” If you love the show too, please leave a rating and review. This helps me reach more people just like you who want to reach more local people and create a business they love.

FREE TRAINING:
How To Get Local Clients From Social Media (Even If Your Reach Is Low)

Click here to register for this free training happening on Monday, March 30 at 12PM CT

Do you struggle with taking photos or video for social media while you're working with clients? Do you forget to take photos or videos of your finished results or final product? Do you feel like you don't have anything to post on social media because you never collect content?

Then this episode is for you! I'm sharing lots of examples and ways to easily work getting content with your clients into your regular routine.


Tune into this episode to learn:

• How to plan for getting content and making it part of your workflow
• How to be proactive with collecting content vs leaving up to chance when working with clients
• How to have a back up plan for content when clients don't want to be featured
  
  

Mentioned in this episode:

• Work with me inside The Localpreneur Academy
• Follow me on Instagram @‌lesliepresnall
• Download my Free Guide: How To Grow Your Local Instagram Following
  
  

If you’re ready to grow your local business and bring in a steady stream of clients, you need to check out The Localpreneur Academy. Click here to join me inside.

Rate, Review & Follow:

“I LOVE listening to the episodes, especially since they’re focused on local businesses and it’s not just generic marketing advice.” If you love the show too, please leave a rating and review. This helps me reach more people just like you who want to reach more local people and create a business they love.

FREE TRAINING:
How To Get Local Clients From Social Media (Even If Your Reach Is Low)

Click here to register for this free training happening on Monday, March 30 at 12PM CT

Erica started High Five Ceramics just over a year ago and in her first year in business, she went from “brand new” to booked out fast. She hit her revenue goal, booked 560 appointments and was highly visible in her community through pop-up shops and markets.

This created the kind of local demand that forced her to hire help and expand her space sooner than she expected. In this episode, Erica breaks down what actually drove that momentum (spoiler: it wasn’t doing it alone), and the behind-the-scenes lessons that helped her grow fast without burning out.

In this episode you’ll learn:

• How Erica managed the fear of growing too fast and the simple ways she controls demand locally so her calendar stays full without becoming overwhelmed.
• The collaboration strategy that helped her tap into other local businesses’ audiences and get seen by thousands of people in her city.
• The market learning curve that took her from zero sales at her first market to booking 40 appointments... plus what she changed in her setup, messaging, and offer to make events actually convert.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Work with me inside The Localpreneur Academy
• Follow me on Instagram @‌lesliepresnall
• Download my Free Guide: How To Grow Your Local Instagram Following
• Follow Erica on Instagram at @highfive_ceramics and Facebook at High Five Ceramics
• Visit High Five Ceramics' Website

If you’re ready to grow your local business and bring in a steady stream of clients, you need to check out The Localpreneur Academy. Click here to join me inside.

Rate, Review & Follow:

“I LOVE listening to the episodes, especially since they’re focused on local businesses and it’s not just generic marketing advice.” If you love the show too, please leave a rating and review. This helps me reach more people just like you who want to reach more local people and create a business they love.

FREE TRAINING:
How To Get Local Clients From Social Media (Even If Your Reach Is Low)

Click here to register for this free training happening on Monday, March 30 at 12PM CT

In this shortie episode, Leslie shares the one metric she obsesses over more than anything else: sales. Yes, views, reach, followers, email stats, inquiries, consults, website traffic -- those metrics matter… but only because they’re supposed to lead somewhere.

If everything is “up” but sales aren’t coming in, you don’t have a local visibility or marketing problem, you have a conversion and selling problem.

In this episode you’ll learn:

• Why all roads lead to sales and how every other metric should be treated as a path leading to conversions
• The difference between marketing vs. selling and why growing an audience without strengthening your selling skillset leads results in less local demand
• Why you should think like a business scientist and troubleshoot what’s not converting and test new theories

Mentioned in this episode:

• Work with me inside The Localpreneur Academy
• Follow me on Instagram @‌lesliepresnall
• Download my Free Guide: How To Grow Your Local Instagram Following

If you’re ready to grow your local business and bring in a steady stream of clients, you need to check out The Localpreneur Academy. Click here to join me inside.

Rate, Review & Follow:

“I LOVE listening to the episodes, especially since they’re focused on local businesses and it’s not just generic marketing advice.” If you love the show too, please leave a rating and review. This helps me reach more people just like you who want to reach more local people and create a business they love.

FREE TRAINING:
How To Get Local Clients From Social Media (Even If Your Reach Is Low)

Click here to register for this free training happening on Monday, March 30 at 12PM CT

What if the thing that’s keeping you from becoming the local go-to in your city isn’t your visibility or marketing strategy… but the belief that you need to feel confident first?

In this episode, we’re talking about the difference between confidence and self-confidence and why self-confidence is the real skill you need to grow visibility, show up consistently on social media, put yourself out there locally and become the person people think of first.

If you’ve ever felt imposter syndrome, fear of showing up or like you’re just not good at marketing, this conversation will reframe everything (and give you a much more doable way to move forward).

In this episode you’ll learn:

• Why “confidence” is a result, not a requirement to get started and the simple mindset shift that helps you start showing up before you feel ready
• The real difference between confidence vs. self-confidence and how to use self-confidence to follow through on marketing even when you feel uncomfortable
• How to stop making “I’m bad at this” mean “I’m not cut out for this” and instead use those early messy reps to build the local visibility that eventually gets you fully booked

Mentioned in this episode:

• Work with me inside The Localpreneur Academy
• Follow me on Instagram @‌lesliepresnall
• Download my Free Guide: How To Grow Your Local Instagram Following

If you’re ready to grow your local business and bring in a steady stream of clients, you need to check out The Localpreneur Academy. Click here to join me inside.

Rate, Review & Follow:

“I LOVE listening to the episodes, especially since they’re focused on local businesses and it’s not just generic marketing advice.” If you love the show too, please leave a rating and review. This helps me reach more people just like you who want to reach more local people and create a business they love.

FREE TRAINING:
How To Get Local Clients From Social Media (Even If Your Reach Is Low)

Click here to register for this free training happening on Monday, March 30 at 12PM CT

Today we’re talking about creating certainty to buy because every customer needs a certain level of confidence before they say yes. They need to believe you can deliver, believe the result is possible for them and believe the experience will go the way they want it to go.

In this episode, I break down three simple ways to create more certainty in your marketing and I share real stories from my own life to show you exactly how a missing process can destroy buyer confidence instantly.

In this episode you’ll learn:

• How to build certainty in you as the local go-to so people know you're the best choice
• How to build certainty in your audience so they believe they can have/achieve what you're offering
• Why sharing your process is one of the fastest ways to increase certainty (and how a clear process removes buyer anxiety)

Mentioned in this episode:

• Work with me inside The Localpreneur Academy
• Follow me on Instagram @‌lesliepresnall
• Download my Free Guide: How To Grow Your Local Instagram Following

If you’re ready to grow your local business and bring in a steady stream of clients, you need to check out The Localpreneur Academy. Click here to join me inside.

Rate, Review & Follow:

“I LOVE listening to the episodes, especially since they’re focused on local businesses and it’s not just generic marketing advice.” If you love the show too, please leave a rating and review. This helps me reach more people just like you who want to reach more local people and create a business they love.

FREE TRAINING:
How To Get Local Clients From Social Media (Even If Your Reach Is Low)

Click here to register for this free training happening on Monday, March 30 at 12PM CT

I’m sitting down with my student Tyler Blankenship, a home technology contractor in Durham, North Carolina. Six months ago when he joined The Localpreneur Academy, his business felt like a rollercoaster. Some weeks he’d get calls… some weeks it was crickets.

Even though he’d been in business for 4 years, he wasn’t getting the traction he expected. He would "panic market" and make his to-do list a mile long to reach clients.

But once he joined The Localpreneur Academy, he constrained his marketing plan, focused on mastering ONE skill that could create consistent leads and committed to showing up from a totally different identity.

And within 6 months…

He's fully booked with a month-long waitlist

He landed his biggest project ever (10x bigger!)

And his confidence is on a completely different level

In this episode, he's sharing how you don’t need more tactics... you need a simpler plan + the belief to stick with it.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Work with Tyler at Elevate Technologies
• Follow him on Instagram @elevatehometech and on Facebook
• Work with me inside The Localpreneur Academy
• Follow me on Instagram @‌lesliepresnall
• Download my Free Guide: How To Grow Your Local Instagram Following

If you’re ready to grow your local business and bring in a steady stream of clients, you need to check out The Localpreneur Academy. Click here to join me inside.

Rate, Review & Follow:

“I LOVE listening to the episodes, especially since they’re focused on local businesses and it’s not just generic marketing advice.” If you love the show too, please leave a rating and review. This helps me reach more people just like you who want to reach more local people and create a business they love.

FREE TRAINING:
How To Get Local Clients From Social Media (Even If Your Reach Is Low)

Click here to register for this free training happening on Monday, March 30 at 12PM CT

I genuinely think it’s going to get easier and easier to stand out as the local go-to in your city... even if your industry feels saturated.

And it’s not because you found the perfect viral hook or used the trend of the week.

It’s because the people who are going to win in 2026 and beyond are the ones creating original content. The content that sounds like you, feels like you and can’t be replicated.

In this episode, I’m breaking down what’s been happening online over the past few years (hello AI content + viral trend overload)… and how you can use this moment to become the one people remember, trust and choose locally.

Because reaching people and standing out are NOT the same thing.

And I want you to be remembered.

In this episode you’ll learn:

• Why AI content + viral trends have made everyone’s marketing look “good”… but also made it way harder to stand out (and what to do instead)
• The real difference between reaching more people and standing out as the local go-to they actually remember and trust
• The simple mindset shift that helps you step into your authority as the expert in your city

Mentioned in this episode:

• Work with me inside The Localpreneur Academy
• Follow me on Instagram @‌lesliepresnall
• Download my Free Guide: How To Grow Your Local Instagram Following

If you’re ready to grow your local business and bring in a steady stream of clients, you need to check out The Localpreneur Academy. Click here to join me inside.

Rate, Review & Follow:

“I LOVE listening to the episodes, especially since they’re focused on local businesses and it’s not just generic marketing advice.” If you love the show too, please leave a rating and review. This helps me reach more people just like you who want to reach more local people and create a business they love.

FREE TRAINING:
How To Get Local Clients From Social Media (Even If Your Reach Is Low)

Click here to register for this free training happening on Monday, March 30 at 12PM CT