Let's put the cherry on top of your 2025 marketing toolkit with a long-form episode on 2025 Marketing Trends!

To do that, I'm joined by communications strategist Amanda Laird to chat about four things she's forecasting for the year ahead, including:

• AI operations & optimization — plus the need to disclose how we're using AI in our work 🤖
• Big shifts in the social media landscape — including the fall of X, the rise of Bluesky, "free speech" on Facebook & more 🪨
• Substack's slow & steady descent from newsletter service to social media platform... 🫠
• & The return to IRL events — plus more intimacy in our online spaces 🫂

   
Tune in for a gently-guided look into the murky crystal ball of online biz in 2025. Then join us in the Clubhouse for our members-only biz forecast episodes throughout the year!

MORE FROM AMANDA
🐌 Visit the Slow & Steady website
📩 Sign up for Amanda's newsletter
🎧 Listen to Amanda's previous appearance on Off the Grid (Apple Podcasts, Spotify)

 
RESOURCES + LINKS
👋 Download the FREE Leaving Social Media Toolkit
🌐 Join the Interweb for courses + community
🌸 Peep the Clubhouse for bonus episodes + emails
💌 Try Flodesk for easy email marketing, forms + e-commerce & use this link for 50% off your first year (affiliate link)

  
FREE GIFTS OF THE WEEK

❊ Rebel Archetype Assessment from Meg Kissack

❊ Standout Reinventions series on Substack from Kevin Chung

❊ Enter to win a free monthly website review from Ana Luísa

❊ More free resources from Close Biz Friends!

🌟 Join COME TO CLASS — a 3-day intensive on how to teach online with confidence & care. Rescheduled for June 4th, 5th & 6th. Learn more & sign up here: https://softersounds.notion.site/come-to-class

Today we're revealing the third tool in your 2025 marketing toolkit, and I'm resharing our BEST OF episode where Michelle Warner teaches us all about relationship marketing!

With an MBA from one of the world’s top business schools and 15+ years experience growing small businesses, Michelle designs tiny companies that are built to last. She’s also the creator of Networking That Pays, the introvert-friendly connection system that brings in reliable leads, consistent referrals and meaningful connections for your business — in just 5 minutes a day.
 

Together, Michelle and I talk about:

• What relationship marketing is
• The difference between relationship marketing & traffic marketing
• How a network can support your business
• Who needs to be in your network (& who doesn’t)
• How to “borrow an audience” & why it’s so effective
• The one type of content you need to have for relationship marketing to work

 
MORE FROM MICHELLE

⏱️ Get Michelle’s free workshop 5 Minutes A Day to a Network That Pays
🎧 Listen to Michelle's podcast Sequence Over Strategy

 
RESOURCES + LINKS
👋 Download the FREE Leaving Social Media Toolkit
🌐 Join the Interweb for courses + community
🌸 Peep the Clubhouse for bonus episodes + emails
💌 Try Flodesk for easy email marketing, forms + e-commerce & use this link for 50% off your first year (affiliate link)

  
FREE GIFTS OF THE WEEK

❊ Rebel Archetype Assessment from Meg Kissack

❊ Standout Reinventions series on Substack from Kevin Chung

❊ Enter to win a free monthly website review from Ana Luísa

❊ More free resources from Close Biz Friends!

🌟 Join COME TO CLASS — a 3-day intensive on how to teach online with confidence & care. Rescheduled for June 4th, 5th & 6th. Learn more & sign up here: https://softersounds.notion.site/come-to-class

At long last, we’ve got an episode exploring all things podcast guesting! And to do that I’m joined by return guest, portfolio career expert, and founder of Inner Workout, Taylor Elyse Morrison.
 

Together we get into:

• What podcast guesting is (and what it isn’t)
• How to know if you should start a podcast or focus on podcast guesting
• A pep talk for boosting your confidence on the mic
• 3 things to do before you focus on podcast guesting
• Examples of how to develop pitch topics for a few different types of businesses + creators

 
And if you’re ready to put all this into action, please let me recommend Taylor’s new course, Grow Your Brand by Podcast Guesting! I’m a guest expert on one of the sections, and you can use the code OFFTHEGRID FOR $50 off if you sign up by the end of January.

MORE FROM TAYLOR

👀 Read Taylor’s blog posts on how podcast guesting fits into your marketing strategy + how to make the most of being a podcast guest

📈 Use the code OFFTHEGRID for $50 off Grow Your Brand By Podcast Guesting (code expires 1/31/25)

RESOURCES + LINKS
👋 Download the FREE Leaving Social Media Toolkit
🌐 Join the Interweb for courses + community
🌸 Peep the Clubhouse for bonus episodes + emails
💌 Try Flodesk for easy email marketing, forms + e-commerce & use this link for 50% off your first year (affiliate link)

  
FREE GIFTS OF THE WEEK

❊ Rebel Archetype Assessment from Meg Kissack

❊ Standout Reinventions series on Substack from Kevin Chung

❊ Enter to win a free monthly website review from Ana Luísa

❊ More free resources from Close Biz Friends!

🌟 Join COME TO CLASS — a 3-day intensive on how to teach online with confidence & care. Rescheduled for June 4th, 5th & 6th. Learn more & sign up here: https://softersounds.notion.site/come-to-class

Welcome to our 2025 Marketing Toolkit! Today on the pod, we’re talking all things email marketing with Allea Grummert of Duett.

Tune in to learn:

• 5 reasons email might be the best marketing channel for your business
• What a welcome sequence is + why it’s different than a nurture sequence
• How to find the right email platform for you
• Why email segments + tags help you be your best, most multi-passionate self
• How Allea solves Amelia’s biggest email problem in 2 minutes
• Intermediate + advanced email strategies like link triggers, nested sequences and automated sales funnels

 
Whether you're an email beginner just starting your list or a seasoned pro hoping to bump up those click rates, this episode has supportive, implementable advice for you! I hope you'll tune in and share it with a friend xo
 
MORE FROM ALLEA
📩 Get all the email goods from Allea + Duett right here
🎧 Listen to Allea's podcast Happy Subscribers

RESOURCES + LINKS
👋 Download the FREE Leaving Social Media Toolkit
🌐 Join the Interweb for courses + community
🌸 Peep the Clubhouse for bonus episodes + emails
💌 Try Flodesk for easy email marketing, forms + e-commerce & use this link for 50% off your first year (affiliate link)

  
FREE GIFTS OF THE WEEK

❊ Rebel Archetype Assessment from Meg Kissack

❊ Standout Reinventions series on Substack from Kevin Chung

❊ Enter to win a free monthly website review from Ana Luísa

❊ More free resources from Close Biz Friends!

🌟 Join COME TO CLASS — a 3-day intensive on how to teach online with confidence & care. Rescheduled for June 4th, 5th & 6th. Learn more & sign up here: https://softersounds.notion.site/come-to-class

Happy New Year & welcome to season five of Off the Grid! 

Today we're kicking off this year-in-biz with a fun new format — five episodes in five days!

Press play to hear all about it, and tune in this week to learn:

• Our top 3 marketing strategies for 2025
• Need-to-know advice for email marketing beginners & pros
• How to be a better guest on better podcasts
• Why relationships always matter
• & What trends will grab extra attention in the year ahead!

You'll hear from amazing guests like Allea Grummert, Taylor Elyse Morrison, Michelle Warner, and Amanda Laird. It's basically a mini-of-the-moment-marketing-masterclass all for free on the pod feed this week! So please subscribe and share it with a friend xo


RESOURCES + LINKS
👋 Get the FREE Leaving Social Media Toolkit
🌐 Join the Interweb for courses + community
🌸 Peep the Clubhouse for bonus episodes + emails
💌 Try Flodesk for easy email marketing, forms + e-commerce & use this link for 50% off your first year (affiliate link)

In this BEST OF episode, we dive deep what it means to feel seen and how social media is messing with our sense of self-worth and community connection.

Tune in to hear me break down:

• What it means to "feel seen" online & offline
• Why visibility ≠ connection (or $ales)
• Ways to find connection in your work & life without being on the apps

And if you're thinking of stepping back from social media, go ahead & download our FREE Leaving Social Media Toolkit today! 🩵

  
FREE GIFTS OF THE WEEK

❊ Rebel Archetype Assessment from Meg Kissack

❊ Standout Reinventions series on Substack from Kevin Chung

❊ Enter to win a free monthly website review from Ana Luísa

❊ More free resources from Close Biz Friends!

🌟 Join COME TO CLASS — a 3-day intensive on how to teach online with confidence & care. Rescheduled for June 4th, 5th & 6th. Learn more & sign up here: https://softersounds.notion.site/come-to-class

Today we’re diving into the emotional depths of what happens after you break up with social media. Because it turns out that logging off the apps is only the first step...

Tune in to this BEST OF episode to hear more about:

• The stages of grieving that come before the stages of leaving
• Everything that comes up after you leave social media AKA burn out, creation, return to human pace, loving it + relationship renewal
• The magic that can happen when the space currently filled with social media is free again
• My personal experience of loneliness setting in two years after leaving social media

 
Know someone who’s thinking of getting off social media? Share this episode with them! 👋 And if you're thinking of leaving yourself, make sure to download our free Leaving Social Media Toolkit!

  
FREE GIFTS OF THE WEEK

❊ Rebel Archetype Assessment from Meg Kissack

❊ Standout Reinventions series on Substack from Kevin Chung

❊ Enter to win a free monthly website review from Ana Luísa

❊ More free resources from Close Biz Friends!

🌟 Join COME TO CLASS — a 3-day intensive on how to teach online with confidence & care. Rescheduled for June 4th, 5th & 6th. Learn more & sign up here: https://softersounds.notion.site/come-to-class

Welcome new friends from We Can Do Hard Things! In this BEST OF episode, I'm sharing the story of why I spent a decade investing my time, money & energy into Instagram...and how I eventually decided to leave all social media in April 2021.
 
Tune in to hear about—

• Why I spent ten years investing in social media
• How Instagram makes us anxiously-attached & codependent
• My #1 rule for leaving social media
• & where to get your 5-step plan for exiting any social platform

I'll be sharing two more BEST OF episodes this week to help us reflect on our relationship to social media as the year draws to a close. If you enjoy them, please download our FREE Leaving Social Media Toolkit today! 🩵

 
And if you're looking for our Flodesk link, here you go! 💌

  
FREE GIFTS OF THE WEEK

❊ Rebel Archetype Assessment from Meg Kissack

❊ Standout Reinventions series on Substack from Kevin Chung

❊ Enter to win a free monthly website review from Ana Luísa

❊ More free resources from Close Biz Friends!

🌟 Join COME TO CLASS — a 3-day intensive on how to teach online with confidence & care. Rescheduled for June 4th, 5th & 6th. Learn more & sign up here: https://softersounds.notion.site/come-to-class

Welcome to the season four finale of Off the Grid! Today I'm joined by acupuncturist, herbalist, breathwork facilitator, + clinic co-owner Amy Kuretsky to talk about everything creative small business.
 
In this conversation, Amy walks us through how she built a successful brick and mortar business AND a successful online business over the past decade. Then she explains what led her to wind down + close her online business a little over a year ago — including how endings can be messy, no matter how much permission you give yourself to change.
 
So the first 55 minutes is a deep dive into Amy's business journey and the many, many lessons she's learned. Then in the last 40 minutes, Amy offers us her best advice for brick and mortar businesses, including how to grow your space, lead a team, and market to IRL communities.
 
You absolutely do not want to miss this episode, and at 95 minutes it's a nice snack to chew on while the show goes on break until January. 🩵 See you in 2025, friends! xo, Amelia

   
🪩 Explore our resources + offerings:

• Thinking of leaving social media?  Download our FREE Leaving Social Media Toolkit 👋  
• Want more Off the Grid episodes + emails? Join us in the Clubhouse on Substack 🤸
• Ready to build a successful, sustainable business without relying on social? Join The Interweb — our affordable, annual membership full of courses + community support 🌈 
• Want to share your work with hundreds of amazing artists and small business owners? Place an ad on Off the Grid next season!  🧲 

  
FREE GIFTS OF THE WEEK

❊ Rebel Archetype Assessment from Meg Kissack

❊ Standout Reinventions series on Substack from Kevin Chung

❊ Enter to win a free monthly website review from Ana Luísa

❊ More free resources from Close Biz Friends!

🌟 Join COME TO CLASS — a 3-day intensive on how to teach online with confidence & care. Rescheduled for June 4th, 5th & 6th. Learn more & sign up here: https://softersounds.notion.site/come-to-class

This is a free preview of a paid episode  —  where I am joined by Taylor Elyse Morrison to talk about what it means that Tiktok is publishing print books now — and why we both got the ick upon reading the announcement.

Together we unpack:

• The craftsmanship of creating a book + why it’s a community effort
• How fast Tiktok curates taste + colonizes our attention
• The dangers of data-optimizing art
• Books vs movies vs music in the age of algorithms
• The power of taking back our attention

 
To hear the whole episode, join the Clubhouse at offthegrid.fun/clubhouse

When you do, you'll get access to over 30 bonus episodes (and counting), curated tech + creative business newsletters, and more. Plus your own private podcast feed, comments threads, and behind-the-scenes updates on the show.

Please join the Clubhouse to support the show! And find this specific episode here :)