ChatGPT is lying to you about your keyword strategy. It has zero data on keyword volume, which means you could be targeting phrases that exactly zero people are typing into a search box.
Enjoy the episode!

👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.

Does your website even need SEO? Find out in 2 minutes 👉 https://compassdigitalstrategies.com/quiz/

🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool. This week’s recommended tool is OpusClip.

A video repurposing tool that turns your long videos into short videos.
Peek inside my toolbox.

🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is You Might Also Like: The Tamsen Show
It's a bonus episode on the Marketing Companion Show podcast.

I break my self promises all the time. I used to justify it by saying I changed my mind or thinking I need to give myself grace. But every time I don't keep my promise, it tells my brain that I can't trust myself. There's this weird line between giving myself grace and holding my promises. I don't think there's anything ground breaking in this one but I did enjoy listening to the one promise tactic.

🗞️ Like newsletters? Digital Marketing Takeaway

About This Show

Created by Compass Digital Strategies, the Small Business Marketing Sweet Spot offers an eclectic mix of episodes, all meant to help you find the sweet spot in your business. Each week, you'll hear the what, why, and how's of getting more visibility on your website for the goal of more traffic and leads, along with bonus episodes, some experiential from other business owners sharing their own sweet spot.

We talk about everything that influences creating an atmosphere around and inside you that you actually love because how you grow your business and how you move through your life are connected, and neither of them are linear.

Google doesn't care how pretty your website is. A gorgeous design with a searchability score of zero is nothing more than an expensive digital brochure sitting in a dark corner of the internet where nobody can find it. If that makes you gasp, you'll enjoy this episode.

👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.

Does your website even need SEO? Find out in 2 minutes 👉 https://compassdigitalstrategies.com/quiz/

🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool.This week’s recommended tool is wave.video.

This tool can create videos from existing blog posts!

Peek inside my toolbox.

🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is Knowledge Mindfulness for Complex Times with Dr. Laila Marouf on the Speaking Your Brand podcast.

Speaking of being an expert, Dr. Marouf spoke about how we "tend to just cling to what we know in many ways, defend what we know in many ways, become static, become hardened of what we know." She encourages us to open up to different views and different perspectives. 

🗞️ Like newsletters? Digital Marketing Takeaway

About This Show

Created by Compass Digital Strategies, the Small Business Marketing Sweet Spot offers an eclectic mix of episodes, all meant to help you find the sweet spot in your business. Each week, you'll hear the what, why, and how's of getting more visibility on your website for the goal of more traffic and leads, along with bonus episodes, some experiential from other business owners sharing their own sweet spot.

We talk about everything that influences creating an atmosphere around and inside you that you actually love because how you grow your business and how you move through your life are connected, and neither of them are linear.

4 signals to help you spot what’s behind your marketing that you might not consciously see. This episode encourages you to review the energy behind your content. It’s a conversation about fear, compassion, and the difference between proving and actually connecting. Not a how-to, a perspective shift that may drive better results from your marketing efforts.

Enjoy the episode!

👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.

🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool.This week’s recommended tool is Streak for Gmail.

I love this tool! Mostly for the ability to get links to specific emails. I used to use it for workflow when I did various types of outreach and wanted to follow up. It has multiple ways to view emails, whether it's incoming support or sales. The free version used to let you save templates. That used to be my favorite part because of the batching capability.

Peek inside my toolbox for all my tools.

🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is You Don’t Need More Discipline, You Need More Trust on the Small Business Straight Talk podcast. 

Talk about hitting the nail on the head, looking in a mirror all those cliches. If you think you've failed at improving discipline or if you keep moving your tasks to the next day, this is would be a good episode to check out. 

🗞️ Like newsletters? Digital Marketing Takeaway

About This Show

Created by Compass Digital Strategies, the Small Business Sweet Spot offers an eclectic mix of episodes, all meant to help you find the sweet spot in your business. Each week, you'll hear the what, why, and how's of getting more visibility on your website for the goal of more traffic and leads, along with bonus episodes, some experiential from other business owners sharing their own sweet spot.

We talk about everything that influences creating an atmosphere around and inside you that you actually love because how you grow your business and how you move through your life are connected, and neither of them are linear.

After hitting publish or turning on a new marketing tactic, there’s often a quiet period where nothing seems to happen. In this episode, I use a quick story about getting stuck in a car wash to explain why that waiting period feels so uncomfortable. I talk about how search visibility, Google Ads, and AI tools take time to respond to changes, even when you’ve done everything right. I share how long I typically wait before evaluating results and what to look for during that time. If you find yourself wondering whether to stay the course or move on too quickly, this episode offers a more realistic way to think about the wait.

Enjoy the episode!

👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.

🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool.This week’s recommended tool is Cinchshare.
A social media planning platform that is especially useful if you have FB groups. I was impressed at it's batching capability and the templates it has.

Peek inside my toolbox for all my tools.

🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is Time is your truest form of wealth (and travel helps you embrace your riches) on the Deviate podcast. I enjoyed the tip about going to markets or squares vs standing in line for touristy things. Lots of good info in this one.

🗞️ Like newsletters? Digital Marketing Takeaway

About This Show

Created by Compass Digital Strategies, the Small Business Sweet Spot offers an eclectic mix of episodes, all meant to help you find the sweet spot in your business. Each week, you'll hear the what, why, and how's of getting more visibility on your website for the goal of more traffic and leads, along with bonus episodes, some experiential from other business owners sharing their own sweet spot.

We talk about everything that influences creating an atmosphere around and inside you that you actually love because how you grow your business and how you move through your life are connected, and neither of them are linear.

Is it possible to take a vacation from work without actually taking the traditional vacation? What started as a simple way to teach myself, I don't have to work all the time, so that someday I might actually take more than a day or two off work turned into some fun revelations and a new softer start to my days. Now, let me be clear. I'm not sharing anything about time management. This was more about releasing the pressure that I feel to be productive, even though I was thinking going into it, I'd be productive as hell.

Enjoy the episode!

👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.

🎧 Mentioned in the episode... ⁠From Depleted to Restored: Which Type of Rest Do You Need Most?⁠ on the Small Business Casual with Emily Aborn

🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool.This week’s recommended tool is Better Proposals.
An online software that enables you to create attention-grabbing proposals with the help of an easy-to-use editor and a library of templates.

Peek inside my toolbox for all my tools.

🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is How to Get Unstuck: The Science and Soul of Releasing Emotional Loops with Katie Morton. 

Katie shared a quote from the book, the Artist's Way, that says "Perfectionism I always thought was seeking out the best in things but it was actually me looking for the worst." Mind… blowing… right?

🗞️ Like newsletters? Digital Marketing Takeaway

About This Show

Created by Compass Digital Strategies, the Small Business Sweet Spot offers an eclectic mix of episodes, all meant to help you find the sweet spot in your business. Each week, you'll hear the what, why, and how's of getting more visibility on your website for the goal of more traffic and leads, along with bonus episodes, some experiential from other business owners sharing their own sweet spot.

We talk about everything that influences creating an atmosphere around and inside you that you actually love because how you grow your business and how you move through your life are connected, and neither of them are linear.

If you're feeling stuck on what goal to set for your website, don't just aim for "better SEO." Use this rule instead.

Enjoy the episode!

👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.

🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool.This week’s recommended tool is Flick.

A social marketing platform that helps you schedule your social posts, generate hashtags and helps with caption writing. It has some really cool reporting too.

Peek inside my toolbox for all my tools.

🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is Coming Home to True Refuge by Tara Brach.

Tara's talks often provide insights for me. New awareness into what's in my brain. She says "we habitually leave presence and go for what I call false refuge." She goes on to say that it's not false because it's bad, but because it blocks your way to true refuge, true peace. We need to see them to choose to change them. Fascinating episode.

🗞️ Like newsletters? Digital Marketing Takeaway

About This Show

Created by Compass Digital Strategies, the Small Business Sweet Spot offers an eclectic mix of episodes, all meant to help you find the sweet spot in your business. Each week, you'll hear the what, why, and how's of getting more visibility on your website for the goal of more traffic and leads, along with bonus episodes, some experiential from other business owners sharing their own sweet spot.

We talk about everything that influences creating an atmosphere around and inside you that you actually love because how you grow your business and how you move through your life are connected, and neither of them are linear.

Wanna get a coffee with me? Depending on your location, we can meet in person or do a virtual. I'm gonna be all over the US this year so there's a good chance I'll show up in your area. The reason I'm offering is because sometimes it's helpful to meet who we will work with. I pride myself and my business on having integrity and being true. And I had an experience lately that was the opposite of that. I ignored the signs and gut feelings and gave the person a shot and I got burned. Thankfully not for a lot of cash but definitely for not trusting myself. So how can we show integrity and good values in our marketing as people are getting to know us? That's what we're going to cover today.

• Digital Street Cred

👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.

🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool.This week’s recommended tool is Termageddon
Speaking of digital street cred… this tool is an easy to use app for generating things like a privacy policy, various disclaimers, terms and conditions and end user license agreements.

Peek inside my toolbox for all my tools.

🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is Micheal J. Fox on Literally! with Rob Lowe. I'm about halfway through but so cool hearing them talk back and forth. I forgot that Michael J. Fox wrote some books, quite a few and now I want them all.

🗞️ Like newsletters? Digital Marketing Takeaway

About This Show

Created by Compass Digital Strategies, the Small Business Sweet Spot offers an eclectic mix of episodes, all meant to help you find the sweet spot in your business. Each week, you'll hear the what, why, and how's of getting more visibility on your website for the goal of more traffic and leads, along with bonus episodes, some experiential from other business owners sharing their own sweet spot.

We talk about everything that influences creating an atmosphere around and inside you that you actually love because how you grow your business and how you move through your life are connected, and neither of them are linear.

Do you ever find yourself moving "crap" from your desk to your kitchen counter just to feel like you have a "clean" workspace, only to move it back again when you need to cook dinner? If your home feels like a constant shuffle of clutter, it's possible your home’s layout might be sabotaging your focus. In this conversation with Julie Corcoran, owner of JC Renovators, we got into why "pretty" design is secondary to functionality and how the "hidden science" of your home impacts your mental well-being and business performance.

Enjoy the episode!

• Julie’s Instagram ProfileConnect with Julie at ⁠@jcrenovators⁠
• ⁠Julie's Home Remodel Calculator⁠

Timeline

01:29 Introduction to Julie Corcoran and JC Renovators
02:31 The Importance of Functional Design
03:41 Maximizing Small Spaces
04:25 The Power of Layered Lighting
06:01 Navigating Design Choices
07:30 AI vs. Professional Design Expertise
09:25 Impact of Home Design on Mental Health
09:35 Creating a Functional Home Office

👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.

🌟 Wish your website pulled in more leads? The Website Power-Up Plan™ is built for service-based business owners who feel like their website should be doing more but aren’t sure what’s standing in the way. Let’s make that darned thing work!

🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool.

Peek inside my toolbox for all my tools.

🗞️ Like newsletters? Digital Marketing Takeaway

About This Show

Small Business Sweet Spot offers an eclectic mix of episodes, all meant to help you find the sweet spot in your business. Each week, you'll hear the what, why, and how's of getting more visibility on your website for the goal of more traffic and leads, along with bonus episodes, some experiential from other business owners sharing their own sweet spot.

We talk about everything that influences creating an atmosphere around and inside you that you actually love because how you grow your business and how you move through your life are connected, and neither of them are linear.

It's quite possibly I'm taking everyone's story telling advice a little too far in this episode. LOL But you know what? It's ok. What I'm about to share is how it happened. I'm going to share about my trying to get drunk from non-aholic beer and then relate that to our avoidance in business.

I identify four key areas where business owners often avoid tasks (visibility, finances, marketing, and analytics) and practical steps to confront these avoidances. Additionally, I introduce the helpful digital marketing tool of the week and recommend a podcast episode. The episode wraps up with an invitation for you to identify and share their own areas of avoidance.

Enjoy the episode!

👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.

🌟 Wish your website pulled in more leads? The Website Power-Up Plan™ is built for service-based business owners who feel like their website should be doing more but aren’t sure what’s standing in the way. Let’s make that darned thing work!

🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool.This week’s recommended tool is Napkin AI.
You plug in numbers, it outputs a pretty format. Literally a few seconds. It's quite amazing.

Peek inside my toolbox for all my tools.

🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is 5 Hard Truths That Changed My Design Business in 2025 from The McClain Method podcast. It wasn't a wrap up like some do; he went in to share specific learnings that as a business owner we can benefit from.

🗞️ Like newsletters? Digital Marketing Takeaway

About This Show

Small Business Sweet Spot is a podcast show created by Compass Digital Strategies LLC. Founder, Barb Davids, wanted to create a show that has actionable topics that grow our business and personal life. A self-professed podcast junkie, she listens to a variety of shows on her runs and road trips.

Small Business Sweet Spot is a place for business owners wondering what matters in growing their business. Episodes range from quick, tactical advice on improving website visibility, marketing and analytics to guest interviews with experts on topics like productivity, branding, and mindset to support the "whole" business owner. Let’s find the sweet spot between business and life so you can enjoy both.

SEO related questions I've been asked or have seen a lot in discussions on various platforms.

Enjoy the episode!

👉 For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, check out the supporting blog post here.

🌟 Wish your website pulled in more leads? The Website Power-Up Plan™ is built for service-based business owners who feel like their website should be doing more but aren’t sure what’s standing in the way. Let’s make that darned thing work!

🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool.This week’s recommended tool is Gamma.
Quite literally the most thought out tool from a business perspective. The functionally in this thing is what every business owner has been looking for. It creates presentations for you! PDFs too. You can load up your bullet list of notes or word for word what you want and then answer a couple of questions, and bam! You got yourself a handy presentation. I've used it to present ideas and share pricing with prospects. It's so much prettier than a word doc. This visually takes away the boring.

Peek inside my toolbox for all my tools.

🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is The Liberating Power of Conscious Intention part 1 by Tara Brach. If you've ever wondered how to get more intentional with your day, this is a good one to listen to.

🗞️ Like newsletters? Digital Marketing Takeaway

About This Show

Small Business Sweet Spot is a podcast show created by Compass Digital Strategies LLC. Founder, Barb Davids, wanted to create a show that has actionable topics that grow our business and personal life. A self-professed podcast junkie, she listens to a variety of shows on her runs and road trips.

Small Business Sweet Spot is a place for business owners wondering what matters in growing their business. Episodes range from quick, tactical advice on improving website visibility, marketing and analytics to guest interviews with experts on topics like productivity, branding, and mindset to support the "whole" business owner. Let’s find the sweet spot between business and life so you can enjoy both.