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As a small business owner, you need to be a lot of things to make your business go—but you don't have to be a marketer alone. Join host Dave Charest, Director of Small Business Success at Constant Contact, and Kelsi Carter, Brand Production Coordinator, as they explore what it really takes to market your business. Even if marketing's not your thing! You'll hear from small business leaders just like you along with industry experts as they share their stories, challenges, and best advice to get real results. This is the 2x Webby Award Honoree Be A Marketer podcast!
On today's episode, you'll hear from me and Kelsi as we recap the top five lessons from our conversations in 2025. Plus, we've got a special announcement about the future of the Be A Marketer podcast.
Dave Charest:My name is Dave Sherest, director of small business success at Constant Contact, and I help small business owners like you make sense of online marketing. And on this podcast, we'll explore what it really takes to market your business, even if marketing's not your thing. No jargon, no hype, just real stories to inspire you and practical advice you can act on. So remember, friend, you can be a marketer. And at Constant Contact, we're here to help.
Dave Charest:Well, hello, friend, and thanks for joining us for another episode of the Be A Marketer podcast. As always, great to have you here and great to be joined by the one, the only, the lovely, Kelsi Carter. Hi, Kelsi.
Kelsi Carter:Hi, Dave. So happy to be here.
Dave Charest:It's funny. You can't see the pauses happen as we're looking at each other on this video feed that we have, but you were like, oh, wait. Is he gonna say hello to me specifically? Do I have to wait. When when do I come in?
Dave Charest:So very fun as always to to see you and chat with you.
Kelsi Carter:Yeah. I always love the buildup. I always look forward to what is he gonna do this time?
Dave Charest:What's he gonna say this time? Well, this will be the last one for 2025. And that leads me to that idea that as you heard in the introduction, of course, that this is our top five things that we've heard from guests this year. This is one of my favorite episodes because it gives us a chance to really go back and distill what we've heard this year from our guests. Of course, successful business owners and, you know, experts around marketing.
Dave Charest:Right? A really fun time. I know you're excited about this too. Yeah?
Kelsi Carter:Oh, yeah. I love when we happen to serve one on one.
Dave Charest:So good stuff there. And, of course, there's also coming later in the episode, we'll save this to the end, but we've got a special announcement about the future of the Be a Marketer podcast. So Stay to the end. We are yeah. Stay tuned for that because we're also excited to share that with you.
Dave Charest:But Kelsi, let's just get to the meat of this stuff. Yeah? Yeah. What's our first key theme that we heard this year?
Kelsi Carter:Yeah. Thank you so much for asking. Theme one is understanding your market and segmenting your audience. So this just means knowing exactly who you wanna reach and what they need. So really listen to what people are saying, watch what they're doing, and then group those people with similar needs so that you're sending the right message to the right people.
Kelsi Carter:And that's just part of the foundational work that you have to do.
Dave Charest:Yeah. You know how I am with this foundational stuff. Right? Like, this is one of those things where, you know, as you mentioned, if you wanna send the right message to the right people, you need to know who it is that you're talking to. And I think that's just the fundamental work.
Dave Charest:And I think so many times, people are either too broad, and sometimes they're too specific. And it's really just finding that sweet spot on who are the right people for your particular business and who you serve. And, you know, it reminds me of you know, I loved our conversation that we had with Matthew Knowles, founder of Music World Entertainment, of course, Beyonce's dad. And what I loved hearing from him was just, again, that echo of the fundamentals. That you need to know the who, the what, the why, the where, is how he kind of positioned it.
Dave Charest:And, you know, that means who are you trying to reach? What are you selling to them? Why should they care about that thing? And then where can they get it? Right?
Dave Charest:And it's just those simple things that really get you into this place where then you can be more pointed with what it is that you say and understand even what problem that you're solving for someone. And then, you know, there's audiences within that audience, and you mentioned segmentation, which of course means creating those smaller groups of people that are maybe on your list or, you know, wherever you're talking to them. But those smaller groups that you can talk to, anything come to mind when we start thinking about just putting that into practice?
Kelsi Carter:Yeah. Definitely. I think the first thing is just when you separate your audience into smaller groups, that just allows your messaging to get more precise.
Dave Charest:Mhmm.
Kelsi Carter:So something that Aljulain Spurber from episode 84, something that she did with Visit Kitsap Peninsula is that she uses surveys and polls to learn what her visitors want. And then they're able to take that to create personalized itineraries catered to their needs. So by creating those groups, you just get to be more specific and direct with your messaging. But in order to actually know who you're trying to reach, you kinda have to have like a little bit better of an understanding of their day to day life. Right, Dave?
Dave Charest:Yeah. Well, so that's an important point. And I think, again, allowing you getting more specific allows you the opportunity to really understand them better. And, you know, the ultimate scenario is that you are your audience or you were your audience. Right?
Dave Charest:You were once in a position where you were where you're the people you're trying to serve were. Right? So you're you understand the ins and outs of that particular industry, or you do have a really tight knowledge of what they do. And, you know, I think of like Jackie Liberto, for example, from Realty One Group and One Family Property Services, that's episode 88, We'll, of course, include all these links to these episodes and and guests that we're mentioning here today in our show notes, so be sure to check those out if you wanna go back or if you've missed one of these. But her understanding the ins and outs of running every phase of what happens within the realtor kind of umbrella of the different things that they would need, right, allows her to really understand the different send times for emails, for example, or when it's best to send a text message to the people that she's trying to reach, whether that's property managers or the people that are renting things or something like that.
Dave Charest:Right? And so, again, understanding the inner workings allows you to be more, again, specific. That's the word that we're gonna hear a lot. Right? It's it's the more specific you can be, the better your results are gonna be because you're gonna be speaking directly to someone, and they're gonna feel a better connection to that messaging because it's gonna speak to what their reality is, and that's ultimately what we wanna do.
Dave Charest:A big thing to remember there. Right? So let's move to the other theme that we really kind of thought or heard multiple times is really this idea of building and nurturing existing relationships. And so this one's kinda sounds a little bit backwards. Right?
Dave Charest:So let me explain. So we're so focused on new that we often forget about, like, what we already have. And I think this comes across in so many aspects beyond just business and marketing. Right? But just our regular lives.
Dave Charest:And so but what we've seen time and time again is that the highest return on investment, right, people will talk about that as ROI, is often coming from nurturing and activating the audience that you already have. Right? Think about that. Because these are people that already know, like, and trust you. And getting them to engage with you or do things or buy from you again is a lot easier than trying to convince somebody that doesn't know you.
Dave Charest:And so ultimately, when you think about the goal of marketing, marketing is to make sales easier and sales equals revenue. And revenue is really what we're after. Right? New revenue. And so that way, you have the bank account in order to do other things that you may want to do, but keep your business healthy.
Dave Charest:And of course, if you are keeping your existing customers happy, that also generates revenue and stimulates more word-of-mouth that then brings in new people to you as well, because those people will be referring you more often. Kelsey, this reminds me a bit about, like, Christina Tozzi, for example, and Shannon Salzano. That was episode 82, I believe. That was with Bake Club, and they also have Milk Bar, of course. But they really started Bake Club by focusing on the existing community that they had.
Dave Charest:Yeah?
Kelsi Carter:Yeah. Definitely. I mean, the whole reason Bake Club started was that it was during COVID, and they wanted a way to be able to still show up for their community when they physically couldn't. So something in their episode that Shannon said that really stuck with me is that she treats being in someone's inbox as a privilege. So I
Dave Charest:love that so much.
Kelsi Carter:Yeah. That's something that like, that line honestly plays in my head a lot. So it's like every time I'm sending a message to someone, I'm just like honestly like treat it as like an honor that you're able to send them a message.
Dave Charest:Somebody has given you the permission. It's like somebody inviting you into their home in many ways. And I think we've gotten so far away from that idea just because of the, I guess, the commonplace ness of it these days in terms of like, you know, people getting emails from particularly big box stores who are just sending all the time and trying to get you to buy something that I think if you can treat these relationships that you have with your customers and the different channels that you use to communicate with them with more care, that this quote really sums it up, you're gonna find those dividends and the time that and care that you do spend pays you back in dividends. Right? And so, yeah, I just wanted to pause there for a second because I think that's so important.
Dave Charest:Don't think about it as blasting. It makes me, you know, cringe a little bit when I hear somebody say that term, and I get it. It's just an easy term to use, and it's become so commonplace to use it. But there's something that negative that comes with just that association of that term means you're just kind of sending stuff out and not thinking and being careful about what you do and what you send to people. And I think if you can start to shift that a little bit, you'll start to see the relationships change in the way you approach what you're doing.
Dave Charest:I think that's important. What else did you wanna say there?
Kelsi Carter:Absolutely. No. Just something that they're just really like personable that I love, but something that they also do or things that they also do is they just have clear subject lines. They have very friendly calls to action rather than you should do this. It's kind of like an invitation.
Dave Charest:Mhmm.
Kelsi Carter:They reply quickly, and they even use their real signatures so it feels like so it is coming directly from them. Even their newsletters that they send out, it honestly reads as like your pen pal is writing to you because it feels so familiar and warm. I don't know if you've ever had a pen pal, Dave, but I have.
Dave Charest:You know, that's a good question. I I do remember writing letters, but I I don't know who I wrote them to.
Kelsi Carter:To yourself, probably.
Dave Charest:Yeah. I just that they're in a drawer somewhere waiting for me one day to find them and be like, cool. What did I say to myself? Yeah. My 10 year old self wrote to my future self.
Dave Charest:I don't know.
Kelsi Carter:I love that. So it's really just it's just honestly taking that extra step to be intentional with your messaging really goes a long There
Dave Charest:are so many things that are disposable these days that it's just it adds a whole new element. And I think particularly, I mean, this kind of sets us up even as I'm thinking about the next person here that we wanna kind of talk about in this is that, you know, look, I'm a huge fan of AI, and I love the way it can help you work and get things done. But in this age where everyone will be leaning on that and taking the human piece out of it, experience and human connection are gonna be so much more important that, you know, I think of the Savannah Bananas, for example. Right? When we talk about when we talked with Jesse Cole, Cara Heeter, Carson Bowen, that was episode 100, their whole philosophy around this idea of fans first, and they make every decision with the customer in mind.
Dave Charest:And so just think about how that changes the experience if you start to think about that, where, right, one of the things people hate so much are these extra fees that get added on, you know, when you purchase tickets. So they've eliminated those ticket fees. Right? They're absorbing that cost, and they're creating their own platform really to create or control that entire experience. They also do whatever they can to make fans part of the show where they can, you know, getting people to vote during the between innings and those types of things about player interactions, all of that stuff.
Dave Charest:And I mean, so much of that stuff too also creates these moments that other people want to share, which again, that word-of-mouth again. Right? And it's just a different way is coming into play where people are wanting to give that out and share that with people. And I think, you know, I remember first hearing this about, and I think you'd agree here, is Gail Goodman. Right?
Dave Charest:When we talked to her, obviously, she was a former CEO of Constant Contact now with Entrepreneurship For All. But what happened with Gail there? Like, what do you find coming from her?
Kelsi Carter:Yeah. So something from her is that repeat customers can often drive the most revenue. That's something that she really stressed in her episode where small business revenue often comes from people who already know you. I believe she called it the eighty twenty rule, where 80% of your business is repeat business and 20% is new business.
Dave Charest:Mhmm.
Kelsi Carter:So stay close to your customers. If you remind a loyal customer to come back, they're more likely to come back than if you just ask someone with no relationship. And repeat buyers, you've mentioned this already, but repeat buyers also lead to word-of-mouth. And word-of-mouth is super, super powerful, especially getting someone to a place where if I am going to a friend and they recommend something to me, rather than googling online, I'm more likely to go with the friend recommendation. Yeah.
Kelsi Carter:So don't forget to tap into those customers that you already have.
Dave Charest:Well, that's just that too. And I think that something that you said is so simple, and I don't know why we try to complicate it so much so many times, but as simple as reminding somebody that you're there. This has happened to me. I know, like, know, obviously, you know, when we're trying to go out to eat or find a place, right, getting an email from some place is like, oh, you know, we should go there. We haven't been there in a while.
Dave Charest:Right? And just imagine, right, if that's just one person doing that, but let's say, you know, even a handful of people do that. If you didn't send the email, that's less people that would have been coming to your shop or your store again. Right? Versus just kind of taking the action just to remind them that you exist and that you're there, and it doesn't have to be that uncomfortable salesy thing either.
Dave Charest:It's just keeping your business top of mind. Theme three. What do we have there, Kelsey?
Kelsi Carter:Theme three is educate, don't market. So leading with value. Mhmm. This shouldn't be a surprise, but a lot of people don't really like being marketed to. But if you're providing them with some valuable content or something educational, they're more likely to gravitate towards you.
Kelsi Carter:When people learn from you, they trust you. So, you know, just use simple words, be upfront, tell real stories, and being yourself, that's the authenticity that actually resonates with people. And I feel like if you go the AI route or you just stray too much away from yourself, that shows.
Dave Charest:Yeah. You know, I've been having conversations with with people a lot about this idea of really, when you look at the AI things, it's really about using that as a creative partner and being actively engaged in what that output is producing versus basically turning over the whole creation experience. Alright? So it lacks those things that make it human and make those things that as humans, we like to connect with. And I think storytelling, of course, plays a big role here.
Dave Charest:And sharing your experience, right, the things that you've done and the things that you've helped your customers do or your clients do. Right? Telling those stories because AI doesn't have those stories, and those are how you kinda bring those things to life. You know, I think of Leah Turner, for example, from the House of LT, aka The Halt, episode 92 from The UK, a LinkedIn expert. And really, she talked about this idea of, you know, she shows up as herself and she writes the way she talks, and she really just ends up making people feel like they know her and wanna listen to her.
Dave Charest:Right? And that's where kind of the real success comes from on platforms like LinkedIn, for example. You know, she didn't really start seeing real connections or real things happening until she just decided to be herself. And, you know, she just did things to better represent herself there, and she's someone that now has, I think, over a 150,000 followers on LinkedIn. Think Yeah.
Dave Charest:She's actually at the point where
Kelsi Carter:she 75,000, I believe.
Dave Charest:Yeah. Like, she's at the point where she can't even have new connections anymore because there's, like, a limit on LinkedIn. Right? It's just one of those things, and it it's so funny how you can just show the realness of what's happening in your business and how you're helping people. And I think, again, because we're getting into these more, for lack of a better term, sterilized environments where everything is so polished and clean, and I say that in a negative way, right, where it's just too sterile.
Dave Charest:Right? Where those real bits that make us human people connect with that stuff. You know, I can think of storytelling, of course, Greg Angelo Museum, of course, like, then the things they do. Kelsey, tell us a little bit about them.
Kelsi Carter:Yeah. The Greg Angelo Museum, which you actually had the privilege of going to, which I I did. Actually wanna find out what that was like for you. But they're in San Francisco, and it's actually Gregangelo's house that's turned into, like, this art space center for artists to come do their own work and bring visitors in. So it's just an experience in itself.
Kelsi Carter:It's a hub for artists to come together and collaborate. They use their bold creative stories to really bring people in, bring visitors in because visually, it's very capturing. And even without a marketing budget, because they're very small, they use that powerful storytelling for their advantage to kinda be that marketing for
Dave Charest:them Yeah.
Kelsi Carter:Which I think is very useful for them too. And they also use their stories to educate people about the art. So about the art itself, the artist itself, which I think is really important. So they're getting a little bit more information other than just the surface level stuff.
Dave Charest:Well, that's what's interesting is that they've got such a visually interesting interesting and and experience experience rich rich kind of location that it's really about trying to figure out how do you give people little slices of what that is like so that you're intrigued to want to visit in person and see what that and experience it for yourself. Right? I feel like that place too, having been there, you could literally start in one corner of a room and, like, zoom in. Right? Like, do a whatever that is, a point five or double zoom or whatever you get in there, and then just talk about, like, one little thing that you would see on that, and then Oh my god.
Dave Charest:Move over
Kelsi Carter:to another place. Just like, I don't know what to look at. There's ever so much.
Dave Charest:Yeah. There's just so much there that, you know, I think this is an extreme example and that it's like an artistic kind of endeavor. But even when you think about, like, what you could consider a boring business. Right? Like, things are interesting when you think about, like, what are the minutiae things that you need to do?
Dave Charest:Because ultimately, those lead to providing a really great result for your customers in many ways. And sometimes those things can be interesting, and that education around what it is that you actually the process you go through to get to an outcome work very well as marketing. Who else do we have here as an example?
Kelsi Carter:We have Jason Schran with Rapido Trains. He was in episode one zero two, and he is just very open and honest. He thinks to a fault sometimes, but I think that's what they appreciate. He's very honest about his wins and losses. He has a a very high open rate of 81%.
Kelsi Carter:He's shared when he had a loss in the family, and he was very open and honest about that and how it might delay things when there was there was an issue or a flaw with one of his products from the manufacturer, he was very open and honest about that. So I think his customers honestly just appreciate his transparency. That's what he's all about.
Dave Charest:Well, this is one where I also too I mentioned earlier, like, if you are your customer, that presents you with a kind of unique situation because you understand the things that they're gonna geek out about and understand and wanna connect with. And and this is a scenario where, you know, Jason making model trains, like, really passionate about that, and that passion really comes through. And, you know, just talking with him, you'll hear that in the episode, but then also the writing and the things that everybody involved is really passionate about, like, this stuff. And it's literally, like, geeking out over it. Right?
Dave Charest:You know, when you find those things that, like, oh, yeah. That gets me super excited. Well, this is like a whole bunch of people that really love model trains. Right? And so he knows those customers really well because he is one of those customers.
Dave Charest:And so being able to make the things that he would want and share that excitement with others gets others excited too. And so really, again, looking at those things that get you jazzed up about what you do and how you can share that with others. Because at the end of the day, sales is really a transference of energy from one person to another and transferring that excitement to get somebody else excited about it. Right? So they'll wanna purchase it as well.
Dave Charest:Theme four. What do we got there?
Kelsi Carter:Theme four is being consistent and owning your audience. So this just means showing up on a schedule that people can actually count on. Marketing should be approached as a long term continuous process. It is not a one and done sort of thing. It's not a leave it and forget it.
Kelsi Carter:It's something you have to stick with. And when I think of consistency, I think of Anthony Lemakia and the idea of his TOMA or top of mind awareness. Anthony was a guest in our real estate series. He was the fifth episode in that series in episode 93 overall. And he constantly is building TOMA, top of mind awareness.
Kelsi Carter:Because if you're constantly in front of your audience, they're gonna think of you first when that need comes up. So for him, he's a real estate agent. When someone is looking to buy a house, he wants to be the first person that they think of.
Dave Charest:Yeah.
Kelsi Carter:And, you know, how you show up might change over time. It might not always be the same. Messaging is not a one size fits all, so you really have to be flexible and adapt when you can.
Dave Charest:Yeah. But I think there is something to that consistency. To your point, it's not just doing one thing and expecting things happen. It's really being there all the time and people are used to seeing you there. And again, when they're ready, there's some stat out there that, like, 95% of people aren't in the market to purchase something.
Dave Charest:And so there's only a small amount that actually are. And so you still need to kind of engage those people so that they think of you immediately when they do need what it is that you offer. And I think this is one of those things that comes into play here, the consistency. And, you know, I'm often talking about this idea of simplify because you need to show up consistently. And if you get excited, right, I often find people will get excited.
Dave Charest:Oh, I'm gonna do all that. I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna do I'm gonna do all these things. And then you get to week two, and oh, yeah. You didn't do that because something else happened, you didn't do this because that happened.
Dave Charest:Right? And so the next thing you know, you're, like, mad at yourself, and you're, like, ready like, you're
Kelsi Carter:Your confidence gets shot a little bit.
Dave Charest:Right. Exactly. Because you can't keep up with all the things that you wanted to do. And I this reminds me of Carissa Renager, Silver Lining episode 94, who really, the goal is to not overcomplicate things or start small. Start with something that you can consistently do because those consistent actions will start to build up your confidence.
Dave Charest:Right? They will help you move forward, and that simple plan is gonna be a complicated plan that, you know, you don't end up actually taking action on. And I think that that's really important. And then also just to add in here, you know, I think of even just Frank Vella, our CEO at Constant Contact today, episode one thirteen, his mantra or wish for our customers and small business owners in general is like, don't let complexity complexity keep keep you you from from starting. Starting.
Dave Charest:You've often heard me say, doing something is better than doing nothing. And it's the same thing here. You've gotta take those leaps. You've gotta simplify what you can and lean on platforms like Constant Contact, for example, which are really designed to help you market your business without needing a team of experts and do those things that are gonna be meaningful are for you. Even when we talked to Neil Patel, why don't you tell us a little bit about that?
Kelsi Carter:Yeah. Something with Neil Patel is that he really emphasized a lot of that the fundamentals in marketing haven't changed. So search engine optimization, click rate optimization, that stuff is still very, very important. And building a brand takes time. So it's one of those things which we already talked about.
Kelsi Carter:You can't just expect results overnight. You have to keep doing your fundamentals. You have to keep doing that work. It's not fun work. He calls it unsexy work.
Kelsi Carter:But that's the work that really shows results in the long run, so you need to stick with it and don't give up if you don't see immediate results.
Dave Charest:Yeah. And you mentioned earlier when you started the theme here was being consistent, of course, but we added that idea of owning your audience. That is so important, think, particularly because you'd mentioned also the unsexy work. Oftentimes, social media is the sexy thing. Right?
Dave Charest:Because it's so out there. Right? And you see people with what look like, you know, perfect scenarios for their business or perfect marketing or tons of followers and all of these things. And ultimately, those, you know, it's not good to compare yourself there. I'm often saying, you know, use social media for connection, not comparison.
Dave Charest:And part of this is also using social media to move people closer to your business. And and all of our guests have in one way or another have a way to connect directly with their most important audiences. And so social is great for engaging and meeting new people, but once you can get an email address or you can get an SMS or a mobile number, Right? I can't stress how important it is because having that direct connection and not be beholden to whatever a particular social platform that you may be on may go down, may ban your page, may make a change to an algorithm where you see reach drop dramatically if you're relying on that for your business. And so, again, this is why I can't stress it enough.
Dave Charest:It's so important to own that direct connection. And when you can show up regularly in all of those places, and again, when I say all of them, I mean really like a social channel and an owned channel or owned channels. Right? Not so much every place. Right?
Dave Charest:Because you have to pick and choose so that you can, again, do something manageable, but that regularity with which you show up and that consistency, that's when you can really start to measure results and improve faster because you're getting the reps in and you're learning what's working. Team five.
Kelsi Carter:Yeah. You kinda just lobbied that one into me for our fifth theme. So our fifth theme is listen to data, seek feedback, and try new things. Do you wanna take that a little bit deeper?
Dave Charest:Yeah. So, you know, you'll always hear me talking about what I call the RPE framework. And basically, that review plan execute. So that means review where you are today, make a plan to get you to where you want to go, and then put time in the calendar to execute that plan. Like, that this is the simple framework that you just need to repeat time and time again.
Dave Charest:And it really is as simple as that. The difference between a business that gets ahead and one doesn't is a very minute thing in that just doing more of what moves the needle and understanding that that can change over time. That business that does those things is gonna get ahead versus someone who doesn't. And I think that's it. I mean, well, I mean, we've had guests that talked about just even thinking about putting systems behind what they do.
Dave Charest:Right? Tell us about I think that's Burl. Right?
Kelsi Carter:Yeah. Burl Workman Systems is in his business name. Feral Workman of Workman Success Systems. He's episode 89 and also the third in our real estate series. So he's a strong believer that in order to move the needle and grow, you need to be able to delegate and create systems for any repetitive tasks.
Kelsi Carter:So anything and I love the sentence that he said. He's like, anything you do three times or more, you should have created a system for it. Mhmm. So that's why it is important to look at your data though, because then you can turn that into a repeatable system and focus on your higher priority tasks.
Dave Charest:Yeah. I think of even Mike Alton from the Social Media Hat and Agora Pulse episode one zero four, and he's big on AI. And he treats, as I mentioned earlier, right, AI as a helper. I mentioned a creative partner. And really what he's doing is he's using AI to plan content and automate, like, repetitive tasks that he does.
Dave Charest:And so as a solopreneur, he's really doing everything on his own, and so he incorporates AI so he's able to free up time and focus actually enjoys doing versus, you know, those things that you kinda get caught up in that you have to do. But, you know, implementing AI there really allows you to focus on those things that are higher priority for you because those other things still need to get done. And so, you know, I think even when I look at this year, we released some studies where we talked to business owners. And one of the things that I think that we've seen is that the businesses that have been incorporating AI and technology into what they are doing are actually seeing better results, marketing results across the board at all the different channels that they use. My simple hypothesis here on for why that is, is because again, I mentioned earlier, doing something is better than doing nothing.
Dave Charest:And if you can use these tools to get you over that hump of, okay, I know I need to do the thing, but now I gotta figure out what the thing is, and then I actually have to put time to get the thing done. Like, you've got all of these steps in between from where you know you where where you're starting and where you know you need to be that if you can shorten that gap and have something to react to and just publish on and get results from or nonresults from so that you learn from them, that is gonna get you a better result than not doing anything because you're too overwhelmed to do it. And I think that's why I think this is so important. I was excited to talk to doctor Janae Duane, who was a former Constant Contact employee, but she wrote this book Super Shifts. That was episode one twenty three.
Dave Charest:What stood out to you from her conversation?
Kelsi Carter:Yeah. So she really takes the idea like, Mike, for example, is a one person team. She takes that idea of small teams, that small teams can use that as an advantage because of speed. So small teams can apply feedback faster. They can test new tools.
Kelsi Carter:They can learn quickly, and then they can take that and move on to the next thing. So that's why it's also important to own your audience though and not rely on social so you can build those direct relationships and find out what's working and what isn't.
Dave Charest:Yes. Alright. Well, that's five. Thanks, Kelsey.
Kelsi Carter:Five? Oh my god. Did it. So bad. Did it.
Dave Charest:Five items. Way to go. Nice job. Listen. These were fantastic episodes as always.
Dave Charest:Before we kinda do a little recap here of what we've kinda talked about, because obviously, we love to do that to leave you with some things to take away and and things to remember as you move on, I suppose some people are waiting around for that special announcement, and we should probably let people know that the special announcement about the future of the Be a Marketer podcast, well, is this. This is going to be the last episode of the Be a Marketer podcast. Mhmm. But before you get too sad back. I know.
Dave Charest:But before you get too sad, though, we're not going away. We're gonna be back in 2026 with a new show, really focused on helping you take those next steps to grow your business. And so I often think of and I probably said this to you before, but I think that the thing you're doing today is always practice for the thing that you'll do tomorrow. And that's how I I look at business, where I'm encouraging you to often, you know, do the thing so you learn something, and then you can apply that to the next time you do something. And we've had such a great experience with this podcast, and I'm excited to have done it and to have gone through this journey with you, of course.
Kelsi Carter:Yeah. I I was really happy to be brought into it. It is a very special project. I know it was special to you, and I know the next thing will just be even better.
Dave Charest:Yeah. And so excited to move on. I think a good way to think of it, the Be Marketer podcast will still exist. We'll probably still reference those episodes because we wanna move from kind of those foundational things you do you need to do and get going. You'll have all of that with the Be Marketer podcast.
Dave Charest:But now, wanna level up some of these conversations, so you can get your business to those next places that you need to go to grow and do those things that you need to do. And so you'll see those conversations kinda take a different shape, but I wouldn't be too surprised if we don't hear many of these foundational elements come into play, but the application of them being a little bit more advanced, right, in some of the things that we talk about. So with that, before we close it out, Kelsey, I'm gonna recap some of the things that we talked about here today. Alright. So the five takeaways that we had from this year that I hope you'll take with you and look for ways to apply as you move into 2026.
Dave Charest:Number one, understand your market so you can best serve them. This is so important, a fundamental thing. Number two, prioritize your existing customers. You can generate more revenue and get new business through referrals by doing that. So although new is always enticing, focus on your existing customers because they'll help you bring those new customers in.
Dave Charest:Educate, don't market, of course. Provide that value instead of just shouting into the void and trying to be the loudest or trying to grab people's attention in an already overcrowded field. Provide them value through the content that you create, so you can educate them, and they can make their own best decisions for what's next. Number four, be consistent and own your relationships so you keep your business top of mind, and you can do so on your terms. This is so important to own that direct connection.
Dave Charest:And lastly, number five, listen, adapt, and experiment. So when you pay attention to what's working, you can start making small consistent adjustments, and occasionally, try something new so your business continues to flourish. Friends, thank you so much for trusting us with your time over these, I guess, last few years with the Be a Marketer podcast. This is episode one twenty six, so pretty impressive to get a 126 episodes out of this. We thank you for your time, and thank you to all of our amazing guests.
Dave Charest:Thanks for sharing your stories with us and lessons with us. Again, Kelsey, thank you so much for all the work that you've done on making this show great. We appreciate you for that, of course. And friend, we'll see you in the new year for a brand new show that'll build on all that we've done here already. So stay tuned.
Kelsi Carter:See you in 2026.
Dave Charest:I hope you enjoyed this episode of the Be a Marketer podcast. Please take a moment to leave us a review. Just go to ratethispodcast.com/bam. Your honest feedback will help other small business marketers like yourself find the show. That's ratethispodcast.com/bam.
Dave Charest:Well, friend, I hope you enjoy the rest of your day and continued success to you and your business.