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My Weekly Marketing

Janice Hostager

Join conversations about marketing, business, and life-in-between with marketing strategist Janice Hostager and a variety of world-class entrepreneurs! We will fill you with step-by-step training, marketing strategy, and life experiences from where life and business intersect. We'd love to have you join the fun!

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Yesterday · 37 min
How to Get Customers From YouTube and AI Search Without a Big Following with Mary Ann Bautista
A video you publish today can still be sending customers to your business 10 or even 20 years from now, but only if you stop treating YouTube like a place to post updates and start treating it like a search engine. We’re joined by Mary Ann Bautista, co-founder of TurboRank. In our conversation, she breaks down what most small businesses get wrong on YouTube and what actually matters in 2026 when buyers are searching on Google, YouTube, and inside AI tools like ChatGPT. We talk about the mindset shift that changes everything: building content around customer questions, not your internal promotions. Mary Ann explains how to use research to find long-tail keyword opportunities and “gaps” you can win even in crowded markets, plus how consistency and batch recording make weekly publishing realistic for a busy owner. We also get specific on YouTube SEO fundamentals that impact discoverability, including crisp thumbnails and the often-overlooked power of well-written titles and descriptions that accurately match the spoken content. Subscribe so you don’t miss the next conversation, and if this helped you rethink your YouTube marketing strategy, share it with a business owner friend and leave a quick review! Send us Fan Mail Support the show Free Marketing Gap Audit
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#176
September 29 · 14 min
From Feast or Famine to Consistent Clients
Your calendar is packed, revenue is up, and you finally feel like you can breathe. Then the next month hits and everything goes quiet. If you’ve ever wondered why the feast or famine cycle keeps showing up in your service business, we’re cutting through the frustration and getting specific about what’s actually happening behind the scenes. We walk through the three most common causes of income swings and the fixes that bring stability: marketing that stops when you get busy, a pipeline built almost entirely on referrals, and follow-up that ends too soon because you don’t want to be annoying. You’ll hear how to build a simple marketing rhythm that stays consistent, how to create "awareness" and “consider” touchpoints that run in the background, and why an email list is one of the strongest small business marketing assets you can grow. If you’re ready for steadier leads, a healthier sales pipeline, and more predictable cash flow, hit play. Subscribe, and share this with a friend who’s riding the same roller coaster. Send us Fan Mail Support the show Free Marketing Gap Audit
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#175
September 22 · 36 min
What Your Customers Aren’t Telling You–But You Need to Hear with Sarah Tjoa
Your customers are giving you marketing answers all day long, but most of us rush past the clues. I’m joined by Sarah Tjoa, managing director of Noble West, to break down what “listening” really means in modern marketing and brand strategy, especially now that AI and automation make it easier than ever to publish words that sound right but say nothing. We dig into how marketing falls flat when we lead with generic claims like “premium” or “high quality,” and why those phrases become “words that cost extra” you have to defend with more time, money, and content. Sarah shares a practical way to test your messaging, plus a framework for spotting the deeper priorities people rarely say out loud: security, novelty, and achievement. You’ll hear what to listen for in questions, response speed, hesitations, and even silence, so your positioning feels specific and truly personal. We also get tactical for small business owners and solopreneurs who don’t have a research budget. We talk about using onboarding and intake as a customer insight engine, the few questions that surface landmines and goals fast, and how to build trust through simple check-ins, surveys, and thoughtful “thinking of you” outreach. Then we pivot into optimistic marketing and familiarism, including a standout example line that reframes urgency without fear: “We spent six years to save you six minutes.” Note: there are minor audio issues, but the ideas are worth it. If you want stronger marketing messaging, better customer experience, and clearer brand differentiation, hit play. Subscribe, share this with a business owner friend, and leave a review, then tell us: what’s one customer clue you’re going to start noticing this week? Send us Fan Mail Support the show Free Marketing Gap Audit
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#174
September 15 · 44 min
Email Marketing in the AI Era: What’s Working Now with Adri Kopp
AI is writing faster than any of us can think and that can make email marketing feel like you can just hand it over to ChatGPT. But don’t buy that narrative. Email is still one of the best channels for small businesses to build trust, increase retention, and drive sales, but only if your messages sound like a real person and give subscribers a reason to keep opening. We’re joined by Adri Kopp, an email strategist and copywriter for course creators and heart-led brands, who brings a surprisingly useful background from her first career as a zookeeper. That lens makes the conversation practical and grounded. Together, we dig into where AI can genuinely save time in email copywriting and where it quietly sabotages you by producing generic, obviously automated emails that weaken connection. You’ll hear specific workflows you can try right away, the new reality of email deliverability for Gmail and Yahoo, what metrics to watch, and what’s actually working for list building now that basic PDFs are easier than ever to replace with an AI prompt. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Adri as much as I enjoyed getting to learn from her! Send us Fan Mail Support the show Free Marketing Gap Audit
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#173
September 8 · 11 min
How to Get More Traffic to Your Website
Your website can be stunning, your offer can be dialed in, and your copy can convert, yet your calendar still stays empty for one simple reason: nobody can find you. In this episode, I’m pulling apart the traffic problem most small businesses get wrong. The goal is not more eyeballs. It’s more of the right people landing on your site, without you turning into a full-time content creator or dumping money into ads. I walk through three practical traffic sources and where they fit in the trail to the sale. I also share the crucial step people miss when they are at events or talking to new audiences. Next, we look at referrals and partnerships, the “hiding in plain sight” strategies that often outperform cold outreach. Finally, I explain where SEO and AEO (answer engine optimization for AI search) belong. Listen to learn quicker ways to grow your audience, and bring traffic to your website. Send us Fan Mail Support the show Free Marketing Gap Audit
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#172
September 1 · 11 min
Why Your Website Gets Visitors but Not Customers (And What to Fix)
Your website can be gorgeous and still quietly lose you clients in seconds. In this episode, I share a simple way to spot what is really happening when someone lands on your homepage, clicks around for a moment, and disappears and why the answer is usually not a full redesign or “more traffic.” We break down the five layers of a website that actually works. We talk through the shift from thinking “Is my website good enough?” to asking the question that matters more: “What do I want a visitor to do next, and is it obvious?” Along the way, we connect the dots between customer language, conversion focused copywriting, and SEO keywords that help people discover you through search and increasingly through AI and answer engine optimization. Then we get tactical with three common website leaks and how to fix each one. If you want your website to do its job, listen now, then take the marketing clarity quiz at https://janicehostager.com/quiz. Send us Fan Mail Support the show Free Marketing Gap Audit
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August 25 · 17 min
5 Marketing Mistakes Costing You Customers
Entrepreneurship makes marketing feel like a hundred disconnected tasks, and fear can push us into scattered efforts that do not add up. In this episode, I walk through five common small business marketing mistakes and the simple fixes that create a clear Trail to the Sale™ from stranger to customer. Trying to be everywhere at once. Making it about you. Selling the offer instead of the outcome. Jumping from the first date to the proposal Letting the not now people disappear. And don't miss these two free tools to help you stay on track with your marketing! Ideal Customer Profile Trail to the Sale™ Quickstart Map Send us Fan Mail Support the show Free Marketing Gap Audit
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#170
August 18 · 18 min
What to Hand to AI, and What to Never Let It Touch
A robot answered the phone when I called a local shop, and it instantly reminded me how fragile trust is in small business marketing. That very first “hello” is not a throwaway moment, it’s a brand promise. When we automate the front door of our business, we might save time, but we can also teach our best customers that they don’t matter enough to reach a real person. I walk through the question that matters more than “Should I use AI?” which is: am I handing the right work to AI? You’ll hear the four areas where AI actually shines for marketing and operations: finding patterns in customer feedback, crunching messy marketing data, creating outlines and first drafts, and repurposing one piece of content into many. I also share how to prompt smarter so you don’t end up with generic AI output and how tools like Claude and ChatGPT can sound more like you when you give them the right inputs. Then we get into the guardrails: what AI should never touch. I explain why you cannot outsource judgment, why real customer conversations are the raw material you must protect, and why AI can’t be the final “does it sound like me” check if you want your brand voice to stay distinct. I wrap with practical, creative uses like having AI challenge your sales page, role-play objections, simplify muddy messaging, and spot gaps in your content plan. Send us Fan Mail Support the show Free Marketing Gap Audit
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#169
August 11 · 11 min
Why Interested Buyers Go Quiet
They told you they were interested. They showed up for the call. They maybe even said, “This is exactly what I’ve been looking for.” Then the DM goes quiet and the email thread dies. If you’ve ever stared at your inbox wondering what you did wrong, I walk you through a more useful truth: most of the time, they didn’t reject you. They just never made a decision. In this episode, we unpack the three biggest reasons warm leads stall, and how to fix each one without sounding desperate or pushy. Send us Fan Mail Support the show Free Marketing Gap Audit
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#168
August 4 · 14 min
Four Marketing Rules I Threw Out (and Why You Might Too)
In this episode, I break down four pieces of marketing advice I used to treat as law and explain why they stop working for me, and for my small business clients. I've replaced them with a simpler approach built on audience fit, owned channels, and small tests that let the results guide the next move instead of trends or best practices. Have a listen! Send us Fan Mail Support the show Free Marketing Gap Audit
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#167
July 28 · 31 min
How to Send Emails that Stand Out with R.J. Talyor
Marketing is starting to look the same everywhere, and AI is accelerating the slide toward safe, average choices. But that's not what good marketing is. In this episode, we dig into what the data says about email performance and what we can change right now to make our messages connect on a human level. I’m joined by RJ Talyor, Founder and CEO of Backstroke, who’s spent decades in digital marketing and email, and built AI tools that predict what people click. He shares insight on what's really working in email marketing. Send us Fan Mail Support the show Free Marketing Gap Audit
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#166
July 21 · 51 min
How To Build A Brand Story Customers Trust with John Elbing
We are wired to love stories and they are a powerful marketing tool. In this episode, we talk with storytelling and branding expert John Elbing about why most marketing falls flat when it starts with the business instead of the buyer. We share a simple three-step framework that helps people recognize themselves, trust what they see, and picture the outcome before they commit. Click to listen! Send us Fan Mail Support the show Free Marketing Gap Audit
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#165
July 14 · 18 min
How to Write Emails That Turn Subscribers Into Buyers
Your sales email can be perfectly written and still not sell. If it reads like an inventory list of what's included in your offer, people will skim it, shrug it off, and move on–even when your offer is genuinely good. In this episode, we'll dig into the real reason this happens: buyers don’t get excited about modules, coaching calls, and workbooks. They get excited when they can picture a better version of themselves and believe it’s possible for them. We'll walk through how buying decisions actually happen, starting with emotion and identity, then with logic. You’ll learn how to flip the order so your copywriting builds desire first and then uses the specifics to make that decision feel safe. Send us Fan Mail Support the show Free Marketing Gap Audit
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#164
July 7 · 30 min
How to Sell Something People Want to Avoid with Jermaine Ee
In this episode, I talk with Jermaine Ee, founder of Heirlight, about how to market products and services people actively avoid, using will creation and estate planning as the clearest example. We dig into trust, storytelling, and small first steps that help customers move from “I’ll do it later” to real action. We also cover: problem aware versus solution aware buyers and why education alone fails the real reasons people avoid wills beyond money, including beliefs and past experiences life-change moments that make people receptive, like moving, kids, job changes, and loss using stories to reduce fear and help people see the benefit on the other side trust as the main metric and how early drop-off signals a broken journey using AI tools to prioritize tasks, reduce clutter, and create momentum choosing the “entry price” tasks that come with building the life and business you want growth tradeoffs between B2B partnerships and direct-to-consumer marketing, including CAC to LTV math Send us Fan Mail Support the show Free Marketing Gap Audit
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#163
June 23 · 34 min
Real Reasons Your Pricing Isn't Working
Pricing can feel like the simplest lever in a small business, but it’s also the one that messes with your head the fastest. When a prospect disappears after you send a proposal, it’s easy to assume the number is the problem and start discounting, adding payment plans, or stuffing your offer with bonuses. I take a different angle here: I’ve become convinced that pricing often wears a mask, and until we name what’s underneath, changing the rate won’t fix the real friction. We walk through five common “pricing problems” that usually aren’t pricing problems at all–they are just wearing disguises. Along the way, I share simple diagnostic questions you can use on your own business, plus the “two-week vacation” test that reveals whether your pricing or business model is actually supporting your life. Send us Fan Mail Support the show Free Marketing Gap Audit
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#162
June 16 · 34 min
How To Build Authority with AI with Cyndee Woolley
What happens when AI starts deciding who gets seen, trusted, and recommended? Whether we like it or not, tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's AI Overviews are already shaping how people discover businesses. The question is this: when AI goes looking for information about you, what story is it finding? In this episode, I sit down with PR strategist Cindy Woolley, founder of C2 Communications, to talk about the surprising connection between public relations, AI search, and business visibility. We dig into why credibility matters more than ever, how AI determines who sounds trustworthy, and what business owners can do now to strengthen their digital footprint. Cindy shares what happened when she tested AI-generated press releases (spoiler: they were terrible), why AI should be treated as a tool—not a replacement for human expertise—and how to create an authority blueprint that helps both people and AI understand what you do. We also cover practical strategies like optimizing your LinkedIn profile, using podcast appearances to build authority, creating thought leadership content with real-world insights, and leveraging third-party validation through media mentions, partnerships, and expert contributions. If you've been wondering how to stay visible, credible, and relevant in a world where AI is becoming the gatekeeper, this conversation is for you. For more information about , visit our show notes at myweeklymarketing.com/162. Send us Fan Mail Support the show Free Marketing Gap Audit
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#161
June 9 · 29 min
Bots Don't Buy: How to Spot and Stop Fake Ad Traffic with Rich Kahn
What if a big slice of your ad budget never reaches a real human? If you've ever stared at your digital ads dashboard thinking “the clicks are there, so why is nobody buying?” you’re not alone and you’re not crazy. You might think there's a problem with your content or creative. But sometimes the problem isn’t your offer or your copy. Sometimes it’s ad fraud, click fraud, and invalid traffic quietly polluting your funnel. In this episode, I sat down with Rich Kahn, co-founder and CEO of Anura.io, to put plain language around a messy topic. Rich explains how fraud shows up for small businesses, what the common warning signs look like (high traffic, low conversions, leads that don’t respond, people who swear they never filled out your form), and why “good” KPIs like click-through rate can be dangerously easy for fraudsters to game. You’ll also hear how fraud can hide in places people assume are safe, including partner networks and even “organic” traffic. Send us Fan Mail Support the show Free Marketing Gap Audit
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June 2 · 23 min
Marketing That Works When You Don't Have a Decade to Wait
In this episode, we unpack why standard marketing advice fails when you’re starting a consulting or service business with a short runway and deep experience. I share three practical moves that help you get traction faster by leaning on relationships, focusing your effort, and pricing like the expert you already are. It includes: why most marketing advice assumes infinite time and why that doesn't work for midlife founders and laid-off corporate pros why it's important to use your warm audience before cold audience and how to turn hidden connections into real leads why reactivating past clients is so valuable how to choose one channel that fits your strengths and your ideal customer the difference between compounding content and disposable content how to position around your years of expertise why to use pricing as a signal what “I can’t afford you” usually means and how to respond Send us Fan Mail Support the show Free Marketing Gap Audit
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#159
May 26 · 42 min
The Hidden Signals That Make Customers Trust You with Gal Borenstein
Trust becomes the real sales gate in a world full of AI content, fake reviews, and copycat marketing. We break down how to build a resilient brand by tightening what happens inside the business before we try to persuade anyone outside it. • losing control of the narrative as AI and social platforms reshape reputation • differentiation as a trust strategy, not a slogan • internal culture and leadership consistency as the starting point • awareness of your digital footprint, including fake reviews and misinformation • alignment between brand promise and frontline delivery • authenticity through real proof, testimonials, and clear transparency • accountability as the make-or-break moment in customer support and follow-up • benchmarking a few trust gaps and improving them over time Well, the easiest way to find my books is on Amazon.com. Use LinkedIn. Visit our website at bornesgroup.com and delighted to respond and test us if we respond to you in less than one hour. Send us Fan Mail Support the show Free Marketing Gap Audit
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#158
May 19 · 11 min
Stop Burning Down Your Marketing
Ever “fixed” your marketing by blowing it up and starting over… then felt worse? If you’ve ever felt the urge to start fresh with a new website, a new lead magnet, a new niche, or a totally new strategy, this is your reminder that the problem is often not that you need something new. The problem is "scattered marketing" and the quiet habit of reinventing before anything has time to be tested and refined. We talk through why entrepreneurs chase the dopamine of new ideas, how the IKEA effect makes brand new offers feel more magical than the ones already in the world, and why optimization is the unglamorous place where revenue actually grows. That means conversion rate optimization, clearer messaging, stronger hooks, better calls to action, improved follow-up sequences, and a smoother customer journey from “interested” to “ready to buy.” Send us Fan Mail Support the show Free Marketing Gap Audit
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