More than a Few Words

Lorraine Ball

More than a Few Words - A Marketing Conversation is a smart, down-to-earth show about what’s really working in marketing and what isn’t. All in about 10 minutes. Every week, Lorraine Ball sits down with marketers, entrepreneurs, and the occasional mischief-maker. Some are seasoned pros. Others are figuring it out as they go. But all of them share tips you can use. And stories you won’t hear anywhere else. No fluff, no jargon, just real-world lessons, actionable ideas, and a peek behind the curtain of what actually works. What You’ll Hear: • Real talk with real experts—marketers, creatives, business owners who’ve been in the trenches. • Marketing strategies you can actually use—no jargon, no gatekeeping. • Encouragement without the ego—especially for women building bold businesses on their own terms. • A mix of wit, wisdom, and the occasional marketing metaphor—because learning should feel like a good conversation, not a lecture. We’ll unpack what’s working, what’s not, and what’s changing in the digital marketing world so you can spend less time guessing and more time growing. Whether you’re growing a brand from your kitchen table or the corner office, you’ll find ideas, inspiration, and a few laughs along the way. Follow @lorrainefball on Instagram, for a more marketing conversations and lots of pretty pictures . Smart. Practical. Surprisingly fun. More than a Few Words is your marketing conversation

  1. vor 2 Tagen

    Want a Better Monday? Start on Friday | 1216 | Lorraine Ball

    For years, Sunday nights had a routine. Around eight o'clock, I'd start thinking about Monday. Emails. Client requests. Deadlines. That one surprise waiting to derail my plans before I'd even had my first cup of coffee. Like a lot of business owners, I figured the answer was simple. Work a little harder over the weekend and get ahead. It never worked. The more I worked, the longer my to-do list seemed to get. Instead of feeling prepared, I felt like I was starting every week one step behind.   What finally made a difference wasn't anything I did on Sunday. It was what I started doing on Friday. Back then, Friday afternoon became protected time. No meetings after one o'clock. No "just one more call." Instead, I spent a couple of hours wrapping up the week so Monday had a much softer landing. The first stop was my inbox. I've always been an Inbox Zero fan, not because it's trendy, but because I don't like loose ends. I answered what I could, delegated what I should, and filed the rest. When I shut my computer down, there wasn't a pile of unanswered email waiting for me on Monday. Then I reset my workspace. There was a lot less paper than there used to be, but somehow receipts, notes, and sticky notes still multiplied during the week. A quick cleanup on Friday saved me from hunting for things on Monday morning. Next came my task list. I collected ideas all week long. Friday was when I decided which ones deserved my attention. Some became projects. Some were delegated. Others quietly disappeared because they really weren't that important after all. One habit made an even bigger difference. When I had a good idea that simply wasn't right for right now, I didn't leave it sitting on my list making me feel guilty. I scheduled it to come back in three or six months. If it came back and still didn't make the cut, I knew it wasn't as important as I thought. Finally, I planned my weekend. Yes, I usually checked in on work at some point. That's life when you're running a business. But I decided ahead of time when I'd work and, just as important, when I wouldn't. Walks, dinner with friends, and family time all went on the calendar, too. If I didn't plan my downtime, work happily filled every available minute. The best part was that Sunday nights lost their grip on me. I knew what was waiting on Monday, and I knew it already had a place on my calendar. These days, I don't have the pressure of running a business anymore, but I still protect Friday afternoon. I clear my desk, close the open loops, and head into the weekend knowing Monday won't be waiting to ambush me. Some habits are worth keeping, even after the job changes. What about you? Do you have a Friday routine that makes Monday easier? I'd love to hear about it. And if you'd like to compare notes, you can book an Office Hours conversation at morethanafewwords.com/officehours.

  2. 5. Juli

    Nobody Lies to the Search Bar | What Your Customers are trying to tell you | Stephan Bajaio | 1214

    People may tell their friends they're fine. They may tell a salesperson what they think they should say. But when they open Google, they're honest. They type in the questions they're almost afraid to ask out loud. That simple idea turned into a fascinating conversation about why so many businesses miss the mark online. Stephan Bajaio one of the pioneers in enterprise SEO, and now leads Vibe Logic. After years helping some of the biggest brands in the world understand search behavior, he's convinced the real opportunity isn't chasing keywords. It's understanding people. Here are a few ideas that really stuck with me. Stop obsessing over keywords and start listening for intent. The words matter, but the questions behind those words matter even more. Don't fall in love with your own language. Customers don't care what you call your product. They search using the words they know. If you insist on inventing new terms, be prepared to spend a fortune teaching the market your vocabulary. Look beyond the bullet point. Stephan shared an example from an insurance company that listed "change in marital status" as a simple bullet. Behind that one phrase are dozens of emotional questions from people trying to figure out what happens after a divorce. Those are the questions customers are searching for, and the company wasn't answering them. Help before you sell. One line from Stephan's T-shirt says it all. "If you're not helping people, you're just selling stuff." That idea showed up again and again throughout our conversation. My favorite moment wasn't about SEO at all. It was Stephan's story about flipping through a cousin's wedding album. We have all done that, and be honests when you are flipping the pages, you aren't really looking at the bride. You are looking for a picture of you.  That's exactly what visitors are doing on your website. They're trying to see themselves in your content and decide if you understand what they're need.

  3. 28. Juni

    Do You Want Fries With That | Lorraine Ball | 1213

    I want to talk about upselling, and when it actually works against you. Most smart companies have a core product and a menu of add-ons. The really smart ones know not to throw every extra at a customer the minute they say yes.  You listen first. You find out what they need. Then you decide which add-ons make sense. The other day, I stopped at Hardee's and ordered a hamburger. No cheese. What followed felt like an interrogation. Did I want a combo? A drink? A pastry? Was it a number one? A number seven? Meanwhile, I kept repeating the same thing: "I just want a hamburger." By the end of the conversation, I wasn't hungry. I was annoyed. And that got me thinking. Are you doing the same thing to your customers?  Are you so focused on selling the extras that you stop listening to what they actually came to buy? Don't get me wrong. Add-ons are a great way to increase revenue. But only when they're relevant. Offering everything to everyone isn't a sales strategy. It's the business equivalent of that drive-thru speaker that won't stop talking. Before you pitch the upgrade, ask yourself a few questions. Does this solve a problem the customer has already mentioned? Have I explained why this add-on matters? Am I offering it at the right point in the conversation? And here's one more thing to consider. Are customers asking for services or features you don't currently offer? Sometimes the biggest opportunity isn't another upsell. It's paying attention to what people are trying to buy. The goal isn't to sell more stuff. The goal is to help customers get more value

  4. 21. Juni

    Marketing Tug-of-War in Multi-Layer Brands | Beth Trejo | 1212

    Ever feel like your marketing plan is the rope in a tug-of-war match? The sales team is pulling one way. The owner is pulling another. Someone's daughter took a marketing class in college and has opinions. And the person who's actually responsible for the campaign is standing in the middle, trying not to get dragged through the mud. That's why my conversation with Beth Trejo really struck a chord with me.  Beth is the CEO and co-founder of Chatterkick, and she works with franchise organizations, multi-location businesses, and other companies where marketing decisions rarely come from just one person. While her examples came from large organizations, I couldn't help thinking about all the small businesses I've worked with over the years. Sometimes a "multi-layer brand" is just a family business with three generations around the conference table. A few things stood out from our conversation: Marketing isn't just about customers. Sometimes you need to market your ideas internally. Beth pointed out that marketers spend a lot of time building buy-in inside the organization. If stakeholders don't feel included, they'll grab the rope and start pulling in their own direction. Not everyone has to participate the same way. Some people love being front and center. Others would rather hide behind the camera. Beth's advice was simple: meet people where they are and help them contribute in ways that feel natural. Stop arguing and start testing. This might have been my favorite part of the conversation because it brought back memories of my corporate days. When someone insisted my idea would never work, I'd ask for a small test. Data has a wonderful way of settling arguments without bruising anyone's ego. Local voices make brands stronger and easier to find. For franchise and multi-location businesses, there needs to be consistency. But there also needs to be room for local personality. That's good for customer relationships and good for SEO. Search engines, just like customers, want signals that you're connected to the community you serve. Remember that you are not the customer. This sounds obvious, but it's amazing how often we forget it. The things we like, dislike, click on, or ignore may have nothing to do with what our customers want. The strongest marketing teams stay curious and let customer behavior guide the decisions. Ultimately, it isn't about winningt the game of tug-of-war, it is about .getting everyone to pull in the same direction, the customer's direction!

  5. 7. Juni

    Angel Tuccy | Stop Giving it All Away for Free | 1211

    I’ve watched a lot of entrepreneurs build amazing communities, only to discover that applause doesn’t always pay the bills. In this conversation with , we talked about the moment she realized her thriving podcast community needed more than goodwill and good vibes to become a sustainable business. Angel has always been brilliant at bringing people together. Her podcast networking platform created real relationships, real collaborations, and real opportunities. But somewhere along the way, she realized she was creating enormous value without building a business model around it. That’s a lesson a lot of women business owners know all too well. What made this conversation especially interesting was how intentionally she shifted from “free for everyone” to a tiered community with clear value, stronger positioning, and protected intellectual property. A few takeaways worth stealing: • Free can open the door, but it shouldn’t be the whole house. Angel discovered that even a small monthly fee changes the quality of participation. The people willing to invest, even modestly, are usually the ones serious about growth. • Your intellectual property has value. Treat it that way. One of my favorite moments in the conversation was our discussion about trademarks, ownership, and protecting the assets you create. Too many business owners build incredible frameworks and never stop to realize they actually own something valuable. • Visibility works best as an ecosystem. Angel shared her “Apples” framework for building visibility through articles, podcasts, press, live events, and evergreen content. I loved this because it’s a reminder that marketing rarely works as a one-and-done tactic. The magic happens when all the pieces support each other. • Start messy. Just start. We also laughed about early podcast recordings that sounded like they were captured inside a tile bathroom. But the point was important. Waiting for perfect usually means never starting at all. This episode is a great reminder that building a business takes more than creating value. You also need structure, intention, and the confidence to ask people to invest in what you’ve built. Because “free forever” is not a marketing plan. It’s a hobby.

  6. 31. Mai

    Clever Isn't Enough | Be Clear If You Want People to Buy | Scott Flood | 1210

    Great Marketing Isn't About Being Clever. It's About Being Understood. One of the biggest mistakes marketers make is chasing creativity for creativity's sake. A clever campaign might win awards, but if it doesn't help customers understand why they should buy, it misses the mark. That was the heart of my conversation with Scott Flood, a veteran copywriter who has spent decades helping companies communicate complex ideas in ways that drive results. Whether you're selling snacks, software, or something that costs a quarter of a million dollars, the goal is the same. Your marketing needs to connect with the right audience and give them what they need to make a decision. What I Took Away from the Conversation Clarity beats cleverness in complex sales. When buyers are making big decisions, they aren't looking for entertainment. They need information they can trust and share with others involved in the buying process. Creativity isn't the same as being funny. Scott made a great point. Real creativity is finding the best way to capture attention, hold interest, and make your message memorable. Sometimes that includes humor. Sometimes it doesn't. Constraints can actually make you more creative. Whether you're working within brand guidelines or industry expectations, limitations often help focus your thinking. Instead of worrying about endless options, you can put your energy into solving the real communication challenge. Even technical buyers are still human beings. Engineers, attorneys, contractors, and executives all make decisions with a mix of logic and emotion. The best marketing speaks to both. You can't understand customers from behind a screen. One of my favorite moments in the conversation was our discussion about getting out and talking to real people. Customer avatars and AI-generated profiles can be useful, but nothing replaces listening to customers explain their challenges in their own words. The best marketing answers practical questions. Customers want to know how you'll help them make money, save time, avoid problems, or improve results. Focus there first, and the creative execution becomes much easier. My biggest takeaway? Before you spend time making your marketing more clever, make sure it's more useful. That's what customers remember, and that's what drives results. Sometimes the most creative thing you can do is simply understand your customer better.

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More than a Few Words - A Marketing Conversation is a smart, down-to-earth show about what’s really working in marketing and what isn’t. All in about 10 minutes. Every week, Lorraine Ball sits down with marketers, entrepreneurs, and the occasional mischief-maker. Some are seasoned pros. Others are figuring it out as they go. But all of them share tips you can use. And stories you won’t hear anywhere else. No fluff, no jargon, just real-world lessons, actionable ideas, and a peek behind the curtain of what actually works. What You’ll Hear: • Real talk with real experts—marketers, creatives, business owners who’ve been in the trenches. • Marketing strategies you can actually use—no jargon, no gatekeeping. • Encouragement without the ego—especially for women building bold businesses on their own terms. • A mix of wit, wisdom, and the occasional marketing metaphor—because learning should feel like a good conversation, not a lecture. We’ll unpack what’s working, what’s not, and what’s changing in the digital marketing world so you can spend less time guessing and more time growing. Whether you’re growing a brand from your kitchen table or the corner office, you’ll find ideas, inspiration, and a few laughs along the way. Follow @lorrainefball on Instagram, for a more marketing conversations and lots of pretty pictures . Smart. Practical. Surprisingly fun. More than a Few Words is your marketing conversation