The Everywhere Small Business Podcast

PostcardMania
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  • Entrepreneurship

What really helps a Small Business grow? Learning from honest conversations with people who are actually doing the work! On The Everywhere Small Business Podcast, we talk with owners, entrepreneurs, marketers, and leaders active in the world of Small Business.  They share stories about their wins, mistakes, strategies, and lessons they've learned on their ongoing business journeys.  Brought to you by PostcardMania, every episode is packed with authentic, real, practical insights so listeners can learn...and grow.

  1. 4 days ago

    17. Breaking Through $500k - Insights from the BBB with Samantha Scholl

    Small business ownership can be isolating, overwhelming, and full of decisions that are difficult to navigate alone. So what happens when entrepreneurs have access to the right mentors, education, resources, and community? We sit down with Samantha Scholl, Vice President of Innovation at the Better Business Bureau serving the Pacific Southwest and Mountain West, to explore how the BBB is expanding its role in helping small businesses launch, grow, and scale responsibly. Samantha shares her journey through 28 years in hospitality, the experience of closing a restaurant during COVID, and how those experiences shaped her approach to serving entrepreneurs. She explains why hospitality is more than an industry — it’s a mindset that can help any business build trust and loyalty. The conversation also explores mentorship, imposter syndrome, equitable access to business resources, the value of learning across generations, and how small businesses can use AI to save time without losing the human connections that matter most. Because growing a business isn’t just about what you know. It’s also about who you learn from, who you connect with, and how you make people feel. Key Takeaways Hospitality is a business strategy. Making customers and colleagues feel welcome, respected, and genuinely valued can build trust and create memorable experiences in any industry.Isolation is expensive. Entrepreneurs who build relationships with peers, mentors, and other business owners can find answers and solutions faster than those trying to figure everything out alone.Mentorship can change a business trajectory. Different mentors offer different perspectives, and Samantha’s programs make mentorship a central part of entrepreneurial development.Business growth requires a strong foundation. New tools can make starting a business easier, but sustainable growth still depends on sound systems, patience, and responsible decision-making.Community creates opportunities. In-person connections can lead to ideas, partnerships, friendships, and opportunities that entrepreneurs might never discover on their own.Access matters. Childcare, meals, grants, education, and mentorship can help reduce barriers for entrepreneurs who might otherwise lack the resources or networks to participate.AI should create room for human connection. Samantha sees AI as a way to reduce repetitive work and free up time for the relationships that help businesses thrive.Growth can have a ripple effect. When businesses gain customers and expand, they can create jobs and opportunities that benefit employees, families, and their communities.Chapter Highlights 01:40 — From 28 Years in Hospitality to Small Business Innovation Growing up around her mother’s restaurant helped shape Samantha’s career. She shares how decades of hospitality experience eventually led her to the BBB. 05:30 — Hospitality Is More Than an Industry Why making people feel welcome, noticing the details, and creating meaningful experiences matter in every kind of business. 06:50 — Authentic Connections Build Trust Samantha explains how genuine relationships and the way people feel during an interaction can influence business success. 15:00 — The Breakthrough Accelerator: Helping Businesses Scale An introduction to the BBB’s intensive, 12-week program and its practical focus on areas such as marketing, web design, HR, legal matters, finance, and emotional well-being. 18:00 — Why Accountability and Peer Learning Matter How cohorts, accountability groups, and connections with fellow entrepreneurs help business owners learn from one another and keep moving forward. 20:00 — The Hidden Cost of Entrepreneurial Isolation Why going it alone can slow progress — and how connecting with other business owners can help people work through challenges more effectively. 22:00 — Imposter Syndrome and the Confidence to Grow The conversation turns to the doubts entrepreneurs can experience, even when they have already achieved meaningful success. 24:50 — Four Pillars of Entrepreneurial Support Samantha outlines the importance of education, mentorship, access to capital, and community in the BBB’s programs. 26:00 — What Younger and More Experienced Entrepreneurs Can Learn From Each Other Newer entrepreneurs may bring curiosity and openness to technology, while experienced owners contribute perspective, resilience, and foundational business knowledge. 28:00 — Build the Foundation Before the Skyscraper Why a business needs sound systems and a strong foundation before it can scale sustainably. 32:40 — Grants, Resources, and More Equitable Access Samantha shares the BBB’s experience serving entrepreneurs and discusses grant funding and practical support for business owners who face barriers to participation. 36:00 — When the Right Support Helps a Business Create Jobs Samantha shares an example of a young entrepreneur whose in-home elderly-care business grew during the accelerator, illustrating the potential impact of focused support. 39:00 — The Value of Mentors, Networks, and Shared Experience A broader look at why entrepreneurs benefit from having people they can call for advice, perspective, and encouragement. 45:00 — Using AI Responsibly to Make More Room for Growth Samantha discusses the potential for AI to reduce manual work and help entrepreneurs focus on the activities that move their businesses forward. 50:15 — Put the Time You Save Back Into Relationships Chris and Samantha explore a practical way to think about automation: use the time it gives back to build more authentic relationships. 51:50 — The Future Is Technology and Human Connection Samantha reflects on the growing importance of creating opportunities for people to meet, collaborate, and connect in person. Resources & Further Reading The Everywhere Small Business Podcast: https://www.postcardmania.com/products-services/everywhere-small-business/PostcardMania Webinars: https://www.postcardmania.com/webinarsPostcardMania Website2Mailbox: https://www.postcardmania.com/products-services/website-to-mailbox/For information about Samantha’s programs, the BBB’s local innovation hubs, and the Breakthrough Accelerator, check with the Better Business Bureau serving the Pacific Southwest and Mountain West for current program details and eligibility.   Need Help Growing Your Business? PostcardMania helps small businesses grow through education, marketing, and technology. From direct mail to digital marketing and integrated campaigns, learn how we can help you reach more customers. Visit: https://www.postcardmania.com Looking for more Marketing Education? PostcardMania has ongoing webinars to help you really learn about marketing - no fluff, just real, practical help so you can better understand how to best grow through marketing that actually works. Visit: https://www.postcardmania.com/webinars/ Let's Connect! Have a small business story, lesson, or experience you'd like to share? Be a guest on our show! Email: podcast@postcardmania.com

    17. Breaking Through $500k - Insights from the BBB with Samantha Scholl

  2. 21 Oct

    16. From Two Guys on a Couch To 40 Employees and $4.5M: Ryan Cooper and How To Scale

    What does it take to grow a business from two founders to a team of roughly 40 people and $4.5 million in projected annual revenue? For Ryan Cooper, Chief Revenue Officer at Set to Close, the answer comes down to: Building the right systemsHiring the right peopleCreating a culture where everyone has a stake in the company's success.Ryan and his business partner, Jordan, built Set to Close after discovering a problem that many businesses overlook: revenue leakage.  Companies invest in marketing, generate leads, and book sales meetings, but opportunities slip away when follow-up is inconsistent, processes live in employees' heads, and nobody can clearly see where deals are falling through the cracks. In this conversation, Ryan explains how revenue operations helps businesses connect their people, processes, and technology to create more consistent growth.  He shares how Set to Close uses its own methods to guide its expansion, why empowering employees matters as much as hiring talented people, and how a commitment to culture and community helped the company pursue B Corp certification. Ryan also gets candid about bootstrapping a business, weathering sleepless nights, finding the right business partner, and learning to lead when other people's livelihoods depend on your decisions. His advice for aspiring entrepreneurs is refreshingly direct: build a plan around your long-term vision, choose your partners carefully, and take action. You won't get everything right the first time, but you can learn, adapt, and keep moving forward. In this episode, you'll learn: How to identify and prevent revenue leakage in your business.Why documented processes make growth less dependent on individual employees.Why culture, employee development, and shared ownership matter as a business scales.How to balance today's operational demands with tomorrow's strategic goals.Three practical lessons for entrepreneurs ready to build something of their own.Key takeaways 1. Revenue leakage can undermine even successful marketing. Generating leads and booking meetings are only the beginning. If businesses fail to follow up, deliver quotes, nurture undecided prospects, or manage the next steps, potential revenue disappears. Growth requires understanding what happens throughout the customer journey. 2. Get the process out of people's heads and into the business. Experienced employees often develop effective ways of working, but undocumented knowledge makes a company dependent on individuals. Standardized processes, sequences, and metrics make it easier to onboard new employees and replicate successful practices. 3. Use data to grow deliberately, not just aggressively. Ryan describes using lead flow, conversion rates, forecasting, and operating metrics to determine when Set to Close needed additional salespeople and operational staff. The goal was to avoid both overhiring and being understaffed during busy periods. 4. Your first hires help determine what kind of company you become. Ryan emphasizes that early employees shape not only productivity but also the culture. Technical ability matters, but so do values, collaboration, role fit, and whether the company can help employees achieve their career goals. 5. Growth and a people-first culture can reinforce each other. Set to Close's stated value, “Never Walk Alone,” reflects a collaborative approach to solving problems and supporting employees.  Timestamps 00:42 — The Problem That Inspired the Business How Ryan's experience in outsourced sales development revealed that booking meetings wasn't necessarily the problem. The real challenge was what happened afterward, when leads and sales opportunities fell through the cracks. 04:54 — Where Small Businesses Lose Revenue Chris illustrates how an HVAC company can lose a valuable opportunity when a lead isn't followed up on, a quote goes unanswered, or a prospective customer never hears back. 06:28 — Building a Business Around Systems, Not Superstars Ryan describes launching Set to Close with Jordan and their goal of reducing guesswork through consistent processes, trackable performance, and repeatable onboarding. 11:31 — Give Salespeople More Time to Sell Why the goal isn't necessarily to replace a successful salesperson's approach, but to eliminate unnecessary administrative work and automate parts of the follow-up process. 13:20 — Scaling the Team Through Better Forecasting Ryan discusses the company's growth, its use of standardized metrics, and how it plans hiring around lead flow, conversions, and anticipated demand. 16:28 — Practice What You Preach Ryan explains why Set to Close tests its own operational methods internally.  18:19 — The Ingredients Behind Rapid Growth Ryan credits an aligned business partnership, a willingness to work hard, strong early hires, and a culture of innovation and collaboration. 21:13 — Hiring People Who Make the Business Better A discussion of employee empowerment, cultural fit, recruitment, and creating career development opportunities that benefit both the employee and the company. 25:16 — Bootstrapping, Faith, and the Tough Early Days Ryan opens up about building a business without outside investors, navigating uncertain early months, and relying on faith and persistence through difficult stretches. 28:20 — Making Time for Strategy and New Ideas How structured planning, team feedback, and stepping away from a problem can all contribute to better decisions and unexpected breakthroughs. 32:42 — Building Toward $4.5 Million and Beyond Ryan shares that the company is on pace for approximately $4.5 million in revenue and discusses its ambitions to surpass $10 million as it continues to grow. 34:10 — How Entrepreneurship Changes You Ryan reflects on moving from sales into business leadership and realizing that decisions affect not only the founders, but the people who depend on the company for their livelihoods. 36:06 — Building a Culture Where Nobody Walks Alone The story behind Set to Close's “Never Walk Alone” value, its collaborative culture, and the importance of supporting employees beyond their initial onboarding. 38:59 — Why B Corp Certification Matters Ryan discusses the company's decision to pursue certification as a way to demonstrate and externally validate its commitments to employees, communities, and the environment. 42:55 — Three Lessons for Aspiring Entrepreneurs Ryan's closing advice: plan backward from your vision, choose the right business partner, and take action even when mistakes and setbacks are inevitable. The Throughline Good systems help people do their best work. There's a tendency in small business to celebrate the superstar salesperson, the founder who seems to do everything, or the employee who has memorized every step of a complicated process.  Those people can be enormously valuable. But when too much of a company's success depends on what lives inside one person's head, growth becomes difficult to replicate. Ryan's perspective offers a useful alternative: 1. Document the process 2. Make follow-up consistent 3. Measure what's happening 4. Remove administrative friction 5. Then give talented people the freedom to focus on the work where they contribute the most value. That same principle applies to culture. Ryan and Jordan didn't simply build a revenue operations business; they also thought deliberately about the kind of workplace they wanted to create. Their emphasis on employee development, collaboration, and shared responsibility is a reminder that scaling isn't just about adding headcount. It's about building an organization that can grow without losing its sense of purpose. Ryan's advice isn't a complicated formula or a promise of overnight success. It's a plan, the right partner, and action. Those three ideas are accessible to a business owner at almost any stage. You don't have to build a 40-person company to benefit from Ryan's approach. Start by finding one place where opportunities are slipping away, one process that exists only in someone's head, or one administrative task keeping your best people from doing their best work.  Fixing that one thing can be a meaningful step toward a business that is easier to manage, more resilient, and better prepared to grow. Need Help Growing Your Business? PostcardMania helps small businesses grow through education, marketing, and technology. From direct mail to digital marketing and integrated campaigns, learn how we can help you reach more customers. Visit: https://www.postcardmania.com Looking for more Marketing Education? PostcardMania has ongoing webinars to help you really learn about marketing - no fluff, just real, practical help so you can better understand how to best grow through marketing that actually works. Visit: https://www.postcardmania.com/webinars/ Let's Connect! Have a small business story, lesson, or experience you'd like to share? Be a guest on our show! Email: podcast@postcardmania.com

    16. From Two Guys on a Couch To 40 Employees and $4.5M: Ryan Cooper and How To Scale

  3. 14 Oct

    15. Turning a Face Plant into Business Growth and 15+ employees with Jessica Aubin

    What happens when you're great at what you do, but suddenly realize you have to learn an entirely new skill: running a business? Jessica Aubin started her speech-language pathology practice as a solo practitioner, renting space just two half-days a week.  Sixteen years later, she's built a growing organization with a team of specialists, administrative staff, and dedicated marketing and community outreach resources. She also acquired a second local business along the way. On this episode, Jessica shares the lessons, missteps, and personal growth that helped her build a more sophisticated, sustainable business.  We talk about why word-of-mouth eventually stops being enough, why marketing should be an investment rather than an expense, and how better organization and delegation help business owners break through growth barriers. Jessica also explains why understanding your customers is far more important than simply telling them what you sell, and why the ability to learn from setbacks may be one of the most valuable entrepreneurial skills of all. Her central lesson? You have to grow as a person to grow your business. The transition from practitioner to business owner: Why being excellent at your craft doesn't automatically prepare you to run a company.Learn from the face plants: How Jessica developed the resilience to handle difficult clients, unexpected expenses, and other business setbacks without losing her cool.Why word-of-mouth eventually hits a wall: How growing beyond a solo practice requires a more sophisticated, consistent approach to marketing and public relations.Treat marketing as an investment: Why cutting marketing when business slows down can make the problem worse, and why continued investment helps support future growth.Keep learning: Why Jessica credits continuous education, specialized training, and a growth mindset with helping her navigate challenges and build a stronger business.Chapter Markers 02:18 — The Moment You Realize You're a Business Owner 03:19 — Why Being Great at Your Craft Isn't Enough 04:20 — The Business Skills Nobody Teaches You 07:20 — How Entrepreneurship Changes You Personally 08:45 — Learning to Handle Setbacks Without Falling Apart 11:34 — The Hidden Costs of Hiring Employees 13:49 — Face Plant City: The Reality of Running a Business 16:17 — The Organizational Changes That Made Growth Possible 17:25 — Why Marketing Deserves a Dedicated Team 20:22 — The Growth Cycle: Marketing, Hiring, and Expansion 27:24 — Learning to Delegate and Let Go 31:34 — Why Growing a Business Requires Constant Reinvention 32:44 — When Word-of-Mouth Stops Driving Growth 33:41— Marketing's Real Job: Generate More Opportunities 34:10  — Combining Direct Mail and Digital Marketing 40:24 — Targeted Marketing and Reaching the Right People 41:25 — Why Cutting Marketing During a Crisis Can Backfire 42:41   — Marketing as an Investment in Future Growth 44:36   — Jessica's Biggest Success Factor: Continuous Learning 46:13   — How Experience Builds Entrepreneurial Confidence 47:24   — Finding the Right Systems to Run Your Business 49:38  — Advice for Breaking Through the Next Growth Barrier 55:24  — Finding a Business Growth Framework That Works 57:17— Business Is a Journey, Not a Destination 58:00 — Grow Yourself to Grow Your Business Need Help Growing Your Business? PostcardMania helps small businesses grow through education, marketing, and technology. From direct mail to digital marketing and integrated campaigns, learn how we can help you reach more customers. Visit: https://www.postcardmania.com Looking for more Marketing Education? PostcardMania has ongoing webinars to help you really learn about marketing - no fluff, just real, practical help so you can better understand how to best grow through marketing that actually works. Visit: https://www.postcardmania.com/webinars/ Let's Connect! Have a small business story, lesson, or experience you'd like to share? Be a guest on our show! Email: podcast@postcardmania.com

    15. Turning a Face Plant into Business Growth and 15+ employees with Jessica Aubin

  4. 7 Oct

    14. 5,000 Reps + 1 Formula For Closing = $1 Billion in Sales: The PlusOne Method with Dan Thompson

    What if the secret to better sales isn't convincing someone to buy…but instead giving them the confidence to follow through on a decision they've already started making? Dan Thompson, Executive Vice President of Plus One Company BPO, has spent nearly two decades studying the psychology of sales conversations, customer behavior, and what makes people convert.  His company manages thousands of agents across the U.S. and Ecuador, giving Dan a unique perspective on what happens between the moment a customer responds to marketing and the moment they actually become a customer.  In this episode, Chris and Dan dig into why sales isn't about reading a script—it's about using a framework to build trust, uncover the customer's problem, and give them confidence in their decision.  They also explore how Plus One tests and continually engineers its sales methodology, why AI should eliminate friction rather than simply replace people, how customer communication is evolving from phone calls to text and even emojis, and how to build a large team around a simple, repeatable structure.  And Dan shares a philosophy that applies far beyond call centers: “Don't fall in love with your idea. Fall in love with solving your customer's problem.”  What You'll Learn 1. Why great salespeople don't “sell” as much as they build confidence Customers often arrive having already decided they want something. The salesperson's job is to build trust, understand their needs, and reinforce that they are making the right decision.  2. Why a sales script should be used, but not read Dan explains how Plus One turns its methodology into a repeatable framework while still giving individual agents room to use their own personalities and strengths.  3. How to turn your sales operation into a laboratory With thousands of calls, businesses have the opportunity to test one variable, measure the result, and continually improve their approach.  4. How customer communication is changing From phone calls to digital communication and even emoji-driven conversations, Dan explains how businesses need to meet customers wherever they are—and remove friction from the buying journey.  5. How mastery gives people confidence Dan's “master converter” concept shows how experience, repetition, and a consistent methodology can turn good salespeople into exceptional ones.  The Chapters 00:52 Why Plus One Started by Solving a Problem 02:37 What Sales Really Means 04:08 Why Customers Talk Themselves Out of Buying 06:29 A Script Is a Tool, Not Something You Read 07:09 Turning Sales Into a Science 10:38 How Consumer Behavior Has Changed 16:49 From Phone Calls to Text & Emojis 18:24 Why AI Should Eliminate Friction 20:57 The Power of Peer Influence & Reviews 24:18 How Master Converters Double Conversion 25:15 Creating Sales Muscle Memory 27:41 Turning Sales Conversations Into a Formula 29:20 Letting Personality Drive Performance 31:34 Building Confidence Through Mastery 32:45 How Sales Skills Can Change a Life 36:54 Lessons From 19 Years in Business 37:39 Don't Fall in Love With Your Idea 38:51 Your Customer Is the Business 39:33 Grow Yourself, Grow Your Company Need Help Growing Your Business? PostcardMania helps small businesses grow through education, marketing, and technology. From direct mail to digital marketing and integrated campaigns, learn how we can help you reach more customers. Visit: https://www.postcardmania.com Looking for more Marketing Education? PostcardMania has ongoing webinars to help you really learn about marketing - no fluff, just real, practical help so you can better understand how to best grow through marketing that actually works. Visit: https://www.postcardmania.com/webinars/ Let's Connect! Have a small business story, lesson, or experience you'd like to share? Be a guest on our show! Email: podcast@postcardmania.com

    14. 5,000 Reps + 1 Formula For Closing = $1 Billion in Sales: The PlusOne Method with Dan Thompson

  5. 30 Sept

    13. Three Brothers, 30 employees, and 8,000+ Customers: Nick South and a Thriving Family Business

    What happens when a family of entrepreneurs takes decades of sales, marketing, and business experience and turns it into a technology company serving thousands of small businesses? Nick South knows the answer. Nick is part of the family behind Sotellus, a company that provides reputation management, marketing automation, and AI services to more than 8,000 small businesses across 33 countries.  What started with his father’s sales career and his brothers’ experience in the Yellow Pages and website industries eventually evolved into a family-run software company with roughly 30 employees. But the most interesting part of Nick's story isn't just the growth. It's how they grew. Nick explains why Sotellus focuses on relationships instead of transactions, why his sales team is trained to educate rather than pressure prospects, how the company has built a powerful referral and affiliate network, and why knowing your numbers can be the difference between running a business and running an expensive hobby. He also shares lessons on hiring, company culture, managing salespeople, learning from people who've already done what you want to do, and the importance of staying consistent even when the results aren't immediate. In This Episode, Chris and Nick Talk About: Growing a family business into a technology company serving 8,000+ small businessesHow Nick's father, a legendary salesperson, influenced his approach to business and salesThe evolution from websites and content marketing into SoTelUsWhy relationships beat transactions in small-business salesBuilding a company culture where employees are treated like familyWhy Nick hires for both ability and cultural fitTeaching salespeople to educate instead of using high-pressure closing tacticsHow transparency around pricing builds trust with small-business ownersBuilding growth through affiliate and referral relationshipsWhy marketing should be viewed as a scalability tool—not simply a survival toolThe philosophy behind “Who, Not How”Why small-business owners need to know their conversion rate, customer acquisition cost, and lifetime valueThe difference between running a business and running an “expensive hobby”Managing the emotional ups and downs of a sales teamWhy consistency today creates opportunities months from nowHow long-term relationships can eventually turn into major opportunitiesKey Takeaways 1. Sell by educating, not pressuring. Nick's approach to sales is remarkably simple: first determine whether the product is actually right for the prospect. If it isn't, don't sell it. If it is, the job becomes understanding the customer's goals and showing how the solution can help achieve them. 2. Relationships are a long-term growth strategy. SoTelUs has built a significant portion of its growth through affiliates, referrals, partners, and existing customers. Nick tells a great story about maintaining a relationship with an affiliate who went an entire year without producing a sale—only to eventually bring in a major franchise opportunity. The lesson: not every relationship pays off immediately. 3. Know your numbers. Nick's advice for business owners is direct: know your conversion rate, customer acquisition cost, lifetime value, and the economics behind your marketing. If you don't know the numbers, you may be operating more like a hobby than a business. 4. Find the “who.” Nick strongly believes in learning from people who have already accomplished what you're trying to accomplish. Instead of spending years figuring everything out yourself, find someone who has already solved the problem and learn from them. 5. Consistency compounds. Nick's closing advice may be the biggest lesson of the episode: What you do today affects you six months from now. Marketing, sales, relationship-building, networking, and follow-up don't always produce an immediate result. But stopping because the payoff isn't immediate can prevent the future result from ever happening. Chapter Markers 00:52 — The family business origin story  02:13 — From Yellow Pages to websites and software  03:39 — Building the first website and content marketing businesses  04:46 — Why video reviews became the opportunity  05:26 — From a family of four to a 30-person company  06:18 — Growing up in a family business  09:06 — Learning sales from Dad  10:37 — Building a relationship-based company  11:09 — Growing the team without losing the culture  16:20 — Sales as education and problem-solving  18:25 — Giving small businesses the power of big companies  19:59 — Thousands of sales reps taught Nick what customers value  21:27 — Building a culture of continuous education  22:43 — Why employees are treated like family  26:20 — Building growth through relationships and affiliates  27:49 — Why marketing shouldn't just be about survival  28:16 — The long game of affiliate relationships  29:33 — The power of referral-based growth  30:50 — “Who, Not How”  32:50 — Find people who have already done it  34:54 — The value of mentorship and paying it forward  36:05 — Nick's biggest business aha: Know your numbers  39:11 — Family, business and conflict resolution  41:39 — Building young salespeople from the ground up  43:02 — Managing the emotional side of sales  44:33 — Mental fortitude and the sales numbers game  46:35 — Nick's advice for young business owners  47:03 — What you do today affects six months from now  48:10 — Final thoughts The Big Lesson Nick's final advice is worth remembering: “What you do today affects you six months from now.” For a small-business owner, that means today's sales calls, today's marketing, today's networking, today's follow-ups, and today's relationships are all contributing to the business you'll have months from now. Stay consistent. Keep building relationships. Know your numbers. And trust the process. Nick South is part of the family behind SoTelUs, a technology company providing reputation management, marketing automation, AI, and related services to small businesses. SoTelUs serves more than 8,000 small businesses across 33 countries. Nick leads sales and works closely with the company's client success organization. His experience spans sales, business development, team leadership, affiliate relationships, and growing a family-owned technology company. Need Help Growing Your Business? PostcardMania helps small businesses grow through education, marketing, and technology. From direct mail to digital marketing and integrated campaigns, learn how we can help you reach more customers. Visit: https://www.postcardmania.com Looking for more Marketing Education? PostcardMania has ongoing webinars to help you really learn about marketing - no fluff, just real, practical help so you can better understand how to best grow through marketing that actually works. Visit: https://www.postcardmania.com/webinars/ Let's Connect! Have a small business story, lesson, or experience you'd like to share? Be a guest on our show! Email: podcast@postcardmania.com

    13. Three Brothers, 30 employees, and 8,000+ Customers: Nick South and a Thriving Family Business

  6. 23 Sept

    12. How Jay Schwedelson Amassed 83,000 Followers: "Be Yourself & Show Up, Because Stupider People Have Done It"

    What do you do when your business is struggling, and you're not sure what to try next? For marketing powerhouse Jay Schwedelson, the answer has been surprisingly simple: keep showing up, keep testing, and be yourself. Jay shares how he grew up in a family direct-mail business, built an agency combining direct mail, email and digital marketing, nearly lost the business during COVID—and then completely changed his approach to marketing by becoming more authentic and visible. We talk about why consistency beats perfection, why small businesses shouldn't expect every marketing dollar to have a straight line back to revenue, the power of human content, why the owner of a small business may need to become the brand's biggest megaphone, and the $30-a-week marketing tactic Jay believes small businesses are overlooking. And, of course, we get into Jay's bestselling book, Stupider People Have Done It, and the advice from his grandfather that inspired it all. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN Why consistency can beat sophistication in marketingHow COVID forced Jay to stop trying to play the industry's game and start being himselfWhy human, behind-the-scenes content can make your business more relatableWhy the first version of almost anything you do is probably going to be bad—and why that's OKHow to think about the 95:5 marketing reality and staying visible before customers are ready to buyWhy marketing attribution isn't always as clean as “I spent $1, I made $X”Why small-business owners may need to become the megaphone for their own businessJay's micro-boosting strategy for putting a small amount of paid media behind social contentWhy regret can be worse than failureHow Jay's grandfather inspired the title and philosophy behind Stupider People Have Done It⏱️ EPISODE TIMESTAMPS 01:11 — From Internet Advertising to Direct Mail & Digital 03:04 — The COVID Crisis That Changed Everything 03:58 — Growing Up in a Family Direct Mail Business 07:05 — The Entrepreneurial Mindset: “Just Friggin’ Try It” 09:51 — Jay’s Early Hiring Mistakes & Learning by Doing 13:16 — When the Business Grows With You 14:43 — Why Being Yourself Changed Jay’s Business 17:44 — Being Human Is the Secret Sauce 21:23 — The Marketing North Star: Consistency 24:44 — Why You Have to Keep Showing Up 25:14 — The 95:5 Reality & Why Consistency Wins 26:32 — The Problem With Marketing Attribution 29:14 — The Story Behind “Stupider People Have Done It” 34:16 — Why Small Businesses Need a Human Face 35:16 — Make Yourself the Megaphone 42:35 — Why Now Is a Great Time to Start a Small Business 44:37 — The Reality of Stress, Anxiety & Entrepreneurship 46:17 — Jay’s $30-a-Week “Micro-Boosting” Strategy 48:47 — What’s Next: AI, Events & More Content 49:37 — The Future of Direct Mail & Small Business Marketing 52:30 — Marketing Is an Investment, Not an Expense 54:01 — “I Can. I Will.” 💬 THE BIG IDEAS 1. Consistency Beats Perfection This may be the biggest takeaway of the entire episode. Jay says he isn't the smartest person in the room. His answer to that problem wasn't to become smarter than everyone else—it was to become more consistent than everyone else. He talks about continuing to post, email, podcast and create content even when he's wondering whether any particular activity is generating revenue. “Consistency will beat out smartness every day of the week." 2. Stop Trying to Sound Like Everyone Else He realized that he had spent years trying to communicate, present and market himself the way everyone else in his industry did. Then he started experimenting with simply being himself. The content that felt most natural to him performed better—and that became a turning point in his business. His lesson: Your personality can be a competitive advantage. 3. Human Is the New Differentiator Jay argues that businesses have an opportunity to show the humans behind the brand through lo-fi, behind-the-scenes content: manufacturing, service calls, day-to-day operations, conversations and the things that make the business real. For a small business, this is particularly powerful because customers aren't necessarily choosing you because you're the biggest. They're choosing you because they know you, trust you and like the experience of dealing with you. 📬 THE MARKETING LESSON: STAY VISIBLE If 95% of folks aren't ready to buy now, it means you need to stay visible until the moment someone is ready. He uses direct mail as an example: a postcard may arrive today, sit on a desk, and do nothing. Then another arrives later. Eventually, the customer needs the service—and suddenly the company they've been seeing repeatedly is the company they remember. Consistency is how you win. And Jay makes another important point: not every marketing interaction will have a perfectly measurable attribution trail. A customer may see a social post, receive an email, get a postcard, hear about you from a friend, visit your website and then contact you. Trying to assign the entire purchase to one marketing activity can cause businesses to abandon channels that are contributing to the overall result. 📖 THE STORY BEHIND STUPIDER PEOPLE HAVE DONE IT Early in Jay's career, he was struggling. He didn't think he was capable of building a successful business. His grandfather came into his office, saw Jay sitting there with his head in his hands, and gave him some unforgettable advice: “Stupider people than you have been able to do it.” Instead of discouraging him, Jay found it incredibly motivating. His grandfather had another message, too: The phone isn't going to ring by itself. You've got to pick it up and do something. That became the philosophy behind Jay's book—a combination of motivation, life lessons, marketing tactics and humor. Jay says the book has generated more than $130,000 in donations to the V Foundation for Cancer Research. 💡 THE BIG BUSINESS LESSON Don't confuse “I can't see the result yet” with “it's not working.” That's the thread running through so much of Jay's story. He didn't know his first Internet advertising company would become an agency. He didn't know the virtual conference he launched during COVID would become a media business. He didn't know his more authentic social content would change the trajectory of his business. He didn't know which individual marketing activity would produce the next client. He kept trying. He kept showing up. He kept marketing. And he kept becoming better at being Jay. That's a pretty damn good lesson for a small-business owner. 👤 ABOUT JAY SCHWEDELSON Jay Schwedelson is a marketing entrepreneur, agency owner, media entrepreneur and advocate for small businesses. He is the founder of Outcome Media, a demand-generation agency working across B2B, consumer and nonprofit marketing, and has built a media business around large-scale virtual events covering marketing, email, direct mail, AI and more. Jay grew up around his family's direct-mail business and eventually combined Internet advertising, email and direct mail into an agency that grew to approximately 100 employees. During COVID, he began building a much larger personal presence through social media and virtual events, creating an entirely new dimension of his business. He is also the author of Stupider People Have Done It, a book inspired by his grandfather's advice during a difficult point in Jay's entrepreneurial journey. Need Help Growing Your Business? PostcardMania helps small businesses grow through education, marketing, and technology. From direct mail to digital marketing and integrated campaigns, learn how we can help you reach more customers. Visit: https://www.postcardmania.com Looking for more Marketing Education? PostcardMania has ongoing webinars to help you really learn about marketing - no fluff, just real, practical help so you can better understand how to best grow through marketing that actually works. Visit: https://www.postcardmania.com/webinars/ Let's Connect! Have a small business story, lesson, or experience you'd like to share? Be a guest on our show! Email: podcast@postcardmania.com

    12. How Jay Schwedelson Amassed 83,000 Followers: "Be Yourself & Show Up, Because Stupider People Have Done It"

  7. 16 Sept

    11. Turning Unemployment to a Multi-Million Dollar Business with Scott "The Note Guy" Carson

    What happens when a six-figure job disappears, the bills keep coming, and you have to figure out what to do next? For Scott Carson, getting laid off in the early 2000s became the beginning of an entrepreneurial journey that eventually turned him into “The Note Guy” — a real estate investor, educator, podcaster, and entrepreneur who has spent 20 years buying distressed mortgage debt and teaching others how to do the same.  In this episode of the Everywhere Small Business Podcast, Scott shares the story behind his business, the financial hardship that shaped his approach to helping struggling homeowners, and how an unexpected demand for education turned into another major business opportunity. But this conversation is really about much more than real estate. Scott and Chris dig into marketing, consistency, entrepreneurship, overcoming setbacks, learning new skills, and why taking action is often more important than having everything figured out. Scott also shares one of the biggest lessons he's learned over 20 years in business: “Delivered is better than perfected.”  And when Chris asks Scott what advice he'd give a small-business owner trying to break through to the next level, his answer is simple: “Market. Then market some more, and outsource it.”  What You'll Learn in This Episode How getting laid off became the catalyst for Scott's entrepreneurial journey How Scott transitioned from banking and mortgage origination into distressed-note investing Why his personal experience with financial hardship changed how he approached borrowers How teaching became an unexpected source of lead generation and revenue Why “delivered is better than perfected” is such an important marketing philosophy How consistent content helped Scott build his reputation as “The Note Guy” Why following up — again and again — is critical to generating business How Scott uses email, LinkedIn, YouTube, podcasts and direct mail to stay in front of his audience Why showing people the real work behind a business can be powerful marketing Why being coachable may be one of the most important entrepreneurial skills Scott's #1 piece of advice for small-business owners trying to reach their next revenue milestone  Episode Highlights & Timestamps 00:36 Meet Scott “The Note Guy” Carson 02:14 From Banker to Real Estate Investor 06:18 Getting Laid Off — and Learning How to Survive 08:38 Turning Education Into a Lead-Generation Engine 13:45 Why Every Business Starts With Deal Flow 15:01 Marketing Lesson: Delivered Is Better Than Perfected 18:47 Follow Up, Follow Up, Follow Up 21:40 Scott's Marketing Machine: Email, Social, YouTube & Direct Mail 25:26 Inside a Real-World Note Investment 31:57 AI, Job Disruption & Why You Have to Keep Learning 36:21 Taking Action, Being Coachable & Creating Your Own Opportunity 45:22 The Power of Showing Up 47:44 Scott's #1 Piece of Advice: Market More & Outsource It 🥎 Scott's “Softball-Sized Pearls” This episode has several lines that could make great social clips or quote graphics. “Delivered is better than perfected.” Scott explains that waiting for the perfect marketing piece, video, podcast or campaign can mean somebody else gets into the market first. Get it out, learn from it, improve it, and keep going.  “Everything starts with the deal.” Scott explains that making money is only part of the equation. Entrepreneurs have to learn how to find deal flow and develop the marketing skills necessary to create opportunities.  “You gotta be coachable.” Scott argues that regardless of age or experience, entrepreneurs have to remain willing to learn, adapt and develop new skills.  “Show up.” One of Scott's biggest lessons came from simply staying at a conference during a blizzard when other speakers left. Instead of going home, Scott taught additional sessions — ultimately generating roughly $500,000 in coaching and class sales, by his recollection.  “Market. Go marketing more and outsource it.” Scott's answer when asked what a small-business owner should do to break through to the next revenue level: increase marketing, delegate it, and give it enough time to work.  The Big Business Lesson There's a fascinating marketing lesson buried inside Scott's story. He didn't start out thinking: “I'm going to build an education business.” He was investing in distressed mortgage debt. But people kept asking him: “Do you have a class?” So Scott listened. That demand revealed an opportunity sitting right next to his existing business. He began teaching people how to invest in notes — and those students became another source of relationships, opportunities and deal flow.  That's a powerful lesson for any small-business owner: Your customers may tell you what your next business opportunity is — if you're paying attention. About Scott “The Note Guy” Carson Scott Carson is a real estate investor, educator and entrepreneur known nationally as “The Note Guy.” For approximately 20 years, he has specialized in buying and investing in distressed mortgage debt, working with homeowners and developing strategies around distressed notes. He also built an education platform teaching other investors how to enter the note-investing business. His marketing strategy has included consistent email, social media, YouTube, podcasting and direct mail.  Connect With Scott Scott “The Note Guy” Carson Real Estate Investor • Educator • Entrepreneur https://www.facebook.com/1scottcarson https://twitter.com/1scottcarson https://www.linkedin.com/in/1scottcarson https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4wtruvVdVPfp35F2CI95nQ https://www.instagram.com/1scottcarson/   Need Help Growing Your Business? PostcardMania helps small businesses grow through education, marketing, and technology. From direct mail to digital marketing and integrated campaigns, learn how we can help you reach more customers. Visit: https://www.postcardmania.com Looking for more Marketing Education? PostcardMania has ongoing webinars to help you really learn about marketing - no fluff, just real, practical help so you can better understand how to best grow through marketing that actually works. Visit: https://www.postcardmania.com/webinars/ Let's Connect! Have a small business story, lesson, or experience you'd like to share? Be a guest on our show! Email: podcast@postcardmania.com

    11. Turning Unemployment to a Multi-Million Dollar Business with Scott "The Note Guy" Carson

  8. 9 Sept

    10. Ending One Business To Ride The YouTube Wave: Mary Ann Bautista on Making Massive Change:

    Episode Overview What do you do when the marketing channel you've built your career around starts changing—and a completely new opportunity appears? For Mary Ann Bautista, the answer was to follow the opportunity...one on YouTube. And then, what started as an experiment became a specialty. Today, Mary Ann is the co-founder of TurboRank, a niche agency focused exclusively on the organic growth and optimization of YouTube channels—helping businesses capture existing demand through YouTube, Google, and increasingly, AI citations. But this episode isn't just about YouTube. It's about knowing when your business has outgrown its original model, and then having the courage to build what comes next. We discuss her unconventional path into entrepreneurship: The life event that pushed her to leave corporate AmericaBuilding a business while raising two childrenDiscovering YouTube before most businesses understood its potentialThe strategic power of niching downWhy the skills that helped you build your first business may not be the skills you need to build your next one.They also explore a challenge every growing business eventually faces: How do you replace yourself? For Mary Ann, that's the next chapter—building the systems, processes, team, and leadership structure that will allow TurboRank to scale beyond her personal involvement. What You'll Learn Why she left the corporate world and launched her own agencyWhy getting into an emerging channel early can create a significant competitive advantageWhy niching down can help businesses escape crowded, highly competitive marketsWhy entrepreneurs need to continually develop new skills as their businesses evolveWhy SOPs, playbooks, and operational duplication become critical as a business scalesThe difference between working in the business and working on the businessHow personal growth and professional growth become intertwined over a long careerThe Big Takeaway Mary Ann Bautista's story is a powerful example of how businesses evolve when entrepreneurs are willing to evolve with them. Her career began in traditional media. She learned direct mail, circulation, radio, and television. Then an unexpected client opportunity introduced her to YouTube in 2006—long before most businesses understood what the platform could become. The lesson isn't simply to "get on YouTube." It's to pay attention to where the market is going, recognize when you've found something special, and be willing to change the business around the opportunity. And once you've proven that the model works, there's another challenge waiting: Can you build an organization that works without you? For Mary Ann, that's the work she's doing now. She's moving from being the person who figures everything out to becoming the executive who builds the systems, people, processes, and infrastructure that allow the company to scale. Because the skills that got you here may not be the skills that get you where you're going. The next level of your business may require a new version of you…it’s about entrepreneurial evolution.   Episode Highlights & Timestamps 03:27 — The Decision to Go Out on Her Own Mary Ann launches Bautista Direct Marketing, initially building the agency around radio and the skills she had developed throughout her career. 03:35 — The Client That Changed Everything A major client in a difficult-to-advertise category asks Mary Ann what else they can do to generate growth. The answer leads her to experiment with a brand-new platform: YouTube. 04:03 — Getting Into YouTube in 2006 Mary Ann and her team begin experimenting with YouTube—and discover an opportunity that most marketers weren't paying attention to yet. 05:04 — The Unplanned Leap Into Entrepreneurship Mary Ann admits she didn't have a master plan when she left corporate America. A difficult professional fit, the birth of her first child, and years of experience collided to create the moment when she decided to go out on her own. 07:07 — "I Was Terrified" Mary Ann describes the overwhelming reality of starting a business while caring for an infant with colic, selling a house, and leaving her job—all within roughly two months. 07:36 — When the Phone Just Kept Ringing Her original plan was to freelance for six months and then find another job. Instead, clients kept calling. Before she knew it, the temporary experiment had become a real business. 08:41 — The First Hire Pregnancy with her second child makes it clear that Mary Ann needs help. Her first employee becomes an assistant radio buyer supporting the growing agency. 09:59 — The Gradual Pivot to YouTube Rather than making one dramatic change, Mary Ann's agency gradually moves toward YouTube as the results become impossible to ignore. 14:02 — No Master Plan Required Mary Ann says the transition wasn't driven by a business book or elaborate strategy. The opportunity simply revealed itself through experience. 14:31 — What Got You Here Won't Get You There One of the episode's central lessons: the knowledge and skills that built your current business may not be enough to take it to the next level. 16:46 — The Next Challenge: Replace Yourself Mary Ann identifies the most important thing she needs to accomplish: building a business that can operate and scale without requiring her involvement every day. 17:21 — Building Role Duplication & Systems for a Distributed Team Chris and Mary Ann discuss the importance of duplicating responsibilities and creating layers, SOPs, and playbooks everyone can follow so that a business isn't dependent on one person. 21:35 — Strong Operations Increase Business Value Mary Ann explains why documented processes and strong infrastructure don't just make a company easier to run—they can also make it significantly more valuable if the owner eventually wants to sell or transition the business. 24:39 — Working ON the Business Instead of simply serving clients, Mary Ann's daily focus has shifted toward building the organization itself. 24:52 — "What Are You Going to Do Today to Push This Business Forward?" Mary Ann describes the question at the top of her daily to-do list—and why working on the business requires an entirely different mindset. 25:47 — Experience Can Be a Double-Edged Sword Chris and Mary Ann explore how experience can help entrepreneurs move forward while also creating blind spots when the business enters a new stage. 28:39 — It's Harder to Learn New Skills Later Mary Ann talks candidly about the challenge of retraining yourself and adapting to a more competitive marketplace with more choices for consumers and businesses. 29:36 — Personal Growth Changes Leadership Mary Ann discusses becoming more compassionate, more forgiving, and more understanding toward employees and clients while still knowing when to be demanding. 31:52 — A New Chapter Instead of Retirement Rather than simply slowing down, Mary Ann sees herself becoming more engaged with her next stage of life and business. 32:10 — Building Toward Freedom Mary Ann talks about her husband's retirement, their travel plans, and her goal of creating enough organizational independence to give herself greater flexibility. 34:58 — "Having Nothing That I'm Growing... Scares Me" Mary Ann explains why she doesn't envision completely detaching from business. Growth, contribution, and having something to build remain important parts of her identity. 35:29 — When Your Business Becomes Part of Your Identity Mary Ann openly discusses how deeply her professional career is tied to her identity—and how entrepreneurship amplified that connection. 36:22 — Why Entrepreneurship Changed Her Work Ethic Mary Ann explains that while she was always a dedicated employee, owning her own business  40:02 — Why TurboRank Isn't "Bautista" Mary Ann explains why she intentionally chose a brand name for her new company that isn't tied to her personal identity. 41:29 — The Next Chapter for TurboRank Chris closes the conversation by reflecting on Mary Ann's evolution from entrepreneur and agency owner to executive building the infrastructure for a scalable organization. Need Help Growing Your Business? PostcardMania helps small businesses grow through education, marketing, and technology. From direct mail to digital marketing and integrated campaigns, learn how we can help you reach more customers. Visit: https://www.postcardmania.com Looking for more Marketing Education? PostcardMania has ongoing webinars to help you really learn about marketing - no fluff, just real, practical help so you can better understand how to best grow through marketing that actually works. Visit: https://www.postcardmania.com/webinars/ Let's Connect! Have a small business story, lesson, or experience you'd like to share? Be a guest on our show! Email: podcast@postcardmania.com

    10. Ending One Business To Ride The YouTube Wave: Mary Ann Bautista on Making Massive Change:
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About

What really helps a Small Business grow? Learning from honest conversations with people who are actually doing the work! On The Everywhere Small Business Podcast, we talk with owners, entrepreneurs, marketers, and leaders active in the world of Small Business.  They share stories about their wins, mistakes, strategies, and lessons they've learned on their ongoing business journeys.  Brought to you by PostcardMania, every episode is packed with authentic, real, practical insights so listeners can learn...and grow.

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