Marketing Crash Course Library

Quick and painless lessons to improve your marketing & design IQ.

Lisa Oates 10/17/25 Lisa Oates 10/17/25

What You Don’t See in Marketing: Understanding the Dark Funnel

The dark funnel refers to the unseen parts of your customer’s journey that analytics can’t track. For small businesses, understanding the dark funnel means focusing less on vanity metrics and more on authentic connections, trust-building content, and consistent visibility across multiple touch points.

Lisa Oates 10/15/25 Lisa Oates 10/15/25

SEO, AEO, and GEO: What Small Businesses Need to Know About the Future of Search

What’s the difference between SEO, AEO, and GEO? SEO helps your business rank on search engines like Google. AEO gets your content featured as direct answers in AI and voice searches. GEO ensures your brand appears in AI-generated summaries and recommendations. Together, they future-proof your visibility across every kind of search. Here’s what you need to know (and do) about it.

Lisa Oates 9/16/25 Lisa Oates 9/16/25

How to Build Brand Awareness Without Relying on Social Media

Small businesses can grow visibility without relying on social media by showing up in their local community, forming partnerships with complementary businesses, building and engaging an email list, pursuing PR opportunities like podcasts or media features, activating word-of-mouth through referrals, and optimizing their website to attract and convert visitors. These strategies are timeless, practical, and put business owners back in control of their marketing.