Today, we dig into how to keep your business seen—even when you’re running on empty—thanks to the brilliant Marketing Minimum framework from Shari Balouchi. We cut through the shiny fluff and get down to bite-sized strategies that actually stick.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• What a “Marketing Minimum” actually is—and why it means way more than skimping on visibility.
• How to pre-decide and OWN your lowest-effort marketing actions so you don’t freeze up when you’re burned out.
• Real-world examples from guest pitching to email follow-ups—even when life hits.
• The big myths around “consistency” and why showing up perfectly every day is bullshit.
• Tactics to ditch the “all-or-nothing” mindset.
• One simple question to ask yourself to kickstart your own marketing minimum in under 60 seconds.

If you’ve ever felt paralyzed by all the content ideas, schedules, or tech BS—and wondered why the hell can’t I just get visible?—this episode is your vibe. Grab your favorite drink, and let’s do this.

About Shari:

Shari Balouchi is a business coach, marketing strategist, and unapologetic whole ass human®.

She brings over a decade of professional marketing experience—leading strategy for universities, global nonprofits, and impact-driven brands—alongside six years of coaching entrepreneurs 1:1, from solo consultants to seven-figure CEOs. Shari blends deep expertise with lived experience to help people build businesses that actually work for their lives.

As a multiracial woman navigating chronic illness, her whole ass human approach is equal parts data, lived experience, and cultural nuance. She’s helped clients create consistent full-time income, scale without sacrificing their wellbeing, grow teams that feel supportive (not overwhelming), and build systems that align with how their brains operate.

She’s also the host of Success for Whole Ass Humans, a podcast that explores business growth through grounded analysis and real-world client case studies. Today, we’re diving into her signature framework, Find Your Marketing Minimum, so you can keep your business moving, even on your lowest-energy days. When she’s off the clock, you’ll find her sipping strong tea, nerding out on the human condition, or exploring Oregon’s natural beauty with her phone firmly on Do Not Disturb.

Links:

Website: https://www.sharibalouchi.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sharibalouchi

Subscribe to The Marketing Minimum, a free email series designed to help you simplify your strategy, build momentum in a way that works with your real-life capacity, and stop overextending yourself just to stay visible.

(Shari also offers a limited number of Find Your Marketing Minimum intensives each quarter if you want 1:1 support building a personalized strategy.)

Tune into her podcast Success for Whole Ass Humans where she shares a grounded approach to business growth—for entrepreneurs who want strategy that honors their values, lived experience, and real-life capacity.

Learn more about BizMagic or the BizMagic Podcast.

Today we’re talking about one of my favorite sanity-saving business moves: optimizing the tools you're already using.

This isn’t about adding more to your plate—it’s about doing more with less.

Inside this episode, I walk you through exactly how to clean up your tech stack and streamline the backend of your business without going down another software rabbit hole.

You’ll learn:

• Why quarterly tool audits can save you major time and money
• How to decide which tools to keep, consolidate, or ditch
• When it’s time to switch platforms—and when it’s not worth it
• My favorite ways to actually learn the tools you’re already paying for
• Why SOPs matter for scaling (and staying sane)

You don’t need more tech. You need smarter tech use. This episode is your permission slip to clean up your digital junk drawer and make your systems actually work for you.

Links:

SOP Template

Want help optimizing your tools? We’ve got you!

Learn more about BizMagic or the BizMagic Podcast.

Let’s talk about the three little letters that give a lot of business owners the ick: SEO.

This episode is NOT another jargon-packed, algorithm-fueled stress spiral. Instead, I sat down with Jodie Mitchell from Nowhere to No 1 to break SEO down in a way that actually makes sense and feels doable.

In this episode, we cover:

• What SEO really is (and how to stop making it scarier than it is)
• The three types of SEO—and why “on-page” is your BFF
• Why keywords are less mystical than you think
• Page titles, meta descriptions, and how to make them NOT suck
• Tools you can actually use (yes, they’re free!)
• Jodie’s exact monthly SEO workflow (it’s one hour a week and very doable)
• Why tricking Google with hidden text is very 2001—and please don’t do it
• How blogging and small tweaks help keep your site alive (without burning you out)

If SEO has felt like a confusing cloud of nonsense, this episode will bring the sunshine. You’ve got this. Let’s make Google your new low-key business partner.

About Jodie:

Jodie has spent the last eight years learning SEO and also learning how to explain it to business owners and stakeholders, as a part of her career both at an agency and in-house at one of the UK’s biggest brands.

Now, as a self-employed business owner, she’s putting all of her skills from her old life into action on her own website and helping other business owners demystify the world of SEO and realise that it’s not as scary as it seems. Jodie is a firm believer that anyone can do SEO—because if she can, with no qualifications and a lack of understanding of anything technical, anybody can.

That’s why she’s started teaching SEO to other small business owners and self-employed people. With a bit of time, effort and trial and error, they can get the same results for their business that Jodie has been getting other businesses during her 8-year SEO career.

Links & Resources:

instagram.com/nowheretono1

Super Quick and Easy SEO Tasks Guide: https://nowheretono1.co.uk/lazy-girls-guide-to-seo

Learn more about BizMagic or the BizMagic Podcast.

If you’ve got a website (or you’re trying to build one without burning it all down), this episode is for you. I’m breaking down the 12 must-haves every small business website should include—plus some bonus best practices to help you get more conversions and create a better experience for your people.

I’ve been building websites since the days of Yahoo Site Builder (hello, 90s soap opera fangirl life 👋), so yeah—I’ve seen it all. Whether you’re DIY-ing or working with a designer, here’s what I want you to know:

✨ The goal of your site? To be clear, welcoming, human, and effective.

💻 The reality? A lot of sites are missing the basics.

In this episode, I cover:

• The two pages every website needs
• What you absolutely should include on your About page (and the mistake I’ve seen more than once!)
• Where to put your face and your name (yep, we’re getting personal)
• The role of your email list—and why you still need one even if you’re not sending anything yet
• How to serve both the scrollers and the clickers on your homepage
• The #1 thing that builds trust with new visitors (hint: it's not your pricing)

Plus, I’m dishing out website best practices for accessibility, SEO, mobile responsiveness, and site speed—because a beautiful site that no one can find or navigate is not the vibe.

You don’t have to do it all at once. But each tweak you make moves your site from “meh” to magical. Let’s get into it.

Learn more about BizMagic or the BizMagic Podcast.

Today on the Biz Magic Podcast, I’m joined by the amazing Melissa Rich of Virtually Done Systems—workflow queen and systems whisperer for creatives who swear they “just aren’t systems people.” Spoiler: They are. And you are, too.

We’re diving into the behind-the-scenes dream team duo: your CRM and your Project Management tool. If you’ve ever felt like you’re duct-taping your biz together with a handful of random tools and a prayer, this one’s for you.

Here’s what we get into:

• Why you actually need both a CRM and a project management tool (even if it’s just you)
• What roles each tool plays—and why using them interchangeably leads to tech chaos
• Real-world examples of how to integrate them without losing your mind
• Why “just a solopreneur” is not a valid excuse to keep everything in your head
• How to start simple, stay consistent, and avoid the trap of customizing everything before you even use it

Melissa shares her journey from wedding photographer to systems expert, and we nerd out about Zapier automations, messy to-do lists, client onboarding, and why even reminders to "feed the dog" might belong in your workflow.

Let’s break the myth that systems have to be complicated—and start building something that works with your brain instead of against it.

About Melissa:

Melissa Rich is the founder of Virtually Done Systems, a business dedicated to all things systems and workflows for creative small business owners. She's spent the last 16 years behind the camera as a full-time wedding photographer, secretly enjoying all of the behind-the-scenes work more than her time making pictures. Now, Melissa specializes in helping overwhelmed business owners get their lives back by implementing strategized systems, workflows, and automations to take care of the day-to-day tasks that stress them out so they can fall back in love with their businesses, spend less time behind their laptop, and live their damn lives.

Links and Resources:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/virtuallydonesystems

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/virtuallydonesystems

Reclaim your time and create a smooth, professional client experience: https://virtuallydonesystems.myflodesk.com/ultimatecheatsheet

Learn more about BizMagic or the BizMagic Podcast.

Let’s be real—your brain wasn’t meant to carry every client task, content idea, and “buy oat milk” reminder. In this episode, I’m breaking down why a project management tool isn’t just a “nice to have” but a “how-am-I-not-using-this-already” kind of tool—no matter where you are in your business journey.

Whether you’re still riding solo or wrangling a growing team, I’ll walk you through:

• Why a PM tool is your ticket to less mental clutter and more clarity
• How repeatable tasks = sneaky SOPs (and yes, you're fancy now)
• Prioritization hacks to help you work smarter, not longer
• How to actually tell if you have the bandwidth to say “yes” to more
• The game-changing benefit of smoother onboarding for your VA, team, or support pro
• A reminder not to turn your PM tool into another full-time job
• A quick look at tools like Trello, Asana, ClickUp, Notion, Airtable—and even spreadsheets if that’s your jam
• Bonus: Some tools even connect with your email (yep, magic)

✨ Your challenge: Pick one repeatable task (like client onboarding or sending your weekly newsletter) and build it into your project management tool of choice. Make it easy. Make it repeatable. Your future self is already doing a happy dance.

Want help figuring out which PM tool fits your brain? Visit bizmagic.co or email me at patti@bizmagic.co.

Learn more about BizMagic or the BizMagic Podcast.

This episode is the permission slip, pep talk, AND strategy download you didn’t know you needed.

I’m joined by the one and only Keriann Bellamy—a ridiculously talented content strategist, email copywriter, and yes, the Content Manager here at BizMagic! Keriann is breaking down her signature framework of the four types of content your business actually needs to build trust and drive real, honest-to-goodness sales.

No hype. No trends. No BS. Just real strategy and examples you can actually use (plus a few gut health analogies because... why not?).

Here’s what we cover:

• The 4 content types that move your audience through their buyer journey (and why you need all 4)
• Why “just posting value” isn’t cutting it anymore
• How storytelling makes your biz more memorable and more sellable
• What “inspirational” content actually looks like (hint: not a quote graphic)
• Why email should be your content insurance policy
• What metrics to track to know if your content is working
• How to shift your content when your audience evolves
• PLUS: Keriann’s favorite tech tool, her Notion obsession, and how her theater degree secretly made her a badass copywriter

Wanna make your content actually work for you instead of just filling up your calendar and clogging your brain? This one’s for you.

About Keriann:

Keriann is a content strategist and email copywriter who helps online business owners attract dream clients and grow their business with done-for-you content and custom email funnels—so they can spend less time marketing and more time making an impact.

With a background in theater, health coaching, and seven years in digital marketing, Keriann blends expert storytelling with data-driven copy to help health and wellness coaches craft strategic and engaging content across multiple marketing channels. She specializes in capturing her clients’ authentic voice, ensuring their message resonates with the right people. She believes that great content is about building relationships, and effective messaging always wins over ever-changing algorithms.

When she’s not crafting compelling content for her clients, you can find her hiking with her border collie, Maple, or getting lost in her latest fantasy book. With a passion for holistic health, Keriann loves supporting female entrepreneurs with a mission to better people’s lives.

Links:

• Keriann’s Links:
  • Website
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Submit your free content for audit
• Get my Notion Template

Learn more about BizMagic or the BizMagic Podcast.

Today’s episode? It’s for when things are really hard. Like… the world’s-on-fire, tech’s-breaking, brain’s-short-circuiting kind of hard. Whether you're grieving, dealing with burnout, or your business is scaling faster than your sanity can keep up—I got you.

We’re talking about how to keep showing up when you feel like hiding under your desk (no shame, I’ve been there).

In this episode, I dig into:

• What “hard” really means (hint: your hard is valid, period.)
• Why showing up doesn’t have to mean showing up everywhere
• One-minute-at-a-time wisdom from an English professor
• The difference between finding community and getting help (both matter)
• Why “bare minimum” is sometimes exactly what’s needed

This isn’t your typical “just push through” pep talk. This is grace-filled, real-world advice for humans who also happen to run businesses.

So if you’re in the thick of it, press play. Then send it to a biz buddy who needs it too.

Learn more about BizMagic or the BizMagic Podcast.