This year, I ran so many creative business experiments—social media tests, email marketing tweaks, giveaways, sales strategies, and everything in between. In this video, I’m breaking down what actually worked, what totally flopped, and what I’d absolutely do again. Whether you're an author, artist, or creative entrepreneur, this recap will help you plan smarter for next year and skip the mistakes I made.

Mentioned in the video: Trial Reels Tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmcSd3zvMuI&t

Enroll in the private 4-Week Marketing Momentum Accelerator by Dec. 22! We start Jan. 5. You, me and your marketing momentum! Learn more about the program here and start 2026 with a mentor, strategy, insights and direct feedback on your content! https://marketingbyshelby.com/momentumMentioned in today's video:I use Interact to make my lead magnet quizzes! Here's my affiliate link: https://get.tryinteract.com/shelbyCHECK OUT MY LATEST MARKETING FREEBIES created for you at: https://marketingbyshelby.com/freebieJOIN THE CREATIVE'S CONTENT CLUB WAITLIST! Want hands-on marketing support, templates and shortcuts, feedback, step by step marketing strategies and more, every single month?! Join my all-in-one marketing membership, The Creative's Content Club! Add your name to the waitlist to receive an invite soon: https://marketingbyshelby.com/waitlist-podABOUT SHELBY: Hey, I'm Shelby, bestselling writer and marketing/business coach for creatives. After growing my own audience as an author to more than 500k on social media, working in social media management for 8+ years, becoming a full-time writer and selling over 60k books with social media and content marketing, I now teach other creatives, like authors, musicians, artists, poets, photographers and more, how to grow and sell their creative work with marketing!

Open me for details on how to grow your Instagram following and get more reviews and testimonials!

Increase sales with social proof: Collect product reviews & testimonials in minutes with https://shoutout.io/. Thanks to Shoutout for sponsoring today's video!In this week's episode, we're talking about what's new with Instagram's algorithm, how to shift your strategy to get better results from your posts, and more. We'll talk about ways to get more reach and engagement, and the reality of what's needed to compete with AI and all the noise on the platform.

WANT TO GROW YOUR INSTAGRAM FOLLOWING? CHECK OUT MY INSTAGRAM ADS VISIBILITY MASTERCLASS, only available now through Tuesday November 25 as an early Black Friday offer! https://cart.shelbyleigh.co/ig-ads/

P.S. That's not all I'm doing for Black Friday! Stay tuned for Nov 28 when my courses and guides will be on sale all weekend long, plus I'll be dropping two new offers. Join my email list below so you don't miss it!

CHECK OUT MY LATEST MARKETING FREEBIES created for you at: https://marketingbyshelby.com/freebie

Let's talk about how to run a successful campaign and the 5 types of content you need to share in order to get your customers ready to buy, whether you're hosting a Black Friday sale, a launch or another type of marketing campaign.Increase sales with social proof: Collect product reviews & testimonials in minutes with https://shoutout.io/. Thanks to Shoutout for sponsoring today's video!CHECK OUT MY LATEST MARKETING FREEBIES and get on the waitlist for my November special offers: https://marketingbyshelby.com/freebieJOIN THE CREATIVE'S CONTENT CLUB WAITLIST! Want hands-on marketing support, templates and shortcuts, feedback, step by step marketing strategies and more, every single month?! Join my all-in-one marketing membership, The Creative's Content Club! Add your name to the waitlist to receive an invite soon: https://marketingbyshelby.com/waitlist-podABOUT SHELBY: Hey, I'm Shelby, bestselling writer and marketing/business coach for creatives. After growing my own audience as an author to more than 500k on social media, working in social media management for 8+ years, becoming a full-time writer and selling over 60k books with social media and content marketing, I now teach other creatives, like authors, musicians, artists, poets, photographers and more, how to grow and sell their creative work with marketing! CONNECT WITH SHELBY: I post marketing tips here on YouTube (subscribe for more videos!) as well as on Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/marketingbyshelby https://marketingbyshelby.com/

Get 30% off for the first 3 months of Omnisend with code SHELBY30: https://your.omnisend.com/Shelby Thanks to Omnisend for sponsoring this video!In this week's episode, we're talking about 4 things you should do now and through the end of the year for 2026 growth for your product-based businesses like artists, authors, and makers. I'll share what each one is, why it's important and how to get started with each.

CHECK OUT MY LATEST MARKETING FREEBIES created for you at: https://marketingbyshelby.com/freebieJOIN THE CREATIVE'S CONTENT CLUB WAITLIST! Want hands-on marketing support, templates and shortcuts, feedback, step by step marketing strategies and more, every single month?! Join my all-in-one marketing membership, The Creative's Content Club! Add your name to the waitlist to receive an invite soon: https://marketingbyshelby.com/waitlist-podABOUT SHELBY: Hey, I'm Shelby, bestselling writer and marketing/business coach for creatives. After growing my own audience as an author to more than 500k on social media, working in social media management for 8+ years, becoming a full-time writer and selling over 60k books with social media and content marketing, I now teach other creatives, like authors, musicians, artists, poets, photographers and more, how to grow and sell their creative work with marketing! https://www.instagram.com/marketingbyshelby

In this episode, I'm sharing one of my favorite ways to use email marketing, save myself time, and welcome in new subscribers in a way that makes them excited to learn more about my brand, my offers, and open future emails from me! I break it all down in this new episode so you can learn everything you need to know to get started.Get 30% off for the first 3 months of Omnisend with code SHELBY30: https://your.omnisend.com/Shelby

Thanks to Omnisend for sponsoring this episode!CHECK OUT MY LATEST MARKETING FREEBIES created for you at: https://marketingbyshelby.com/freebieJOIN THE CREATIVE'S CONTENT CLUB WAITLIST! Want hands-on marketing support, templates and shortcuts, feedback, step by step marketing strategies and more, every single month?! Join my all-in-one marketing membership, The Creative's Content Club! Add your name to the waitlist to receive an invite soon: https://marketingbyshelby.com/waitlist-podABOUT SHELBY: Hey, I'm Shelby, bestselling writer and marketing/business coach for creatives. After growing my own audience as an author to more than 500k on social media, working in social media management for 8+ years, becoming a full-time writer and selling over 60k books with social media and content marketing, I now teach other creatives, like authors, musicians, artists, poets, photographers and more, how to grow and sell their creative work with marketing! CONNECT WITH SHELBY: I post marketing tips on YouTube @marketingbyshelby (subscribe for more videos!) as well as on Instagram.

In this week's episode, learn why email marketing is a non-negotiable in your marketing strategy, how to grow your list (with different lead magnet examples!), and what isn't as effective for growing lists anymore! Stay tuned for next week where we'll dive deeper into email marketing automations and strategies. Get 30% off for the first 3 months of Omnisend with code SHELBY30: https://your.omnisend.com/Shelby Thanks to Omnisend for sponsoring this video!

CHECK OUT MY LATEST MARKETING FREEBIES created for you at: https://marketingbyshelby.com/freebieJOIN THE CREATIVE'S CONTENT CLUB WAITLIST! Want hands-on marketing support, templates and shortcuts, feedback, step by step marketing strategies and more, every single month?! Join my all-in-one marketing membership, The Creative's Content Club! Add your name to the waitlist to receive an invite soon: https://marketingbyshelby.com/waitlist-pod ABOUT SHELBY: Hey, I'm Shelby, bestselling writer and marketing/business coach for creatives. After growing my own audience as an author to more than 500k on social media, working in social media management for 8+ years, becoming a full-time writer and selling over 60k books with social media and content marketing, I now teach other creatives, like authors, musicians, artists, poets, photographers and more, how to grow and sell their creative work with marketing!

THE CREATIVE'S CONTENT CLUB IS OPEN FOR ENROLLMENT THROUGH OCTOBER 15! Join my popular marketing & mentoring program for support, trainings, templates and more to help you make Q4 your best season yet! https://marketingbyshelby.com/club In this episode, I'm talking to author and Creative's Content Club member, Kimberly King, about the relaunch of her body safety children's book, I Said No! We discuss how she got her original book deal, her new book deal, and how a relaunch of a 15-year old book went!

Throughout the episode, Kimberly shares insightful tips about book launch kits, sticking with small steps, collaborating, and continuing to market a book for years after it's been out. Enjoy the episode!Kimberly's Info:The new edition of her book, I Said No: https://amzn.to/3KMC5Efhttps://www.toughtopicsmom.com/https://www.instagram.com/toughtopicsmom/Timestamps: 0:00 - How Kimberly's book journey started2:15 - Landing a book deal4:05 - Book launching, collaborating and authority-building6:15 - Publicity and PR 7:25 - Republishing and relaunching a bestselling book10:25 - How her 2nd book launch was different14:00 - How Kim used reviews to improve the 2nd edition16:15 - Book launch kits for increased visibility18:10 - Taking the initiative to ask for help21:00 - How to keep traction going for your book23:20 - Small actions made Kimberly's book a bestseller26:20 - #1 piece of advice for other authorsCHECK OUT MY LATEST MARKETING FREEBIES created for you at: https://marketingbyshelby.com/freebieABOUT SHELBY: Hey, I'm Shelby, bestselling writer and marketing/business coach for creatives. After growing my own audience as an author to more than 500k on social media, working in social media management for 8+ years, becoming a full-time writer and selling over 60k books with social media and content marketing, I now teach other creatives, like authors, musicians, artists, poets, photographers and more, how to grow and sell their creative work with marketing! CONNECT WITH SHELBY: I post marketing tips here on YouTube (subscribe for more videos!) as well as on Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/marketingbyshelby https://marketingbyshelby.com/ Links featured here may be affiliate links which support the channel at no extra cost to you.Thanks so much for watching! Please subscribe for weekly marketing videos and give this video a like so more creatives can find these tips.

In part 2 of my Black Friday / holiday promo series, I'm sharing 5 different ways to run a campaign during Q4 to increase sales! Steep discounts are not the only way to run a promotion, so I hope that one or more of these ideas gets you excited for how you can offer something new to your audience and increase sales during a time when more people are buying gifts!

If you missed part 1 of this series, you can find it here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5mvB5XWETJGRCcA2r9cINd

Resources mentioned:

Join the wait list for Custom Marketing Strategies (my premium offer for those wanting their marketing strategy done for them!): https://marketingbyshelby.com/custom

My popular low-ticket marketing membership, The Creative's Content Club (I am SO excited for what's planned for Q4!). Don't miss it; get on the wait list here: https://www.marketingbyshelby.com/waitlist-pod

Thanks for listening to today's episode. Here are additional resources to explore so I can help your marketing journey!

Get your hands on my latest marketing freebie: ⁠https://marketingbyshelby.com/freebie⁠⁠

ABOUT SHELBY: Hey, I'm Shelby, bestselling writer and marketing coach for creatives. After growing my own audience as an author to more than 500k on social media, working in social media management for 7+ years, becoming a full-time writer and selling over 50k books on social media, I now teach authors and creatives, like musicians, artists, poets, photographers and more, how to grow and sell their creative work on social media.

CONNECT WITH SHELBY:

⁠⁠https://tiktok.com/@marketingbyshelby⁠⁠

⁠⁠https://instagram.com/marketingbyshelby

⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@marketingbyshelby⁠⁠

⁠⁠https://marketingbyshelby.com/⁠⁠

Thanks so much for listening! Please subscribe for weekly marketing episodes and tips.

Disclaimer: This episode was originally posted on my YouTube channel, @marketingbyshelby.