My Weekly Marketing

Hosted by Janice Hostager

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Episodes

178

Latest episode

Oct 2026

Language

EN-US

About the show

Join conversations about marketing, business, and life-in-between with marketing strategist Janice Hostager and a variety of world-class entrepreneurs! We will fill you with step-by-step training, marketing strategy, and life experiences from where life and business intersect. We'd love to have you join the fun!

Listen to episodes

60 recent

October 27, 2026Episode 17813 min

3 Ways to Earn More From Clients You Already Have

Your best growth move might not be finding new clients at all. If you’ve been chasing cold leads, paying for ads, or feeling like you’re restarting from zero every month, I want to shift your focus to the people who already trust you: past and current customers. When you learn to increase Customer Lifetime Value (CLV), your marketing gets calmer, your revenue gets steadier, and you stop relying on constant prospecting to hit your goals. I break CLV down into three numbers anyone can use: average order value, purchase frequency, and customer lifespan. You’ll hear real-world examples of upsells and cross-sells that actually help clients get better results, plus simple ways to build an “offer ladder” so there’s a natural next step after a project ends. We also talk about why this matters even more now, as AI eats up smaller one-off tasks while relationship-driven work becomes harder to replace. Then we move into practical retention and loyalty strategies that work for service businesses without training clients to wait for discounts. Think scheduling a next check-in before the work wraps, sending quick progress reminders, and doing 30/60/90-day follow-ups so great clients don’t quietly drift away. If you're tired of always hunting for new customers, this episode is for you. Send us Fan Mail Support the show Free Marketing Gap Audit

October 20, 202638 min

How to Get Customers From YouTube and AI Search Without a Big Following with Mary Ann Bautista

A video you publish today can still be sending customers to your business 10 or even 20 years from now, but only if you stop treating YouTube like a place to post updates and start treating it like a search engine. We’re joined by Mary Ann Bautista, co-founder of TurboRank. In our conversation, she breaks down what most small businesses get wrong on YouTube and what actually matters in 2026 when buyers are searching on Google, YouTube, and inside AI tools like ChatGPT. We talk about the mindset shift that changes everything: building content around customer questions, not your internal promotions. Mary Ann explains how to use research to find long-tail keyword opportunities and “gaps” you can win even in crowded markets, plus how consistency and batch recording make weekly publishing realistic for a busy owner. We also get specific on YouTube SEO fundamentals that impact discoverability, including crisp thumbnails and the often-overlooked power of well-written titles and descriptions that accurately match the spoken content. Subscribe so you don’t miss the next conversation, and if this helped you rethink your YouTube marketing strategy, share it with a business owner friend and leave a quick review! Send us Fan Mail A FREE LIVE MASTERCLASS FOR WOMEN BUSINESS OWNERS: When You’ve Built a Business That Takes More Than It Gives Learn more and register! Support the show Free Marketing Gap Audit

September 29, 2026Episode 17614 min

From Feast or Famine to Consistent Clients

Your calendar is packed, revenue is up, and you finally feel like you can breathe. Then the next month hits and everything goes quiet. If you’ve ever wondered why the feast or famine cycle keeps showing up in your service business, we’re cutting through the frustration and getting specific about what’s actually happening behind the scenes. We walk through the three most common causes of income swings and the fixes that bring stability: marketing that stops when you get busy, a pipeline built almost entirely on referrals, and follow-up that ends too soon because you don’t want to be annoying. You’ll hear how to build a simple marketing rhythm that stays consistent, how to create "awareness" and “consider” touchpoints that run in the background, and why an email list is one of the strongest small business marketing assets you can grow. If you’re ready for steadier leads, a healthier sales pipeline, and more predictable cash flow, hit play. Subscribe, and share this with a friend who’s riding the same roller coaster. Send us Fan Mail Support the show Free Marketing Gap Audit

September 22, 2026Episode 17536 min

What Your Customers Aren’t Telling You–But You Need to Hear with Sarah Tjoa

Your customers are giving you marketing answers all day long, but most of us rush past the clues. I’m joined by Sarah Tjoa, managing director of Noble West, to break down what “listening” really means in modern marketing and brand strategy, especially now that AI and automation make it easier than ever to publish words that sound right but say nothing. We dig into how marketing falls flat when we lead with generic claims like “premium” or “high quality,” and why those phrases become “words that cost extra” you have to defend with more time, money, and content. Sarah shares a practical way to test your messaging, plus a framework for spotting the deeper priorities people rarely say out loud: security, novelty, and achievement. You’ll hear what to listen for in questions, response speed, hesitations, and even silence, so your positioning feels specific and truly personal. We also get tactical for small business owners and solopreneurs who don’t have a research budget. We talk about using onboarding and intake as a customer insight engine, the few questions that surface landmines and goals fast, and how to build trust through simple check-ins, surveys, and thoughtful “thinking of you” outreach. Then we pivot into optimistic marketing and familiarism, including a standout example line that reframes urgency without fear: “We spent six years to save you six minutes.” Note: there are minor audio issues, but the ideas are worth it. If you want stronger marketing messaging, better customer experience, and clearer brand differentiation, hit play. Subscribe, share this with a business owner friend, and leave a review, then tell us: what’s one customer clue you’re going to start noticing this week? Send us Fan Mail A FREE LIVE MASTERCLASS FOR WOMEN BUSINESS OWNERS: When You’ve Built a Business That Takes More Than It Gives Learn more and register! Support the show Free Marketing Gap Audit

September 15, 2026Episode 17444 min

Email Marketing in the AI Era: What’s Working Now with Adri Kopp

AI is writing faster than any of us can think and that can make email marketing feel like you can just hand it over to ChatGPT. But don’t buy that narrative. Email is still one of the best channels for small businesses to build trust, increase retention, and drive sales, but only if your messages sound like a real person and give subscribers a reason to keep opening. We’re joined by Adri Kopp, an email strategist and copywriter for course creators and heart-led brands, who brings a surprisingly useful background from her first career as a zookeeper. That lens makes the conversation practical and grounded. Together, we dig into where AI can genuinely save time in email copywriting and where it quietly sabotages you by producing generic, obviously automated emails that weaken connection. You’ll hear specific workflows you can try right away, the new reality of email deliverability for Gmail and Yahoo, what metrics to watch, and what’s actually working for list building now that basic PDFs are easier than ever to replace with an AI prompt. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Adri as much as I enjoyed getting to learn from her! Send us Fan Mail A FREE LIVE MASTERCLASS FOR WOMEN BUSINESS OWNERS: When You’ve Built a Business That Takes More Than It Gives Learn more and register! Support the show Free Marketing Gap Audit

September 8, 2026Episode 17311 min

How to Get More Traffic to Your Website

Your website can be stunning, your offer can be dialed in, and your copy can convert, yet your calendar still stays empty for one simple reason: nobody can find you. In this episode, I’m pulling apart the traffic problem most small businesses get wrong. The goal is not more eyeballs. It’s more of the right people landing on your site, without you turning into a full-time content creator or dumping money into ads. I walk through three practical traffic sources and where they fit in the trail to the sale. I also share the crucial step people miss when they are at events or talking to new audiences. Next, we look at referrals and partnerships, the “hiding in plain sight” strategies that often outperform cold outreach. Finally, I explain where SEO and AEO (answer engine optimization for AI search) belong. Listen to learn quicker ways to grow your audience, and bring traffic to your website. Send us Fan Mail Support the show Free Marketing Gap Audit

September 1, 2026Episode 17211 min

Why Your Website Gets Visitors but Not Customers (And What to Fix)

Your website can be gorgeous and still quietly lose you clients in seconds. In this episode, I share a simple way to spot what is really happening when someone lands on your homepage, clicks around for a moment, and disappears and why the answer is usually not a full redesign or “more traffic.” We break down the five layers of a website that actually works. We talk through the shift from thinking “Is my website good enough?” to asking the question that matters more: “What do I want a visitor to do next, and is it obvious?” Along the way, we connect the dots between customer language, conversion focused copywriting, and SEO keywords that help people discover you through search and increasingly through AI and answer engine optimization. Then we get tactical with three common website leaks and how to fix each one. If you want your website to do its job, listen now, then take the marketing clarity quiz at https://janicehostager.com/quiz. Send us Fan Mail Support the show Free Marketing Gap Audit

August 25, 202617 min

5 Marketing Mistakes Costing You Customers

Entrepreneurship makes marketing feel like a hundred disconnected tasks, and fear can push us into scattered efforts that do not add up. In this episode, I walk through five common small business marketing mistakes and the simple fixes that create a clear Trail to the Sale™ from stranger to customer. Trying to be everywhere at once. Making it about you. Selling the offer instead of the outcome. Jumping from the first date to the proposal Letting the not now people disappear. And don't miss these two free tools to help you stay on track with your marketing! Ideal Customer Profile Trail to the Sale™ Quickstart Map Send us Fan Mail Support the show Free Marketing Gap Audit

August 18, 2026Episode 17018 min

What to Hand to AI, and What to Never Let It Touch

A robot answered the phone when I called a local shop, and it instantly reminded me how fragile trust is in small business marketing. That very first “hello” is not a throwaway moment, it’s a brand promise. When we automate the front door of our business, we might save time, but we can also teach our best customers that they don’t matter enough to reach a real person. I walk through the question that matters more than “Should I use AI?” which is: am I handing the right work to AI? You’ll hear the four areas where AI actually shines for marketing and operations: finding patterns in customer feedback, crunching messy marketing data, creating outlines and first drafts, and repurposing one piece of content into many. I also share how to prompt smarter so you don’t end up with generic AI output and how tools like Claude and ChatGPT can sound more like you when you give them the right inputs. Then we get into the guardrails: what AI should never touch. I explain why you cannot outsource judgment, why real customer conversations are the raw material you must protect, and why AI can’t be the final “does it sound like me” check if you want your brand voice to stay distinct. I wrap with practical, creative uses like having AI challenge your sales page, role-play objections, simplify muddy messaging, and spot gaps in your content plan. Send us Fan Mail Support the show Free Marketing Gap Audit

August 11, 2026Episode 16911 min

Why Interested Buyers Go Quiet

They told you they were interested. They showed up for the call. They maybe even said, “This is exactly what I’ve been looking for.” Then the DM goes quiet and the email thread dies. If you’ve ever stared at your inbox wondering what you did wrong, I walk you through a more useful truth: most of the time, they didn’t reject you. They just never made a decision. In this episode, we unpack the three biggest reasons warm leads stall, and how to fix each one without sounding desperate or pushy. Send us Fan Mail Support the show Free Marketing Gap Audit