Does your business feel like it’s constantly doing all the things but not seeing the results you want?

Emma Easton, founder and “chief bolloxologist” of Business Bollox, joins the Be A Marketer podcast to talk about the trap of overcomplicating marketing and why simplicity and clarity are the real secret weapons for small businesses.

In this episode, Emma and Dave dig into the pressure business owners feel to show up everywhere and post constantly, and how that noise can actually get in the way of meaningful connection. You’ll hear why marketing needs to start with your business model, how to reframe what “strategy” really means, and how to get your time and focus back.

Whether you're new to marketing or feeling stretched thin, this episode is a refreshing reminder that doing less but doing it with intention can actually lead to more.

Additional Resources:

• Optimize the subject line of an email
• A/B test an email subject line

Meet Today’s Guest: Emma Easton

👤 What she does: Emma Easton is the founder and “chief bolloxologist” of Business Bollox, a marketing strategy company based in the UK. With a background in corporate PR and small business branding, Emma now helps entrepreneurs cut through the noise and grow their businesses with clarity and confidence.

💡 Key quote: “You don't need to be doing everything. You just need to be doing the right things.”

👋 Where to find her: LinkedIn

👋 Where to find Business Bollox: Website | LinkedIn

If you love this show, please leave a review. Go to RateThisPodcast.com/bam and follow the simple instructions.

David Derryck, founder and CEO of BuyBlack.org, came across a powerful quote: "People always talk about what would they have done during the time of slavery or during civil rights era. And the answer is, whatever you're doing right now."

That moment sparked what would become BuyBlack.org, a platform that has grown from 10,000 to over 50,000 listings of Black-owned businesses across the country. What started as David's passion project in 2022 is now a comprehensive ecosystem helping consumers discover and support Black-owned businesses while providing those businesses with marketing tools and resources.

"Our mission just as an organization is to drive traffic and revenue to black owned businesses," he explains in this episode of Be a Marketer.

What marketing strategies are working for BuyBlack.org? In this episode, David and host Dave Charest, Director of Small Business Success at Constant Contact, explore how the platform uses email automation, digital advertising co-ops, and community engagement both online and offline.

Tune in to hear how David built partnerships with organizations like Constant Contact, why certification matters for Black-owned businesses, and how a parade float became one of his most meaningful marketing moments.

Additional Resources:

• Create and manage an automated Welcome Email
• Understanding contact segmentation
• Using click segmentation in an email

Meet Today’s Guest: David Derryck of BuyBlack

☕ What he does: David Derryck is the founder and CEO of BuyBlack.org, a mission-driven platform based in Oakland, California that helps consumers find and support Black-owned businesses across the country. What started as a passion project during the pandemic has grown into an ecosystem with over 50,000 listings and counting.

💡 Key quote: “I think there's a clear recognition in this country that we've been on. Like wealth inequality exists, revenue inequality exists, and I think there's a clear recognition that people want to fix that.”

👋 Where to find David: LinkedIn

👋 Where to find Buy Black: Website | Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn

If you love this show, please leave a review. Go to RateThisPodcast.com/bam and follow the simple instructions.

Andrea Marquez didn't set out to "just" launch a podcast. She built a fully branded experience, with research, structure, and intention behind every episode.

As the host and Senior Producer of This Is Small Business, Amazon's podcast for entrepreneurs, Andrea treats the show like a product. That means creating branding guidelines, defining listener personas, building workflows, and committing to quality long before the first mic check.

"We make sure to stay true to both of these," Andrea explains. "We're thinking about what our listener will take away from the story we're telling, while staying authentic to the person or business featured in the episode—our guest." That dual focus shapes every decision, from production to promotion.

In this episode, Andrea joins Be A Marketer host Dave Charest to talk about why strong creative work starts with strategy. She shares how frameworks like "the five whys" and "test, fail, learn fast" help founders focus, why social media might not be the best marketing channel for a podcast, and how showing up consistently builds trust and community.

Additional Resources

• A/B test an email subject line
• Using the audience growth center
• Grow your contact list with sign-up forms
• Enable Text to Join to grow your list
• Use an email to grow your contact list

Meet Today's Guest: Andrea Marquez from This is Small Business

👤 What she does: Andrea Marquez is the Senior Producer and Host of This Is Small Business, Amazon's award-winning podcast for entrepreneurs. A first-generation Latina with a background in advertising, she built the show from the ground up to spotlight real-world business stories and provide practical guidance for small business owners.

💡 Key quote: "Everything starts from understanding who you're telling the story to and why they want to hear it, all the way to every single day of recording, guest chasing, scheduling, etc."

👋 Where to find her: LinkedIn | Website | Instagram | TikTok |

👋 Where to find This Is Small Business: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Amazon

If you love this show, please leave a review. Go to RateThisPodcast.com/bam and follow the simple instructions.