Welcome to Season 2, Episode 1 of the Ryan Spelts Marketing podcast, where i'm diving deep into the realities of marketing for small businesses—what works, what doesn’t, and why most businesses struggle with it.

Owning a business is a wild ride. You’ve got big dreams, but marketing often feels like a guessing game with uncertain results. I hear it all the time: “I don’t want to waste money on ads.” But here’s the thing—you don’t even need to advertise unless you want to grow.

In this episode, I use down real-world strategies for local businesses (like a bakery, a painter, a clothing store, and a deck builder) to help you see exactly what works. If you’ve ever wondered:

• How to grow without wasting money

• Why most ads fail (and how to fix it)

• What a good marketing strategy actually looks like