The Kara Report | Online Marketing Tips and Candid Business Conversations – Details, episodes & analysis

In this episode, I got to sit down with Mara Kucirek, an online course specialist who helps other business owners create, sell, and improve their online courses. She brought a list of Black Friday Trends for 2024, and then we dive deep into Black Friday sales strategies, including why it's important to start planning early to avoid last-minute stress on Thanksgiving. 

We also talk about the importance of delivering a high-quality product, not just focusing on marketing, and why many online courses fail because they don’t help students implement the material. 

Mara shares SO much, so whether you're a course creator or small business owner gearing up for the holiday sales season, this episode is full of actionable tips to make your Black Friday a win!

 

🎙️ In This Episode:

• The biggest 2024 Black Friday trends we're going to see
• The easiest thing to offer in your courses (that your potential students really want!)
• Balancing marketing and sales with creating a great product 
• Why low-ticket offers are booming and whether or not it's actually worth creating one

Links Mentioned: 

• Read the full shownotes: https://thekarareport.com/43
• Watch Mara's FREE Webinar On Black Friday Trends: https://thekarareport.com/black-friday-trends
• Grab Mara's Black Friday Toolkit: https://thekarareport.com/bf-toolkit
• Follow Mara on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marakucirek/
• Read one of Mara's Kucirek income reports: https://marakucirek.com/august-2024-income-report/ 
• Learn more about working with our marketing agency here: https://thekarareport.com/services
• Follow me on Instagram: https://instagram.com/thekarareport

Have you been looking to use AI in a more authentic way? Or maybe you're just wondering, how do I get the outputs closer to a final version when I use AI? If you're still doing a ton of editing with what Chat GPT spits out, you are going to love today's guest. I brought on Kinsey of Feel Good Social and Authentic AI to share how to make AI sound like you (and she shares a LOT more to be honest).  

🎙️ In This Episode:

• How to train AI tools to reflect your brand’s voice and personality
• Tips for using AI while remaining authentic in content creation
• Practical strategies to integrate AI into your business workflow
• Common mistakes people make when using AI and how to avoid them
• Why it's important for women and underrepresented groups to embrace AI

Links Mentioned: 

• Read the full shownotes: https://thekarareport.com/42 (all the links are laid out here!)
• Head to DIYwith.ai to Check Out Her AI-Powered Reels Course and Brand Blueprint: https://authenticaiforentrepreneurs.com/
• Follow Kinsey on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authenticaiforentrepreneurs
• Learn more about working with our marketing agency here: https://thekarareport.com/services
• Follow me on Instagram: https://instagram.com/thekarareport

Not working all the time has been a struggle for me because I genuinely love what I do. Like many entrepreneurs, I have a tendency to overcommit myself. I often don't notice the effects until it's almost too late and I'm way overextended. I genuinely enjoy the projects I take on and the clients I work with. However, I want to live my life too.

If this resonates with you, you're going to love this episode. I brought on Simone to discuss why work-life balance doesn't exist and how we can release guilt while remaining productive. We'll explore how to get out of hustle mode while still accomplishing our goals.

To be clear, we're not suggesting you can stop hustling, sit on your couch, and make a million dollars a year. That's not what this podcast is about. (If I figure out how to do that, I'll definitely pass it on!) What you'll find in this episode are practical examples and customizable advice, which I really loved. Let's get into it!

🎙️ In This Episode:

• The difference between hustling and when you "just love working"
• What to do if you've already overcommitted yourself
• How to find more joy in small pockets of free time
• Get things done (without guilt!)

Links Mentioned: 

• Read the full shownotes: https://thekarareport.com/33
• Learn more about working with Simone: https://www.thesimonelittle.com/
• Follow Simone on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesimonelittle 
• Learn more about working with our marketing agency here: https://thekarareport.com/services
• Follow me on Instagram: https://instagram.com/thekarareport

Today, I want to talk about three weird things I've done to get more wedding clients. This episode is going to be different because I'm not saying, "Do these three things and you'll explode your business." I want to talk about subtle things and hopefully get you to brainstorm different ways to market your business beyond social media, blogging, and Pinterest, which I always talk about here. So let's get into it.

🎙️ In This Episode:

• 3 ways I booked more wedding clients by accident
• How to market your business in new and interesting ways

Links Mentioned: 

• Read the full shownotes: https://thekarareport.com/32
• Learn more about working with our marketing agency here: https://thekarareport.com/services 
• Follow me on Instagram: https://instagram.com/thekarareport 
• Curious about my wedding business? Check out Love at First Travel: https://loveatfirsttravel.com 

 How should you come up with blog topics? That's one of my most frequently asked questions. People either say, "I have so many ideas, I can't get my thoughts out," or "I sit at a blank screen with no idea what to blog about." After doing this for four years, I have a system.

I cover everything you need to know about blogging for SEO in my Blogging for Bingeable Brands mini course, which you can get 20% off with code Podcast 20, but today, I'm sharing how to find your best blog topics!


🎙️ In This Episode:

• 3 Ways to Find Keywords That Are Trending/Profitable
• How to Turn Keywords Into Topics
• What To Do if You Already Have a Ton of Ideas

Links Mentioned: 

• Read the full shownotes: https://thekarareport.com/31
• Hire us to write SEO-driven blog posts for you: https://thekarareport.com/blogging
• Join Blogging for Bingeable Brands (Use Code PODCAST20 for 20% Off!): https://thekarareport.com/bbb
• Learn more about working with our marketing agency here: https://thekarareport.com/services 
• Follow me on Instagram: https://instagram.com/thekarareport 

There are so many buzzwords in the online space and it can constantly make you feel like you're missing out. For example, today's guest is coming on to talk all about systems, specifically, her systems trifecta, which is three things that your systems absolutely need to actually be helpful. So many people will tell you that you "need systems", but nobody tells you how to go about creating them in your business and what they look like when they're working.
 

🎙️ In This Episode:

• Chat GPT vs. Claude vs. Gemini
• How to better prompt AI tools
• The mistakes we are making with AI tools
• How to make AI sound more like YOU

Links Mentioned: 

• Read the full shownotes: https://thekarareport.com/30
• Learn more about working with Lauren: https://snipfeed.co/bemusedstudio
• Follow Lauren on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebemusedstudio/
• Learn more about working with our marketing agency here: https://thekarareport.com/services
• Follow me on Instagram: https://instagram.com/thekarareport

There are so many buzzwords in the online space and it can constantly make you feel like you're missing out. For example, today's guest is coming on to talk all about systems, specifically, her systems trifecta, which is three things that your systems absolutely need to actually be helpful. So many people will tell you that you "need systems", but nobody tells you how to go about creating them in your business and what they look like when they're working.
 

🎙️ In This Episode:

• 3 things your systems need to have in order to actually help you
• What to do if your systems are out of control
• Why we need to plan our systems for our "worst" days instead of our best days

Links Mentioned: 

• Read the full shownotes: https://thekarareport.com/29
• Learn more about working with Sandra: https://simplysandrayvonne.ca/
• Follow Sandra on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/simplysandrayvonne
• Tune into Keeping it Candid (Kara is on episode 52): https://simplysandrayvonne.ca/keepingitcandid
• Learn more about working with our marketing agency here: https://thekarareport.com/services
• Follow me on Instagram: https://instagram.com/thekarareport

It's okay to be nosy 😉 Six months ago, I pressed publish on my podcast. And it has been really fun! I can't believe it's already been six months, so I thought this would be a super fun episode to just talk about how things are going, what I've learned, answering questions I've been asked, etc. This is NOT like a "tips to have a podcast" episode, it's more just me sharing behind-the-scenes being really new at something again!   


🎙️ In This Episode:

• How I come up with topics
• How much time/money I'm investing 
• My average number of downloads
• My most popular episode
• Whether I took a podcast course
• If I've gotten clients from it

Links Mentioned: 

• Read the full shownotes: https://thekarareport.com/28
• Hire us to write SEO-driven blog posts for you: https://thekarareport.com/blogging
• Join Blogging for Bingeable Brands (Use Code PODCAST20 for 20% Off!): https://thekarareport.com/bbb
• Learn more about working with our marketing agency here: https://thekarareport.com/services 
• Follow me on Instagram: https://instagram.com/thekarareport 

The word strategy feels overused these days but how do we know if we're just marketing by accident? And if we know that we're just kind of winging it, how do we stop? I've brought Tayler from Enji to talk all about what a REAL marketing strategy looks like, and how we as small businesses can actually use one to grow our businesses without losing our minds in the process.


🎙️ In This Episode:

• What marketing by accident looks like (hint: you might think you're being intentional)
• The components of a real marketing strategy
• How we can better evaluate what's working in our businesses
• Whether or not small business owners should hop on trends
• How much time you really need to market your business 

Links Mentioned:

• Sign up for a free trial on Enji: https://threkarareport.com/enji 
• Hang out with Tayler on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/enji_co + https://www.instagram.com/taylrd_designs/
• Learn more about working with our marketing agency here: https://thekarareport.com/services
• Follow me on Instagram: https://instagram.com/thekarareport

I know as entrepreneurs it can sometimes be so easy to fall off the bandwagon during the summer. That's why today, I'm sharing three pretty low effort, high impact things I want you to focus on this summer. And don't worry, I am practicing what I preach here, because I will be implementing these things in my own business as well!

Let's all focus on creating a summer marketing plan that sets you up for success in the fall. We all get that new fall energy, right? We're going to talk about three marketing activities you should do this summer to make your life easier when that fall energy hits. Your future self will thank you. So, let’s get in

🎙️ In This Episode:

• 3 Things to focus on this summer
• What to do to build momentum
• How to ENJOY your summer

Links Mentioned: 

• Read the full shownotes: https://thekarareport.com/26
• Hire us for a website copy VIP day: https://thekarareport.com/copywriting
• Join Blogging for Bingeable Brands (Use Code PODCAST20 for 20% Off!): https://thekarareport.com/bbb
• Learn more about working with our marketing agency here: https://thekarareport.com/services 
• Follow me on Instagram: https://instagram.com/thekarareport