Marketing Happy Hour Podcast
Join The Marketing Broker, Shelby McFarland, for the Marketing Happy Hour Podcast. With over 13 years of entrepreneurial experience and as the owner of a successful sign shop, Shelby brings a unique perspective to the world of marketing. Each episode, Shelby dives into insightful discussions, practical tips, and expert interviews designed to help entrepreneurs and marketers alike navigate the ever-evolving landscape of digital marketing, branding, and business growth. Grab your favorite beverage and join us for a lively conversation at the intersection of creativity and strategy. Welcome to the Marketing Happy Hour Podcast with your host, Shelby McFarland. Cheers! 🥂
Episodes
90 episodes
Strong Policies And A Calm Mindset Keep A Business Standing
A customer tells you they won’t pay a deposit, they’ll pay “when they see it and like it.” Another tries to cancel a project halfway through. Somewhere in the middle, you’re answering emails, keeping clients happy, and wondering why it feels li...
Women Leaders And The Hidden Weight Of Doing It All
Loneliness does not always look like being alone. Sometimes it looks like running the meeting, leading the team, keeping the home calendar in your head, and still lying awake at night thinking, What did I miss and what do I need to do next? We ...
What “Reasonable” Pricing Really Means For Small Businesses
“Reasonable” sounds harmless until you’re the one paying rent, utilities, supplies, insurance, and self-employment taxes while still trying to deliver flawless work. Shelby McFarland sits down with Rachel Harris for an honest, funny, and ...
A Practical Guide To Meta Ads Budgets Targeting And ROI
One ad. A clear hook. A budget that actually makes sense. That’s how you stop throwing money at Facebook and Instagram and start getting results you can measure. We’re talking Meta ads with the practical perspective of someone who used to avoid...
Who Carries The Mental Load When Nobody Sees It
You know that feeling when you finally sit down to work and you’re already wiped out and all you’ve done is make choices for everyone else? That’s what Shelby and Kayla unpack, honestly and in real time, as we talk about decision fatigue and th...
Your Marketing Plan Starts With Your Customer
Most marketing advice falls apart the moment you ask one question: who are you trying to reach, and where do they actually make decisions? Shelby McFarland and Mattie Loomis pull questions straight from a recent local marketing panel and give h...
You Control The Outcome When You Control The Effort
The fastest way to lose momentum in business is to hand your confidence to people outside your company. A quiet inbox, a declined proposal, or a slow month can feel personal, but we’re not in the feelings business, we’re in the action business....
Recruitment Works Best When You Build Real Relationships
Recruiting can feel like a completely different world than marketing until you realize they run on the same engine: clear positioning, consistent visibility, and trust built one conversation at a time. Shelby McFarland sits down with Demi Mathi...
Marketing Is More Than Posting: Behind The Scenes of a Marketing Agency
Everybody can post now, which is exactly why real marketing has never been harder to spot. We’re Alexis and Mattie, and we’re stepping in this week to talk about a trend we see nonstop: people calling themselves marketers when what they’re real...
Delegation That Lets Your Business Breathe
Doing everything yourself can look like dedication, but it often feels like a slow chokehold on your time, your focus, and your revenue. Shelby sits down with Leia, an adult ADHD and executive function coach, to talk about the real moment entre...
Four Marketing Myths Debunked: Misconceptions That Quietly Stall Growth
You’ve heard the advice: post everywhere, grow fast, go viral, and let a great product sell itself. We don’t buy it and we explain why. We’re doing a quick, focused deep dive into the marketing myths that quietly derail small business growth an...
How To Turn A Business Book Into A Lead Magnet That Wins Clients
$48,000 in 14 days sounds like a book sales fairy tale, until you hear the real numbers: Shelby has sold about $710 worth of books. The twist is the point. She writes “Market Like a Boss” to make money through her business, using the book as a ...
How To Collaborate With AI: Small Business Marketing
AI is not waiting for anyone’s comfort level, and small business owners feel that tension every day. We talk through the good, the bad, and the ugly of AI marketing from a real-world perspective, including what’s changed as of June 2026 and why...
What COVID Taught Me About Risk And Business Planning
I opened a second sign shop location, got three months in, and then lockdown hit. Suddenly my calendar meant nothing, my assumptions about growth got tested, and I had to figure out how to keep two employees paid while the world argued about cu...
LinkedIn That Actually Works: The Real Growth Strategy
Your LinkedIn isn’t broken, it’s just missing you. Shelby McFarland sits down with LinkedIn specialist Katie Rasure to get radically practical about what actually grows a personal brand, drives B2B leads, and builds a reputation people remember...
Real Business Lessons From Women Entrepreneurs In Conway
You can feel the energy of a real networking floor in Conway, Arkansas as we bounce from booth to booth at a Women in Business Showcase, asking one simple question at a time and letting the answers stack into a blueprint for modern entrepreneur...
How To Build Demand Through Community And Conversation
Most business owners don’t need another marketing “hack.” They need the uncomfortable truth about why visibility does not automatically turn into sales and what to do when the phone is not ringing.Shelby McFarlane talks with Arkansas in...
Marketing Career Paths In The Real World
You can study marketing for years and still feel unprepared the first time a real client and a real deadline land on your plate. Mattie and Alexis step in for Shelby and tell the honest version of what it looks like to break into a marketing ca...
The BOSS Mindset
One painful week in a 500 square foot apartment changed everything for Shelby McFarland and it eventually became the foundation for how she leads, sells, and builds. Shelby shares the part of her story she rarely tells, then connects it to a si...
Turn Conversations Into Marketing Content
Your best marketing content is already happening, and it sounds a lot like the questions people keep asking you. We take the everyday conversations from sales pitches, client meetings, and team chats and turn them into a simple, repeatable cont...
Authenticity, Trust, And Communication In Marketing And Sales
People don’t choose the “best” service on paper. They choose the person they trust with their money, their time, and their expectations. Shelby McFarland sits down with Alexis Valenti to talk about what we’re both seeing right now in sales and ...
Why Your Marketing Feels Like It Isn't Working
Marketing can feel like a black hole: you post, you pay, you wait, and somehow nothing changes. We get real about why so many small business owners reach the point of saying, “I don’t think my marketing is working,” and why that feeling is ofte...
Why Digital Marketing Can’t Replace A Real Sales Team
You can post every day, run Google Ads, perfect your Google Business Profile, and still wonder why revenue feels stuck. The missing piece usually isn’t another platform or another funnel, it’s sales. We talk through a hard truth for small busin...
How To Read Meta Analytics Like A Pro
You know that moment when your marketing agency pulls up a dashboard and someone says, “So you’re just going to show me numbers?” We get it. But those numbers are the receipt. In this Marketing Happy Hour conversation, we walk through the core ...
Marketing Where It Matters
Trying to post everywhere, run ads, keep up with algorithms, and still deliver for clients? That’s not a marketing plan, that’s burnout. We’re coming to you from a casual volunteer day at a local nonprofit that supports small businesses, and we...