Stop the Scroll: A social Media podcast with Heidi Schmidt - Social Media and Content Marketing Advice for small business owners and solopreneurs looking to win online
How do I grow my business on social media?
What’s the best type of content to post on Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn?
How frequently do I post on social media and how do I even know if what I’m doing is working?
Welcome to "Stop The Scroll” a podcast dedicated to helping business owners, entrepreneurs and creatives thrive online.
Hosted by Heidi Schmidt, a social media strategist and owner of Heidi Schmidt Creative, a social media and content marketing agency.
Heidi shares all the best tips to help you show up online confidently with tips such as what really goes into a content strategy and how to stop overthinking your content.
Heidi’s strategies have helped her and her clients build six-figure businesses over her 15-plus years in the marketing industry, working with brands of all sizes to accomplish their business goals online. Ready to thrive? Tune in!
This podcast will answer questions like
- What are the pros and cons of social media in business?
- How do I start social media marketing?
- What are essential strategies for Effective Social Media Marketing
- What are some Top Social Media Trends to Shape Your Strategy
- What are social listening tools and how do I use them to understand my audience?
- Exploring the Advantages of Social Media for Businesses
- How can you Leverage the Many Benefits of Social Media for Business Growth
- Storytelling Techniques That Captivate Social Media Users
- The Art of Storytelling in Marketing
- Creative Social Media Content Ideas to Refresh Your Feed
Episodes
91 episodes
Lessons in Entrepreneurship – What 6 years in business has taught me
This week we’re celebrating six years in business – and two years of podcasting! But we’re also marking a milestone in that we’re putting a pause on season one of the podcast. In this reflective episode, I’m sharing the biggest less...
Followers Aren’t Clients: Why Vanity Metrics Don’t Pay the Bills
What if the numbers you’ve been obsessing over are the ones that matter the least?In this episode of Stop the Scroll, I’m breaking down the truth about vanity metrics and why more followers, more likes, and more comments do not ...
Why Going Viral isn’t a Social Media Strategy (Fan Favorite!)
Everyone wants more views, and more followers in the social media space. So many business owners have said to me, “I want to go viral.”Hard stop y’all. Going viral is nice, sure, but it’s not a part of a well-rounded social m...
How to Keep Marketing When the World Feels Heavy (A Low-Energy Plan to Stay Consistent)
If you’ve been staring at your content calendar like… “I literally cannot today,” this episode is for you.Because sometimes the world feels heavy, routines fall apart, motivation disappears, and marketing starts to feel pointless…or impo...
The 2026 Reset: Building Consistency Without Burnout
Happy 2026! Heidi’s kicking off the year a little later than planned (because the end of 2025 was, in her words, a “complete and utter Schmidt show”)—but with a message every overwhelmed business owner needs to hear:You don’t ne...
CEO Debrief: 2025 Wins, Lessons and Reflections
This year stretched me—in the best and hardest ways. And, if you know what’s to come, this is only the beginning, right?In this unfiltered end of year recap, I’m pulling back the curtain on the wins I didn’t expect, the misses I’d repeat...
2026 Social Media Trends You Can’t Ignore
Can you believe we’re less than a month away from 2026? We’ve talked a lot about marketing strategy going into the new year – but today, we’re talking about what to expect in the year ahead from social media marketing.We’ve all felt a bi...
How to Plan Your End-of-Year Marketing (Without Burning Out)
Feeling stretched thin as the year wraps up? You are NOT alone. In this life-and-business update, we’re talking about why Stop the Scroll is moving to a biweekly cadence and how I’m simplifying my own marketing to finish the year st...
You Don’t Need Social Media to Win. What to do instead…
Feeling chained to the algorithm? You’re not alone, and it’s not just in your head. This is a challenge I face every day and every week with my clients. Algorithms are increasingly challenging, and the competition to stay ahead and keep up with...
Instagram Reels Made Easy: Easy Video Ideas You Can Batch Today
If you’ve got 10 seconds, you’ve got a clip: the door opening, a notebook flip, keys on the desk, a client thank-you email.String a few together, add a “how I” voiceover or a strong on-screen hook, and you’ve got a reel…without blocking ...
The Toxic Social Media Habit Crushing Your Confidence (& Your Strategy) (Fan Favorite!)
If checking your follower count is the first thing you do when you open Instagram… we need to talk.Obsessing over followers and unfollows isn’t “staying on top of your metrics”, it’s a toxic habit that triggers anxiety, impost...
Q3 Social Media Updates That You Need to Know
If it feels like the rules of social media change the moment you find your groove, you’re not wrong. Social media is ALWAYS changing. In this Quarterly Updates episode, I’m pulling together what actually shifted on Facebook, Instagr...
Why Business Owners Need a Creator Mindset When Showing Up on Social Media
Are you treating social media like another task on your to-do list? Do you treat it as a tool to genuinely connect with your audience? For many small business owners, the difference between feeling overwhelmed and seizing an opportunity comes d...
How to Write Instagram Hooks That Stop The Scroll
Ever feel like your Instagram content deserves way more views than it gets? The truth is, it might not be your content at all…it’s your hook(s). Without a scroll-stopping first impression, even your most valuable posts will get ignored.<...
Q4 Marketing Strategy: Small Business Holiday Marketing Planning Tips
Scrambling to pull together holiday promotions at the last minute? Let’s fix that.Marketing during this time of year can feel incredibly overwhelming, but with the right plan in place, it can also be your most profitable season.
I Tried 30 Days of Reels and Here’s What Really Happened
What really happens when you commit to 30 days of Reels?I tested it for myself, and while I didn’t hit all 30, I still walked away with higher reach, more engagement, and some surprising takeaways about what actually works on ...
How to Identify Your Ideal Audience (and Why Broad Answers Don’t Work)
If your answer to “Who’s your audience?” is something broad like “women” or “business owners,” it’s time to dig deeper. If you’re marketing to everyone generally, you’re really marketing to no one. In this episode of ...
Why Authenticity Beats Perfection in Marketing (and How to Finally Post Without Overthinking)
What’s really holding you back from showing up online? For most business owners, it isn’t lack of strategy—it’s mindset. In this episode of Stop the Scroll, we’re getting real about the fear of rejection, imposte...
What Instagram’s Latest Updates Mean for Your Marketing Strategy
Instagram just dropped a wave of new updates, and if you’re feeling a little overwhelmed (or wondering which ones are actually worth your time), this episode is for you.From three-minute Reels to reposting, new editing tools, ...
Proven Marketing Strategies to Attract More Local Customers
Running a local business means your marketing needs to do more than just “look good” online. It has to bring real people through the door.In this episode of Stop the Scroll, we’re sharing strategies that actually work fo...
Why Content Batching Isn’t Working for You, and What to Do Instead
Feel like content batching is supposed to save time, but instead, it just leaves you overwhelmed, uninspired, and burned out?You’re not alone.In this episode of Stop the Scroll, I’m challenging the t...
Instagram Engagement in 2025: What Actually Works (Even When You’re Not Posting Daily)
If you’ve ever felt guilty for not posting on Instagram every single day, this episode is your permission slip to let that go.In this solo episode, I’m breaking down what actually moves the needle on Instagram in 2025...
Your Instagram Posts Can Now Show Up on Google, Now What?
Wait, Instagram posts can show up on Google now?Yep. And if you’re not optimizing your content for search, you could be missing out on serious visibility. In this episode of Stop the Scroll, we’re unpacking a big shift t...
Real Talk Q&A: Schedulers, TikTok vs. Instagram, Posting Frequency, and More
Feeling overwhelmed by all the advice about what to post, when to post it, or how to manage your content when life gets busy? You’re not alone. In this episode, we’re keeping it real with a laid-back Q&A session, answ...
The Truth About Going Viral: Why It’s Not a Marketing Strategy
Everyone wants to go viral, but what actually happens when you do? And more importantly, does it move the needle for your business?In this episode, we’re sharing a real client case study where a short, unplanned Reel unexpecte...