EP #165 Big Brand Marketing For Small Business

A great looking website can still fail if no one can find it or if it attracts the wrong clicks. We’re joined by Debby Girvan from Flair Communication, a Fredericksburg digital marketing agency built around one clear promise: help small businesses feel big with strategy that drives real visibility and real leads.

We talk through the full stack that supports modern local business marketing, from website design and SEO to optimization for AI visibility. Debby explains why Google Business Profile optimization is often the quickest path to stronger local search performance, how review generation and reputation management build trust at the exact moment customers compare options, and where tools like Google Ads, email marketing, and blog writing fit when you want consistent demand instead of random spikes.

Debby also shares her story, from radio news in Washington, DC to years in university marketing, then stepping into entrepreneurship after public service and a run for mayor. Along the way, she learned why “set it and forget it” websites don’t work anymore and why managed websites, continuous optimization, and clear positioning matter more than chasing the latest hype.

If you’re a business owner trying to do it all, this conversation will help you focus on what actually moves the needle: authenticity, customer fit, and a marketing system you can sustain. Subscribe, share this with a local owner who needs it, and leave a review. What part of your online presence feels hardest to keep up with right now?

Debby Girvan

Flair Communication 

flaircommunication.com

design@flaircommunication.com

+1 540-940-2801

807 William Street, Fredericksburg, VA, United States, Virginia

Transcript

Welcome To FXBG Neighbors

Speaker 3 0:04

This is the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Dori Stewart.

Speaker 1 0:16

Welcome back to another episode of the FXBG Neighbors Podcast, where we share the stories of our favorite local brands. I'm excited to introduce you to my guest today. We've got Debby Girvan joining us. She is with Flair Communication. Debby, welcome to the podcast.

Speaker 0:34

Thank you, Dori. I'm glad to be here.

Speaker 1 0:37

Well, I'm excited to learn more about you and your business. So let's

What Flair Communication Does

Speaker 1 0:42

start there. Share with us what is Flair Communication?

Speaker 0:46

We are a digital marketing agency that helps businesses of any size with big brand marketing. That's kind of our focus. We want to help small businesses feel big.

Speaker 1 1:01

Amazing. Amazing. So let's dive a little bit deeper into that. So share with me what are some of the services that you help businesses with?

Speaker 1:10

We um focus on uh digital marketing specifically, um website uh design and optimization for search and for AI visibility. And to accelerate the performance of the website, we offer services such as Google Business Optimization, review generation with reputation management, Google ads, email marketing, um, blog writing, things like that. So everything we do is designed to drive more traffic to the website, increase business's visibility, engagement, lead lead generation for growth.

Speaker 1 1:54

Amazing. You are such an important asset to a business, especially, you know, with all of the changing technology and AI and you know, algorithms change and it is it makes a business owner's head spin trying to keep up with things that are changing so fast. So it's wonderful to have a partner like you in your corner who can keep up with that for the business owner.

Speaker 2:23

Yeah. Yeah, it is an ever-changing industry for sure, and it's it's fast, which is great. Um, I like that pace, but it is challenging at times, uh, even for agencies, to stay ahead of the curve and make sure all of our clients stay competitive and uh relevant to what's going on with the the market. Um, but uh it's it's fun, it's it's exciting. Um, it's interesting to see the new technologies that are coming out and how those can help small business. You you look at how things have changed over the past 20 or 30 years, and it's just mind-blowing how how much progress we've made so far.

Speaker 1 3:06

Yeah, absolutely.

Debby’s Path Into Marketing

Speaker 1 3:08

So tell me a little bit about yourself. I want to learn about your background. How did you get into this?

Speaker 3:15

Um, I started out in uh radio news actually in Washington, DC. Yeah, I thought I wanted to be um investigative reporter. Um a little disillusioned with the news business. So this I just didn't like the direction it was going. It was very um, I guess the old version of clickbait. So um I just as a journalism major and all that, I was very uh old school and um didn't really align with where that was headed. So I went into marketing and um fell in love with that. I uh did marketing for a major university for 13 years, traveled for them about 300 days a year. It was um an exciting job, went to some interesting places, and um had a lot of autonomy and um independence in creating this marketing um program for them. And uh so it just was a natural evolution. I remember I was on city council for a term. Um I ran for mayor, um, didn't win, but that was actually a blessing in disguise. Um, I figured it was then or never, and so I decided to go for it. And um I already knew the plan B. If I didn't get elected, I was going to start my own business. So it started out with marketing consulting, um, ended up doing a few marketing plans, and then uh fell into website design. Um self-taught um and just loved it. It's kind of a combination of um design, you know, the creative part of it, which I love, and then the technology part of it, which I also love. So at the university, I developed a database for them and got interested in the technology. So it was kind of a nice marriage of that and the next phase for me professionally, and uh didn't look back, just tried to keep up with the industry, what the needs were for businesses, and um it just grew from there.

The Biggest Website Myth

Speaker 1 5:24

Amazing. So, what are some myths or misconception that you hear about the industry or your business?

Speaker 5:34

I think a lot of businesses have the misconception that you build a website and they'll be flooded with leads that everybody will know that they're there. Um I don't think that was ever the case, but um, in the old days, I'd say when we started about 15 years ago, um, it wasn't as competitive. Websites were a little more static. Um, you could build it, launch it, just leave it. Nobody did a lot with them. Um, but these days it's so competitive that uh it really requires some kind of marketing or optimization to drive more visibility because otherwise it's just sitting there, you know, and and it's difficult for their target customers to find them. So that's our job to make sure um businesses are visible, that they're generating the right type of leads, not just leads. And so that's why uh requires continuous management and um optimization and campaigns that need to evolve and grow with the businesses' goals.

Speaker 1 6:47

Absolutely. So it's not just important to have a professional-looking website, but it's important to have someone like you uh helping businesses drive traffic to that website. Otherwise, what's the point of the website if you're not going to drive traffic to it, right?

Speaker 7:05

Yes, and and I think a lot of businesses think they can manage the website themselves. And I've learned this just as an entrepreneur, you can't do everything yourself. Um, you know, there are a lot of things I can do, but I can't I can't grow my bit my own business if I'm spending a lot of times on things that time on things that are not, you know, in our area of expertise. And especially with um digital marketing and technology, it's with the changes that are happening, it's very difficult um to stay ahead of all that. And so a business is they're they're so busy running their own um areas of expertise, it's almost impossible for a business owner to keep up with a website as well. So we do only managed websites, we don't sell design website designs because it's so important. Um, it in the old days it was probably more about we transfer the website to the client and then they would change it and it fell apart and it just then we cried. But it's but it's not about that anymore. Um, you know, I tell my team every day that uh, you know, marketing is not just marketing. I mean, we these businesses' livelihoods depend on us and the success of the campaigns and they're investing and trusting in our abilities to um help them meet their their revenue goals. And uh it's it's a big responsibility.

Speaker 1 8:39

Yeah, absolutely.

AI Hype Versus Authentic Marketing

Speaker 1 8:41

Is there a mistake that you see businesses make often who are trying to do it all themselves?

Speaker 8:50

I think they're listening to a lot of the hype out there about do this, do that. Um, instead of really focusing on what is it unique about their business that separates them from everyone else? If you plug a prompt into AI and think that it's gonna spew out all the answers for you, um, that isn't gonna work. Um, because it's gonna be the same answers that your competitors are gonna get too. So I've felt like this for um a long time about marketing in general, is there needs to be a degree of authenticity, there needs to be a um the ability for a business to really showcase who they are, um, not just what they do. And most importantly, what they're going to do for the customer. And that's something that even agencies miss sometimes. They forget that it's not just about promoting and selling, it's about engaging customers and are a good fit, you know, for what you're doing. Um, are you representing um the heart and soul of what your business is about? Because, you know, as you know, you you promote a lot of local businesses and do an excellent job of that. And you you seem to really dive deep into what these businesses are about and the people behind them. And people buy from people, you know. Our our philosophy is we really want to showcase not just the business, we want to personalize that and really create that bond with the people they're trying to reach. So we try to do that with our agency too. Our we've been really lucky. Um, our relationships with clients are very strong. We have a lot of long-term um clients, many of them have been with us for more than 10 years, and that's kind of an eternity in digital marketing because our industry typically turns over every few months with clients. I was I was shocked to see that statistic. But um we we just like to get to know the people we market. We're not gonna be a we're not gonna ever be a big volume-based business. We I think I decided a long time ago that uh what I enjoy most about this job is getting to know the people that are working as hard as we are um to grow a business in a local or um beyond and do a good job with that, you know, meet the needs of who we're trying to serve.

Speaker 1 11:45

Amazing. Congratulations. That really is a huge testament to have clients that have been with you for 10 years in digital marketing. So congratulations. You're clearly uh taking good care of your customers.

Speaker 12:02

We try to do that every day. And uh, you know, we appreciate everything that they offer too. We try to hire them whenever we can too. Um a lot of our work, we actually not only market a lot of our customers, but we're a customer of theirs as well. So, you know, we believe in what they do and we want to help support them as much as we can.

Speaker 1 12:26

Yeah, that's amazing. So I love that.

Caring Teams And Long Clients

Speaker 1 12:29

What is something that you wish the listeners knew about Flair communication?

Speaker 12:37

Um I think probably more than anything, um, the people that we work with, our team, uh, really cares about the client. And I I know you hear that a lot about you know, businesses say that, but um, you know, I see it every day. I see it in the work that's put out, I see it in the care and the uh kind of deep dive target numbers too on they go up and beyond um the response rate. I I kind of have a philosophy about hiring. Um I just hire good people and everything else I can train. Um, and you know, when you've got that kind of character, integrity, and work ethic, um, that's what I look for when I hire. Um everything else just falls into place, everything else works. And I think clients sense that, you know, they sense whether you really care about them or if they're just a number. And we never want a client to think that they're a number because they're really not. Um, you know, we want them to succeed. We love to see that success. Um, and I guess our next phase is really to get out more. You know, we we've been so busy and we've been growing fast that it's hard to make the time, you know, to actually be face to face. And then, of course, the pandemic kind of diverted everything away from that. But we're actually, I think a lot of businesses are coming full circle again. Um, more in-person meetings. Um, we want to be out more on site with our clients and see what they're doing in their places of business and things like that. So we have some plans coming up and um plan to do more of that ourselves so that we can showcase what they're doing um day in the life kind of an angle.

Speaker 1 14:37

Yeah, yeah. I love that. It is a challenge. It is a challenge when you're so busy, you know, in the business, you don't have time to get out and be, you know, out in front of your business, but at the same time, you need to do that. So it's it's hard to balance those two things.

Speaker 14:56

It is. But you know, even just having a phone call with the client, you know, it's it's uh it always reminds me why I'm in this business, you know, why I love what I do, because of course I love web design, I love all the all the the pieces that go into marketing, but um it's really it really is the people behind it that make it worthwhile. And um I love to see these businesses grow and some of them have just taken off to new heights. Um it's just really impressive to see what they do um to take the leads that we're generating. They have to they have to make them work. I mean, they're the ones we can lead everybody to their business, but it's really up to them to um sell their services or their products. And um most of them do an exceptional job of that. So our job is to make the time for them to be able to focus on that and not on everything that's supposed to lead people to their their business.

Speaker 1 16:00

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

How To Find Flair Communication

Speaker 1 16:02

So if there are business owners listening right now and they want to work with you or they want to learn more from you, where can they find you?

Speaker 16:12

Um, they can call, they can stop by. We're at 807 William Street, and of course, our website, flaircommunication.com. Uh, we have our portfolios on there, we have our team on there, and uh they can learn everything about uh what Flair can do for their business.

Speaker 1 16:34

Amazing. Debby, thank you so much for joining me on the podcast today. Congratulations on all your success and thank you for sharing Flair Communication with us.

Speaker 16:44

Thank you, Dori. I really appreciate the time today.

Speaker 3 16:48

Thank you. Thank you for listening to the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to FXBG Neighbors Podcast.com.