"I tried marketing. It didn't work." I hear this constantly. And almost every time, when I ask what they actually did, the answer is one of two things: they did sales and called it marketing, or they did decoration and called it marketing.

Somebody has told you that you need digital marketing. Maybe it was an agency. Maybe it was an ad for a course. Maybe it was your nephew. And the way it was said made it sound like a separate thing you're missing — a specialty, a department, a discipline you never got trained in and now you're behind. Let me save you some money.

Ask a business owner who their customer is and you'll get one of two answers. "Everyone." Or a sketch so soft it describes half the county — women, twenty-five to fifty-five, local, middle income, likes nice things. Both answers mean the same thing. I haven't decided. And I want to be careful here, because this is the point in the series where most people expect a branding exercise. A worksheet with a stock photo and a made-up name. Meet Sarah, 38, enjoys yoga and podcast