Spark Notes
Quick Wins for Small Business Growth
You Don’t Need a Marketing Overhaul. You Need One Good Action This Week.
May is almost done. If you’re anything like the small business owners I talk to, you’ve spent at least part of this month thinking about your marketing and possibly feeling a little overwhelmed by it. There’s a lot of noise right now. AI, short-form video, email, Google, community building, ads, SEO. Everyone has an opinion…
The Scary Question Most Small Businesses Aren’t Asking
There’s a shift happening quietly in how people find local businesses and most small business owners in the Bloomington area have no idea it’s affecting them. Here’s the scenario: Someone in town is looking for a product or service you offer. They don’t open Google and scan a list of blue links anymore. They type…
Does Your Marketing Feel Random? Here’s What to Do About It
If your marketing has ever felt like throwing spaghetti at a wall: a Facebook post here, a sale announcement there, a boost when things feel slow. You’re not alone. It’s one of the most common things I hear from small business owners. And here’s the thing: the exhaustion you feel isn’t because you’re doing it…
We Launched New Client Dashboards This Month!
One of the things I believe pretty firmly: if you’re paying for marketing, you should be able to see what’s happening and it should be tied to something that actually matters to your business, not just numbers that look impressive on a slide. This month we rolled out custom performance dashboards for all of our…
What Small Business Owners Need to Steal from SYSTEMology
For the Kindling Club this month, we’re reading Systemology by David Jenyns and if you’re a small business owner who has ever felt like your business runs on you and can’t survive without you, this one’s going to land. The book’s core argument is both simple and kind of uncomfortable: if your business depends entirely…
How to Attract the Right Clients with a Business Ecosystem (Lessons from The Kindling Club)
Learn how to attract the right clients by building a business ecosystem instead of chasing random leads. Plus, exercises and insights from Kindling Club.
Chill & Prosper – The Kindling Club – January 2026
January 29 | 1pm • Join us for a live chat on Denise Duffield-Thomas’ Chill & Prosper. You’ll leave with grounded insights, honest conversation, and a clearer, calmer way to approach your work and business growth.
AI Strategy Optimization | Webinar
January 21 | 1pm ET • AI is everywhere right now. And for many small business owners, that creates more pressure than clarity. You are told AI will save you time, fix your marketing, and help you do more with less. But no one talks enough about what happens when it is used without strategy.…
Can Your Customers Find You? | Webinar
January 7 | 1pm ET • A practical session on visibility, search, and getting found online If someone searched for your business right now, would you show up or get buried under competitors, ads, and search results you do not control? For many small businesses, the problem is not their offer.It is visibility. This session…