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In this episode of Imperfect Marketing, I’m joined by Michele DeFilippo, founder of 1106 Design and a publishing industry veteran with more than 50 years of experience. We dive into the realities of book publishing—what most people get wrong, what actually matters, and how a well-done book can completely transform your business.

From traditional publishing to self-publishing and hybrid models, Michele breaks down the landscape with clarity and candor, helping authors avoid costly mistakes and disappointing outcomes

Why Most Self-Published Books Miss the Mark

• Why skipping market research is one of the biggest (and most expensive) mistakes authors make
• How treating a book like a passion project instead of a business asset leads to poor results
• The danger of cutting corners on editing, design, and production quality

Traditional Publishing vs. Self-Publishing vs. Hybrid Models

• Why landing a traditional publishing deal is harder than ever (and what publishers really want now)
• How Amazon changed publishing forever—and where things went sideways
• The hidden downside of hybrid publishers that charge upfront and take royalties
• What “true” self-publishing was originally meant to be

What It Actually Costs to Publish a Professional Book

• The difference between real editing and running a manuscript through Grammarly
• Why nonfiction books cost more to produce than fiction
• What goes into professional cover design (and why it’s never a “5-minute job”)
• Realistic investment ranges for publishing to traditional industry standards

One-Stop Shop vs. Piecing It Together Yourself

• Why project management matters just as much as creative talent
• The risks of hiring freelancers without knowing what to look for
• Common problems authors face after using bargain services or template-based designs
• How working with an experienced team protects both your book and your sanity

How a Small Book Can Create Big Business Results

• How Michele’s 88-page guide became a powerful lead generator—unexpectedly
• Why books make exceptional lead magnets in an overwhelmed digital world
• How publishing can lead to speaking opportunities, authority positioning, and new revenue streams
• Why a book doesn’t need to be long to be impactful

A Marketing Lesson That Still Holds True

Michele closes the episode with a timeless reminder that applies to publishing, marketing, and business as a whole:

It’s a lesson that has guided her work for decades and continues to pay dividends today

If you’ve been sitting on a book idea, a half-finished manuscript, or the sense that a book could open doors for you—this episode will help you think about publishing strategically, not emotionally.

🎧 Tune in to learn how a well-crafted book can become one of the most powerful marketing assets in your business.

Connect with Michele Defilippo:
Website:

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In this episode of Imperfect Marketing, I’m joined by Ed Troxell, visibility strategist and organic marketing expert, for a real, practical conversation about showing up online—without overwhelm, perfectionism, or burning yourself out.

Ed shares his unexpected journey from stage fright (yes, literal panic attacks) to becoming a trusted guide for business owners who want to increase visibility, attract the right audience, and build a sustainable personal brand. Together, we unpack what visibility really means in today’s noisy digital world.

From Fear to Visibility

Ed opens up about:

• His early fear of being seen and heard—and how that shaped his approach to marketing
• Why visibility doesn’t require perfection, polish, or confidence on day one
• How consistency and repetition help you “get over yourself” and show up as you truly are

Where to Show Up (and Where Not To)

We dive into the overwhelm many entrepreneurs feel around social media and discuss:

• Why being “everywhere” is the fastest path to burnout
• How to choose platforms based on business goals, not trends or pressure
• The importance of understanding where your audience is actively looking for solutions

Creating a Visibility System That Fits Your Life

Ed introduces his GPS framework—Goal, Plan, System—and explains:

• What a visibility “system” actually is (and why it doesn’t need to be complicated)
• How to break marketing into bite-sized, manageable pieces
• Why 15 minutes a day can be enough when you have the right structure
• How content creation, repurposing, and email marketing work together

The Role of Video, AI, and Authenticity

We also explore:

• Why video remains one of the most powerful tools for building trust
• How AI can support your content without replacing you
• Why AI-generated avatars and videos can hurt credibility if overused
• How to use tools like ChatGPT as a creative partner—not a replacement

Common Content Mistakes (and How to Fix Them)

Ed highlights one of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make:

• Posting content without a clear call to action
• Why storytelling matters more than ever
• How to guide your audience instead of leaving them hanging

Key Takeaways

• Visibility isn’t about doing more—it’s about doing what matters
• Your personal brand grows when you show up, not just your content
• Messy action beats perfect silence every time
• Systems create freedom, not rigidity

Whether you’re relying on referrals that have slowed down, struggling with social media overwhelm, or trying to figure out how to be visible without it taking over your life, this episode offers grounded, honest guidance you can actually use.

Ready to stop hiding behind the screen and build visibility that works for your business?

Connect with Ed:
Website: https://edtroxell.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edtroxell/

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In this episode of Imperfect Marketing, I sit down with Virginia Elder, podcast strategist and founder of a podcasting-for-business agency. We talk about how podcasting builds trust, drives leads, and becomes a powerful growth tool—without chasing perfection.

We cover:

Why Imperfection Builds Trust

• How over-editing hurts connection
• Why pauses, breaths, and authenticity matter
• The danger of sounding “too polished”

Podcasting for Business (Not Just Downloads)

• Why podcasts should support your core business
• How podcasting turns listeners into leads
• Why sponsorships aren’t the best fit for most service businesses

The C.R.A.F.T. Framework

• Content: Speak directly to your ideal client’s real concerns
• Repurpose: Turn episodes into video clips, emails, blogs, and posts
• Ask: One clear call to action—every time
• Feature: Guests who serve your audience and business goals
• Track: Measure leads, referrals, speaking gigs, and opportunities

Practical Podcasting Advice

• Start monthly if weekly feels overwhelming
• Use tools like Riverside or Descript to simplify production
• Choose a podcast name people actually search for

If you’re using (or considering) a podcast as part of your marketing strategy, this episode will help you stop overthinking and start using it intentionally.

Connect with Virginia Elder:

Website: https://podcastabundance.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/virginiaelder/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/podcastabundance

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In this episode, Kendra Corman shares a powerful classroom story that turned into a real-world lesson on integrated marketing communications. What started as a nonprofit fundraising case study became a master class—taught by her students—on how marketing channels work best when they work together.

Kendra walks through how three student teams tackled a struggling nonprofit gala and what their insights reveal about building a smarter, more intentional marketing mix.

The Classroom Experiment That Changed the Conversation

Students were asked to defend one of three fundraising strategies for a nonprofit facing rising costs and declining attendance:

• Keep the traditional annual gala
• Pivot to digital-first campaigns
• Replace the gala with smaller community events

Each team had to consider donor segments, demographics, and capacity—and challenge one another’s assumptions. The surprising outcome wasn’t which strategy “won,” but what the students realized next.

The Big Insight: It’s Not Either/Or

The breakthrough moment came when a student asked: Why do we have to pick just one?
That question reframed the entire exercise.

The final recommendation combined:

• A smaller, more focused gala for older donors and sponsors
• Community events to engage younger and niche audiences
• Digital marketing to expand reach and accessibility

Instead of abandoning what worked, they built around it.

What Integrated Marketing Actually Looks Like

Kendra connects the classroom lesson to real client work, sharing how successful nonprofits:

• Keep core efforts that still serve a specific audience
• Add complementary channels based on donor segments
• Grow intentionally without overwhelming their teams

The key isn’t doing everything—it’s choosing the right mix and scaling with purpose.

A Simple Framework to Evaluate Your Marketing

Kendra offers three questions to help evaluate whether your current marketing mix makes sense:

1. Is it working—or just comfortable?
   Signs of “comfortable but not working” include declining results, increasing effort, and doing things out of habit.
2. If it’s working, do you have capacity to grow?
   If you do, consider one small addition that reaches an audience you’re currently missing.
3. Is it working, but exhausting you?
   If you’re drowning to maintain it, something needs to change—working smarter matters.

This framework helps you decide whether to refine, add, or replace parts of your strategy without burning everything down.

Key Takeaways

• Don’t abandon what works just because something new appears
• Don’t rely on one channel if it leaves you vulnerable
• Be intentional about your marketing mix—not reactive
• Capacity is a constraint, not a strategy

Kendra closes by inviting listeners to reflect on their own “why pick one?” moment and consider how their marketing channels could work better together.

If you’ve ever felt stuck choosing between what’s familiar and what’s new, this episode offers a smarter

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In this episode of Imperfect Marketing, I sit down with Danielle Hayden, founder of Kickstart Accounting, to talk about healthy business spending—and how investing in the right places can actually improve your profitability (instead of living in “cut back” mode forever).

Danielle shares her journey from hairstylist to corporate accounting to building Kickstart Accounting, and breaks down the benchmarks business owners under $500K/year can use to spend smarter and grow sustainably. We discuss:

The Truth About “You Have to Spend Money to Make Money”

• Why entrepreneurs often assume the answer is always “spend less” (and why that’s not usually the fix)
• How money stories from personal life can mess with business decisions
• What “healthy spending benchmarks” reveal about what’s normal—and what’s not

Healthy Spending Benchmarks That Support Growth

• Advertising + marketing: why you should group everything visibility-related together (including podcasts + marketing tools)
• Outside services: when hiring experts (bookkeeping, tax, attorney, VA, ops) becomes essential
• Payroll + paying yourself: why not paying yourself creates resentment (and can impact relationships at home)

Cash Flow + Systems That Keep You in Business

• Why “bill early, bill often” is a CEO-level move
• How better tools and automations can reduce chaos and stabilize cash flow
• Why relying on manual invoicing and checks keeps businesses stuck in survival mode

Profit, Growth, and the Reality of Seasons

• What it means if you’re highly profitable but exhausted (and why that’s a red flag)
• Why breaking even can be okay for a season—but not forever
• The long-term goal: building a healthy business with 10–15% profit after expenses

Biggest Marketing Lesson Learned

• “Do it anyway”: how showing up imperfectly builds confidence and momentum over time

Whether you’re trying to grow, hire support, or simply stop feeling tense every time you look at your numbers, this episode will help you rethink spending as a strategy—not a punishment.

Connect with Danielle Hayden:

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/danielle-hayden-kickstartaccounting

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In this episode of Imperfect Marketing, host Kendra Corman sits down with Audrey “Tech Diva” Wiggins—an early tech adopter with deep marketing instincts—to talk about how entrepreneurs can use technology without losing the human touch.

Audrey shares how her love of innovation started long before today’s tools, and how business owners can stay focused, credible, and authentic while navigating constant change. We discuss:

The Tech + Human Balance in Modern Marketing

• Why you should evaluate what you’re already using before chasing the “next shiny thing”
• How to keep the “human factor” front and center through messaging and real customer access
• Why customer service is still a core marketing strategy—inside companies and out

How to Avoid Getting Overwhelmed by Trends

• The “pick 1–2 things and work them hard” approach (then automate as you grow)
• Why choosing platforms you actually enjoy helps you stay consistent and authentic
• When to delegate to tech vs. when it’s time to bring in a VA or support team

A Real Transformation Example

• The “Frankenstein website” problem: patchwork sites that look old, cluttered, and confusing
• Why a modern website isn’t just prettier—it’s functional, cleaner, and improves the customer journey
• The importance of mobile-friendly design (because your clients live on their phones)

Branding Mistakes That Quietly Cost You Business

• Why using Gmail/Yahoo/AOL for a business email hurts credibility—and what to do instead
• How a clean email signature supports your brand without being “chunky” or overwhelming
• The self-promotion gap: why many entrepreneurs hesitate to post their own content (even when their audience is already engaged)

A Hard Marketing Lesson Learned

• How choosing the wrong advertising channel can waste money fast
• Why “liking the salesperson” isn’t a strategy—knowing your market and ROI is
• When advertising does make sense without ROI: “passion investments” that support causes you care about

If you’ve ever felt torn between keeping up with tech and staying authentic—or you’ve been tempted by marketing opportunities that don’t actually match your audience—this episode will give you a sharper, calmer way forward.

Connect with Audrey:
Subscribe to her weekly newsletter: https://www.altogether.biz
Her weekly newsletter, packed with actionable marketing insights, tech trends, and resource tools designed to sharpen their skills and fuel business growth.

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Work Slop: Why AI Shortcuts Are Costing Teams More Than They Save

Ever get an email, doc, or deck from someone and instantly think, “This is… not it”? In this episode, we’re digging into the rise of work slop—the vague, messy, low-quality output that shows up when AI is used as a replacement for thinking instead of a tool for support.

Kendra sits down with Sue Justice, founder of Emory HR, to talk about why this isn’t just an AI problem—it’s a performance, communication, and leadership problem that businesses can’t afford to ignore.

We explore:

What “Work Slop” Is (and Why It’s Growing)

• How AI-generated work becomes unclear, incorrect, or incomplete
• Why “slapping something together” shifts work to the next person
• The difference between using AI as an assistant vs. letting it do the job

This Isn’t a Tool Issue—It’s a Behavior Issue

• How people have always “phoned it in,” but AI makes it faster and more visible
• Why audiences and teammates can sense when work lacks human touch
• The real question leaders must ask: workload problem or character problem?

What Leaders Should Do About It

• When to coach and when to treat it as a performance issue
• Why a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) matters before cutting ties

How industry risk, trust, and legal exposure shape your response

Where AI Helps—and Where It Shouldn’t Lead

• Using AI for brainstorming or templates vs. high-stakes decisions
• Why contracts and policies need human tone, context, and accountability
• The risk of letting AI output become “authority” without review

Sue’s Biggest Marketing Lesson

• Why business owners shouldn’t try to do everything themselves
• How doing the wrong work wastes more time than it saves
• The sustainability link between delegation and quality

Whether you’re leading a team, outsourcing work, or using AI in your own business, this episode is a clear reminder: AI can save time, but only if humans own the standard. If the quality drops, the cost doesn’t disappear—it just lands on someone else.

“AI is meant to be an assistant… not the end-all ‘I’ll do it for you’ solution.” – Sue Justice

00:00:00
Introduction to Sue Justice and why HR belongs in this conversation
00:02:06
What “work slop” is and how it shows up at work
00:03:39
Why AI misuse is really a people/performance issue
00:06:53
Skill gap vs. character flaw: how to tell the difference
00:09:57
When work slop becomes a firing-level problem
00:13:05
Transparency, AI policies, and setting clear standards
00:19:01
AI adoption is everywhere—whether companies admit it or not
00:23:04
Sue’s biggest marketing lesson as a business owner

Connect with Sue Justice:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanajustice/

Website: https://emeryhr.com/

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In this New Year’s episode, Kendra Corman gets candid about why she’s heading into 2026 tired, excited… and fiercely committed to one word: no. After a 2025 defined by “forge” (building, growing, expanding), a family crisis and an overload of opportunities forced her to re-evaluate sustainability, boundaries, and what it really takes to preserve creative focus.

Kendra shares the behind-the-scenes story of her year—what went right, what went sideways, and why the systems and people you build now are what save you later.

What 2025 Taught Kendra About Growth and Overload

Kendra went into 2025 with momentum, capacity, and big goals—and hit them hard.

• A strong first quarter with focused, energized work time
• A goal of 25 speaking gigs that turned into 35+ events
• Movement on major business projects, including a second edition of her book
• A huge personal “yes”: becoming a full-time assistant professor at Rochester Christian University

The Moment Everything Changed

A serious fall and ICU stay for Kendra’s mom pulled her into months of caretaking and travel.

What stood out most wasn’t just the disruption—it was the proof that what she’d built actually held up:

• Her assistant (Carol) triaged inboxes, managed tasks, and kept clients supported
• Systems like Asana and strong relationships prevented a total business collapse
• The experience reinforced how vital support structures are—even for solopreneurs

Kendra realized: capacity isn’t just about time. It’s about what you’ve built to hold you when life happens.

When “Forge” Turned into “Fracture”

Even with major wins, Kendra stretched too far.

• Weeks with multiple speaking events, including one with four in a single week
• Drift from a 4–5 day workweek back to 7 days
• Feeling like she was working constantly but not moving forward
• Book revisions stalled, and recovery time evaporated

The truth she landed on: success without boundaries becomes burnout in disguise.

Why “No” Is Her Word of the Year (Again)

Kendra revisits a tool that once helped her escape burnout in 2022: saying no first.

So in 2026, “no” is back as the guardrail.

Her challenge to listeners:

• Block vacations now
• Protect pre- and post-travel buffers
• Put the important stuff on the calendar before it gets crowded out

Key Takeaways

• Systems and support are what keep your business stable when life interrupts.
• Saying yes is exciting—but on

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