You can have a great marketing strategy and still watch your business slowly fall apart. Business coach Steve Pitcairn has spent 20 years working with small business owners across the country, and he sees the same three problems over and over again: time, team, and money. Not a lack of leads. Not a weak brand. The stuff that happens after the phone rings. In this episode, Steve joins host Peter Wilson to break down why so many businesses plateau or quietly collapse even when revenue is growing, and what to do about it.

Steve and Peter get into the real reasons owners stay stuck working 80-hour weeks long after they should have stepped back, why loyalty to the wrong employees can quietly hold a business hostage, and how a business owner can show $500,000 in profit on paper while hemorrhaging cash. These are not abstract concepts. Steve pulls from actual client situations, including a security company he helped scale from $750,000 to $38 million, to show what the path forward actually looks like when an owner decides to stop being the bottleneck in their own company.

Get business help from Steve at Clear Vision Business Services:
If your business has outgrown the way you are currently running it, this conversation is a practical starting point. Steve is offering a free consultation for listeners who want to take a closer look at where their business stands.

• Contact Steve at steve@clearvision.us.com
• Phone: (731) 426-2952

Get marketing help from BizMarketing:

• Schedule a free consultation: https://bizmarketing.com/contact-bizmarketing
• Explore our marketing plans: https://bizmarketing.com/plans/
• Get in touch: info@bizmarketing.com

What if everything you know about marketing your business is wrong? In this episode, Peter Wilson sits down with John Dwyer, founder of the Institute of Wow, to challenge the way most small businesses think about advertising. John's argument is blunt: likes, followers, and sponsorships are vanity — what matters is whether your ad brought in customers today.

John is famous for helping a small Australian bank compete against the big guys by offering a free vacation with every home loan. It worked so well they brought in Jerry Seinfeld to spread the word. Now he helps small businesses use the same idea — run a contest, get a flood of leads, and follow up with an irresistible offer to close the deal. A dentist got nearly 1,000 leads in one week for $30 a day. A turf farm sold out a mile's worth of grass in six days because the bonus was a case of cold beer.

The lesson? Stop competing on price. Give people a reason to pick you that the competition can't match.

Connect with John Dwyer:

• Learn more about the contest lead system at contestleadsmachine.com
• Explore the vacation incentive offer at vacationsincentive.com
• Email John directly at john@theinstituteofwow.com — mention this podcast and he'll cut the price of vacation vouchers in half

Get marketing help from BizMarketing:

• Schedule a free consultation: https://bizmarketing.com/contact-bizmarketing
• Explore our marketing plans: https://bizmarketing.com/plans/
• Get in touch: info@bizmarketing.com

In this episode of The Field Guide, Peter Wilson sits down with Brian Maletis, founder of fatcork, a Seattle-based company that imports small-producer champagne directly from France and sells it to customers across the United States.

Brian shares the story behind fatcork and how a career that started in the family wine distribution business eventually led him to launch his own company focused entirely on grower champagne. From harvesting grapes in Italy to working in the wine industry in New York City and ultimately starting fatcork in Seattle, Brian explains the path that led him to build a direct-to-consumer champagne business.

Peter and Brian discuss the challenges of starting and sustaining a niche business, how the traditional wine distribution system works, and why fatcork takes a different approach by controlling the process from the grower’s cave in France to the customer’s doorstep.

They also talk about the realities of entrepreneurship, the long timeline required to build a business, and why Brian believes champagne should be opened not just for celebrations—but to create them.

Show Notes

Guest

Brian Maletis
Founder, fatcork

What fatcork Does

• Imports small-production champagne from growers in the Champagne region of France
• Stores and distributes it from a temperature-controlled champagne cave in Seattle
• Ships directly to consumers across the United States
  fatcork

Topics Covered

The fatcork Business Model

• Importing champagne directly from small producers
• Operating as importer, distributor, and retailer
• Shipping champagne directly to consumers across the U.S.

Brian’s Path Into the Wine Business

• Growing up in a family wine distribution business in Portland
• Early experience delivering beer and wine to stores and restaurants
• A formative harvest experience in Italy
• Learning the wine industry while working in New York

Discovering Grower Champagne

• Moving to Seattle and entering the world of small-producer champagne
• Understanding the difference between major champagne houses and grower producers
• Why Brian focused his business entirely on grower champagne

Starting fatcork

• Completing the Executive MBA program at the University of Washington
• Writing the business plan that became fatcork
• Launching the company in 2010

Lessons From 16+ Years in Business

• The reality behind building a niche business
• Why entrepreneurship is harder than it often appears
• The importance of persistence and long-term commitment

Champagne and Everyday Moments

• Why champagne doesn’t have to be reserved for special occasions
• The idea of opening a bottle to create a special moment

Key Takeaway

Building a successful niche business often means committing to a very specific idea and staying with it for years. Brian’s experience with fatcork shows how focusing on a unique product—in this case, grower champagne—can create a differentiated business in a crowded market.

Resources

fatcork
https://fatcork.com

Podcast

The Field Guide
Practical marketing and leadership insights for business owners, hosted by Peter Wilson of BizMarketing.

What happens when marketers lead with helping instead of selling? In this episode of The Field Guide Podcast, Peter talks with Rachel Smith and Dalton Joyner of Big Sky Automation about a practical, results-driven approach to local marketing.

They break down how their Community Card: a shared direct-mail postcard that helps service-based businesses stay top of mind through repetition, trust, and affordable shared advertising.

If you’re a business owner or marketer looking for real-world strategies that actually work, this episode delivers actionable insights you can use right away.

Claim your Free Community Card Mini-Course:

https://communitycardplaybook.com/communitycardhome?am_id=peter6658

Website: BigSkyAutomation.com

Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@BigSkyAutomation

If your website should be generating leads but isn’t, this episode breaks down exactly why. Peter walks through the seven most common places small businesses lose leads, from missing call tracking to Google Business Profile mistakes, leaky websites, slow follow-up, poor lead nurture, mismanaged ad spend, and more.

Make sure you download today’s episode resources, including the free Lead Leak Detector Checklist, to get the full system we talk through today.

Free resource links:

Lead Leak Detector Checklist:

https://bizmarketing.com/7-point-lead-leak-detector-checklist/

BizMarketing Free Resources:

https://bizmarketing.com/resources/

BizMarketing Newsletter Signup:

https://bizmarketing.com/small-business-marketing-newsletter/

The Field Guide Podcast:

https://bizmarketing.com/podcast/

In this episode of The Field Guide, host Peter Wilson sits down with Peter Bacon of CallTrackingMetrics (CTM), to dive deep into the tools, technology, and strategy behind modern call tracking, and why it remains one of the most important components of lead attribution for small and local businesses.

This episode is a must-listen for agencies, marketers, and business owners who want clearer insights into where their leads come from and how to make every call count. Whether you’re using call tracking today or considering adding it to your tech stack, you’ll walk away with practical, real-world knowledge from one of the most trusted experts in the space.

In this episode of The Field Guide, host Peter sits down with social media manager Ivy Moore to unpack what it really takes to run a successful social media account for your business in 2025.

With years of experience managing social channels for consumer brands, retail, and now the champagne importer fatcork, Ivy shares practical insights on:

• Why social media still matters for brand legitimacy and discoverability.
• How to choose the right platform (and why focusing on one is better than spreading yourself thin).
• Building community and engagement instead of chasing vanity metrics.
• Campaign examples that show the power of behind-the-scenes storytelling.
• Step-by-step advice for business owners just starting out, including defining your customer, clarifying your purpose, and creating a content calendar.

Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a local business owner, Ivy and Pete's discussion offers a clear, practical guide to making social media work for you.

Bianca D’Alessio is no stranger to high stakes and high standards. As the star of HBO Max’s Selling the Hamptons, New York’s top-ranked real estate broker, and founder of one of the nation’s most successful brokerage teams, she oversees a jaw-dropping $10 billion portfolio. But in her new book, Mastering Intentions: 10 Practices to Amplify Power and Lead with Lasting Impact, Bianca reveals that real success is about becoming the kind of person who can thrive, lead, and inspire through any season.

In this candid conversation, Bianca shares the powerful shift to leading with intentions and focusing on who you want to become, not just what you want to achieve.

She dives into her concept of “teamship,” the art of co-creating life with the companions who shape our journey, and opens up about the transformative role of authenticity and gratitude in her career and personal growth. From reality TV vulnerability to business resilience, Bianca’s story is a masterclass in building a life with depth, purpose, and staying power.

Connect with Bianca:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/biancadalessio/#

Website: biancadalessio.com