Why Are Your Competitors Winning Customers That Should Be Yours — and What Can You Do About It?
By Linda Donnelly | Business Solutions Marketing Group Let me say something that might sting a little. The businesses beating you in your market right now are not necessarily better than you. They probably do not have a better product. They might not even have better prices. They are winning because they show up every […]
Your Website Is Not Enough Anymore — What Does AI Actually Use to Decide Who Gets Recommended?
By Linda Donnelly | Business Solutions Marketing Group Reddit is the number one source cited by AI engines across the internet. Not the New York Times. Not Forbes. Not your company website. Reddit. A June 2025 Semrush analysis of more than 150,000 LLM citations across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Claude found that Reddit was cited […]
Why Is Lead Generation Getting Harder for Small Businesses — and What Can You Do About It Right Now?
By Linda Donnelly | Business Solutions Marketing Group 91% of marketers say lead generation is their top priority. And 61% say it’s their single biggest challenge. Same goal. Same obstacle. Every single year. That is not a coincidence. It is a signal. Lead generation is not getting harder because there are fewer people looking for […]
Your Customers Are Getting Answers Without Ever Visiting Your Website — Here’s What You Need to Do About It
By Linda Donnelly | Business Solutions Marketing Group Nearly 60% of Google searches now end without a single click. No one visits your website. No one sees your content. They get their answer directly from the search results page — and they move on. If that stat doesn’t make you sit up a little straighter, […]
Why Law Firms Are Switching to Full-Service Marketing Packages — And What Happens When They Do
Law is one of the most competitive local search markets in the country. In almost every metro and mid-size market, personal injury firms, family law practices, and criminal defense attorneys are competing aggressively for the same high-value search terms. The firms that dominate local search in 2025 are not doing it with a website and […]
What’s Actually Included in a Small Business Marketing Package? (And How to Know Which One You Need)
Most small business owners know they need marketing help. They don’t always know what “help” actually looks like in practice — what gets done, by whom, how often, and what it produces. This guide demystifies exactly what a full-service small business marketing package delivers, why the individual components work together, and how to decide which […]
Fake Reviews Are Getting Worse: What Every Small Business Owner Needs to Do Right Now
292,000,000. That’s how many policy-violating reviews Google blocked in 2025 alone — up from 240 million the year before. And those are only the ones Google caught. The fake review crisis isn’t slowing down. It’s accelerating. And if you’re a small business owner who hasn’t thought about your review defense strategy, this is your wake-up […]
Is Your Google Profile Actually Alive? Why Activity Beats Perfection in 2026
“Ranking #1 is irrelevant if an AI answers your customer’s question before they ever see your site.” This quote isn’t just a warning; it’s the new reality of local search. I’ve been helping small businesses navigate the digital jungle for over a decade at Business Solutions Marketing Group, and I have to be honest with […]
The Search Trinity: How to Win on Google, AI, and Beyond
In the old days of digital marketing—way back in, say, 2022—the playbook was simple. You found a few keywords, sprinkled them into a blog post like salt on a pretzel, and waited for Google to send you traffic. It was predictable. It was comfortable. It’s also over. According to recent data from Gartner, traditional search […]
Why Volume Marketing is Killing Your Local Growth (An Expert’s Reality Check)
Over a decade. That’s how long I’ve been sitting across from small business owners—contractors, boutique retail, service professionals—and I have heard the exact same request hundreds of times. “Linda, I just need more people to know about me.” “Linda, how do I get more clicks?” It is a question as old as the internet. We […]