I sat down with Cara Chatellier, the founder and creative director of Bubbly Creative, to talk about something that hits home for every small business owner, the little things. You know, those simple, doable tweaks that don’t require a rebrand or a six-month strategy sprint, yet somehow manage to make your marketing sparkle. Cara calls them her “five tiny fixes,” and I couldn’t wait to dig in.

Cara’s agency focuses on helping women-led service businesses stand out with personality and polish. Her approach is rooted in storytelling, strategy, and plenty of real-world experience. What I love about her “tiny fixes” is that they’re both practical and immediately actionable, the kind of steps that give you momentum while you’re building toward the big picture.

Here are a few highlights from our conversation:

Cara’s first piece of advice is one that makes many small business owners squirm: put yourself out there. Literally. Swap the stock photos and text-heavy posts for images of you and your team. A professional photo shoot is worth the investment, not just because it looks great, but because it builds trust. When people can see who they’re working with, they’re more likely to connect and buy.

Think of your Google Business Profile as a free billboard that most folks forget to update. Add photos, post updates, and ask for client reviews. Even with AI changing how people search, Google still looks inward first. Keeping your profile fresh helps you stay visible and relevant.

Sometimes, the best marketing insights come from the people you want to reach, not the ones already on your team. Cara suggests gathering a small group from your target audience, maybe five to ten people, and asking them to look at your content, website, or social posts. No sales pitch, just honest opinions. You might be surprised by what they see that you don’t.

This is the one that makes even confident entrepreneurs gulp: video. Cara swears by it because it humanizes your brand faster than any post or blog ever could. Start small, a short clip about your founder story or a behind-the-scenes look at your work. If you’re nervous, use a teleprompter app or jot down a few bullet points to stay on track. And if you really can’t face the camera yet, write out your story and share it with a few photos. Then revisit it every six months as a reintroduction to your audience.

Cara’s fifth tip was the one we didn’t have time to cover on the show, a little mystery to encourage you to head over to Bubbly Creative and discover the rest for yourself. Trust me, it’s worth it.

Key Takeaways

• A few small tweaks can give your marketing fresh energy without overwhelming your to-do list.

• Personal photos and video build connection and credibility faster than any stock image ever will.

• Google Business is free, underused, and powerful, make it part of your content routine.

• Feedback from your ideal audience is marketing gold; you just have to ask.

• The more you share your authentic story, the more magnetic your brand becomes.

If you want to dive deeper into Cara’s “tiny fixes,” head over to Bubbly Creative and check out her insights. Because sometimes, it’s not the sweeping overhaul that changes your business, it’s the little things you finally take the time to do.

Brands are personal. AI is not. So how do you use a tool that has no feelings, no experiences, and no voice of its own to help you build a brand that feels deeply personal and unmistakably you?

It starts long before you ever open ChatGPT.

Before you hand anything over to AI, take time to define your brand yourself. Ask:

• Who are my customers?

• What do they think about me now?

• What do I want them to say about me?

That clarity becomes your North Star. Otherwise, you’re just asking AI to aimlessly generate words without direction.

Once you know who you think you are, find out what the internet thinks you are. Instead of Googling your name or company like we used to, go to ChatGPT and ask:

• “What is the brand perception of [Your Name or Company]?”

• “What is [Brand] known for?”

• “What do people say about this brand online?”

Then compare what comes back with your original vision. That’s where the human part of branding kicks in. You have to decide: Do I adjust my message to match this audience, or do I refine my audience to match my message? That’s not a whim—it’s a business decision.

Forget what you want to be true. Who’s actually opening their wallets? Sometimes your real buyers don’t match your target persona or AI’s assumptions. Analyze the overlap and decide:

• Who do I really want more of?

• Who do I actually have now?

You can’t market to everyone. Pick your lane.

Next, upload three pieces of your own writing—blog posts, service pages, whatever—to ChatGPT and ask:

“If you were another AI tool writing for this brand, how would you describe this tone and voice?”

That gives you a practical, data-driven description of your style—something you can reuse for consistency across content.

Once you’ve defined both your customer persona and brand voice, everything you produce should be filtered through those two lenses.

Now get specific about what makes you different. Ask:

• What problem do I solve?

• What pain does my customer feel?

• Why do they come to me instead of someone else?

You can even ask ChatGPT to analyze common pain points for your audience—but always check it against what your actual customers tell you.

That becomes the foundation for your positioning statement—your internal compass for marketing, not a fluffy public mission statement.

Then, ask AI for a competitive analysis within your market or niche—set clear parameters like geography or audience size. Use that list to identify where you stand, what gaps you can fill, and how to differentiate.

Finally, make changes slowly. Update your copy, tweak your visuals, and every few months, check:

• Am I attracting the right audience?

• Is engagement improving?

• Are leads getting better quality?

That’s how you use AI without losing yourself in the process.

• You can’t outsource identity—AI refines it, not defines it.

• Use AI as a mirror, not a mask.

• Always verify what AI says about your brand with real human data.

• Voice + audience clarity = consistent brand growth.

• Branding is evolution, not automation.

Angel Tuccy is an award-winning speaker, radio host, TV producer, media specialist. She's the author of 15 bestsellers, and hosts multiple successful online events. A recent one had 6,000 attendees. So this girl knows how to throw a party. So I was surprised, when we talked about the first party she tried to throw which didn't go the way she hoped.

Angel wanted to create a space where podcasters and potential guests could connect. In 2020, she launched the Need a Guest Facebook community. It took off like wildfire, growing to 10,000 members in just two years.

Angel built the community but forgot one very important piece: the email list. Ten thousand people in her group… and not a single email address. No opt-in. No funnel. Nothing. As Angel put it, that number was a big fat goose egg. Cue the collective groan ... and laughter.

She started by adding a Chrome extension to collect emails as new members joined and sent a personal welcome message. That simple change meant every new connection is automatically added to her CRM, where she can follow up directly. Within two years, the group grew from 10,000 to 40,000 members, and this time she captured emails from every single one.

Then came the second pivot. With the help of copywriter Jamie Atkinson, Angel went from sending no emails at all to sending a daily message. The result was immediate. Her audience, who had been waiting to hear from her, started responding. In the first month, six new clients signed on. From there, daily emails turned into conversations, conversations turned into sales calls, and sales calls turned into revenue.

Building systems that connected the dots between community, communication, and clients was a game changer.

Angel Tuccy is an award-winning Speaker, Radio Host, TV Producer, PR Media Specialist, and author of 15 bestsellers. She is known for her exceptional expertise in helping her clients with media exposure. With a track record of personally securing thousands of media interviews for her clients, she also spearheads the online podcast network needaguest.com

With over a decade in broadcasting, Angel’s accolades include being named “Most Influential Woman of The Year” and winning awards for “Best Morning Talk Show” and “Best Talk Show Team”.

Her bestselling book, “Get Discovered”, offers a step-by-step guide to achieving media exposure in under 90 days, drawing from her extensive experience hosting over 2,500 broadcasts and interviewing over 5,000 guests. Known as the Media Matchmaker, Angel’s unique approach to media engagement sets her apart in the industry.