The Kara Report | Online Marketing Tips and Candid Business Conversations

I hear this all the time from people who are blog-curious: "I have a blog, I don't even know if it's doing anything, I'm probably not doing it right." Some version of that. And honestly? I think we can fix that today. Here's the thing — you should know whether your blog is working. Your Google organic traffic should be climbing, and you should be getting inquiries whe...

Summer is officially here. Which means it's time to figure out how you're actually going to market your business for the next few months, when fewer people are online, your analytics dip, and everyone's outside touching grass instead of refreshing the feed. Here's the move most people make when they see their analytics dip: double down and push harder. And honestly? That can wo...

The online business landscape has shifted — and the strategies that are actually working right now? They're not showing up in anyone's public content. In this episode, I'm sharing the real conversations happening behind the scenes in masterminds and private coaching rooms — the advice that business coaches are giving their highest-paying clients but nobody's talking about publi...

Think blogging is dead in 2026? Before you ditch long-form content for TikTok and Reels, watch this. The truth is… the biggest names in tech are doubling down on SEO, AI models are hungry for high-quality website content, and small business owners who start blogging now are about to unlock a massive advantage. In this video, I break down why blogging is not outdated — it’s evolving. You’ll learn h...

You have the ideas. You've always had the ideas. They're sitting in a Google Doc somewhere, probably called something like "Q3 Content Plan," last opened months ago and somehow nothing in it has ever actually gotten published. Today's guest Tayler Cusick-Hollman would tell you that's not an ideas problem. It's a brain problem. And once you understand what's...

Most SEO advice assumes you have unlimited time. But what if you only have one hour? In this episode, I'm sharing exactly what I'd do with that hour (and it's probably not what you'd expect). Spoiler: I wouldn't tell you to write a blog post. Instead, I'm walking through the specific website SEO tasks that actually move the needle, require zero technical expertise, an...

If you've been wondering whether Pinterest is still worth your time and money in 2026, this episode is for you (my answer will surprise you). I run a Pinterest marketing agency — it's one of the main services I sell — and I am telling more business owners to WAIT on Pinterest than I ever have. In this episode, I'm sharing exactly why, what needs to be in place before Pinterest can a...

If you've been thinking about hiring a VA but keep talking yourself out of it… this episode is for you. I sat down with Sarah Roberson, a virtual assistant who specializes in helping wedding pros and photographers run smoother businesses behind the scenes. She's also been on my own team since August 2024! So I knew she's be the right person to have on for this conversation. We get i...

Blogging and SEO advice is everywhere right now — but a lot of it? I don’t agree with. In this episode, I’m sharing my honest (and probably unpopular) opinions about SEO and blogging — what’s actually working in 2026, what I think is a waste of your time and money, and what I see small business owners getting wrong over and over again. This isn’t about saying other people are wrong or that there’s...

Everyone's using AI. But are you using it in a way that actually sounds like you — or are you slowly handing your voice over to a chatbot and hoping no one notices? In this episode, I'm pulling back the curtain on ways I use AI in my content writing business every single day without losing what makes my writing mine . This isn't about being anti-AI or pretending it doesn't exis...

You've got a lead magnet. Maybe it's a checklist, a guide, or a template pack. You've promoted it, maybe even gotten some downloads — but those downloads aren't turning into clients. So what's actually going wrong? In this episode, I handed the mic to Meta ads expert Melissa Litchfield or Litchfield Media, and she is breaking down exactly why most lead magnets don't c...

What does a social media-free launch actually look like — numbers and all? Before you assume you need a big audience, a sales page, or an Instagram strategy to launch something new, let's talk about what's actually possible with just an email list and a well-thought-out offer. In this episode, I'm pulling back the curtain on my AI Blog Sprint beta launch: how I planned it, how long...

Are you ready to make your next hire but not sure whether you need a VA, an OBM, or a specialist — or whether you're even ready to outsource at all? Before you hire the first person who shows up in your feed talking about your exact pain point, let's slow down and think this through. In this episode, I'm breaking down the four most common hires for online business owners, what each...

A few months ago, I saw the headline: “Google announces that traditional SEO is dead.” (or something like that lol). I paused. I re-read it. I rolled my eyes if I'm being honest. There are a lot of things to spiral about in 2025 but search-driven marketing going away is not one of them.  That said, all of the conversations around "is SEO still a thing" did get me thinking deeply abo...

If you’ve ever wondered whether slowing down will cost you everything you’ve built… this episode is for you. In this conversation, Sabrina Gebhardt shares what it actually looks like to build a business you can embody — not just teach. We talk about the long game of entrepreneurship, why rushing from “doing the thing” to “teaching the thing” rarely works, and how true authority is built through ye...

Do you ever feel like you’re waiting for the moment — the big opportunity, the big client, the big breakthrough — and telling yourself you’ll rise to the occasion when it gets here? This episode is your reminder that most opportunities don’t come with prep time. They come fast. And if you haven’t been getting ready behind the scenes, you’ll feel it. If Q1 flew by for you too, this is your nudge be...

If you’ve ever felt like your business slowly turned into something you never meant to build... this episode is for you. What starts as being helpful, flexible, and “open to anything” can quietly turn into burnout, resentment, and a business that no longer fits your life. And often, it’s not because you’re doing something wrong, it’s because you haven’t given yourself permission to niche down. In...

Do you ever wonder what people who have more successful businesses are doing? I know I always swipe through on carousels and listen to episodes like this, and often it's the same kind of things, like "they're consistent", "they charge their worth", kind of basic advice like that. This episode is not like that. Instead, I have gathered 11 things that I genuinely see pe...

Nine years in business is wild — and this week I’m celebrating my “business birthday” by sharing nine non-negotiables I’ve learned across nearly a decade of running my own business. Entrepreneurship truly is the craziest personal development journey there is lol. Some of these are tactical (things I actually do). Some are mindset (things I had to learn the hard way). None of them came naturally, a...

If you’ve ever gotten a little too excited about “workflows” and “automation” only to realize that something is still not clicking... this one’s for you. We talk about an overlooked, not-so-glam part of your CRM that can quietly change everything: the actual words your clients and leads are reading. Because it doesn’t matter how slick your setup is if your actual communication feels like an aftert...

Is it possible to hire a writer that doesn't use AI?  Why do all marketers copy and past from ChatGPT when I could just do it myself? These conversations and hot takes are driving me crazy over on threads  — like AI automatically equals slop and human-only equals quality. But the real conversation is much more nuanced than that. In this episode, I’m breaking down what it actually means to hir...

Quitting Instagram is often framed as dramatic, impulsive, or reckless — like you either delete the app overnight or you’re “doing business wrong.” But the real conversation is more nuanced than that. In this episode, I’m taking you behind the scenes of why I quit Instagram after six years — not out of burnout or frustration alone, but after looking closely at my data, time investment, and actual...

In this episode, I’m sharing a behind-the-scenes look at how I approached my 2026 business goals after a big year of growth. From experimenting with AI for planning, to realizing what I don’t want my business to turn into, this conversation is more about intention than ambition (although let's be honest... there's plenty of ambition lol). I’m not offering a perfect framework or a 10-step...

Two years. Over a hundred conversations. Countless moments where I hit record not knowing what would come out on the other side and somehow, it all added up to this. Instead of doing a neat, polished recap or a predictable year-end episode, I wanted to do something more honest (and more fun).  You’ll hear pieces from the very beginning, when everything was scrappier (and yet also, more scripted)....

SEO is often positioned as the obvious next step for business growth but the truth is, it’s not always the right investment right now. In this episode, I’m sharing a very honest breakdown of when SEO doesn’t make sense, when you should wait, and when investing too early can actually slow you down instead of helping you grow. This isn’t anti-SEO (far from it). It’s about timing, resources, and maki...