Welcome to Breaking the Blueprint — a blog series that dives into the unique business challenges and opportunities of underrepresented business owners and entrepreneurs. Learn how they’ve grown or scaled their businesses, explored entrepreneurial ventures within their companies, or created side hustles, and how their stories can inspire and inform your own success.
Employers in today’s global marketplace want leaders who are adaptive, passionate, innovative, and critical thinkers.

I‘m going to be fully transparent here. As I write this blog post, I’m on a train to the other side of my state. If you're a busy marketer or content creator like I am, chances are you’re always on the go for your next project (figuratively or literally).

Welcome to Creator Columns, where we bring expert HubSpot Creator voices to the Blogs that inspire and help you grow better.

Being a small business is both easier and harder than ever. Yes, the competition is tough, but there have never been more AI tools that can help you in almost every segment of your business.

Quick riddle for you: What do you have in common with podcast hosts, YouTube sensations, TikTok stars, and Instagram influencers? Stumped? Okay, okay. I'll tell you the answer.

The reign of keyword dominance is over. How SEO is changing is about to totally rewrite the rulebook. We’re now in the world of AI, chatbots, zero-click searches, and video content.

I’m usually pretty irritated when I’m watching something and a pop-up blocks my view. I try to hit that x like I’m playing whack-a-mole. But when I’m scrolling through social media and see something that tells a story or makes me laugh, I’ll stop and watch no matter who posted the content — a person or a brand.

Remember the first time you noticed Google's logo change into an entertaining piece of craftsmanship? For me, it was back in my awkward middle school days. My friends and I thought it was quirky, cute, and pretty darn amusing.

As a youngster, way back in 2010, I remember watching a YouTube video that fascinated me.

Every time I visit my favorite coffee shop, the barista gives me a smile, nods, and brings my go-to order in a few minutes. It’s a relationship built on trust and loyalty. Imagine if all your customers felt the same about your brand.

It’s been a few years since I applied for my first internship, but I still remember the difficulties I encountered. After I finally crafted an eye-catching resume, I faced the daunting prospect of creating an internship cover letter for every application; I honestly didn’t know what to include or the tone I should strike.

Advertising communicates the value of your product, services, and brand to the world. The best ads spark interest and ignite a desire for what you offer, build brand awareness, and drive sales.

The first time I managed a marketing budget, I was handed a dollar figure and asked to accomplish X, Y, and Z with it. The following year, I was asked to do more with a slightly smaller budget. Sound familiar?

Whether you’re delivering a huge presentation or hosting a webinar, a touch of humor works like a charm to delight your audience. Plus, a joke here and there can convey a fun and creative company culture.

Research shows that company swag can be a highly effective tool for boosting engagement. In fact, in one recent study, 61% of survey respondents agreed that promotional products help build brand awareness, and 58% reported that they loved getting swag.

As I‘ve moved up in my marketing career, I’ve realized how important it is to be on the same page as the CEO.

Your website homepage is your company’s first impression for most customers, and first impressions are everything. Your landing page needs to make a killer first impression to encourage potential customers to stick around and engage.

If you’re looking for a video marketing guide, you’re not alone. Of all businesses, 90% use video marketing as part of their overall digital marketing strategy. And 68% of marketers who aren’t using video plan to build a video strategy in 2024.

Early in my career, I was intimidated by executive summaries. They sounded so corporate and formal. But, proper name aside, they’re really just the elevator pitch or the TL;DR (too long, didn’t read) of a document.

Effective B2B marketing is challenging to get right. Between creative demands, budget limits, and channel decisions, marketers have a lot to juggle when developing their marketing strategy.

I became a marketer because I love storytelling — a craft that I and many other content strategists treat like an art. Like all art, storytelling requires creativity, vision, skill, and practice. The result of this discipline? Marketing campaigns that really pull your audience in.

Of all landing page submissions,
55% come from lead magnets, and ebooks are one of the best lead magnets you can offer. You don’t need to be a designer by trade to design beautiful ebooks yourself. With the right resources, like free ebook templates, and the right approach, you can deliver valuable content to your audience in a fraction of the time.

Recently, I came across the LinkedIn page of an unfamiliar brand. And as usual, my eyes went straight to the banner section first. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words.

A well-known adage says there’s no such thing as bad press — but let’s be real: that’s a big ol’ lie.

I ran a survey in early May 2024 where I asked consumers if they thought brands should practice social responsibility — 90% said yes.

Graphic design has come a long way since I started in the arts nearly a decade and a half ago. Improvements in tools like Photoshop or my personal favorite, Procreate, from then to now have helped remove creative roadblocks and speed up the design process. Then, user-friendly design tools like Canva have made design more accessible to non-specialists.

For decades, search engine optimization (SEO) has been a critical component of any modern marketing strategy. But SEO doesn’t just mean Google: To the contrary, there are a number of alternative search engines worth exploring.

The first time I was assigned to write a budget proposal, I stared anxiously at a blank spreadsheet, wondering where to begin. What was a budget proposal supposed to include? Was there a specific structure to follow? How could I ensure it met all the necessary criteria?

Like most millennials, I consider myself an Instagram native. I’ve used the platform for both my work and personal life for what feels like a lifetime, and in doing so, I’ve had to come up with thousands of Instagram post captions.

Building brand awareness isn't just about making noise today — it's about laying the groundwork for generating consistent demand tomorrow.

I can’t lie — I’ve been feeling a little AI-fatigued lately. But the reason everyone’s still talking about AI is because it’s not going away anytime soon.

Welcome to Breaking the Blueprint — a blog series that dives into the unique business challenges and opportunities of underrepresented business owners and entrepreneurs. Learn how they’ve grown or scaled their businesses, explored entrepreneurial ventures within their companies, or created side hustles, and how their stories can inspire and inform your own success.
It can feel isolating if you’re the only one in the room who looks like you.

Welcome to HubSpot's Expert Edge Series, where we interview top execs at major brands to explore their perspectives on the latest trends, challenges, and opportunities shaping the industry.

You spend countless hours editing video content to perfection, writing the perfectly optimized blog post, and putting together the absolute best resources for social media … only to realize that you still have to convince people to actually view your content.