If you're struggling to create enough content to grow your business, you're not alone. Even after years of podcasting and blogging, I still face this challenge. That’s why this episode is all about showing you a real-world system to scale content without breaking the bank. You'll learn how to use generative AI and trusted freelancers in a smart, repeatable way—all while staying under $1,000 a month. This is an important topic because content is at the heart of digital marketing. It brings people to your site, builds trust, and helps convert followers into customers. Without content, your digital marketing doesn’t work. So if you're looking to build a stronger system, spend less, and still grow faster, you won't want to miss this one.

Tools Mentioned (include affiliate links to help support the show!)

• ChatGPT: For writing and image generation.
• Elementor: For blog featured images in WordPress.
• Upwork: For finding good freelance help.
• Fiverr: Upwork alternative.
• Trello: For managing my content process.
• Loom: To explain tasks to freelancers quickly.
• Frase: For SEO optimization of blog posts.
• SocialBee: For scheduling social content.

Learn More:

• Buy Digital Threads: https://nealschaffer.com/digitalthreadsamazon
• Buy Maximizing LinkedIn for Business Growth: https://nealschaffer.com/maximizinglinkedinamazon
• Join My Digital First Mastermind: https://nealschaffer.com/membership/
• Learn about My Fractional CMO Consulting Services: https://nealschaffer.com/cmo
• Download My Free Ebooks Here: https://nealschaffer.com/books/
• Subscribe to my YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/nealschaffer
• All My Podcast Show Notes: https://podcast.nealschaffer.com

In this episode of the Your Digital Marketing Coach podcast, I’m joined by James Hipkin, author of Journey to Success: Digital Marketing for Small Business Owners. James brings decades of experience helping businesses build smarter, more effective websites — and more importantly, explains why websites are still the most important piece of your digital marketing puzzle.

We talk about why your website is the only part of your digital marketing you truly own, how to stop treating it like just another design project, and how to start using it as a tool for real connection and trust. Whether you’re trying to improve conversions, make better use of your marketing budget, or understand where AI fits in the mix, this episode will give you the foundation you need. If you’re serious about using digital marketing to grow your business, it all starts with your website — and this episode tells you how.

Guest Links

• Connect with James on LinkedIn
• James' agency inn8ly

Learn More:

• Buy Digital Threads: https://nealschaffer.com/digitalthreadsamazon
• Buy Maximizing LinkedIn for Business Growth: https://nealschaffer.com/maximizinglinkedinamazon
• Join My Digital First Mastermind: https://nealschaffer.com/membership/
• Learn about My Fractional CMO Consulting Services: https://nealschaffer.com/cmo
• Download My Free Ebooks Here: https://nealschaffer.com/books/
• Subscribe to my YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/nealschaffer
• All My Podcast Show Notes: https://podcast.nealschaffer.com

In this episode of the Your Digital Marketing Coach podcast, I’m diving into one of the biggest changes to how we show up in Google search results—the AI overview box. If you’ve noticed a drop in your traffic, you’re not alone. These new AI summaries are changing how people click, what links they trust, and which brands get noticed. I went deep into the data—10 studies from the past year—to find the real patterns that help content get featured. From building stronger topic clusters to writing short, clear answers and updating your posts more often, I’ll show you what works right now. This matters because showing up in these AI results can bring the most valuable visitors to your site—people ready to learn and take action.

Links to Data Sources Used

• https://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/google-ai-overviews-sge/
• https://www.conductor.com/academy/search-generative-experience/
• https://www.advancedwebranking.com/blog/how-to-takle-google-ai-overviews-search-generative-experience
• https://www.resultfirst.com/blog/ai-seo/ai-overviews-explained-the-ultimate-guide-to-googles-search-generative-experience-sge/
• https://exposureninja.com/blog/how-to-rank-ai-overview/
• https://seowind.io/how-to-optimize-for-google-ai-overview/
• https://seranking.com/blog/how-to-optimize-for-ai-overviews/
• https://webmasters.stackexchange.com/questions/143199/how-to-optimize-a-website-for-google-search-generative-experience-sge
• https://www.rocktherankings.com/how-to-rank-google-ai-overview/
• https://hawksem.com/blog/google-ai-overviews/

Learn More:

• Buy Digital Threads: https://nealschaffer.com/digitalthreadsamazon
• Buy Maximizing LinkedIn for Business Growth: https://nealschaffer.com/maximizinglinkedinamazon
• Join My Digital First Mastermind: https://nealschaffer.com/membership/
• Learn about My Fractional CMO Consulting Services: https://nealschaffer.com/cmo
• Download My Free Ebooks Here: https://nealschaffer.com/books/
• Subscribe to my YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/nealschaffer
• All My Podcast Show Notes: https://podcast.nealschaffer.com