
Hosted by Leslie Presnall · EN

This week’s episode is a little different. I’m sharing a short coaching clip from inside The Localpreneur Academy, where one of my students asked a question so many local business owners have:When is the best time to host a local event, workshop, or class?Most people immediately think the answer is about choosing the right day or time based on their demographic or asking their audience what works best for their schedule. And while that advice can be helpful, I gave my students a different way to think about it.I’m talking about why your event timing may not be the real problem, but instead how to think about creating demand for local workshops and classes, and why people will make time for something they actually want.Tune into this episode to learn:Why deciding timeframes around your audience isn't always the answer What you're really selling when you host a workshop and class and why it's the exact reason they would change their plans and make special arrangements to be thereWhy stepping into your authority is key for selling local eventsMentioned in this episode:Work with me inside The Localpreneur AcademyFollow me on Instagram @lesliepresnallDownload my Free Guide: How To Grow Your Local Instagram FollowingIf you’re ready to grow your local business and bring in a steady stream of clients, you need to check out The Localpreneur Academy. Click here to join me inside.Rate, Review & Follow:“I LOVE listening to the episodes, especially since they’re focused on local businesses and it’s not just generic marketing advice.” If you love the show too, please leave a rating and review. This helps me reach more people just like you who want to reach more local people and create a business they love.FREE TRAINING:Get Fully Booked Locally In 3 Simple StepsClick here to register for this free training happening on Monday, May 18 at 12PM CT.

In this Most Valuable Podcast episode, we're walking through the dos and don'ts of niching to help you avoid common mistakes, reduce the stress around choosing a niche and make a confident decision.Tune into this episode to learn:The biggest mistakes small business owners make when choosing a niche or specializingHow to avoid "niche drama" and keep making money while you figure it outThe key components to a profitable nicheMentioned in this episode:Work with me inside The Localpreneur AcademyFollow me on Instagram @lesliepresnallDownload my Free Guide: How To Grow Your Local Instagram FollowingIf you’re ready to grow your local business and bring in a steady stream of clients, you need to check out The Localpreneur Academy. Click here to join me inside.Rate, Review & Follow:“I LOVE listening to the episodes, especially since they’re focused on local businesses and it’s not just generic marketing advice.” If you love the show too, please leave a rating and review. This helps me reach more people just like you who want to reach more local people and create a business they love.FREE TRAINING:Get Fully Booked Locally In 3 Simple StepsClick here to register for this free training happening on Monday, May 18 at 12PM CT.

If you’ve ever had the thought that it’s too late to start a business… or that because you’ve already dedicated so much of your life to a different career, it would be really hard to start over, build something entirely new and become that local go-to in your industry who has fully booked months…I want you to meet my client, Leslie Cuti who's a home organizer in Hammond, Louisiana, and who started her local business 25 years into her career as an educator and assistant principal.Entrepreneurship was never part of the plan. But in less than two years of running her business part-time, she retired early and took it full-time. In this episode, Leslie shares what she had to believe to start her business from scratch, get more visible in her community and learn how to market herself in a way that felt totally new.Tune into this episode to learn:What Leslie had to believe about herself to go from educator to business owner and take her business full-timeWhat helped her create fully booked months, including her Local Marketing Plan and the local collaborations that brought her more visibilityThe mindset shifts that helped her get more comfortable selling, showing up on camera and putting herself out there in brand new waysMentioned in this episode:Work with me inside The Localpreneur AcademyFollow me on Instagram @lesliepresnallDownload my Free Guide: How To Grow Your Local Instagram FollowingVisit Leslie's Website: Organizing With LeslieFollow Leslie on Instagram @organizingwithleslieIf you’re ready to grow your local business and bring in a steady stream of clients, you need to check out The Localpreneur Academy. Click here to join me inside.Rate, Review & Follow:“I LOVE listening to the episodes, especially since they’re focused on local businesses and it’s not just generic marketing advice.” If you love the show too, please leave a rating and review. This helps me reach more people just like you who want to reach more local people and create a business they love.FREE TRAINING:Get Fully Booked Locally In 3 Simple StepsClick here to register for this free training happening on Monday, May 18 at 12PM CT.

So many local business owners say they want to be fully booked, more known in their city, and have more demand for what they do… but then their brain immediately jumps to everything that could feel hard about that.More clients. More visibility. More responsibility. More pressure. Less time for their personal life.In this episode, I’m talking about why that happens and why it doesn’t mean you’re not meant for more. It just means you’re looking at that future version of your business through the lens of who you are today and how you solve problems today.The version of you who becomes the local go-to and builds a fully booked business is not the exact same version of you today.Tune into this episode to learn:Why your brain is so quick to focus on the pressure, the time, the work, the visibility and all the reasons growth might feel like “too much”Why you can’t judge your future business by your current capacity, current schedule, current skillsets or current life circumstancesHow you become the person who can handle more clients, more visibility, and more demand by growing into it day by dayMentioned in this episode:Work with me inside The Localpreneur AcademyFollow me on Instagram @lesliepresnallDownload my Free Guide: How To Grow Your Local Instagram FollowingIf you’re ready to grow your local business and bring in a steady stream of clients, you need to check out The Localpreneur Academy. Click here to join me inside.Rate, Review & Follow:“I LOVE listening to the episodes, especially since they’re focused on local businesses and it’s not just generic marketing advice.” If you love the show too, please leave a rating and review. This helps me reach more people just like you who want to reach more local people and create a business they love.FREE TRAINING:Get Fully Booked Locally In 3 Simple StepsClick here to register for this free training happening on Monday, May 18 at 12PM CT.

Do you have inquiries, interest, and people telling you they love what you’re doing… but it’s not turning into sales yet?Do you feel like something is just “off” and you need to change something to get people to buy? Maybe you’re thinking it has to be your pricing, your packages, your offers or your messaging.But what if nothing has gone wrong? What if these are actually the signs that it’s working? And by changing things too soon, you unintentionally slow down your results?In this episode, I’m breaking down how so many local business owners miss the early signs that momentum is actually building — and how misreading those signs can lead you to pull back, change things too soon and slow down results that were already on the way.Tune into this episode to learn:The success signals to look for — even before the sales comeHow your brain can accidentally create a slowdown by thinking “something is wrong,” which leads to changing offers, lowering prices or ghosting your marketing. How the ability to stay with the process, hold your energy and keep showing up is what turns early traction into bigger results, real clients and eventually a fully booked business.Mentioned in this episode:Work with me inside The Localpreneur AcademyFollow me on Instagram @lesliepresnallDownload my Free Guide: How To Grow Your Local Instagram FollowingIf you’re ready to grow your local business and bring in a steady stream of clients, you need to check out The Localpreneur Academy. Click here to join me inside.Rate, Review & Follow:“I LOVE listening to the episodes, especially since they’re focused on local businesses and it’s not just generic marketing advice.” If you love the show too, please leave a rating and review. This helps me reach more people just like you who want to reach more local people and create a business they love.FREE TRAINING:Get Fully Booked Locally In 3 Simple StepsClick here to register for this free training happening on Monday, May 18 at 12PM CT.

In this Most Valuable Podcast episode, I'm re-sharing how having too many offers in your local business is slowing down your sales.I’m walking you through SIX different ways this shows up for local business owners — from confusing your audience to filling your calendar with the wrong clients — and why simplifying your offers one of the fastest ways to start getting fully booked.Tune into this episode to learn:Why too many offers confuse potential clients and slow down local salesHow juggling multiple services drains your marketing momentum and energyWhat happens when fallback offers fill your schedule (and how to fix it)Mentioned in this episode:Work with me inside The Localpreneur AcademyFollow me on Instagram @lesliepresnallDownload my Free Guide: How To Grow Your Local Instagram FollowingIf you’re ready to grow your local business and bring in a steady stream of clients, you need to check out The Localpreneur Academy. Click here to join me inside.Rate, Review & Follow:“I LOVE listening to the episodes, especially since they’re focused on local businesses and it’s not just generic marketing advice.” If you love the show too, please leave a rating and review. This helps me reach more people just like you who want to reach more local people and create a business they love.FREE TRAINING:Get Fully Booked Locally In 3 Simple StepsClick here to register for this free training happening on Monday, May 18 at 12PM CT.

In this episode, I’m sitting down with Brooke Palmer of Jenny Creek Flowers — a former teacher turned flower farmer in Ithaca, New York — to talk about how she built local demand.Tune into this episode to learn:How Brooke set herself apart, became known in her city and sold out her products and workshops with a waitlistThe mindset shifts that helped her go from not selling to making thousands of dollars via email and social media postsWhy staying focused on your local audience, keeping your strategy simple and prioritizing your own growth helps you build fasterMentioned in this episode:Download my Free Guide: How To Grow Your Local Instagram FollowingGet fully booked inside The Localpreneur AcademyFollow me on Instagram @lesliepresnallFollow Brooke on Instagram @jennycreekflowersVisit Jenny Creek Flowers WebsiteIf you’re ready to grow your local business and bring in a steady stream of clients, you need to check out The Localpreneur Academy. Click here to join me inside.Rate, Review & Follow:“I LOVE listening to the episodes, especially since they’re focused on local businesses and it’s not just generic marketing advice.” If you love the show too, please leave a rating and review. This helps me reach more people just like you who want to reach more local people and create a business they love.FREE TRAINING:Get Fully Booked Locally In 3 Simple StepsClick here to register for this free training happening on Monday, May 18 at 12PM CT.

Are hashtags still relevant on Instagram in 2026… or are they basically pointless now? There’s a lot of confusion around hashtags right now, especially with so many people saying different things. In this episode, Leslie breaks down what hashtags can still do specifically for local business owners, what’s changed on Instagram and how local business owners should think about visibility in 2026.Tune into this episode to learn:How Instagram determines who to show your content to in 2026The 2 best practices for using hashtags to reach more local people in 2026The difference between being proactive and being optimized on Instagram — and why you need bothMentioned in this episode:Get found, followed and booked by people in your city with The Local Instagram FormulaDownload my Free Guide: How To Grow Your Local Instagram FollowingGet fully booked inside The Localpreneur AcademyFollow me on Instagram @lesliepresnallIf you’re ready to grow your local business and bring in a steady stream of clients, you need to check out The Localpreneur Academy. Click here to join me inside.Rate, Review & Follow:“I LOVE listening to the episodes, especially since they’re focused on local businesses and it’s not just generic marketing advice.” If you love the show too, please leave a rating and review. This helps me reach more people just like you who want to reach more local people and create a business they love.FREE TRAINING:Get Fully Booked Locally In 3 Simple StepsClick here to register for this free training happening on Monday, May 18 at 12PM CT.

Are you waiting for something outside of you to finally make you feel more confident, more legit or more established in your city?In this episode, Leslie breaks down one of the sneaky thoughts that can keep local business owners playing smaller than they want to. If you’ve been hesitating to follow up, put yourself out there, send the email, pitch the collaboration or market your business more boldly, this episode will help you see what may really be going on underneath the surface.Tune into this episode to learn:The sneaky thought that may be keeping you stuck at your current level and how it's affecting how you market and sell in your businessWhy waiting to feel “established” is slowing your growthWhy feeling established, confident, and credible starts with your thinking first — not your circumstances.Mentioned in this episode:Work with me inside The Localpreneur AcademyFollow me on Instagram @lesliepresnallDownload my Free Guide: How To Grow Your Local Instagram FollowingIf you’re ready to grow your local business and bring in a steady stream of clients, you need to check out The Localpreneur Academy. Click here to join me inside.Rate, Review & Follow:“I LOVE listening to the episodes, especially since they’re focused on local businesses and it’s not just generic marketing advice.” If you love the show too, please leave a rating and review. This helps me reach more people just like you who want to reach more local people and create a business they love.FREE TRAINING:Get Fully Booked Locally In 3 Simple StepsClick here to register for this free training happening on Monday, May 18 at 12PM CT.

In this special 150th episode of the Grow Your Local Business Podcast, I’m doing something different.I originally planned to record an Ask Me Anything episode, but after seeing how many of your questions were really about me and my story, I decided to take this episode in a different direction.So today, I’m pulling back the curtain and sharing the full journey... from growing up in North Louisiana, to dreaming of working for a fashion magazine in New York City, to becoming a teacher, blogger, event host, social media manager and eventually the local marketing coach I am today.This episode is personal, but it’s also a lesson for you: your audience wants to know you.They don’t just want your tips, your strategy or your how-to content. They want your story, your personality, your life and the things that make you you.That connection is what builds trust, relationships and real demand over time.Inside this episode, I’m sharing how I built a name for myself locally in Baton Rouge, how my local blog turned into sold-out events and a thriving community, how I left teaching, found coaching, launched The Localpreneur Academy, and why I eventually let go of one business to fully go all in on the one I have now.If you’ve ever wondered where I started, how I got here, or what this whole business journey has really looked like behind the scenes, this is it.Tune into this episode to learn:How my career evolved from magazine editor to teacher, blogger, event host, social media manager and coachThe pivot that helped me stand out locally and become known in my cityHow letting go of old identities, offers and distractions helped me focus and grow fasterMentioned in this episode:Work with me inside The Localpreneur AcademyFollow me on Instagram @lesliepresnallDownload my Free Guide: How To Grow Your Local Instagram FollowingEpisode #63: Leaving My Full-time Job and Facing My Worst Case ScenarioIf you’re ready to grow your local business and bring in a steady stream of clients, you need to check out The Localpreneur Academy. Click here to join me inside.Rate, Review & Follow:“I LOVE listening to the episodes, especially since they’re focused on local businesses and it’s not just generic marketing advice.” If you love the show too, please leave a rating and review. This helps me reach more people just like you who want to reach more local people and create a business they love.FREE TRAINING:Get Fully Booked Locally In 3 Simple StepsClick here to register for this free training happening on Monday, May 18 at 12PM CT.