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The Local Journal
Straight answers about local marketing, from the owner who runs it.
No gated PDFs and no “10 tips.” These are the questions business owners actually ask me in the first meeting, answered the way I’d answer them across a table, including the parts that aren’t flattering to what I sell.
Latest
AI is already answering for your business.
Somebody in El Dorado Hills asked an assistant for a plumber this morning and got three names back. You didn’t get to see the question, and you didn’t get to bid on the answer. Here’s where those recommendations come from, why they skip most local businesses, and the unglamorous list of fixes that changes it.
By Clinton Goodrich · July 22, 2026 · 7 min read
Everything so far
Read in any order.
Local marketing · Jul 2, 2026
Why the right customers drive past you every day
Your work is good. That isn’t the problem. The families who should call you have someone else’s name in their head, and that’s a fixable problem.
Read it →Budgeting · Jul 15, 2026
How much should a local business spend on marketing?
The percentage-of-revenue rule, what each budget band actually buys in this market, how to split it across channels, and when to hold instead of raise.
Read it →Print · Jul 8, 2026
Print Is Dead? Not in El Dorado Hills.
Mass-market print really is shrinking. A magazine mailed to 5,400+ households with 89.4%+ readership behaves nothing like it, and here’s where it’s honestly weak.
Read it →Search vs. print · Jul 8, 2026
Google Maps or a Community Magazine?
They get compared constantly, usually because they land on the same line of the same budget. That’s the only thing they have in common.
Read it →Hiring · Jul 8, 2026
How to tell if a marketing company is worth your money
The questions to ask before you hire anyone, the red flags worth walking away from, and why nobody can honestly promise you leads.
Read it →AI search · Jul 22, 2026
AI is already answering for your business
Where those recommendations come from, why they skip most local businesses, and the six unglamorous fixes that change it.
Read it →
Why this exists
Because the first meeting is always the same four questions.
What should I spend. Does print still work. Why does my competitor show up and I don’t. How do I know if this company is any good.
I’d rather you have the answers before we talk. If you read all of this and decide to do it yourself, or hire someone else, that’s a fine outcome. It’s a much better one than selling you something that doesn’t fit.
Ready when you are
Got a question that isn’t answered here?
Ask it directly. I’ll tell you what I’d do in your position, including when the honest answer is to wait or spend it somewhere else.
Free and no obligation. A local owner picks up. (530) 306-1881