Growth shouldn't come at the cost of your life.
I'm Melanie Slade. I help family-owned businesses master ROI, local visibility, and brand presence through grounded, guerrilla marketing that builds community — not just noise.
Invisible in your own town?
You're the best-kept secret in the county. Time your neighbors and the right customers actually saw the value you provide.
Marketing feels like a drain?
Stop throwing money at cold agencies. Guerrilla community tactics cost less and convert better for businesses with local roots.
Growth vs. family time?
We design growth that pays for your freedom instead of demanding your weekends. The right things, done in the best way.
Five pillars. Doing the right things, in the best way.
Website that earns
Honest audit and rewrite of what your site needs to do — convert, build trust, rank.
Local SEO foundations
Get found by the people in your zip code already searching for what you offer.
Guerrilla community marketing
Low-cost, high-impact moves rooted in real partnerships and physical presence.
ROI coaching
Find the 20% of activities driving 80% of your results — and drop the rest.
Brand visibility
Sharpen your story so customers choose you over a chain without having to think about it.
Your right next move
Not sure which of the above? Start with a discovery call. We'll figure it out together.
A four-step method that respects your time.
Audit
We look at what's already working, what's leaking money, and where you're invisible.
Focus
Pick the 3–5 right things that will move the needle most this quarter.
Activate
Ship them — together if you want, or with a clear playbook if you prefer to run.
Measure
Watch the numbers. Double down on what's working. Cut what isn't.
Proven results for local founders.
Numbers from the last three years of family-business engagements. Yours will be your own — but here's the shape of what's possible.
Melanie didn't sell us more marketing — she helped us drop three things that weren't working and double down on the one thing that was. Revenue up 28% in two quarters.
We'd been told we needed a fancy new website. Melanie told us we needed two paragraphs rewritten and a Google Business profile finished. She was right.
Guerrilla marketing sounded gimmicky until she showed us what it meant for our community. Now we're the loud voice in our neighborhood without paying for ads.
Ready to audit your visibility?
Grab the free Right Things Checklist — 25 high-ROI moves a small or family-owned business can make this month.
Honest answers, no fluff.
I'm a small shop — can I actually afford this?+
Yes. Engagements start with a free discovery call and a small, scoped audit. We work in 30, 60, or 90-day sprints so you see ROI before you commit further. Most clients pay for the engagement multiple times over in the first quarter.
I've tried marketing before and it didn't work. Why is this different?+
Most marketing fails because it's tactic-first ('let's do TikTok!') instead of right-thing-first. We start by auditing what's already working in your business and your community, then double down — not by adding more, but by doing the right things well.
Do I need a new website?+
Probably not. About 70% of the time we can fix what you have. We'll tell you honestly. If you do need one, we'll spec exactly what it needs to do and help you make smart choices.
What if I'm not technical at all?+
Perfect. You shouldn't have to be. My job is to translate marketing and SEO into plain English and give you a short list of the right things to do — and often, we do them with you.
Are you only for family-owned businesses?+
It's our sweet spot — multi-generational shops, founder-led companies, and main street businesses. We occasionally take on solo professionals and small B2B firms that share the same values.
Let's see if we're a fit.
A 20-minute discovery call — no pitch, no obligation. You'll leave with at least one thing you can do this week to move the needle.