📣 NEW BLOG SERIES: Marketing Your Chilliwack Biz
/You started your business to do what you love — maybe baking, building, painting, planning, serving, or selling something awesome. But now you’re finding out that running a business also means... marketing. Social media. Emails. Photos. Hashtags. Algorithms. Buzzwords.
Feeling overwhelmed yet? You’re not alone.
This new blog series is here to break it down for you — in plain English, with local flair. No jargon. No pressure to “go viral.” Just helpful tips that make sense for real Chilliwack businesses.
Whether you're a home-based maker, a downtown shop owner, a tradesperson, or running a side hustle, these posts are here to help you:
get seen,
connect with your people,
and grow in a way that feels like you.
Start Here: What is Marketing (Really)?
Let’s be honest: most small business owners didn’t get into this to become marketers.
You’re juggling orders, emails, invoices, inventory, kids, chores, and the actual work your business does. Then someone tells you, “You really need to be on Instagram more.” Or “Have you tried email marketing?” Or “You should totally go viral on TikTok.”
Cue the eye roll.
Here’s a breath of fresh air: marketing doesn’t have to be overwhelming.
And it doesn’t have to feel fake, forced, or expensive.
So, what even is marketing?
In simple terms, marketing is everything you do to help people…
Know you exist
Understand what you offer
Trust you enough to buy from you
It’s not just ads or salesy pitches. It’s the everyday stuff that helps people get to know you and your business.
If you’ve ever...
Posted a behind-the-scenes photo of your setup
Answered questions in your DMs
Offered a little free advice to someone curious about what you do
Put out a sandwich board on the sidewalk
Shared your story on your website or social media
Asked a happy customer to leave a review
...guess what? You’re already marketing. 🎉
Good marketing is just good communication.
It’s about showing up and connecting — not being perfect, not having a huge following, not spending thousands on ads. Just helping people understand who you are, what you do, and why it matters.
People buy from businesses they:
Know
Like
Trust
So your job as a marketer (yes, you're one now!) is to help that happen. And the best part? You can do it in a way that fits you.
What marketing isn’t:
It’s not having a perfect aesthetic grid.
It’s not being on every platform.
It’s not faking a big personality you don’t have.
It’s not pushing things on people who don’t need them.
Let’s throw all that out the window.
So, where do you begin?
Start small. Choose one way to show up this week:
Share a photo and tell a short story behind it.
Introduce yourself on your feed or in a Reel.
Show the process of something you’re working on.
Ask your audience a question to get them talking.
You don’t need a giant strategy yet. You just need to start.
Coming up next:
In our next post, we’ll talk about something you do have — and the big businesses can’t buy: your local edge. Learn how being a small business in Chilliwack gives you an automatic marketing advantage (and how to use it to your benefit!).
You’ve got this. We’re cheering you on — and we’re right here with you.
