Empowering Small Business with AI & Strategy

Sara Nay is the CEO of Duct Tape Marketing and a pioneer in strategy-first marketing for small businesses. With over 15 years of experience in roles from intern to fractional CMO, she now leads the charge in redefining what it means to run a successful, modern agency. In this episode, Sara unpacks her new book Unchained, which introduces the groundbreaking “anti-agency” model—a practical, AI-enabled approach that empowers business owners to stop renting their marketing and start owning it. Listeners will walk away with actionable insights on building lean, AI-enhanced marketing teams and why leadership—not just execution—is the future of scalable growth. Today we discussed: 00:00 Start 00:43 Introducing Sara Nay 01:37 Identifying Problems with the Traditional Agency Model 03:30 The Anti-Agency Model and AI's Impact on Marketing 05:22 Timeless Marketing Principles in the Age of AI 07:23 Challenges and Dangers of AI Adoption in Small Business Marketing 09:47 The Fractional CMO Plus Model for Small Businesses 14:45 Agency Mindset Shift to Stay Relevant in the AI Era 16:36 Practical Steps for Small Businesses to Take Ownership of Marketing 18:22 How Small Businesses Should Approach AI Integration 20:33 Closing and Resources Rate, Review, & Follow If you liked this episode, please rate and review the show. Let us know what you loved most about the episode. Struggling with strategy? Unlock your free AI-powered prompts now and start building a winning strategy today! 👉 Get Your Free Prompts: https://dtm.world/freeprompts