The System That Beats Going Viral

Welcome to Issue #002 of Sunny Side Up. If you're new here, hi, I'm Heather. I run a marketing agency and I'm here to help you grow your small business without losing your mind or your weekends.

This week we're talking about why "going viral" is a terrible business plan, the simple weekly rhythm that actually works instead, and a stat about ChatGPT that might make you sit up a little straighter.

Grab your coffee. Let's get into it. ☀️

Quick stat that should get your attention: by the end of this year, an estimated 1 in 4 searches won't happen on Google.

They'll happen on ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and a handful of other AI tools your customers are quietly getting addicted to.

ChatGPT alone just crossed 800 million users. For perspective, that's more than twice the population of the United States, all asking an AI for recommendations, advice, and answers that used to start with "let me Google it."

Here's what that means for you, in plain English:

When someone in your town asks ChatGPT "what's the best [your business category] near me," there's an answer coming back. Either your business is in it, or it isn't.

The businesses showing up in those answers aren't necessarily the biggest, the oldest, or the ones spending the most on ads. They're the ones with clear, consistent, credible information across the web. A real website. Updated hours. Honest reviews. Content that sounds like an actual human wrote it.

The good news? Most of your competitors have no idea this is happening yet.

I'll be doing a full Yolk on how to actually show up in AI search in an upcoming issue (it's called AEO, and it's the thing I'm most obsessed with right now). For this week, just know that the front door to your business is changing. And the businesses that adjust early are going to be very, very glad they did.

If you have questions, reach out.

Most small business owners treat marketing like a slot machine.

Pull the lever (post the thing). Hope it hits. When it doesn't, go quiet for three weeks. Feel guilty. Pull the lever again.

I know this because I did it when I first started in marketing.

I'd have a burst of energy on a Monday, post something I felt good about, check the likes 47 times, get disappointed, and then ghost my own business until the guilt got loud enough to start the cycle over.

Sound familiar?

Here's what I've figured out, after running two businesses and watching what actually works for clients: the people growing right now aren't the ones getting lucky. They're the ones running a system so boring it almost feels like cheating.

Viral is a lottery ticket. A system is a paycheck.

One feels exciting. The other actually pays the bills.

That's the whole system.

It kills the worst part of marketing, which is the daily "what should I post today" decision. That decision is what burns people out, not the work itself.

It compounds. Week 12 looks nothing like week 1. Week 52 looks like a whole different business.

It gives Google, ChatGPT, and every other algorithm something to actually find and trust. They reward consistency, not brilliance.

And maybe most importantly, it survives real life. Sick kid? Bad week? Toddler tantrum at 6am that derails your whole morning? (Hypothetically, of course.) The system bends. It doesn't break.

Boring feels really uncomfortable at first, especially when half the internet is selling you "explosive growth in 30 days." A weekly rhythm doesn't feel like enough. You'll want to do more. You'll want to chase the shiny thing.

Don't.

The business owners I see winning right now aren't doing more. They're doing the same few things, on repeat, for longer than everyone else is willing to.

You don't need a viral moment.

You need a Tuesday. And then another one. And then another one.

I’m 27 weeks, which means I'm officially in the third trimester. Or as I like to call it, the "why can’t I put my own socks on" trimester.

Everything is harder. Bending down is a negotiation. Sleeping is a sport. And I've started doing that thing where I rest a snack on my belly like it's a built-in TV tray, which is either resourceful or deeply concerning depending on who you ask.

In other glamorous news, this past week was a tax week for us Pouliots. With 6+ companies, rentals, and all the moving pieces that come with running multiple businesses, we (very wisely) hand the actual return to our accountant. But "having an accountant" does not mean "no work." It means gathering, organizing, double-checking, and sending over approximately one million documents while trying not to lose my mind. If you've ever done this, you know. If you haven't, picture a scavenger hunt where the prize is more emails and having to write yet another check to the government.

Shoutout to anyone else who spent last week buried in receipts and spreadsheets. We're going to make it.

But honestly? The thing I keep coming back to this week is how much I love that this newsletter exists.

I've wanted an outlet like this for years. Somewhere to actually talk about marketing in a way that's useful, real, and not full of jargon nobody asked for. And the fact that people are actually reading it, replying to it, forwarding it... I don't know how to say this without sounding cheesy, so I won't try. It's the best.

Helping small business owners figure out marketing is genuinely my favorite thing. I've been doing it for years in the background, mostly for clients, for my husband and our other agents, occasionally for whoever cornered me at a networking event. Having a space to do it out loud, on my own terms, at my own pace, feels like something I should have done a long time ago.

So if you're reading this: thank you. Seriously. You're the reason this exists, and I'm not going to forget that.

See you on the sunny side,
Heather ☀️

_{Sunny Side Up is a free weekly newsletter for small business owners who want to grow with modern marketing and AI, written by Heather Pouliot of Brightside Creative in Augusta, Maine.}

_{Know someone who'd love this? Forward it their way. ☀️}