Over The Bull
Tired of marketing fluff, shady sales tactics, and overpriced agencies that sell fear instead of results? Over the Bull is a no-nonsense podcast where we share real stories from inside the agency world—the wins, the failures, and the clients we had to cut loose.
Join me each week as we break down the reality of running a business, expose the marketing BS that’s holding companies back, and talk about what actually works. No generic reports. No empty promises. Just real strategy from the trenches.
Episodes
63 episodes
#63 - And You Think You're Confused.
Six words: how do I show up in AI search.The answer looked great. Bullet points, bold headers, links. It also couldn't tell what the question meant, built its advice out of marketing blogs and LinkedIn posts, and ran sponsored ads for t...
#62 - The Outsourced Brain
Ken got back with a stack of messages... and a good chunk of them were people asking him to Google things for them. Not strategy. Just look-it-up-for-me. That absurd little moment opens a bigger question: what happens to a business when its peo...
#61 - 4,651 to 63 Overnight
One business watched its Google reviews drop from 4,651 to 63 overnight. Terrifying... until you understand what's actually happening. On this episode of Over the Bull, Ken Carroll connects two stories the local SEO world is treating as separat...
#60 - The Cookie Crumbles
For years, the internet let you follow people. Tag a visitor on your site, chase them across Facebook and Google, and close the sale later. That playbook is dying, and most business owners haven't noticed yet.Third-party cookies, the...
#59 - The Cheap Guys Are Back (And They've Got AI)
Cheap vendors have always cut corners. What's changed is the disguise. Now they're using AI to churn out website content and HTML in a weekend, and it looks polished enough to fool business owners who don't know what to look for. In this episod...
#58 - Shooting the Bull: Don't Build What You Can't Fix
There's a quiet line a lot of business owners are crossing right now without noticing it: letting AI build things they couldn't rebuild, repair, or even explain on their own. It feels like leverage. Ken thinks it's a liability waiting to go off...
#57 - Shooting the Bull: Frankenstack - When Your Tools Start Fighting
Every business owner has had the moment: wait, why are we paying for two phone systems? That's a Frankenstack ... the pile of overlapping tools you end up with when tech moves so fast nobody stops to turn the old one off. In this one we get int...
#56 - Shooting the Bull: Is AI a Machine or a God?
Everybody's got an AI take right now — it's coming for your job, or it's the second coming. Ken thinks both camps are wrong, and the truth is more boring and a lot more useful than either one.This one's off the cuff: from the blacksm...
#55 - Shooting the Bull: Rainbow Chasers and Widget Counters
Most business owners think hiring a marketing agency is a one-way transaction — you pay, they deliver. But the truth is, the client side of the relationship matters just as much, and there are two behaviors that quietly sabotage results every t...
#54 - Shooting the Bull: AI Is Making People Worse at Business
Artificial Intelligence is an incredible tool… but a lot of people are using it in ways that are actually making them worse at business.In this episode of Shooting the Bull, we talk about the growing problem with AI-generated overload: ...
#53 - Shooting the Bull: Drowning in Data (But Still Don't Know What's Working?)
Most business owners don’t have a data problem—they have a clarity problem.In this episode of Shooting the Bull, we’re talking about why more tracking, more reports, and more “insight” isn’t actually helping you make better decisions… a...
#52 - Shooting the Bull: Business Advice Without the BS
This week, we’re switching things up and just shooting the bull. No script, no fluff—just real, off-the-cuff conversations about the stuff small business owners actually deal with every day. From burnout and hiring to marketing mistakes and pri...
#51 - Stop Guessing: How to Track Calls and Fix Your Marketing
Most businesses have no idea where their phone calls are actually coming from—and it’s costing them more than they realize.In this episode, we break down the difference between static numbers and dynamic call tracking (DNI), why guessin...
#50 - Why Your Website Isn't Bringing You Leads
If your website isn’t bringing you leads, it’s not because you need better design.It’s because your website isn’t doing its job.In this episode, we break down the real reasons most small business websites fail—from vague messagi...
#49 - AI Images: Shortcut or Liability?
AI-generated images are everywhere right now—and depending on who you ask, they’re either a game-changing tool or a risky shortcut.In this episode of Over The Bull, we break down what’s actually true.We cover the real-world pros...
#48 - AI Drunk: The New Marketing Hangover
RESOURCES:https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/creating-helpful-content
#47 - The Game Is Rigged. Here’s How to Survive It.
Here’s the reality most business owners eventually face:The system favors scale.Large companies are not built on fairness. They’re built on optimization — for margin, protection, and legal defensibility. And when you enter into ...
#46 - Already Obsolete
What worked in January might already be dead.The half-life of strategy is shrinking. AI tools evolve monthly. Search behavior shifts. Paid ads tighten. Privacy rules expand. Algorithms adjust. And most businesses are still running last ...
#45 - Reputation vs. Results: History Isn’t a Strategy
Legacy media isn’t collapsing because digital exists.It’s struggling because it’s trying to sell digital services it wasn’t built to deliver.Newsrooms are shrinking. Journalists are being laid off. Entire sections are disappearing. ...
#44 - Google Business Profiles Myths Destroyed
This episode is designed to cut through Google Business Profile (GBP) folklore by deferring authority directly to Google’s published documentation. Where Google is silent, we clearly label recommendations as risk-based, experience-driven guidan...
#43 - The Podcast I Was Hesitant To Record - When Accusations Escalate Faster Than Reality
This episode wasn’t recorded lightly. We talk about the words that show up when business relationships break down—and how those words often carry more weight than the facts behind them. From “hijacked” to “held hostage,” we unpack where these p...
#42 - The Rise of Transhuman Business: AI Without the Bull
Artificial intelligence is moving fast. Faster than most businesses are ready for.In this episode of Over the Bull, Ken Carroll digs into what it really means to operate in a transhuman business world—where AI tools and human judgment n...
#41 - When Everything Feels Rigged: How to Tell If Your Marketing Is Helping or Hurting
Lately, it feels like everything is getting more expensive, more complicated, and harder to trust.Insurance companies are pulling back. Marketing platforms keep changing the rules. Vendors promise protection, optimization, or “peace of ...
#40 - How to Not Make 2026 Your 2025
You can’t control the Kraken.The internet isn’t a machine you command—it’s a living, chaotic environment. Yet modern marketing is often sold like magic: guaranteed outcomes, secret systems, and the promise of control.In this epi...
#39 - The Problem Isn’t the Gift. It’s the Packaging.
Christmas is often about gifts—but in business, gifts can be deceptive.Some look valuable and impressive but never get used. Others aren’t exciting, but they’re exactly what a business needs to move forward.As 2025 comes to a cl...
