Jeremy Ryan Slate, who's the founder of Create Your Own Life podcast, joins Small Biz Buzz to discuss how your small business can compete with big brands without breaking your budget.

When it comes to building your marketing strategy, Slate recommends thinking of your journey as climbing a flight of stairs. You have to figure out what the bottom stair is so you can start climbing up.

You want to find out which stairs are already getting you there. It's the smaller ones, more niche, more industry related.

"Your PR and your marketing should work together. You can't just have one," said Slate. "Whether you're a small business, medium-sized business, whatever you are, if you learn how to get media the right way, you can really cut the learning curve."