Episodes

Most people agree that the foundations of digital marketing skills are not hard to learn. However, it can be challenging to master those skills and put them to practical use in a digital marketing campaign. Most large companies have teams of digital marketers that can do this for them by specializing in one area or another, but what about SMEs? They are focused on their product and services, without teams to do the marketing for them. With a bit of help, they can learn how to navigate through th...

As we close 2022, we reflect on the digital marketing landscape of SMBs and how it has changed in the last twelve months. More importantly, we look at the opportunities for SMBs in 2023. How business models are changing, what tools are available to SMBs, and how agencies can support SMBs. We discuss emerging trends and what agencies can do to grow in scale and increase profitability in the new digital economy.

As 2022 ends, it is time to take stock of what matters to businesses and consumers. What matters today in December 2022 differs from what mattered to us in January of this year. For example, in January, consumers were looking forward to finally “getting out of the house”, and SMBs worldwide were thinking about when I could let my customers back in. Today in December, we are living the new normal with a hybrid consumer society that is online and in person. Today it’s not about how I shop; it is a...

When you look at culture in the sense of communities ( nations, groups), It is a vital determining factor of how that community reacts, responds, and grows. Culture plays a significant role in the lives of everyone in a community. It gives people a sense of belonging, especially when everyone speaks the same language and not necessarily in a literal way. Corporate culture is not much different. It provides people with a sense of belonging and commitment, and when a company has a positive culture...

In 1965, the rock band The Who released Talkin bout my Generation which expressed the difference between generations. Peter Townsend, the songwriter, was experiencing the disconnect between himself and his parent's generation. Peter, now 77 and born on the cusp of the baby boomer generation, was trying to explain to the world- his new generation. Today, this could translate to each generation that has followed. The generational gap has been discussed since Karl Mannheim, a German psychologist wr...

SEO--- another acromion we hear all the time and use it in a verity of ways, but you can’t fully appreciate the value of SEO without an understanding of what it is. SEO really is. It’s the complex practice of increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to your website through search engine results. The goal of SEO for business is to generate organic traffic—by allowing searchers clicking through to your website from a search engine results page (SERP). Simple right? Not really. It is very com...

The term Private equity evokes all kinds of reactions. Private equity firms have reputations ranging from aggressively good to aggressively bad, depending on which chair you sit in, but they can increase a company's value. Their ability to achieve high returns is attributed to incentives for private equity portfolio managers and operating managers, the aggressive use of debt, and a determined focus on cash flow. Different from Venture Capital, private equity focuses on buying and selling compani...

According to data gathered by SCORE, 77% of small businesses use social media to help build brand awareness, facilitate customer service, and increase revenue. For example, data from Meta shows that 83% of Instagram users say they discover new businesses and brands while using the platform. And according to Forbes, small business owners have jumped on the train, but it also appears many owners are buckling under the added social-media marketing workload. Worse yet, most do social media marketing...

Our work environments were evolving before the pandemic, but when the pandemic hit, everything changed. As a result, companies are obligated to completely rethink their work environments, processes, and employee relations. New ways of working have become commonplace, and new environments and processes are emerging. As a result, new working models will predominate, meaning that firms will have to speed up their change management to keep up with changing technology, customer expectations and emplo...

Career development is the short-term actions that on takes to learn a skill, fine tune a strength or development a weakness. Career growth refers to the big picture, the overall progress of someone’s professional life. It is defined by the different roles and responsibilities we take on throughout our career journey, and this journey can go in several directions, but it is very rarely linear. While it’s easier to manage our own career development, growth is a bit more complicated because it can ...

According to Shopping Local Research 2022, 78% of consumers use the internet to find information about local businesses more than once a week (up from 69% in 2020). However, 21% of consumers use the internet to find information about local businesses daily (down from 34% daily). This means that businesses that do not have an excellent online presence could be missing out on reaching new customers. But Building a digital presence for a local business isn’t the same as developing one for a nationa...

Since May 25, 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has harmonized the rules on the processing of personal data, both private and public, across the Europe. Similar regulations have since popped up worldwide, with the US following suite with similar regulations like CCPA in California and regulations in most of the 50 US States. One of the unique aspects of these regulations, especially the EU’s GDPR is it is not only directly applicable in all EU member states but anyone who does ...

Our guest podcast guest says, People who discuss digital transformation often focus on new technology with a presumption that the working population will embrace it enthusiastically. But human beings are still instinctively dominated by fear, a single complicating reflex which will always be the default response. In simple words, humans are hardwired to resist change. Our brain resists change as a threat which releases reactions such as fear, fight, or flight. These are difficult responses to de...

Scaling artificial intelligence (AI) across industries, enterprises, and even small and medium businesses can create an excellent competitive advantage, but it’s not enough to invest in cutting-edge technologies and algorithms; you need to rewire your organization. From decision-making to data analysis to operations, if you want to extract value from AI, you need to understand it and how to best use it. Our guest today is an expert in extracting value from data and AI. He helps organizations und...

According to the team at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard's Kennedy School, the most powerful cyber countries in the world are as follows: United States, China, UK, Russia, Netherlands, France, Germany, Canada, Japan, Australia, and Israel. Now some of these do not surprise us, but some do. Like the Netherlands, with 17 million people or little Israel, with 9 million, size and location play a role. But what is the most important thing is the human factor. People...

The voice of the customer plays a critical role in today's competitive markets. It does not matter if it is customer feedback on a product, service or individual; when companies do not get feedback, they cannot improve customer satisfaction and may lose their competitive edge. The other key factor is that people who leave feedback expect something to happen. Again, it does not matter if it is a call, e-mail or note, but people like to know they are taken seriously. As a result, businesses are in...

Talent management is about how employers recruit and develop a workforce that is as productive as possible and likely to stay with their organization long term. When implemented correctly, this process can help improve the business's overall performance and ensure that it remains competitive. However, when not implemented correctly, it can result in high turnover and lack of innovation, and a company can lose its competitive edge. But developing a talent-centric organization is not easy. The pri...

Sales and the customer journey. Are we giving salespeople the right tools to help them succeed? Years ago, sales were about pushing the customer in a direction and convincing them to buy. Today it is about discovering the customers’ needs and proving to them their return on investment. Today we also have the tools to help sales persons guide them through the process and show the customers facts, not fiction. This episode explores the customer journey, beginning with customer contact and sales. T...

Leadership expert Chris Pearse used an analogy in his Forbes article in 2018 on “Leadership in Crisis” This analogy made us think about leadership. It brought to light the mistake we often make in leadership today. Although not in exact words, he said if you want to grow a pumpkin, you need four elements, earth, water, sun, and a seed. While growing that pumpkin, your focus is on those elements, not the pumpkin. With the right focus, result will be a great pumpkin. In leadership, most of the tim...

Germany's “Umwelt Bundesamt” talks about the new “Green Economy. “They claim the present economic system is destroying our natural resources with the result of eroding the prosperity of future generations. They say that “Business as usual” in industrialised countries’ are resource-intensive, and with emerging countries following suit, it is not a feasible course for the future, which is why transforming into a Green Economy is necessary. . But this is Germany; what is the rest of the world sayin...

A company’s greatest asset is its people. It does not matter how innovative your product or services are; the people who stand behind the products and services interact with the customer and continue to innovate to move a company forward. In March 2020, as companies struggled to move their workforces remotely, employers also faced “The Big Quit”. As a result, many companies struggled to retain employees, but those companies that forged a collaborative and flexible culture thrived. In this episod...

On February 22, 2022, the world shifted when Russia invaded Ukraine. Now five months later, we still witness devastation in Ukraine and the attack on democracy. We are seeing criminal acts as Russia uses war tactics that target civilians in the hope that the solidarity and will of the Ukrainian people will be broken. We are also feeling the wars impact the world economy. So when and how will this end? No one has a crystal ball, but we can examine the direction the world's most robust and influen...

Digital Marketing has become very complicated. Consumers have changed their behavior, Google is constantly polishing their Core Web Vitals, and new media channels are popping up daily. At the same time, we have other trends like stricter personal data restrictions while new technologies are emerging, and AI is becoming more prevalent when it comes to targeting audiences. This makes digital marketing trends hard to keep up for SMB’s and even for brands who dedicated digital marketing teams. But i...

Today we are facing the “Big Resignation”. All over the world, companies are struggling to find personnel, and no one can answer why this is happening. Possible reasons are wage stagnation amid the rising cost of living, long-lasting job dissatisfaction, safety concerns around COVID-19, and the desire to work for companies with better remote-working policies and new work-life balance values stemming from the pandemic. Some economists have described the Great Resignation akin as a general strike ...