December 27, 2022
How agencies can grow in scale and while supporting SMBs in 2023 | Jeff Tomlin
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.
December 20, 2022
Developing a Security Culture that Reduces Risk All-around | Perry Carpenter
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.
December 13, 2022
What consumers want and what SMBs need to pay attention to! | Dhanush Paul
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.
December 6, 2022
Developing Great Corporate Culture in the Hybrid Work Environment | Gustavo Razzetti
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.
November 29, 2022
‘Talkin bout my Generation’- Embracing today’s generational mix | Chris De Santis
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 wrote an essay called “The Problem of Generations.” published in English in 1952.
November 22, 2022
Understanding SEO – How to make sure your company is seen online! | Aaron Presbury
SEO – another acromion we hear all the time and use in a variety 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 to click through to your website from a search engine results page (SERP). Simple right? Not really.
November 15, 2022
Stimulating Growth through Private Equity | Theodore Clark
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.
November 8, 2022
Riding the wave: Social media for Small & Medium Businesses | Koen Tuijnman & Bertram Croes
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.
November 1, 2022
Redesigning Work: Transforming Your Organisation Post-Pandemic | Lynda Gratton
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 employees’ needs.
October 25, 2022
Managing Your Career Journey – Challenges and Opportunities | Vicky Oliver
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.
October 18, 2022
The Growth of Local Business’ Online Presence in Europe | Russell Jeffery & Paul Wood
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 national brand because, simply put, they do not have the capacity or the know-how.
October 11, 2022
Where is the General Data Protection Regulation ( GDPR ) Today? | Daniel Johannsen
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 business in the EU.
October 4, 2022
The Future of Workplace Fear-Human Instinct & Digital Transition | Steve Prentice
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 deal with when emerging technologies are constantly tossing us into change, and fear is one of the most prevalent responses.
September 27, 2022
Scaling AI – How it can benefit both businesses and consumers | Christian Ward
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.
September 20, 2022
Developing a Security Culture that Reduces Risk All-around | Perry Carpenter
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.
September 13, 2022
The importance of Customer Feedback – Beyond Ratings and Reviews | Adam Alfia
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.
September 6, 2022
Developing a Talent-Centric Organization | Carol Schultz
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.
August 30, 2022
Finding the right tools to support sales and the customer journey | George Leith
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.
August 23, 2022
Recognizing the Attributes of Leadership Potential | Kimberly Janson
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, the result will be a great pumpkin.
August 16, 2022
Speed-The king of core web vitals-why you need to get it right | Russel Jeffrey
In May 2020, just as SMBs worldwide struggled to get their businesses online because of the pandemic, Google introduced core web vitals. In addition, Google informed businesses that these vitals would soon be ranking signals worldwide. In other words, if a business did not get this right, their ranking would be affected.
August 9, 2022
How search engines are reacting to new consumer search behaviours | Duane Forrester
Consumer Behaviors have drastically changed in the last 24 months. We can observe the changes in foot traffic ( in-person behaviour ) when we are at the grocery store, airport, or simply walking in any city centre. Still, we do not always see the changes in consumer behaviours online. We all know how our own search behaviours have changed, but unless you own a business with an e-commerce shop, you may not know how your customers search for your products or services.
August 2, 2022
The link between the environment and economics | Bob Keefe
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.
July 26, 2022
People- One of the key success factors for company growth | Sandy Lohr
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.
July 19, 2022
The War in Ukraine – An Updated view | Dr. Jeffrey McCausland
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 influential economies are taking in the hope that this will end sooner rather than later.
July 12, 2022
A company culture that supports clients’ digital marketing success | Marc Reifenrath
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 is not hopeless because we have Digital Marketing Agencies who help businesses succeed.
July 5, 2022
How to boost employee engagement with the right conversations | Steve Curtin
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 of the people, but we still cannot pinpoint what is happening.
June 28, 2022
How search engines are reacting to new consumer search behaviours | Duane Forrester
Consumer Behaviors have drastically changed in the last 24 months. We can observe the changes in foot traffic ( in-person behaviour ) when we are at the grocery store, airport, or simply walking in any city centre. Still, we do not always see the changes in consumer behaviours online. We all know how our own search behaviours have changed, but unless you own a business with an e-commerce shop, you may not know how your customers search for your products or services.
June 21, 2022
How an organization’s digital footprint can help implement change | Jay Goldman
We live in a world where change and transformation are the new normal, but sometimes we make decisions and go about change as we have always done. Today have more data and information available than we have ever had in the past, but we do not always use it when making decisions or initiating change. When it comes to transformation, many companies and organizations tend to look outward rather than inward when inward is where they should be looking.
June 14, 2022
DEI- The key to superior organizational performance | James T McKim
When executives speak about diversity, you often hear them say, “yes we are good at meeting our targets around diversity”. But diversity is not about numbers; it is about fostering a culture of innovation from a mix of people with different experiences, perspectives, and backgrounds where they can contribute to achieving a common goal. It’s about DEI, which is more than just diversity it’s about equity and inclusion. It is proven that companies that foster DEI outperform companies that do not.
June 7, 2022
Fleeing Ukraine – One family story and the hero that helped | Mihai Cristea & Olga Konarieva
On 21 of February, started aggression that all of us thought may happen but never really believed would happen. Russia attacked Ukraine, an independent democratic country. In the week following, the world changed, and so did the lives of millions of people. In this episode, we talk with a family that fled Ukraine the first weeks after the attack. They talk about the long, trying 1800-kilometer journey to get to Europe and the challenges of reuniting with family in the United States.
May 31, 2022
How great salespeople contribute to a seamless customer journey | George Leith
Today, customer experience is more important than ever, and the first person the customer meets in the customer journey is usually a salesperson. But customers today are more informed than they were in the past, which means the average salesperson can no longer fly by the seat of their pants when conducting a sales call. Today, the salesperson needs a lot of knowledge and a whole new set of skills.
May 24, 2022
How to manage cross-cultural business relationships effectively | Dr. Rajesh Kumar
Cultural forces are always at play in today’s Global Economy. Although effective management of cultural differences is not necessarily a guarantee of business success, understanding and deepening one’s knowledge of the other culture is vital to the success of any venture. Culture influences communication, decision-making, negotiation, resolution of conflicts, the management of cross-national alliances and diverse teams. Without understanding the impact culture plays in any business transaction.
May 17, 2022
Marketplaces – A technology that supports SMB Growth | Jeff Tomlin
According to a poll by Manta, the majority of small business owners agree that online marketplaces have positively impacted their sales. Nearly 70% of small business owners stated that marketplaces like Amazon and eBay have helped them increase sales, although about 30% believe they have had a negative impact. In addition, most small businesses (81%) believe that online sales are critical to their company’s success, but most rely on their websites.
May 10, 2022
How to get your business found on Google! | Matt Tennison & Matt Salzl
When people search online for products or services, if your website is not visible on the first page of the relevant keyword searches, you might not get traffic from the search engines. Google, the most widely used search engine, and other search engines provide the most significant area of opportunity for inbound marketers. According to SearchEngineWatch.com, websites on top grab 36.4% of the traffic missed by lower-ranked websites.
May 3, 2022
Five Years GDPR- ePrivacy Regulations where do we go from here? | Tilman Harmeling
It is the fifth anniversary of GDPR, which went into effect and 2018. Since its passage, there have been significant efforts at compliance, At the same time, unfortunately, consumers still felt nudged or bullied by big tech companies into agreeing to business under the old rules, posing the question is the spirit behind the legislation on a level playing field. Then came the pandemic, and in March 2020, the world changed. Virtually every business was forced online and reached out to their consumers digitally.
April 26, 2022
Forging honesty throughout an organization and its leadership | Ron Carucci
Having honesty and integrity in the workplace is one of the essential qualities of outstanding leadership in business; we all know that but do we all know what that means. Like most things, we probably all have different understandings of what it means. Some may say it is not cheating; it is telling the truth or doing the right thing just because it is correct. There will be different interpretations because honesty and integrity are a state of mind and are not situational.
April 19, 2022
The changing face of broadcasting with Howie Zales | Howie Zales
Broadcasting is challenging and competitive, but it can be gratifying and fulfilling. It has also changed drastically over the last 25 years. Technology has made media more accessible and widened coverage, regardless if it is sports or news. The people have also changed. Today broadcasting is accessible to almost everyone.
April 12, 2022
A good employee experience & endpoint security- Is it possible? | Denis O’Shea
Can you combine a good employee experience with endpoint security? In 2020 most of us were forced into a virtual working environment. Unfortunately, companies and employees were not really aligned on how this would work because it happened so quickly. Cyber-attacks increased 500% as employees used personal devices, security policies did not cover remote work, and leadership did not know how to manage the transition of old employees, never mind the new employees they had never met in person.
April 5, 2022
Speed – The king of core web vitals – why you need to get it right | Russel Jeffrey
In May 2020, just as SMBs worldwide struggled to get their businesses online because of the pandemic, Google introduced core web vitals. In addition, Google informed businesses that these vitals would soon be ranking signals worldwide. In other words, if a business did not get this right, their ranking would be affected. Finally, in August 2021, Google fully rolled out Core Web Vitals as a Google ranking factor. So we are now in April 2022, 6 months later, and what are we experiencing?
March 29, 2022
Getting men engaged in gender diversity and healthy masculinity | Ray Arata
Women are underrepresented in most global companies, particularly among senior leadership teams—and companies are missing out on opportunities as a result. The pandemic also hit women employees more than men, with women having to return to the roles of educators and traditional family roles as work moved from the office to the home. The pandemic also put a new level of focus on how a sudden change disproportionately impacts certain underrepresented groups.
March 22, 2022
The new consumer hybrid model-combining digital & physical | Rahul Chauhan
Suppose you ask people what they’re most excited about as life begins to normalize after Covid. You’re likely to get a range of answers: a trip, a family reunion, a dance party, a favourite restaurant. But, of course, most people want to be “in-person” again. But ss people start to get out and about, the question we pose is what will happen to the virtual life we have become accustomed to over the last two years. Will digital services drop across most industries?
March 15, 2022
Putin’s Endgame – History and its impact what is happening today | Dr. Jeffery McCausland
In this episode, we bring back a distinguished guest, not for a reportage of what is happening in Ukraine; we see the horrendous destruction every evening when we turn on the television. Instead, our interview talks about the motives behind the Russian attack and how history plays a role in today’s conflict.
March 8, 2022
Fleeing the Ukraine -One families story and the hero that helped | Mihai Christea & Olga Konarieva
On 21 of February, started aggression that all of us thought may happen but never really believed would happen. Russia attacked Ukraine, an independent democratic country. In the week following, the world changed, and so did the lives of millions of people. In this episode, we talk with a family that fled Ukraine. They talk about the long, trying 1800-kilometer journey.
March 1, 2022
Why Emotional and Social Intelligence in Leadership is Important | Robin HIlls
In business and life, we sometimes have the inability to fully understand and tackle human emotions, impacting our behavior, especially in business. As leaders, we should exemplify the kind of behavior we want in our organizations, and without both emotional & social intelligence, we cannot do that. We need both emotional and social intelligence to make decisions, manage stress and set examples for others.
February 22, 2022
Designing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Programs that Work | Minal Bopaiah
In the wake of significant social and political incidents, the emergence of a world economy, a changing workforce, and the focuses on “inclusivity: many companies are taking steps to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) through corporate programs. Yet, progress in most sectors remains slow because many of them do not change systems. Many times, HR staff often leads programs that do not really understand what DEI is or measure it by numbers thinking that numbers alone will change systems. Other times, leaders initiate programs they believe are fashionable or legally correct, but they delegate them downward and remain unengaged.
February 15, 2022
Awakening: Ladies, Leadership, and the Lies with Areva Martin | Areva Martin
Many people do not like the term “Feminism”, but Feminism was the backbone of the women’s suffrage movement. In August 1920, because of Feminism, women won the right to political equality. But what has happened since 1920? Sure we have made some progress, but we have not moved the needle very far. Social, economic, employment and other types of equality have only made baby steps since 1920, and the question is why? We have equal employment laws that try to protect us once we are in a position, but doors are still closed on many opportunities.
February 8, 2022
Income on Demand – Helping others understand trading | Dr. Laquore J. Meadows
The stock market attracts millions of people from all over the world. It is a great way to earn money sitting at home by just investing a few hours of the day. The stock market is not just all about profit, but there is a risk where you might suffer losses. But to be successful in any field, it is imperative to have a good knowledge of that domain. Knowledge, in this case, can be observation, learning and practice.
February 2, 2022
Networks – How they influence, support and impact our lives | David Ehrlichman
Networks are considered one of the most critical resources in organizations, governments, social-cultural systems, and they are all around us, whether we’re aware of them or not. They are created to provide a means to satisfy an objective or need and diffuse information. Networks allow people to develop relationships with others they might not otherwise be able to connect with.
January 25, 2022
Data literacy can save your company and your career | Matt Cowell
According to Harvard Business Review, “90% of business leaders cite data literacy as a key to company success, but only 25% of workers feel confident in their data skills”. And then Harvard also notes some other statistics that suggest that nearly nine in 10 data science professionals are white, and only 18% are women. Research from General Assembly indicates “that data science lags behind even other tech-oriented disciplines”. Which brings us to the question if leaders see data literacy as a critical building block to a company’s success, why are they not focusing on it more?
January 18, 2022
Forging an adaptable mindset in both individuals and companies | Robert Overweg
Why does it seem that adaptable people and organizations process change more quickly and with what is perceived as seamless effort? In March 2020, as the pandemic came into full force, the companies that grasped the new situation and were able to provide innovative solutions to their successful organizations succeeded. The individuals that embraced change and adjusted their expectations around how they needed to carry out their jobs and their lives that came out on top. What was the common denominator, adaptability? Though adaptability is an innate human skill, most people have lost it along the way. But it is possible to regain this ability.
January 11, 2022
Fireside Chat with Suzanne Brockmann, NYTimes Bestselling Author | Suzanne Brockmann
Fiction gives us the chance to provide power to or destroy cultural values, sensitivities, current or past issues and much more. We can learn from what characters do, where they are, how they behave and much more. Fiction is not just about a good story but also what we take away from the story. In this episode, we have a chance to talk with Suzanne Brockmann, the New York Times bestselling romance author. We talk about how she came about writing fiction that focused on Navy Seal Hero’s before they became popular in all kinds of fiction.
January 4, 2022
How Leadership is Transitioning – Leadership Outlooks for 2022 | Audrey Cavenecia
A lot has happened in leadership since 2020. The workplace has changed, the general public has become more anxious and frustrated as lockdowns, and border restrictions continue. The roller coaster of heading back to the office only to be sent home to a virtual office two months later makes leadership challenging. Workers are frustrated in many jobs, such as in the travel and gastronomy industry because many customers are just plain old grumpy. So, what kind of leadership do we need to get through this all?