Talked About Marketing

04/09/2026

Steve took his recorder to Adelaide Business Hub's Women in Business event and asked two attendees a simple question: if you had a marketer's full attention, what would you ask?

Jane Richards from Eight at the Gate Wines wanted to know which marketing activity actually drives sales. Ranee from Jarnell Cut . Colour . Curl wanted to know where her limited time delivers the biggest return.

Both have already built solid businesses. Their real constraint was not ideas, it was time and attention, and the answer starts with going back to basics: know your ideal customer, then build from there.

New episode of Talking About Marketing is out now.

Thanks to Adelaide Business Hub and the Office for Small and Family Business for making the Women in Business program possible.

The episode is in your favourite podcast app, Spotify, YouTube, or our website via the link.

PS Also some new research showing just how much our phone screens are draining our productivity, a problem discussed (when is a piece of writing a Page or a blog Post), and a Superbowl ad that wooed audiences despite only costing $500.

Small business marketing lessons from real questions asked at Adelaide's Women in Business event, plus why your phone might be taxing your attention.

02/09/2026

A video of children reacting to modern life like an alien broadcast prompted Steve to dig up a blog draft he never published: "Have you paid today's social media tax?"

Every scroll, he explains, is a payment of attention handed to Mark Zuckerberg and company.

Steve admits he might need to finish that post after all.

For anyone whose day gets quietly taxed away in five-second phone checks, naming the transaction is the first step to deciding whether it is worth the price.

The full episode is: Questions Arising From Women In Business. It is Season 9, Episode 3 of the Talking About Marketing Podcast, available in all podcast apps, Spotify, YouTube, and on our website here: https://talkedaboutmarketing.com/blog/s09e03-questions-arising-from-women-in-business/

01/09/2026

Is this me? Are both of these me? Does it matter?

If you're just nibbling around the edges of AI in your business, come to the Gawler Civic Centre tomorrow at 5.30. I'm going to walk you through some key AI tools and their uses to get some basics sorted out without falling for hype or exposing your business to the risk of an AI agent going rogue.

It's free. And there'll be plenty of time for questions. More details here, thanks to Adelaide Business Hub and Town of Gawler: https://events.humanitix.com/real-tools-you-can-use-tomorrow-without-the-hype

31/08/2026

I will be toning down my outfit Wednesday night, but amping up the insights on the small suite of reliable AI tools I use within Talked About Marketing and on behalf of clients.

This free workshop is not full of fads and gadgets and promises about being able to relax by the pool while your business makes millions.

It will be down-to-earth, hype-free, warts-and-all, and any other hyphenated descriptor you can think of.

Register now, though, so we can prepare for you at Real Tools You Can Use Tomorrow (Without The Hype) | 5.30-8.30 which includes time for networking and free-flowing discussion - at the Gawler Civic Centre, in conjunction with the Town of Gawler and Adelaide Business Hub.

Here's the link: https://events.humanitix.com/real-tools-you-can-use-tomorrow-without-the-hype

- Steve Davis

PS You do not have to wear outlandish, velour jackets.

25/08/2026

Hmm, this is what Gemini thinks I looked like when I started blogging in 2004. Might not be that far from the truth!

I asked it for that reflection ahead of running the workshop, AI for Small Business: Real Tools You Can Use Tomorrow (Without The Hype), in Gawler next Wednesday for Adelaide Business Hub and the Town of Gawler.

If you haven't registered yet, you can, here: https://adelaidebusinesshub.com.au/events/real-tools-you-can-use-tomorrow

PS It is probably a few espresso cups short! Steve

24/08/2026

Found it. Running a hands-on, website building workshop tomorrow and I wanted to show how far we've come (or not), by digging out a slide from a workshop I ran back in 2012.

Can you guess the brand from their "still loading" image?

17/08/2026

The influencer types are about to have a field day. The “view count” they share for their videos will now include act person or bot just opening their video and disappearing. Just like TikTok and other sites.

If ever we needed to be more aware (as brands and consumers) of authentic connection in this era of plastic, AI slop and tricks, it’s now.

“YouTube announced on Monday that it’s changing how views are counted on its platform, with a view now counting as soon as a video starts playing or someone enters a live broadcast. Although the Google-owned platform never disclosed how it previously counted views, it was generally understood that a view was counted after a user watched at least 30 seconds of a video.”

And the “do no evil” company did some handwaving when it comes to acknowledging they’ve just devalued their account figures by saying creators wanted all the metrics to be the same. Sigh.

If you’re producing or researching anything of significance in your life, remember that quality trumps quantity every time, even if the rest of the world is frantic spinning on little mouse wheels in layers of superficial frivolity.

PS there’s no anger as I write this, I’m simply bemused by the triviality of it all and feel it’s worth someone just putting their hand up for human connection.

- Steve

The change comes a year after YouTube applied the same approach to counting views on Shorts videos.

17/08/2026

They're back. Mentoring sessions are back. For the Women in Business mentoring program, you can get 5 hours with Steve for $220 (you don't need an ABN in this round) but you are not eligible if you have used the mentoring previously.

And ASBAS Digital Solutions mentoring is back, 5 hours for $110 and you are allowed to apply again, even if you have used mentoring previously.

So much to discuss from sharpening your messaging to considering GEO (making sure your content is findable when people use AI search tools), to thinking what social content looks like in this age of angertainment.

Application links on this page, below.

https://talkedaboutmarketing.com/marketing-services/mentoring-registration-of-interest/

14/08/2026

Profit shouldn't be the leftover.

Most small businesses run on whatever's left in the account after everything else gets paid. In the new episode of Talking About Marketing, Steve and David discuss Mike Michalowicz's book Profit First, which argues for the opposite order: set profit aside first, then run the business on what remains.

Listen to the new episode of Talking About Marketing, wherever you get your podcasts.

12/08/2026

Here’s something a little different. About a year ago I wrote a song about South Australia in the backseat of a car on the SA Variety Bash.

Fast forward a year and I’ve written dozens of songs about South Australia now, had them played on FIVEAA, and done a history festival event with keithconlon1 to put a spotlight on some of them.

The 2026 bash is underway at the moment and at the last minute had to change its route because the inland outback roads were all flooded where they had originally planned to go, so they renamed this one the Pivot to Pirie.

Chair Darren Greatrex loves having a theme song to introduce him at his morning and evening briefings and I was happy to craft something for him that contains lots of in jokes to lift spirits and I’m told the very catchy refrain is being sung around the place.

I’m pretty sure Oscar Wilde would approve this rather unconventional addition to the suite of services we offer.

PS donations can still be made through Variety - the Children’s Charity SA at any time to support their great work.

- Steve Davis