**Please note: Apologies, sound quality is poor half-way through this show**

This is the missing episode in which we discuss the CRM systems we have looked at using over the years.

There are 7 in total:

This episode was inspired by a recent blog post by Seth Godin, “Every marketing challenge revolves around these questions”.

Seth is a prolific blogger, has written many books and is a sought after at talking events for his insights and observations. He publishes a blog post daily, some as short as a sentence, but nevertheless powerful and thought provoking.

A lot of the time Seth takes the everyday, simplifies it and just makes you think. Which is exactly what happened in this case.

He raises 7 questions about marketing, most of which are obvious. Still many of which remain unanswered in most companies.

We dissect Seth’s post and hopefully you should get some value from our discussion.

Often talked about, mostly misunderstood and rarely implemented. A CRM or Customer Relationship Management system can be one of the most important tools for a growing business to implement.

Before you implement a CRM though it is necessary to understand what you want to do with it and what you want to get out of it. Far too many companies integrate overly complex CRM solutions, at a cost, that is totally unnecessary for their business requirements.

Yet, when implemented well they can provide valuable insight into the sales and customer service operation of your business.

They can also deliver fantastic returns on investment that help your business grow and expand as you understand more about your prospect and customer base. In an online environment they provide even more rich data and insight about your customers.

Listen in to the show as we discuss CRM systems in more detail.

In this episode of the Small Business Marketing Report we discuss the use of pop ups to increase newsletter sign ups and downloads.

For some these are an annoying fact of the modern web and get in the way of the user journey. For others they are a valuable contributor to increased conversion rates.

We discuss the pros and cons, with a mix of research to help you make your mind up.

In addition we provide some suggestions for the more popular pop up applications available online.

Episode 61 of The Small Business Marketing Report Podcast.

The third and final episode of a 3 part series on the Google AdWords platform. In the first episode we assessed whether AdWords was right for your business. In the second episode we got you started in setting up your first campaign.

In this final episode we look at structuring, launching and managing your AdWords campaign.

Episode 60 of The Small Business Marketing Report Podcast.

The second of a 3 part series on the Google’s AdWords platform, in this episode we introduce you to setting up your first campaign.

Episode 59 of The Small Business Marketing Report Podcast

In the first of a 3 part series on Google’s AdWords platform we discuss whether AdWords can work for any business.

A website’s bounce rate is often comes up in discussion, but do you know what it really is? If it matters? Or what impact it may have on the performance of your website and ultimately your business.

In this week’s episode we take a detailed look at bounce rate, answering some of these questions, and providing ideas of what you can do to turn your bounce rate around.

On the show this week we discuss some of the podcast shows we listen to and why they are our favourite picks. They are also listed below should you wish to subscribe to them.

We listen to podcasts quite a bit as it gives us access to information that you can’t normally get in mainstream media. It is also a very effective use of commuting time.

Sean’s Podcast Picks

Robert’s Podcast Picks

Sean interviews Marc Stigter co-author of the book Solving the Strategy Delusion.

Marc Stigter is an international strategist who works with organisations on unlocking deep insights and realising distinctive strategies. His own insights have been gained as a global practitioner at executive level, as a research academic at doctoral level, and as a strategy advisor at organisational level. 

Marc is an Honorary Senior Fellow at the University of Melbourne's Graduate School of Business and Economics, and an Associate Director at Melbourne Business School. He has held executive positions with blue-chip companies around the world.

Almost all organisations these days claim to have a 'strategy' - it would hardly be fashionable to not have one! But how many of these strategies are delusional, destroy value and organisations? 

This is part of the discussion Sean has with Marc in this episode.