Talked About Marketing

05/08/2026

Okay, this is over the top but using 2FA (two factor authentication) is a pain in the butt that is much much much less painful that letting crooks into your emails, computer, etc.

29/07/2026

If you did my AI Ready workshop at the Stretton Centre last week, your ears might be burning. You get mentioned!

In the latest episode of the Talking About Marketing podcast, David Olney and I do a deep dive on Pete Blackshaw's forthcoming book, The Answer Economy, and it's one of those themes we all need to take seriously and act upon, now. Not later. Now.

The Answer Economy reveals why vague marketing claims no longer work now AI tools answer our questions for us.

27/07/2026

AusAlert is about to rattle our phones, but could there be a marketing insight in this? Steve says yes. And he’s kept it short! ausalert

21/07/2026

POP QUIZ: If you came to the Stretton Centre today, in which room would you expect to find Steve Davis?

20/07/2026

Two Spots Left

Tomorrow, if you can get to the Stretton Centre in Munno Para, I am delivering a small, intimate workshop on understanding AI's impact on how our websites are turning up (or not) in new search, and what fundamental and pragmatic uses you can put AI tools to, for your business.

It's not a hype show. It will be an important mindset shift.

It's $30, including lunch, from 10am to 2pm. Details here - there are two spots left: AI-ready: The small business guide to being the answer

Steve

Feeling like AI is moving faster than your business can keep up? You’re not alone—but the good news is, you don’t need to be a tech expert to start using it!

17/07/2026

Steve asked David the question every business owner dreads: what do you do when the pitchforks show up at your gate, when something you said gets twisted and a crowd turns angry over a misunderstanding. David's answer is a genuine field-tested rule: work out first whether the mob wants to listen at all. If it does not, the better move is often silence, staying off the platform for a couple of days and letting the moment pass rather than replying. Steve adds that outrage online tends to have a short memory, which is exactly why waiting it out works more often than businesses expect.

16/07/2026

David keeps coming back to one line whenever the conversation turns to social media strategy: your audience is a hero who needs a guide, not another voice shouting for attention. Steve calls it sticking to your knitting, and David runs with it: post the work you are proud of, tell the stories of the people who value what you do, and let the likes fall where they fall. The temptation to weigh in on every tribal argument online comes from a very human need to belong, and it gets confused with the separate need to stay relevant to the people a business can actually help. David's line draws a clear boundary around that confusion: a business account exists to reach the customer who needs help, and every post should earn its place against that single measure.

14/07/2026

Steve read Ed Koper's *Angertainment* earlier this year and found a working map of how social media manufactures outrage. David connects it to Jonathan Haidt's research from a decade earlier, now fully wired into how every platform runs. The real cost for a business owner is the headspace these posts steal from the work of actually running a business. Steve compares staying present online to scuba diving, needing your own air supply to swim anywhere near the sharks. Recognising the mechanics behind a post before reacting to it is the first step toward getting that breathing space back.