Most business owners only think about AI as a way to make more content, faster. The question Mike Montague keeps asking is whether that content is actually doing anything — or just adding to the noise.

In this episode of Marketing & AI for SMEs, Jeremy Yang talks with Mike Montague, a 25-year marketing veteran, LinkedIn-published author, and host of the Human First AI Marketing podcast.

They cover why AI-generated content is a weaker version of real user stories, how the spam problem Mike wrote about for LinkedIn years ago is now repeating itself with AI at scale, why viral content is closer to hitting the lottery than a real growth strategy, and how Mike's "scalable storytelling" approach collects real stories from clients and uses AI for distribution rather than creation.

Marketing & AI for SMEs is hosted by Jeremy Yang, founder of Australian digital ads agency Digital Goliath. Each episode brings on a specialist to share practical thinking for small and medium business owners. If you're trying to work out how to use AI in your marketing without burning your audience's trust, this one's for you.

Watch on YouTube on The Online Ads Guy channel: https://www.youtube.com/@onlineadsguy

Learn more about Mike Montague and Avenue9
Website: https://avenue9.com/mike-montague/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikedmontague

Learn more about Jeremy Yang and Digital Goliath
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremy-yang/
Website: https://digitalgoliath.com.au/

What does it actually take to be seen as a thought leader? Vince Warnock ran the research — two firms, neuroscientists, the lot — and found 13 things that change how people perceive you. Being a published author came out number one, by a long way.

In this episode, Vince breaks down the 7 primary pillars, why the research surprised even him, and how his publishing company helps neurodivergent entrepreneurs write books they were told they'd never be able to write.

He also gets into ADHD and 10-Brain Theory, the self-doubt trap that keeps most entrepreneurs stuck, and the three barriers that stop people from ever starting their book.

If you've thought about writing a book or building authority in your industry — and talked yourself out of it — this one's worth a listen.

Connect with Vince:
Website: https://chasingtheinsights.com/
LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/vdub01
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chasingtheinsights/?hl=en
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vdub01/

Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/chasing-the-insights/id1528241477
Book: https://www.amazon.com/Chasing-Insights-Practical-Experimental-Marketing/dp/1075680530

If you run a small business, you are probably being told you need to be everywhere AI is right now. Get ranked in ChatGPT. Show up in Google's AI overviews. Chase the new thing before your competitors do. It is a lot of noise, and most of it ends with you spending money on something that keeps changing under you.

In this episode, Stephan Bajaio explains why he calls chasing LLM rankings fool's gold, and what to do instead. Stephan spent 25 years in SEO, co-founded the enterprise platform Conductor, and now runs the agency VibeLogic.

He covers why your own content is the one thing you can actually control, why he treats PPC like day trading and SEO like superannuation, the silo problem that quietly wrecks marketing teams, and how to map where your buyers actually form opinions before they ever land on your site.

Your host is Jeremy Yang, founder of Australian digital ads agency Digital Goliath. Each week Jeremy talks with operators and specialists about what actually works for small businesses running paid ads.

You can also watch the full episodes on YouTube on The Online Ads Guy channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUF9WIw9fArHg7gxBmCwQiw/

Learn more about Stephan Bajaio and VibeLogic

Website: https://stephanbajaio.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanbajaio

Agency: https://vibelogic.com/

Learn more about Jeremy Yang and Digital Goliath

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremy-yang/

Website: https://digitalgoliath.com.au/

When you're running a small business, storytelling can feel like a luxury you'll get to once the sales are sorted. But the businesses that last tend to build trust long before they ever ask for the sale.

In this episode of Marketing & AI for SMEs, Jeremy Yang talks with Linsey Houston of Storytellers Australia about where storytelling actually fits for a small business.

They get into the difference between brand building and sales activation, the 60/40 split between the two, why early-stage owners should at least document what they're doing, brand equity as an asset you build over time, and why AI makes original storytelling more valuable for standing out.

Marketing & AI for SMEs is hosted by Jeremy Yang, founder of Australian digital ads agency Digital Goliath. Each episode brings on a specialist to share practical thinking for small and medium business owners. If you're working out where branding and storytelling sit next to your paid ads, this one's for you.

You can also watch the full episodes on YouTube on The Online Ads Guy channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUF9WIw9fArHg7gxBmCwQiw/

Learn more about Linsey Houston and Storytellers Australia

Website: https://storytellersaustralia.au/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/linseyhouston

Her podcast, Always Be Connecting: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/always-be-connecting/id1722383363

Learn more about Jeremy Yang and Digital Goliath

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremy-yang/

Website: https://digitalgoliath.com.au/

If your website has analytics set up but you've never really known what to do with the data, you're not alone. Most business owners are either ignoring it entirely or looking at the wrong numbers.

Philippa Gamse is a web analytics expert with over 20 years in the field and the author of "Website Wealth: A Business Leader's Guide to Driving Real Value from Your Analytics."

On this episode of Marketing & AI for SMEs with Jeremy Yang, founder of Australian digital ads agency Digital Goliath, she covers what your GA4 data is actually telling you, why bounce rate is the wrong thing to focus on, how to segment your analytics so you're only looking at the visitors who matter, and where AI still falls short when it comes to interpreting your reporting.

Good for anyone who runs a business with a website and wants to make better decisions from the data they already have.

Learn more about Philippa:

Book: https://websitesthatwin.com/website-wealth-virtual-book/

Website: https://websitesthatwin.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philippagamse/

Learn more about Jeremy Yang and Digital Goliath:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremy-yang/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/digital_goliath_marketing/

Website: https://digitalgoliath.com.au/

Services: https://digitalgoliath.com.au/marketing-ads-services/

A lot of tradies have been burned by marketing agencies. Bad SEO promises, no results, money gone. So when someone new pitches them, the wall goes up fast. Wes Towers knows this, and it's shaped how he works.

Wes is the founder of Uplift360, a full-stack digital marketing agency specialising in websites, SEO, and online presence for trades, construction, and building materials businesses.

On this episode of Marketing and AI for SMEs with Jeremy Yang, founder of Australian digital ads agency Digital Goliath, Wes covers why niching into one industry was the best business decision he made, how he sets honest expectations with clients about SEO vs. ads and what each can realistically deliver, how website content still matters even as AI reduces direct traffic, and what tradies can do right now to get ahead of competitors who aren't moving.

Worth a listen if you're in the trades or construction space, or if you're a marketer trying to figure out how to earn trust in a sceptical market.

Learn more about Wes:

Website: https://uplift360.com.au
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/westowers/

Learn more about Jeremy Yang and Digital Goliath:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremy-yang/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/digital_goliath_marketing/

Website: https://digitalgoliath.com.au/

Services: https://digitalgoliath.com.au/marketing-ads-services/

Most SMEs know they should be using AI. The problem is working out where to actually start without buying new software, hiring a consultant, or blowing the budget on something that doesn't stick.

Janey Treleaven is the CEO of Intelligence Assist, and she works with small and medium businesses on practical AI adoption.

On this episode of Marketing & AI for SMEs with Jeremy Yang, founder of Australian digital ads agency Digital Goliath, she covers why the Microsoft vs. Google decision is where AI adoption has to start, how to choose a core AI tool based on capabilities, security, and knowledge access, why 70% of a business's knowledge is already sitting in emails and drives rather than the CRM, and what guardrails and grounding actually mean in plain English.

Janey also shares her 5-80-15 framework for AI maturity, when agentic AI is worth pursuing, and why the people using AI badly are at more risk than those who haven't started yet.

If you run or work in an SME and want a practical, no-new-software framework for getting AI working in your business, this one's worth your time.

Learn more about Janey Treleaven:

Website: https://www.intelligenceassist.com.au/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janey-treleaven/

Learn more about Jeremy Yang and Digital Goliath:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremy-yang/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/digital_goliath_marketing/

Website: https://digitalgoliath.com.au/

Services: https://digitalgoliath.com.au/marketing-ads-services/

On this episode of Marketing & AI for SMEs, Jeremy Yang from Australian paid advertising agency Digital Goliath talks with Chris Melotti, founder of Melotti Content Media and a 25-year marketing veteran. Chris explains why strategy has to come before tactics, what sufficiency bias does to your marketing when you lean on AI, and how the industry has changed from the Mad Men era to today.

The conversation covers Chris's approach to brand positioning and getting your brand out of your head and onto a page, why a strategy session is non-negotiable before any execution, how to spot the "used to be good" syndrome in agencies, the human-AI-human sandwich Chris uses to teach AI scrutiny, and practical advice for new marketers trying to break into the industry.

If you run a small business, work in marketing, or you're trying to use AI without watering down your brand, this one's worth a watch.

👍 Subscribe to The Online Ads Guy
--------------------------------------------------

⏰ Timecodes ⏰
0:00 Intro
1:30 Chris's $400 to $600 strategy sessions
3:00 Marketing in the Mad Men era and the Snickers ad
9:00 Why strategy and brand foundations come before execution
13:00 What to do when a business has no clear goals
15:30 Winning back clients who've been burned by other agencies
21:00 Why marketing is your whole business, not a department
24:00 Sufficiency bias and the "I can do it myself with AI" trap
28:30 Advice for graduates breaking into marketing
32:30 The human-AI-human sandwich for AI scrutiny
35:00 The "used to be good" syndrome in agencies
37:00 How to find Chris

--------------------------------------------------
About Chris Melotti and Melotti Content media
Website ➡️ https://www.melottimedia.com.au/
Personal site ➡️ https://christophermelotti.com.au/
LinkedIn ➡️ https://www.linkedin.com/in/christophermelotti/
Instagram ➡️ https://www.instagram.com/melotticontentmedia/

--------------------------------------------------
Learn more about Jeremy Yang on LinkedIn ➡️ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremy-yang/

Listen to our podcast, Marketing & AI for SMEs ➡️ https://pod.link/aHR0cHM6Ly9hcGkucml2ZXJzaWRlLmNvbS9ob3N0aW5nL2RmaGQ4QlltLnJzcw

--------------------------------------------------
Connect with Digital Goliath on Instagram ➡️ https://www.instagram.com/digital_goliath_marketing/
--------------------------------------------------
Resources
Expert Perspectives ➡️ https://digitalgoliath.com.au/expert-perspectives/
How-To Guides ➡️ https://digitalgoliath.com.au/how-to-guides/
Results ➡️ https://digitalgoliath.com.au/results/