We all know how quickly the world of marketing and social media moves, so when it comes to the latest trends, newest platforms etc, is it important to keep up or is it simply impossible? That's what Esther and Melanie discuss in this episode of the podcast. We can all find ourselves struggling to keep up with the latest trends or even unsure how to use them in your business, but have you ever considered starting your own?

Podcasting is a great way to get your message out and have your voice heard. The barriers to entry are low, so what's stopping you? In this episode, Esther and Melanie speak to fellow podcaster Aoife O'Brien about podcasting and more. Take a listen and let us know if you will start a podcast.

As you grow your business, you may be considering hiring a part-time or full-time member of staff. Or maybe you're considering firing a member of staff or simply parting company due to less work or a mutual agreement. Whatever the circumstances, Esther and Melanie discuss some of the things you need to consider before hiring, firing or letting go of staff.

In today’s episode the ladies discuss why you can’t have it all when it comes to marketing and design. Listen in to hear how you can get the best out of your budget and keep your expectations realistic as well.

In this episode we’re joined by Fabienne Fredrickson of boldheart.com. For 20+ years, Fabienne has powerfully mentored tens of thousands of women business owners to grow, then scale their businesses, earning them tens of millions collectively each year, while increasing their time off to enjoy lives they love. She drops many a golden nugget during the chat. Be sure to listen for how to get your free book also!

It’s important when you start out working with a new client that you manage their expectations of what it is that you will do, and also what they should do. Do you have your T&C on your website? Do you send you clients a quote or do they sign a contract? Having FAQs on your website can also help with the management of expectations before they even hire you. Melanie even lets people know when and how they can contact her - an idea that Esther will be stealing!

We know it’s hard to manage your finances at the minute due to the cost of living crisis (aka recession). However, Henry Ford once said: “Stopping advertising to save money is like stopping your watch to save time.” In this episode, Esther and Melanie discuss this quote and agree that stopping advertising to save money is false economy. Marketing and advertising isn’t just ads but can include your personnel costs, platform costs, and even your electricity bills!

Is it possible to be successful without growing a huge audience or being a social media superstar? What’s the best advice for making marketing more effective? How can you stand out when there’s so much noise and competition out there? This week’s guest Patty K has great insights on these and the other aspects they discuss in this episode.

So you’ve spent hours researching and writing a blog post or recording and editing a video for your content. You put it up and then what? Is that it? Just using it once? No! You can turn that one piece of content into so many more with just a few adjustments. In this episode Esther and Melanie give you some ideas of what to do and how to repurpose your content for different platforms.

Do you get confused by CPM, CRM, CMS and all the other abbreviations and jargon that’s thrown about on a daily basis by marketers? In this episode Esther and Melanie go through some of their favourites and explain a few that they get asked about regularly. Which are your favourites? Which ones still confuse you?

AJ Saunders talks to us today about how to 4x your e-commerce. Online sales is big business so it's important you stand out. Listen to these great tips from AJ and implement them into your e-commerce today.

Do you try to market to everyone? Are your products suitable for absolutely everyone? We hope you answer "no" to both these questions! Remember - you're not everyone's cup of tea or you'd be a mug!

Getting new clients is always an exciting and interesting time for a business, but knowing how to onboard them so everyone in the business knows what they will be doing is essential for longevity and upselling. Even if you're a solopreneur if you have these processes in place then if/when you expand, it will be easier for your employees to see what needs to be done and when.

A sense of humour is a good thing to have and if you can incorporate it into your marketing you will be able to relate better with your audience. In this episode, Esther and Melanie discuss the virtue of adding humour and not always being so corporate or straight talking in your marketing. How do you add your sense of humour to your online presence?

Do you have products to sell on your website? Shopify could be the way to do it. In this episode the ladies discuss different aspects of the Shopify platform with Michelle, team lead of support advisers at Shopify.

What would you consider to be the most underrated marketing skill these days? This is what the ladies are talking about in this episode and they have quite a list of ones they think everyone should have - which ones would you add to the list? And more importantly, which ones will you work on to improve your marketing?

Seasons in business don’t always change with the seasons of the year. Sometimes, they aren’t as predictable either. Today, Melanie explains how businesses can look back over past seasons and plan for future ones to avoid peaks and troughs (although sometimes they are inevitable). Listen in to hear some top advice and action plans for your business to follow.

In this episode, the ladies discuss packages with service offers expert Janine Coombes. How do you know what to add to your package? What price should your package be? So many questions and not enough time! Listen in to hear about Janine's 3Ps (not the ones you think!) and let us know how you’ll implement this information.

When you first start out in business, you are excited to get a new client because it means you’ll have income - but what happens when that client starts asking for things outside your remit, outside the terms of your contract, or generally doesn’t fit into your ideal customer category? How can you say no to what they ask you to do? How can you get over the fear of turning down work? This is what the dynamic duo discuss in this episode of the Monday Morning Marketing Podcast (this week released on Tuesday due to Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral as both hosts are British Citizens)

How do you sell products online? What goes into your marketing when you have consumer products? Does your ideal audience change over time? These are some of the many questions Esther and Melanie posed to Niamh Hogan on today’s episode. Listen in to find out more about Holos Skincare and how Niamh is now taking over the world!

What is UGC? How can you ask your users to contribute content of your brand that you can share? In this episode, the dynamic duo ask these questions for you.

Today the ladies talk about the fear of putting yourself in a box - pigeonholing so to speak - and only being known for one thing. Is it bad or good? Can you niche down too much?

Finola Howard of How Great Marketing Works talks to the ladies today about how small businesses can market like larger businesses, like IKEA.

If you got a million today to spend on your business, what would you spend it on? Today, the ladies discuss some of the things they’d love to invest in to grow their businesses. Do you agree with them? Would marketing be top of your list?

In this episode, Esther and Melanie talk to Xandrina Allday, Author of Dear Social Media Manager and award-winning International Social Media Speaker. Xandrina has spoken at industry leading social media conferences such as SocialDay and the International Social Media Summit. She is the Founder of Social Retreats, offering social media training and retreats and has been working across social media and marketing roles since 2015. She is currently leading the social media team and efforts for LabX Media Group brands.

In today’s episode the ladies test the newest feature to hit Twitter - Twitter Circle. They talk about the possibilities and the limitations it has - at the time of the recording not all accounts have access to the feature. Do you have access to it yet? Have you used it? Do you find it useful? We’d love to hear your opinions.

Fiona Walsh joins the ladies to discuss the benefits of using well designed PowerPoint to improve your webinars, presentations and to stand out from your competitors. Listen in for top tips and advice from Fiona, who coaches people on how to use PowerPoint well.

Esther talks us through 10 points relating to the psychology of marketing. Many of these you're probably already doing but might not even know are psychological tricks of the trade. Are they working for you or do you need to tweak them?

Right now many businesses are considering cutting back on their marketing spend because of the cost of living crisis and risk of recession. In this episode we discuss how cutting back on marketing made pizza more popular than burgers during a previous recession.

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is something you need to have in place by 1st July 2023, so why bother doing it now? Why not just wait until then? Our guest today explains what it is and why you should change over asap. He can also help you make the switch!

We can't always know what's around the corner, but we can have a plan in place just in case. Being prepared is good for business and for your sanity.

After the ladies discussed on-page SEO in Epidode 123, they're back to discuss off-page SEO in this episode. There's so much that goes into SEO that they could even do another episode, but they don't want to bore you.

In this episode we speak to Alexis about the need for a Social Media policy. It’s not just for large businesses!

Hacking and scamming on social media. We have noticed an increase in accounts being hacked on social media (namely Facebook and Instagram accounts) so we are talking in this episode about how to spot it and hopefully avoid it even happening to you.

In today's episode, the ladies talk with Alexandra Pedro who specialises in marketing film festivals. They talk about the different types of festivals, how covid affected the marketing plan and much more.

We all want to look our best, right? But can we look "too good"? When we share photos of ourselves online, we're all tempted to touch them up - remove the double chin, the fly away hairs etc. But when we take it to the extreme people may be left wondering who we are when we meet them face to face. The same could be said about our products. Are you guilty of this?

Now that a lot of restrictions have been lifted, it's time to get back out to face-to-face networking events, conferences, meetings etc. Listen as the dynamic duo discuss some of the events they've been to recently (Melanie more than Esther obviously) and which ones they're looking forward to attending. Which ones can you recommend they attend as well?

What is a competitor analysis, who should carry one out and how do you even go about it? These questions and more are answered in this episode by the dynamic duo of Esther Lawson and Melanie Boylan.

Are you struggling to attract people to your webinar? In episode 124 Melanie speaks with Sarah Gray about her business that helps do just that!

What is SEO? How can you improve your ranking on Google? Today the ladies discuss some important points you should consider when implementing your SEO strategy.

You won’t believe what the dynamic duo say about click bait in today’s episode! You won’t expect it at all! Seriously though, they discuss the pros and cons of using click bait as part of your marketing plan. Have you ever used it? Has it worked?

What is influencer marketing? How can you hire an influencer? How can you become an influencer? Today the ladies talk with Sinead Carroll from Blogger Agency all about this fascinating topic.

In today's episode, the dynamic duo discuss the differences and virtues between self-promotion and self-marketing. Listen in and let us know your opinions.

In today's episode, the ladies discuss The Triangle of Alignment but can't decide what type of triangle it is (they're marketers, not mathematicians after all!). The Triangle of Alignment is a great marketing tool that will come in handy for your campaigns, so ignore the part about equilaterals and pyramids and just focus on the main elements.

Too many businesses have been in hibernation since Covid hit. In today's episode, Esther is joined by 3 of the 4 organisers of the event "Kickstart Dublin" (including our very own Melanie Boylan) to discuss who should attend, what they will learn and much much more.

In today's episode, Esther and Melanie discuss imposter syndrome, faking it until you make it, and why you are the expert in your field and you shouldn't compare yourself to others.

Have you ever wondered what details to consider when building your customer avatar (aka customer persona)? In this episode, Esther and Melanie give you the full breakdown of things to think about, as well as some tips that work for them when they design content for their avatars. Be sure to let them know what works for you.

In today's episode, the ladies discuss how social media isn't free. Do you agree with them? What else would you add to the list?

Today we’re joined by Charlotte Foster, podcast producer from Charlotte Foster Podcasts, an agency that helps companies make branded podcasts and we’re talking about podcasting.

In today's episode Esther and Melanie discuss the various pros and cons of having a Facebook Group for your business. What would you add to the discussion?