Jim Banks
Podcast Host
Jim is the CEO of performance-based digital marketing agency Spades Media.
He is also the founder of Elite Media Buyers a 5000 person Facebook Group of Elite Media Buyers.
He is the host of the leading digital marketing podcast Digital Marketing Stories.
Jim is joined by great guests there are some great stories of success and solid life and business lessons.
March 5, 2025
Blueprint for Effective Networking and Business Growth
Melissa Snow is the founder of the Powerful Women Rising Community. In this episode of Digital Marketing Stories Melissa shares her journey from being a high school English teacher and personal injury paralegal to becoming an...
Feb. 28, 2025
Digital pioneers talk about the evolution of SEO
In this episode of Digital Marketing Stories with John McDougall, they discuss the changing landscape of digital marketing, the importance of content creation, and the challenges of working with difficult clients.
Some great anecdotes, stories and advice for aspiring digital marketers.
Feb. 26, 2025
Crafting Effective Strategies in Digital Marketing with Corey Morris
In this episode of Digital Marketing Stories, host Jim Banks chats with Corey Morris, a seasoned digital marketing professional with over 20 years of experience. Corey shares insights from his career journey, which began in 2...
Feb. 21, 2025
Ensuring Brand Consistency in the Digital Space
In this episode, Grace Clemens, founder of SGC Marketing, discusses her extensive experience in digital marketing, particularly focusing on audits for e-commerce, non-profits, and B2B companies.
Grace outlines the importance of branding alignment across all digital platforms, the significance o…
Feb. 19, 2025
Exploring the Impact of AI and Marketing Strategies with Benjamin Hoehn
The discussion touches on the complex business strategies and the evolution of AI.
Ben Hoehn is a fractional CMO with a personal brand named Mojo Mogul, explains his passion for working with early-stage startups and his unique approach to 'strategic-cution.'
The conversation delves deeply i…
Feb. 17, 2025
Digital Marketing and SEO in a Changing World: A Chat with Jesse Ringer
In this discussion, Jesse, the founder and CEO of Method & Metric, an SEO agency founded in 2017, shares his journey from consulting work post-2008 financial crisis to establishing a firm that specializes in technical SEO, content marketing, analytics, and conversion rate optimization.
Jesse ta…
Feb. 14, 2025
Ryan Jones on SEO, AI, and the Evolution of Digital Marketing
In this episode of Digital Marketing Stories, Jim Banks talks to Ryan Jones, who shares his SEO journey and introduces his new SEO tool SERPrecon.
From the creation and challenges of launching SERPrecon, to learning how search engines actually work.
Ryan discusses the transition from tradi…
Feb. 12, 2025
Navigating the Freelance Landscape in Paid Media with Sam Noble
In this episode of Digital Marketing Stories, host Jim Banks chats with Sam Noble about her journey and experiences in the digital marketing industry.
Sam shares insights from her transitional career, starting at a travel agency and moving through various roles in marketing, financial services,…
Feb. 5, 2025
How To Thrive After Starting A Business At Completely The Worst Time
Join us in this episode of "Digital Marketing Stories" as we chat with Drew Donaldson, founder of GroHaus, who shares his inspiring journey and practical insights into the world of digital marketing.
From the pros and cons of various advertising platforms to the impact of AI and expertise in ru…
Jan. 29, 2025
How Allen Kaplun Transformed a Side Hustle into a Cash Machine
From turning a side hustle into a thriving e-commerce business to navigating exponential growth, Allen’s journey is full of valuable lessons and actionable strategies.
🔑 Key Takeaways:
Exponential Growth Challenges:
Allen highlighted the difficulties of managing a business growing at 50% p…
Jan. 8, 2025
Secrets to Explosive Business Growth Revealed
Join us on this engaging episode of "Digital Marketing Strategies" as host Jim Banks sits down with digital marketing expert, John Lawson. Discover how John's fascination with technology took him from selling Elton John ticke...
Dec. 4, 2024
SEO, Brand Transition, and Financial Accountability in 2024
Today, we're joined by Kevin Gibbons, the founder of Re:signal, who shares his journey through the ups and downs of the search industry, from SEO consulting to handling major brand transitions. We'll dive into Kevin's experie...
Nov. 20, 2024
Lessons from Digital Marketing Career Missteps
Today, we're breaking new ground with not one, but three incredible guests - Taryn Stoddard, Kali Ashford, and Sara Malo. All trailblazers in their own right, they share their unique experiences and insights from navigating t...
Nov. 13, 2024
AI, Google's Impact, and the Future of SEO Conferences
In this episode, Jim sits down with none other than Brett Tabke, the founder and CEO of Pubcon, a legendary figure in the world of SEO and digital marketing. We take a trip down memory lane, revisiting how Jim and Brett first...
Oct. 16, 2024
Her Biggest Digital Marketing Fails
Big Click Co. - Search Engine Marketing - PPC Ads - Lisa Raehsler I have one small favour to ask, as you listen to the episode would you please follow the show on whichever platform you prefer to listen to podcasts on. If you...
Sept. 25, 2024
From Stress To Flexibility - How Sarah Stemen Did It
Welcome back to another episode of "Bad Decisions with Jim Banks." After a brief summer hiatus, we’re diving right back into the thick of things with an exceptional guest, Sarah Stemen. Sarah, a seasoned marketing expert who ...
Sept. 11, 2024
Affiliate Marketing Success - Lee-Ann Johnstone Shares Her Journey and Tips
I have one small favour to ask, as you listen to the episode would you please follow the show on whichever platform you prefer to listen to podcasts on. If you like video then I suggest YouTube or YouTube Music is your best c...
June 5, 2024
From Google to Optmyzr Navigating the Complex World of Ad Tech
In this episode of Bad Decisions with Jim Banks, we sit down with Fred Vallaeys, CEO of Optmyzr to explore the evolution of the advertising industry and the role of AI in shaping the future. Join us as we delve into Fred's fa...
May 29, 2024
Unveiling Google's Ad Secrets - Revealing the truth with Boris Beceric
In this episode of Bad Decisions with Jim Banks, Boris Beceric, a PPC consultant specialising in Google Ads, joins Jim to discuss the challenges and insights of Google Ads advertising strategies. We discuss the : - Subjectivi...
May 15, 2024
Exploring Bad Business Choices and SEO Insights with Ash Nallawalla
Today, we have an incredible story that traverses continents, careers, and the evolving digital age. Joining me is Ash Nallawalla, an SEO consultant with an extraordinary journey. From his humble beginnings in Bombay, India, ...
May 8, 2024
How One Huge Gamble on a Newsletter Ignited a Digital Empire
Today's guest, Emanuel Cinca, also known as Manu, joins us to share his unique journey from a struggling university student to a professional poker player, and finally to a successful digital marketing publisher. Manu pioneer...
May 1, 2024
From War to Web - A Journey of Survival and Influence
Anton Shulke is an inspiration. He is from Ukraine and when the war started everyone in the search community rushed to Facebook looking for the video that Anton posted of himself drinking a coffee. Since then he has moved on ...
April 24, 2024
Revealing Digital Marketing Missteps that Made Her a Star
Today, we're in for a special treat as we're joined by Purna Virji, a renowned PPC expert, author, consultant, and all-around guru in digital marketing. In today's episode, we're diving deep into the labyrinth of explaining d...
April 17, 2024
From SEO Missteps to PPC Triumphs - Navah Hopkins Unveils Her Bad Decisions
In this episode we dive into conversation with my guest, the PPC evangelist from Optmyzr, Navah Hopkins. Navah shares her wisdom on the industry’s pressing need for diversity, her own challenges on the speaking circuit, and t...
April 15, 2024
Unlucky For Some
A soul searching episode with a back story to the early 90's, some really bad decisions and how tossing a coin can help you arrive at the right decision. Short episode with some profound and personal content for you to listen...
April 10, 2024
Mistakes in Marketing Ashley Segura Confesses Biggest Content Marketing Blunders
This week's guest is Ashley Segura, the co-founder of Content Yum. We take a deep dive into content marketing, SEO, and the evolving role AI is playing today. Listen as we explore Ashley's new venture, Content Yum, and its hu...
April 8, 2024
Not My First Rodeo
It's been a tough few months since I launched the podcast. Partly because I was travelling and hadn't worked out how to keep the cadence of publishing going and also because just having podcast guests puts pressure on schedul...
April 3, 2024
Confessions of Digital Marketing Missteps with Dave Roth
In episode 10 Jim delves into the twists and turns of agency life, working in-house with 20 year digital marketing veteran Dave Roth and his bumpy journey as a digital marketer. Discover the high-stakes world of managing camp...
March 25, 2024
Leaving Money On The Table
Thought I would jazz things up a bit and add in an extra "episode" with a short aha moment or tip while we work on pulling together the guest interviews for Wednesdays. This particular aha moment is about the Amazon Associate...
March 13, 2024
How Missteps in SEO Catapulted His Career to New Heights
Today we're diving into the intersection of bad decisions, digital marketing, and the power of connections with the CEO of Be Found Online, Steve Krull. Steve's journey from exploiting a business's website weaknesses to becom...
Feb. 28, 2024
Reflections of a Podcaster 6 Episodes In
So, having interviewed 6 people and being away from my studio I thought I would try something different for this weeks episode of Bad Decisions with Jim Banks. I thought it would be good to walk and talk, so listen to me walk...
Feb. 21, 2024
Unlock Success - Tim Ash Reveals his Biggest Blunders in Digital Marketing
This is episode number 6, and joining me today is my old friend and insightful thinker, Tim Ash. Tim is well-known for his pioneering work in digital marketing, particularly in conversion rate optimization. But lately, he's t...
Feb. 14, 2024
Mistakes to Millions, Alita's Guide to Transforming Marketing Mishaps into Major Wins
Welcome back to another episode of "Bad Decisions with Jim Banks" – the podcast where we delve into the minds of digital marketing leaders making waves and learn from their experiences and, occasionally, their bad decisions. ...
Jan. 31, 2024
Surviving the E-Commerce Rollercoaster - Tales from the Costume Business
In this episode, we have a lively discussion with Nathan Huppatz, an experienced professional in the digital marketing and e-commerce space. Join us as we delve into Nathan's journey, from his early fascination with the Inter...
Jan. 10, 2024
From Avocado Overload to Legal Blender Battles, The Perishable Puzzles of DTC
Today, we're going to unpack a whole spectrum of topics with Vin. Brace yourselves for insights on new ventures, chat about the weighty role of high-quality content in marketing, and touch upon the use of AI tools, like Conte...
Jan. 3, 2024
How a Billion-Pageview Dream Survived Digital Marketing Disasters
Welcome back to another episode of "Bad Decisions with Jim Banks". Today, in episode two, we have an exceptional guest, Jason Barnard, also known as the Brand SERPs Guy and easily recognizable in his signature red shirt. I'm ...
Dec. 27, 2023
Unleashed Potential, How Getting Laid Off Catapulted Jon Loomer to Digital Marketing Stardom
Welcome to the first episode of "Bad Decisions with Jim Banks," where we dive into the serendipitous journeys of brilliant minds in business and marketing, and learn from the good, the bad, and the sometimes lucky twists of f...