Marketing School | Digital Marketing | Online Marketing

In episode #581, Eric and Neil explain how you can beat your established, monied competition. Tune in to hear steps you can take to beat your competitors at their own game! TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today’s Topic: How You Can Beat Your Competition When They Have More Money and Have Been in Business Longer [00:36] Neil gives away stuff for a cheaper price. [00:49] You can always undercut your competitors by offering the same thing for less. [01:16] Use the newest and greatest tech, because the competitors are probably using old, archaic technology. [01:26] Neil is going to do this to compete with Moz. Moz charges $99/month for their SEO tool, so he’s going to offer his SEO tool for FREE. [01:44] He can do what their doing for under $10,000. [02:01] These other companies have boards, executive teams, etc. While Neil can make decisions and act more quickly, because he doesn’t have to have all these groups weigh in. [02:16] Go where the competitors aren’t going. [02:25] These other agencies are

In episode #580, Eric and Neil discuss what you must know about Amazon advertising before anyone else. Tune in to hear how you can leverage Amazon Advertising for your business. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today’s Topic: What You Ought to Know About Amazon Advertising Before Everyone Else [00:35] Eric read a report that stated Amazon did $60 Billion in ad revenue and grew by possibly 60%. [01:12] Neil believes the stats are that Amazon ad revenue could reach $4.5 billion in 2018. [01:29] Eric and Neil suggest you start getting into the Amazon ad revenue game. [02:01] If you are doing America-based advertising, it’s time to pay attention. [02:09] Amazon Echo presents an advertising opportunity. [02:30] The profit margins on advertising are huge. [02:44] In another five to ten years, they may have wiped out brick and mortar retailers. [03:02] There are a lot more areas of advertising when you consider options with Amazon. [03:30] Make sure you jump on board, play with the advertising, and fin

In episode #579, Eric and Neil explain how you can create great content when you suck at writing. Tune in to hear great tips on creating killer content with less-than-stellar writing skills. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today’s Topic: How You Can Leverage Content Marketing When You Suck at Writing [00:45] Just because you’re not good at writing, it’s ok! Everyone starts somewhere. [01:04] Think about your strong suit (what Eric calls your “content foundation”) and build out from there. [01:15] If Eric and Neil didn’t like writing, they could have just started with this podcast. [01:25] They have the podcast transcribed by Rev and they also get shownotes written by Podcast Motor; this means that things are being written without them having to write a single word. [01:46] Go to Jobs.problogger.net and hire a writer. [02:12] Use short and to the point paragraphs; this makes it easier to skim. [02:27] Use subheadings in your posts. [02:32] You need to have an intro with a hook. [02:55] A strong h

In episode #578, Eric and Neil talk about more affordable marketing avenues. Tune in to hear how you can spend less money marketing your business.  TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today’s Topic: How You Can Discover Affordable Marketing Channels That Have Huge Potential [00:40] It’s important to figure out who your target audience is and where they “hang out”. [00:58] Similar Web is a great way to see where your audience is. Alexa is another great option for this. [01:30] It’s important to see how people are using things. [01:45] The easiest marketing channels tend to get crowded fast, which causes cost to go up. [02:00] Similar Web will also tell you about email lists. [02:38] Neil likes to hit up websites directly. [03:14] Most people in the marketing world are doing online transactions, which means face-to-face meetings carry more weight. [03:54] Podcasting is underpriced attention. [04:05] Podcast advertising is affordable based on metrics Eric and Neil have used. [04:24] What’s old someti

In episode #577, Eric and Neil talk about when you should give up on marketing. Tune in to hear if, how, and when you need to call it quits. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today’s Topic: How Long Should You Spend on Marketing Before You Give Up? [00:41] Neil gives up on tactics, instead of marketing as a whole. [01:00] He’ll try out five to ten tactics and keep whatever works. [01:20] In many cases, if you don’t experiment, you will just spin your wheels. [01:50] Eric was hanging out with the Zapier CEO and they agreed it is difficult to hand off marketing. [02:45] There are constantly new tactics, so you need to incorporate those into your workload. [03:15] Keep trying to improve all the time and integrate new techniques into your workflow. [03:35] You won’t see traction with SEO within the first six months. [04:00] Ahrefs will help you track your impressions and any traction you’re getting. [04:40] Be patient when working with long-term solutions. [04:45] With paid advertising, you need to m

In episode #576, Eric and Neil explain how you can get away with charging more and still be successful. Tune in to hear what “niching down” is and why it can help your business.  TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:  [00:27] Today’s Topic: How You Can Steal Business Away From Your Competition - While Charging More Money [00:38] Niche down! [00:51] Make your business really specific (ex. a Facebook ad agency that specializes in working with educational companies). [01:08] You can charge more because you’re niching down and have specialized skills. [01:37] Campaign Monitor set out to be email marketing for designers. Niching down allowed them to make money and gain success, because they kept the job specific. [02:38] Drip just rebranded to be e-mail marketing for e-commerce. [03:07] Look at your “dream one hundred” and reach out to them and do a free analysis. [03:28] When you tailor your messaging to target a specific group, it will be easier for you to make things happen. [03:50] Apple started with a single c

In episode #575, Eric and Neil discuss the secret that Google doesn’t want you to know. Tune in to hear how branding and industry niches play a part. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today’s Topic: Something Google Doesn't Want You to Know [00:36] Google is emphasizing brands right now. [00:52] The most popular brands within a niche will be the top results. [01:20] If you focus on building a brand, you will do better in the long run. [01:41] Neil noticed that by leveraging branding, his ranking skyrocketed. [02:00] He took a lot of the currently popular models and had them hold up signs that said, “Who is Neil Patel?” [02:09] This caused people to increase searches for Neil. [02:23] He ranked high for online marketing after that. [02:55] Warren Buffett talks about building a moat (something to protect your business). [03:21] The new moat is building a brand. [04:22] By dominating the brand within your niche, you are guaranteed to do well. [05:03] By leveraging marketing channels with your brand

In episode #574, Eric and Neil explain what makes content addictive. Tune in to hear specific ways you can create addictive content.  TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:  [00:27] Today’s Topic: How You Can Make Your Content Addictive [00:52] Eric tends to follow long-form case studies. [01:10] He likes reports, custom data, and short videos. [01:28] Eric prefers Alex Becker’s content, because his videos are concise. [01:42] Neil thinks evergreen content is addictive. It should have these factors: entertaining, educational, or actionable. [02:06] Some visual aspect is always helpful. [02:18] The “How a Car Engine Works” animagraffs is a great example. [03:12] Brian Dean has a great SEO blog and Eric always reads his content, because there is always a unique spin. [03:48] Bucket brigade: a format where each paragraph is two to three sentences max. [04:15] Brian Dean attracts a lot of social sharing because of his great posts. [04:35] Neil finds that people like text and images in one post. [04:56] He is con

In episode #573, Eric and Neil explain why you can’t count on standardized techniques to grow your business. Tune in to hear why success is a numbers game.  TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today’s Topic: The One Thing That No Marketer Is Going to Tell You [00:35] The best tactics are not what's in marketers’ podcasts and blogs. [01:10] Marketers will not share their number one “thing”. [01:40] Marketers won’t necessarily know how to grow your business; their tactics will be standardized. [02:19] Facebook was naturally awesome, your product may not be that good. [02:30] Even the best marketers may not know how to solve your growth issues. [02:50] It’s all experimentation and it’s a numbers game. [03:37] Marketers will steal each other’s tactics and try to use them, even though they may not work for their specific problem. [04:08] Make sure you have a system of process to follow when experimenting. [04:29] Don’t expect the world from marketers: what worked in the past, won’t work today; what worke

In episode #572, Eric and Neil explain ways that you can easily make 6 figures as a marketer. Tune in to hear how to prove yourself to be a valuable asset. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:  [00:27] Today’s Topic: The Simplest Way to Make 6 Figures as a Marketer [00:37] Go work for someone! [00:56] Working for someone was educational and lucrative for Eric. [01:45] Don’t switch jobs too frequently, because you will be seen as a job hopper. [02:10] However, switching companies can be more lucrative (raises, better benefits). [02:28] The easiest way to make 6 figures is to do a tear-down of a website. [02:52] Break down in Google Docs or Word where they can improve and how to fix it. [03:20] Email the document to the founder and CEO in separate chains. [04:29] There’s a good chance they will find you valuable and pay you just to solve the problems you outlined. [04:55] Eric used this method and emailed the CEO of Zynga. [05:19] It doesn’t matter if you’ve been marketing for 20 years or 1 year, identifying

In episode #571, Eric and Neil explain why it may be worth paying to join a Mastermind group. Tune in to hear if joining a Mastermind is right for you and how you can get the most out of the membership.  TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today’s Topic: Is It Worth It to Pay $20K for a Mastermind? [00:35] There are many Masterminds out there. [01:30] In the last episode, we talked about investing in yourself and attending these events is also investing in yourself. [01:51] Neil doesn’t attend these events anymore. [02:03] He has built up a great circle over the years and doesn’t necessarily need to go to Masterminds anymore. [02:28] Eric built a custom Mastermind, where they would have dinner and talk about business. [02:39] If you want to figure out how to set up your own Mastermind, Google “Mastermind Talks” or “Mastermind Dinners”. [02:47] Eric considers his Entrepreneur’s Organization to be a Mastermind group. [03:05] Creating this group has been the best decision he’s ever made. [03:37] Neil n

In episode #570, Eric and Neil discuss how the rich get richer. Tune in to hear in which businesses you should be investing in. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today’s Topic: How the Rich Get Richer [00:37] The way Neil makes more money is that he “invests in what he knows”. [00:53] He invests in his business and its marketing. [01:08] If you invest in yourself, you’ll get the highest ROI. [01:15] Neil has lost the most money investing in things he didn’t really understand. [01:48] Warren Buffett says the best investment you can make is in yourself. [01:55] There are two ways to invest in yourself: knowledge and your business. [02:15] When you invest in yourself, no one can take that away from you. [02:59] Once you build a business, you’re able to see your goals more clearly and see that you should invest in yourself. [03:50] Neil was doing a wire transfer the other day and the banker tried to pitch him on investments. [04:20] The perfect response to this kind of pitch is to tell them you don’t

In episode #569, Eric and Neil explain different ways that you can market your business to the wealthy. Tune in to hear tips on gaining traction with wealthy business people. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today’s Topic: How to Market to the Wealthy [00:35] Any kind of podcast can be marketing to the wealthy. [00:40] At least 15% of people who listen to this podcast make over six figures a year and listen to four or five hours of podcasts in general. [01:06] You can either create your own podcast or advertise during one. [01:20] Using Frank Kern’s method: Create a letter where you ask for five minutes of someone’s time and then send an envelope full of cash. [01:40] Tell them they can keep the money even if they don’t give you the five minutes. [02:18] Eric looked into attended/speaking at TED or Summit. [02:30] Some of the highest quality of people are at these large conferences. [02:50] Basic approaches also work: go on interviews, go on podcasts, reach out to bloggers with large audiences. [

In episode #568, Eric and Neil talk about the difficulty of inbound marketing. Tune in to hear why inbound marketing isn’t an exact science and how you can use it to your advantage. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today’s Topic: How You Are Doing Inbound Marketing All Wrong [00:34] Eric recently lost a deal to a content marketing agency. [00:47] The other agency was promoting processes and the execution plan was to create 500-600 word blog posts once per month. [01:04] Eric believes this was a weak approach, as 500-600 words is brief and you must provide quality overall. [01:44] Inbound marketing is not an exact science. [02:00] Generally, the formula for this unpredictable aspect of marketing is: you put in X and get back ? [02:33] In the long run you can make it more predictable. [03:00] Content marketing is building a lot of goodwill over time and you’re not trying to see an ROI immediately. [03:35] Being omnipresent, running ads, building out a funnel is all part of inbound marketing. If you’

In episode #567, Eric and Neil discuss the new Facebook algorithm and how it will affect your marketing strategy. Tune in to hear how you can still be seen after the algorithm shift.  TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today’s Topic: What Facebook's New Algorithm Update Means for Marketers in Early 2018 [00:36] Mark Zuckerberg recently announced a new algorithm that is supposedly about connecting people. [01:00] Facebook makes money off of advertising. [01:11] Your ads will have a tough time showing up organically, so get ready to spend money. [01:30] Historically, they have updated their algorithm for years, but this always increased their ad revenue.   [02:01] Neil has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to “buy fans”. [02:17] Every time Facebook updates its algorithm, it will be harder and harder for you to gain traction with your ads. [02:25] Don’t buy fans, instead spend the money to drive traffic to blog posts and websites. [04:00] Neil spent money on something that didn’t help his b

In episode #566, Eric and Neil talk about the new Facebook Analytics tool. Tune in to hear why and how you should be using it. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today’s Topic: How You Can Use the New Facebook Analytics [00:50] In the recent months, Facebook has added the ability to look at funnels. [01:23] Now, you have the ability to check on funnels through a dashboard. [01:37] Amplitude is a great tool in conjunction with Facebook ads. [01:55] Neil feels that the data is still really off. [02:20] Even when you’re looking at conversions in Google Analytics, the numbers are always higher. [02:40] You have to be able to cross-reference your data (either internally or externally). [03:00] It’s free and in your best interest to look at Facebook analytics even if the numbers are a little off. [03:12] Think of touch-points, as well; think of this as a way to get more insights from your Facebook marketing efforts. [04:00] You need to track email as well as revenue. [04:13] That’s it for today! [04:1

In episode #565, Eric and Neil explain how to deal with burnout. Tune in to hear some tips on what to do if you reach your breaking point when it comes to content creation and still be successful. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today’s Topic: How to Deal with Content Burnout [00:45] The people that succeed are very consistent. [01:18] If it ties in with your goals, you just have to power through it. [01:35] Once you get past the breaking point, you get a second wind. [02:02] When you’re burnt out, the quality of your content decreases. [02:18] Take a break instead of producing content when you’re burnt out. [02:50] Neil doesn’t take vacations. [03:00] Eric worked two to three hours per day on vacation. [03:30] When they were cranking through topics really quickly, they lost podcast listeners. They went back to the drawing board, refocused, and are now gaining listeners. [04:16] Eric and Neil both create content in advance, so they can have breaks. [05:00] That’s it for today! [05:02] Go to Si

In episode #564, Eric and Neil discuss ways you can scale your ads without decreasing your ROI. Tune in to hear simple ways you can increase your conversion rate and make more money.  TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:  [00:27] Today’s Topic: How to Make Your Ads Scale Without Decreasing Your ROI [00:40] Make sure that you’re running your ads to one post ID on Facebook. [01:08] Leverage more than one channel. [01:38] When you run all the paid channels at one time, your ROI goes through the roof because people are seeing you everywhere. [02:05] Look at your funnel through a full funnel attribution standpoint. Use Wicked Reports. [02:49] Run a ton of A/B tests. [03:19] If you run A/B tests, you can start generating more sales. [03:28] Have upsells and downsells. [03:50] Continually try to offer clients more services. [04:12] Eric helped a client with strategy, but also upsold him and added more value. [04:51] Neil loves ClickFunnels to help scale up ads. [05:35] Russell Brunson talks about three highest

In episode #563, Eric and Neil lay out what they do with their blog posts and how it helps them succeed. Tune in to hear some great blogging tips!  TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today’s Topic: The Bare Minimum You Should Do With Every Blog Post You Publish [00:38] Neil thinks he’s published 6,000-7,000 blog posts. [00:57] Neil always has a simple checklist for writing blog posts. [01:12] When using BuzzSumo, you need to look at what has worked in the last year. [01:33] Go after social traffic and search traffic (SEMrush). [01:52] Come up with better headlines, outline the post, then complete it. [02:11] Go above and beyond and be super thorough. [02:21] Add custom images from stock photos or graphs. [02:31] Email everyone you link out to in your post. [03:00] Reach out to everyone who shared similar articles and direct them to your article. [03:38] Take the article and put it into Ahrefs and see who links to it. [04:05] Eric’s strategy: automate the process of sharing to your social channels

In episode #562, Eric and Neil discuss why you should probably not buy an expensive home. Tune in to hear on what you should actually be spending your money on. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today’s Topic: Should You Ever Buy a Multimillion Dollar Home? [00:34] The home Eric just sold was worth close to a million. [00:43] Neil has lived in some big homes. [00:55] Neil had an expensive condo on the Las Vegas Strip because the builder was selling them for less than their value. [01:20] Neil doesn’t think homes are valuable and a waste of money. [01:34] Neil’s friend has a two-bedroom condo and believes real estate is one of the worst investments. [01:52] You could make more money investing in Tech. [02:00] If you are interested in real estate, look up Grant Cardone, who has a funny YouTube channel all about it. [02:09] Eric’s mom is a real estate agent and she is always pushing him to buy a home. [02:31] Eric and Neil would rather invest in businesses and themselves. [03:19] All the homes Neil