Marketing School | Digital Marketing | Online Marketing

In Episode #381, Eric and Neil discuss the difference between macro and micro-conversions. Tune in as Eric and Neil define what these conversions are and which ones deserve more of your attention and focus, what you need to track and how often, and which conversions (micro or macro) deserve an A/B test. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: The Difference Between Macro and Micro-Conversions 01:09 – Your funnel has a lot of small steps which are considered “micro” and the large step is the actual act of purchasing 01:24 – How many micro-conversions should you be tracking? 01:51 – When Neil does A/B test, he only looks at macro conversions 02:00 – “I really do focus on the bottom line which is sales and revenue” 02:19 – You want people to convert to buy, so that’s what you should be optimizing in an A/B test 02:28 – When Eric started, he used to track micro-conversions, like click through rates for example, which led to him losing his focus 02:50 – Make sure you focus on the RIGHT things

In Episode #380, Eric and Neil discuss how to ramp up content production. Tune in to learn how to maintain structure, quality and form when it comes to rapid content production. You’ll also learn how known influencers, such as Chalene Johnson and Gary Vaynerchuk, successfully repurpose their content across several media channels. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Ramp Up Content Production 00:54 – Eric grows his business by creating content and building relationships 01:15 – In rapid content production, he creates batches of content 01:45 – Hiring several content writers can help you ramp up your content production, you can find writers at ProBlogger 01:55 – The key in increasing content production is setting up a guideline or rubric that outline your writing format and expectations 02:10 – Neil’s structure includes an introduction, conclusion, body in the middle broken down into subheadings with targeted keywords 02:21 – Neil gets topics from BuzzSumo 02:28 – Neil goes to A

In Episode #379, Eric and Neil discuss what link blending is and how to do it fast. Tune in to learn how to execute link blending as a part of your process for boosting your rank. You’ll learn just what it takes to be in a “good neighborhood” with others who have similar content and keywords as you. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: What Is Link Blending (and How To Do It Fast) 00:39 – Eric shares how his friendship with Neil started 00:41 – Eric was just starting when Neil wrote a post about link blending 00:45 – Since Eric didn’t understand what Neil’s post was about, Eric reached out to Neil to ask more questions about link blending 01:01 – Link blending is when someone links out to you, like a Wikipedia article for example, and ranks for the keyword you want to rank for 01:12 – Then, they will link to someone who is in the top 20 for the keyword that you want to rank for without using an anchor text for other links—Google will read that you’re in a good neighborhood 01:33 – It

In Episode #378, Eric and Neil discuss the marketing benefits of Google Tag Manager. Tune in to learn why marketers need to be using Google Tag Manager today and why you will no longer be needing to depend on your developer to get certain tasks done. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: The Marketing Benefits of Google Tag Manager 00:35 – Google Tag Manager manages your pixels, is free to use and makes your life easier 00:49 – When Eric was just starting, he had to beg developers to get something done 01:08 – With different tools nowadays like Crazy Egg and Optimizely, the marketers are now able to control the pixels without going to the developer 01:20 – With Google Tag Manager, you can easily add tags to relevant pages without being a coder 01:30 – You won’t be needing your developers to add the code when you’re using Google Tag Manager 01:50 – Most websites should be using Google Tag Manager 01:56 – Measure School focuses on Google Tag Manager and offers some tips and tricks for it

In Episode #377, Eric and Neil discuss the tried and tested methods for building local links. Tune in to learn the simple steps that will help you increase your rank on a local scale. You’ll also find out who you need to be reaching out to when it comes to asking for those links. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: Tried and Tested Ways of Building Local Links 00:41 – When it comes to local SEOs, citations are important 00:45 – A citation can be counted as a link 00:56 – You can get multiple citations from Whitespark and Moz Local 01:05 – Another way to get a citation is to reach out to the local chamber of commerce 01:13 – They also have events where you can network with people 01:41 – Reach out to people and try to add value 01:46 – Local stores take anything that can help their business 02:00 – It’s a lot easier to rank for local keywords 02:14 – Go to Ahrefs and put in your competing URLs within your region 02:26 – Reach out to those linking to them and ask for links 02

In Episode #376, Eric and Neil discuss whether it is better to create a mobile website or a mobile app. Tune in to decide whether it’s worth your time to create an app or just focus on your website being optimized for mobile. Eric and Neil discuss what they prefer and why it depends on your niche. They also emphasize that whatever route you take—mobile app or website—make sure you focus on making the BEST user experience possible. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: Is It Better to Create a Mobile Website or a Mobile App? 00:40 – Eric personally prefers creating a mobile website that is a responsive website 00:58 – Eric also has a mobile app that they built with BuildFire 01:03 – It includes their podcast 01:16 – Unless you’re providing a unique function that requires an app, having a website is just fine 01:40 – Prioritize making the best user experience when it comes to your product 01:52 – Neil created an app before but the usage isn’t very high 02:00 – Mobile optimized websites

In Episode #375, Eric and Neil discuss how to distribute your podcast. Not everyone is on YouTube or iTunes. With all the platforms that are out there for broadcasting podcasts, it’s your responsibility as a podcaster to get your content to the people. Tune in to learn where you can go to broadcast your work, the many different ways to expand your reach, and the importance of asking other bloggers, listeners, and websites that you link to share your podcast! Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Distribute Your Podcast 00:34 – “A podcast is all about getting reach at the end of the day” 00:39 – Eric hosts their podcast on Libsyn 00:59 – With Libsyn, it will publish automatically on YouTube and on Soundcloud 01:15 – Not all people are on iTunes, so spread your podcast anywhere you can 01:17 – Tweet out your podcast and share it on Facebook 01:45 – Neil used to use Product Hunt’s podcasting section, but it’s been deleted 02:00 – Neil was driving thousands of views a day 02:

In Episode #374, Eric and Neil discuss whether you should be using manual bidding for your Facebook ads. People have been running ads on Facebook for years now and still rely on the automatic bidding and optimization features for their ads. Tune in to learn what Eric and Neil prefer between the two and how you can know what option is best for you. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: Should You Use Manual Bidding on Facebook Ads? 00:35 – People have been running ads on Facebook for a couple of years now 00:42 – People just rely on Facebook’s automatic bidding and automatic optimization 00:50 – As per any kind of marketing, you want to be testing all the time 00:53 – Eric has seen marketers who have switched to manual bidding 01:11 – You can set the manual bid on how much you’re willing to pay 01:36 – Every time Neil uses automatic bidding on Facebook, it is way higher than manual bidding 01:49 – Neil thinks manual bidding works better 02:00 – Neil saw a 20% increase on his automati

In Episode #373, Eric and Neil discuss how many links you really need to rank well. Tune in as Eric and Neil remind us of the TWO most important factors for SEO. They’ll also explain why The Penny Hoarder gets more traffic than Neil does and why Eric builds links for a post that is already driving traffic. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: How Many Links Do You Really Need to Rank Well? 00:39 – Two main factors in SEO are content and links 00:57 – Eric and Neil uses Ahrefs 01:01 – Ahrefs has a keyword explorer tool that will show you the difficulty and guidelines for using a certain keyword 01:23 – The Penny Hoarder is a popular blog which was in Inc 500 list 01:32 – They make 8-figures/year in revenue 01:35 – The blog has more traffic than Neil’s blog 01:40 – They get more traffic because of their content 01:43 – Neil has more backlinks and domain authority than TPH 01:52 – “It just comes down to content” 01:58 – You don’t need too many backlinks 02:02 – You need MORE conten

In Episode #372, Eric and Neil discuss whether social sharing buttons still work. Tune-in to learn whether social sharing buttons are effective in driving traffic to your site, how to use them properly if you still wish to use them, and an alternative to the buttons that is proven to work. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: Do Social Sharing Buttons Still Work? 00:39 – Sumo is a plugin for social share buttons 00:47 – Eric personally uses Buffer to share 00:58 – Neil tracked the social share button clicks 01:03 – It drives traffic once in awhile 01:22 – The only way to get traffic from social share buttons are to integrate them within the post 01:30 – Click to tweet 01:34 – Having quotes or snippets within your blog post that is easy to share drives more traffic 01:45 – Integrating the buttons within the blog post is more effective than scrolling social buttons within the blog 02:05 – The percentage of clicks is NOT high 02:25 – For Eric, social sharing buttons don’t work 02:3

In Episode #371, Eric and Neil discuss how to get started with podcast advertising. Podcast advertising is becoming more and more lucrative—especially for leading podcasters such as John Lee Dumas and Tim Ferriss. Tune in to learn how much you can earn in podcast advertising and how the process works. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Get Started With Podcast Advertising 00:36 – Podcast advertising can be lucrative 01:04 – You’re looking at cost per thousand impressions for what you can make in podcast advertising 01:14 – Range is anywhere from $15 to $40 01:34 – For more hands-off solutions, you can use Midroll’s service 02:25 – The earnings are per ad placement 02:36 – John Lee Dumas does a pre-roll then a post-roll 02:42 – Pre-roll is before the podcast starts and post-roll is after the podcast 02:49 – Tim Ferriss has 2 pre-roll ads and 2 post-roll ads 02:53 – John Lee Dumas has 2-3 ads per episode 03:09 – For a thousand listeners, you can get around $50 to $100 depe

In Episode #370, Eric and Neil discuss how to determine your one key metric. When you establish a set goal or priority, then all your tasks will follow suit to achieve that goal. But what IS that one measure that you look to as a company? Tune in to know what your one key metric is and why knowing what you’re after will set you up for success. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Determine Your One Key Metric 00:36 – Josh Elman coined the term "one key metric" 00:40 – When starting a business and using Twitter, your one key metric will be the number of tweets you want to hit 01:09 – First, determine how people are using your product—the core functionality of your product 01:20 – Then figure out if that one key metric is the one to go after, then work from there 01:35 – “Figure out what you’re really after and what’s going to impact that” 01:40 – If you want to increase your revenue, figure out the different sources of revenue 02:09 – Then you can have control and manage that o

In Episode #369, Eric and Neil discuss what drives more traffic, quality content or quantity content. This is an age-old debate and the answer depends on pretty obvious factors such as the size of your team and budget. Tune in to hear the route Eric and Neil chose, why they chose it, and how YOU should make the decision between quality and quantity.  Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: What Drives More Traffic: Quality Content VS Quantity 00:39 – Neil took the quality route 00:43 – Neil only publishes high quality content, but he doesn’t have a lot of it 00:59 – HubSpot’s is quite popular because they produce a LOT of content 01:28 – Eric talked to the managing editor of a website that gets 8M visits a month 01:35 – They hire bigger teams to produce larger quantities of content 01:41 – They often open on guest posts too 02:06 – From Eric’s data, it’s “more publishing, more quantity” 02:10 – Creating content around the news works very well 02:30 – Neil recommends starting out with

In Episode #368, Eric and Neil discuss why you should pay attention to Facebook groups. Tune in to learn the pros of joining Facebook groups, starting your own for your company, and how to extract and give value to these online communities. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: Why You Should Pay Attention To Facebook Groups 00:39 – Eric gets a lot of value from Facebook groups 00:43 – Eric follows Badass Marketers and Founders Facebook group run by Josh Fechter 00:50 – There’s a ton of marketing information he gains from the group 00:56 – Another group to follow: Young Entrepreneurs Council 01:00 – There’s a high level of engagement in these groups and people share them with others 01:18 – Facebook just launched a summit for Facebook groups 01:54 – You can search for terms in groups that are related to your niche 02:08 – Answer questions in groups—this will lead people to your website and build traffic 02:15 – When you build our own Facebook group, it builds a community with that wi

In Episode #367, Eric and Neil discuss whether blog commenting is dead. Tune in to learn why blog commenting is NOT dead in Eric and Neil’s opinion. They’ll list the reasons why they still do it and explain the benefits you can gain from interacting with your audience. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: Is Blog Commenting Dead? 01:05 – Nowadays, blog commenting still drives traffic, but not as much as it did before 01:13 – For niche blogs, blog commenting will still work 01:17 – What works is that people come to your blog and you build a rapport with them—because of this relationship, they are more likely to convert 01:45 – Some big publications have shut off their blog comments 02:00 – For Neil’s blog, which has educational value, people leave productive comments and build a relationship with him 02:15 – Neil has dedicated time to respond to the comments 02:42 – Even if there’s only one person who leaves a comment, you still have to respond 03:00 – Marketing School is giving away a

In Episode #366, Eric and Neil discuss how growth is getting harder and what you can do about it. In terms of marketing, it seems that everything repeats itself. Now, more than ever, is the time to get CREATIVE in order to stand out. Tune in to learn how you can deal with the fast-paced, competitive market out there and the importance of keeping it fresh and original.  Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: Growth Is Getting Harder (And What You Can Do About It) 00:36 – Today’s episode is inspired by Uber’s Andrew Chen who is well known in the growth network 00:55 – CPCs and the rise of ad blockers are getting higher 01:18 – “As growth gets harder, you have no choice but to get more creative” 01:24 – The main way to grow is to think outside the box and go after different channels 01:43 – Facebook has a saturation point and the ad prices are higher 01:57 – Aside from the sending people to landing pages from your Facebook ads, take your people to educational/press type articles 02:15 – It

In Episode #365, Eric and Neil discuss 3 creative ways to mine for leads. Sifting through your inbox for relevant leads is a real time-killer. Eric can get anywhere from 2K to 25K emails a month for his agency and, therefore, knows why it’s important to have a system in place to find those relevant leads. Tune-in to hear how Eric and Neil cut through the thousands of emails to find those key potential emails. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: 3 Creative Ways to Mine For Leads 00:37 – Eric gets 2K to 25K emails a month for the agency 00:54 – Eric used to use Drip to get through their emails 01:04 – Now they use Clearbit Enrichment API and have plugged it into Slack 01:10 – When a big company comes in, the data will automatically be pushed into Slack, then to Salesforce, so people can jump on it and reach out 01:36 – Neil goes to their email list to check who’s there 01:45 – They’ll check the emails against their LinkedIn to see which connections are ones relevant 01:55 – They then s

In Episode #364, Eric and Neil discuss 7 apps that marketers should install on their phone. The ideas don’t stop flowing even though you’re on the move, so that’s why it’s good to have the right apps on mobile so you don’t miss a beat. Tune-in to know why these 7 apps are MUST-HAVES and how they can make your life as a marketer more convenient. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: 7 Apps That Marketers Should Install On Their Phone 00:35 – Hype Type app allows you to enhance your Instagram story 00:49 – It will make it look more engaging and professional 01:06 – Google Analytics app lets you see your website performance 01:23 – Facebook ads and AdWords apps let you manage your ads through your phone 01:41 – Adhawk helps you manage your AdWords and it has a better interface than Google AdWords 02:09 – The better interface makes it easier to use on mobile 02:14 – Fifth app is Buffer 02:22 – If you’re reading an article on mobile, there’s a Buffer button that allows you to share t

In Episode #363, Eric and Neil discuss how to get more traffic from Google News. Eric is currently going through the process of what it takes to be featured on Google News. He breaks down the requirements of Google News as well as the BENEFITS for your company to be featured by this incredible source. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Get Traffic From Google News 00:37 – Google News is an incredible place where you can be featured 01:00 – Being featured as a company will drive more traffic 01:10 – You have to pass certain requirements in order to be featured 01:23 – You need unique URLS 01:33 – You need HTML articles 01:43 – They don’t accept audio files 01:46 – Create a Google news site map 01:54 – Eric is currently in the process of going through the Google News’ requirements 02:00 – They use Yoast plugin 02:18 – For Google News, you need to write content that is broad in scope 02:25 – If you do an article about Google, your traffic will boost 02:40 – The more br

In Episode #362, Eric and Neil discuss how marketing can help your sales team. These two teams have the tendency to be at odds with each other when there is so much opportunity to benefit from one another. In fact, when marketers are successful at their job, it is easier for sales to close a deal as that brand awareness is already top of mind. Tune-in to learn how marketing helps your sales teams and why teamwork is always the way to success. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: How Marketing Can Help Your Sales Team 00:43 – The more people that see your brand, the more your sales team can close a deal 00:58 – Neil does marketing case studies that focus on content marketing and press 01:28 – When Eric hears “I see your stuff everywhere,” that’s when he knows the marketing is working 01:46 – People can get to know you more on an intimate level from videos or podcasts 02:48 – A sales team isn’t as data driven as is the marketing team 02:59 – Marketing teams should use tools that will help th