Marketing School | Digital Marketing | Online Marketing

In Episode #92 Neil and Eric list the 7 ways to nail the Skyscraper Technique. Listen to learn how these techniques can be utilized to help your website content rank on Google, and discover what kind of content gets the most readers. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:26 – Today’s topic: How to Nail the Skyscraper Technique in 7 Ways 00:35 – Skyscraper Technique was coined by Backlinko 00:43 – Look to create content 10x better than the first result 01:08 – Number 1: Add content that is more advanced 02:38 – Number 2: Have unique data 03:12 – Number 3: Make your content really simple 05:01 – Number 4: Promotion 05:10 – BuzzSumo 05:32 – EmailHunter 06:23 – Number 5: Utilize your headline 06:38 – Google “Copy Blogger Headline Formula” 07:05 – Focus on crafting a good headline 07:41 – Number 6: Make use of content upgrades 08:30 – Number 7: Use analysis and testing for long form blog posts 08:35 – Use Crazy Egg for A/B testing 08:53 – What helped increase to increase readership Blog post

In Episode #91, Neil and Eric enumerate the ways you can keep your digital marketing team motivated. Listen to understand how they cultivate motivation and use it to empower the members to keep a team intact. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:26 – Today’s topic: How to Keep Your Digital Marketing Team Motivated 00:39 – Slack and GeekBot allow you to know what’s going on in your team 01:13 – Be communicative to your team 01:37 – Share knowledge 02:31 – Have certifications where people can learn more 03:07 – Do team activities 04:49 – Do profit sharing apart from base salary 05:21 – Give percentage of up-sell revenues 05:44 – Give each individual a budget 07:31 – Do recaps on where your team currently is 07:51 – Eric’s team member shared Adespresso 08:33 – Use 15Five for keeping polls on your people 09:14– That’s it for today’s episode!  3 Key Points: Communication is important in all teams. Build your team – do activities together. Empower your members individually so they can each cont

In Episode #90 Neil and Eric list the 7 questions you need to ask potential marketing clients. Pay close attention as these are the exact questions Neil and Eric use to develop successful marketing relationships that always deliver on project goals. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:28 – Today’s topic: 7 Questions to Ask Potential Marketing Clients 00:52 – #1 Ask if other people are involved in decision making 01:30 – #2 Ask what the overall goals and objectives are 02:36 – #3 Ask how good their marketing strategy is 03:43 – #4 Ask how much their budget is 05:47 – #5 Ask who their competitors are 06:00 – Use Moz to show clients how they are doing against their competitors 06:41 – #6 Ask what marketing tactics worked for them and which ones did not 06:59 – Tactics that work for your competition doesn’t mean they automatically applies to your business 07:49 – The key to a successful agency is happy clients 08:27 – #7 Continue the sales process – schedule the next meeting 09:03 – Use Mixmax to send

In Episode #89 Neil and Eric share how marketers can maximize their CRM. Listen as they list tools for your CRM processes, explain why communicating with your audience is important, and the why sending the right emails at the right time is better than any good sales copy. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:28 – Today’s topic: How marketers can maximize their CRM 00:37 – HubSpot is one that most marketers know 00:42 – Tools like Infusionsoft are second 00:52 – Drip is a simplified version of Infusionsoft 01:33 – Eric uses a combination of Drip and Zapier 01:45 – Leadpages now owns Drip and they have a $1/month pricing model 02:04 – Two things you need to know about CRM 02:05 – It is great for dealing with people who aren’t your customer 02:10 – It’s really good at dealing with people who are already customer 02:45 – You should still communicate with people even after they buy 02:55 – You should always try to help your customers through education 03:14 – Use marketing automation for CRM 04:17 – T

In Episode #87 Neil and Eric highlight how you can deal with Google updates. Listen to learn why not all slide-down in traffic is because of algorithms, why you don’t have to worry when there’s an update, and the importance of having a checklist in case there is an update. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:28 – Today’s topic: How to deal with Google updates 00:35 – Neil doesn’t deal with updates 01:01 – Stick to creating a website that’s best for the user 01:13 – Don’t worry about specific updates 01:17 – Dealing with the updates if you have a negative traffic 01:21 – MozCast talks about updates 01:45 – If you have a traffic drop, check where you need to fix 02:51 – Check Ahrefs if you have any bad links 02:56 – Moz and Majestic break down which links are spammy 03:04 – Read your content and analyze 03:26 – Make sure you have a holistic strategy 04:23 – Make sure you have other leverage points 04:34 – Drop from traffic doesn’t necessarily mean it’s an algorithm update 06:42 – Make sure your pr

In Episode #86 Neil and Eric talk about how you can write a detailed blog post in less than 2 hours. Listen to learn the importance of leaving your mistakes for later and why you should start writing at the time when you’re most productive in a day. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:28 – Today’s topic: How to write a detailed blog post in less than 2 hours 00:38 – Download Rev to transcribe your audio or video 01:01 – If you have a blog topic, record it 01:28 – Take the transcription and organize it 01:44 – If you don’t know what you’re writing on, it takes forever 01:56 – Make sure you know the topic you’re blogging about 02:04 – Check BuzzSumo and Quora for blog post ideas 02:18 – Craft your title with Copy Blogger Headline Formula 02:37 – Make the intro and put headings on the points you want to cover 02:58 – Write the conclusion before going to the body 03:50 – Eric’s blog process 03:53 – Open Evernote file and outline 04:09 – Start to write 04:21 – Come back to organize 04:37 – Come ba

In Episode #85 Neil and Eric ask whether or not you need to be able to code to be a successful marketer. Coding will help you in a lot of ways but it’s not the only thing you should know about! Listen as Eric and Neil share what you should consider. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:28 – Today’s topic: Do you need to be able to code to be a successful online marketer? 00:37 – NO, You don’t need to do coding 00:42 – HTML skills are helpful but it’s not necessary 00:50 – Some tools to help you become successful are ClickFunnels, Lead Pages, Unbounce, and Wordpress 01:12 – In general, you don’t need to learn to code 01:31 – You can always hire a developer in Upwork 01:59 – Eric joined Treehouse to learn coding but ended up doing marketing more 03:03 – Stay in your lane, stay focused 03:13 – Be very creative and technical 03:44 – You also need to be able to understand math 05:17 – Use Zapier so you can hook different web applications together 06:17 – If you want to learn data science, check DataCamp

In Episode #84 Neil and Eric talk about why you should keep your old content updated and how you should do it. Listen to learn how deleting old pages can help you get more traffic, and the tools you can use to make sure your web content is up to date. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:28 – Today’s topic: Why you should keep your old content updated 00:36 – Listen to SPI200 podcast episode and read Moz 01:02 – Make an audit of all the content you have 01:24 – Make sure you’re tracking closely 01:41 – Use the right keywords and build back links 02:01 – Use keywords that generate traffic – use Ahrefs or Google Keyword Planner 02:56 – Strategize by updating or deleting your content 03:42 – Link internally by using any Related Post Plugin in WordPress 04:18 – Check Yoast SEO Plugin for indexing 04:43 – Having more back links mean you can have more pages 05:19 – The key is not to lose links when you do pruning 05:41 – Don’t just remove pages! Redirect them 05:57 – Delete pages or consolidate your posts

In Episode #83 Neil and Eric discuss the 7 ways to improve user trust on your website. Listen as they drop which factors you can improve on, which ones you can add to your current website, and why being transparent still counts. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:28 – Today’s topic: 7 ways to improve user trust on your website 00:34 – Add testimonials 01:08 – Add videos – because some testimonials are just made up! 01:50 – Add badges on your website like Google Partners and etc 02:26 – Add reviews 02:50 – Reach out to people to have your products honestly reviewed 03:34 – Have a great design on your website 04:04 – Go to land-book to check design ideas 04:24 – Check Dribbble for other people’s designs 04:48 – Transparency –people trust companies that are transparent! 05:08 – The more you can tell people help in transparency 05:57 – Buffer has good transparency 06:30 – Have badges from companies you’ve worked with 06:54 – That’s it for today’s episode! 3 Key Points: Reach out to people for

In Episode #82, Neil and Eric highlight the tips, tools, and tactics to use when marketing your local businesses. Listen to learn why you’re not capturing your local market and what you can do about it. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:28 – Today’s topic: How to market your local business 00:40 – Do local SEO 00:46 – Check out and read Moz and David Mihm 01:49 – Make sure you understand variables 02:06 – Use tools like Moz Local, Yelp, and City Search 02:22 – If you’re not in them, you’ll end up losing tons of revenue 02:45 – Make people happy to encourage them leave a review 03:16 – Use Facebook for geo targeting to market your local business 04:16 – Use Pretty Link in Wordpress to track local ads 04:41 – Use localized websites to network with 05:50 – Make sure you’re getting reviews 06:18 – Don’t forget Google Adwords for call tracking 06:34 – Another tool is Callrail 07:18 – Your website is important 07:41 – Make your phone numbers clickable 07:59 – Make your form fields simple 08:

In Episode #81 Neil and Eric discuss how to stay up to date with latest marking news and trends—they’ll share their favorite blogs, websites, and tools you can use to make the most of your marketing journey. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:28 – Today’s topic: How to stay up to date with the latest marketing trends & news 00:37 – Read blogs like: Moz Search Engine Land Search Engine Journal Marketing Land Backlinko ConversionXL Unbounce Quick Sprout Neil Patel’s blog 01:58 – Jon Loomer & Digital Marketer 02:20 – Add blogs and feeds through Unroll 02:42 – Don’t just look at blogs, look at developer company blogs 03:46 – Listen to marketing podcasts Unemployable Ask Gary Vee Content Marketing Quickie The Marketing School Smart Passive Income My Wife Quit Her Job 04:44 – Feedly 04:53 – Use Panda for Google Chrome 05:18 – Save stuff to Pocket 05:35 – Stay up with trends by DOING 05:52 – Have your own blog or website 06:15 – Partake in marketing yourself 06:27 – That’s it fo

In Episode #79 Neil and Eric discuss why you shouldn’t be scared to spend money on marketing. Listen to discover why spending money on marketing doesn’t have to be BIG in order to be effective, and why going all-in on well-thought-out marketing plans and strategies pay off. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:28 – Today’s topic: Why you shouldn’t be scared to spend money on marketing 00:54 – If something is working, go all in on it 01:07 – The big marketers spend a lot upfront 01:25 – it’s natural to be scared in spending 02:29 – Remember that marketing doesn’t work like magic 02:46 – It’s not like you spend money and automatically make more 03:29 – If you’re not willing to test the waters, you’re not willing to discover ROI 03:38 – Projection isn’t possible if you haven’t started anything yet 04:24 – You need to spend on advertising somehow 04:53 – You can’t just set an arbitrary budget 06:28 – Create a bigger brand 07:03 – That’s it for today’s episode! 3 Key Points: If you want your marketing c

In Episode #78 Neil and Eric talk about the 7 deadly sins of marketing. Listen to find out which of these sins you’re committing, and learn how to avoid making them in the future.  Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:28 – Today’s topic: 7 Deadly Marketing Sins 00:34 – Sin #1 – Buying paid links 01:19 – What happens when you get caught buying links 01:55 – Sin #2 – Not optimizing your ads 02:37 – Sin #3 – AB testing incorrectly 03:34 – Sin #4 – Not playing the long game on content 04:43 – Sin #5 – Basing decisions purely from AB tests 05:50 – You don’t want to have brand confusion 05:56 – Sin #6 – Being schizophrenic with your tests 06:20 – You have to be willing to stomach the pain 06:40 – SEO takes time! 06:55 – Sin #7 – Starting to do any type of marketing without proper tracking 07:20 – No tracking means wasted marketing dollars 07:27 – That’s it for today’s episode! 3 Key Points: There is no shortcut to marketing. Everything takes time! The longer the content, the better it ranks.

In Episode #77 Eric and Neil talk about the 7 types of content you should be creating on your blog. Listen as they enumerate each type of content and how to utilize the types with key online tools. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:28 – Today’s topic: 7 Types of Content You Should Be Creating on Your Blog 00:37 – #1 Have long-form well-researched content 01:14 – #2 Infographics 01:28 – Check out 99Designs or Dribbble or Upwork 01:45 – Use WP Embed Code Generator 02:18 – #3 Take an audio file and put it on your blog 02:27 – Use Rev to transcribe your content 02:51 – #4 Have animated content like click through, quizzes and gifographics 03:25 – #5 Put videos on your blog 04:10 – #6 Question based content 04:15 – Check Quora and search popular questions 04:50 – #7 Have specific case studies 05:39 – That’s it for today’s episode! 3 Key Points: Remember to put value into your content. A ton of tools are available–utilize them! Video and audio can still rank–transcribe them into your blog.

In Episode #76 Eric and Neil talk about how you can consistently produce content–whether it’s for a blog, a podcast, or for your social media platforms. Listen as they drop tips and value bombs to help you be successful in planning and scheduling your content. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:28 – Today’s topic: How to consistently produce content 00:50 – Have an editorial calendar and stick with it 01:12 – Make sure you have a schedule to follow 01:20 – Editorial Calendar plugin on WordPress 01:24 – CoSchedule 01:38 – Always have a month’s worth of content, or you’ll run into hiccups or issues 02:35 – Figure out the time you are most productive 03:00 – Pick out your titles in advance 03:15 – Use BuzzSumo for topic ideas 03:48 – Have editors and writers to keep the process rolling 04:38 – Look for the bottleneck 05:39 – Adjust your length to produce more 06:17 – The more content you have, the better you’re going to be 07:26 – Don’t forget about repurposing content 07:40 – Check out content repur

In Episode #75 Eric and Neil talk explainer videos—what they are, how they work, and how you can use them jack up your revenue. Listen as they introduce you to key video strategies, and discuss the oft overlooked secret to developing a great explainer video…an amazing copywriter. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:29 – Today’s topic: How you can use explainer videos to sell your products 01:04 – They’re a great tool for explaining your product service in an easy to digest way 01:35 – Breaks down objections and advantages 02:03 – The objection part is the key 02:20 – Aim for 1 to 2 minutes in length and always close with a CTA 03:30 – Inject case studies that trigger an emotional aspect 04:05 – Talking about Shark Tank, Squatty Potty 04:19 – A tool that helps you poop better 04:49 – An ad is content marketing 05:18 – Dollar Shave Club explainer video 06:08 – Demo Duck 06:30 – The storyline is the most important part of your video 07:01 – The second most important aspect? Voice over artist 07:

In Episode #73 Eric and Neil discuss Medium—should you sue it or should you not? Listen as they talk brand building versus monetization, the importance of content control, and more… Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:29 – Today’s topic: Should you be using Medium or not? 00:44 – Neil doesn’t see the value right now, especially if you already have your own blog that gets traffic 01:03 – You can use Medium to promote your blog…maybe 01:20 – Why build equity on somebody else’s platform? 01:45 – Why would you compound your investment on another platform 02:00 – Where’s the conversion tracking? Where are the tracking pixels? 02:20 – Now, if your written content doesn’t have anything to do with what your blog normally covers, go ahead and put it on Medium 03:15 – Medium is really a new, higher-quality version of Tumblr 03:38 – Medium lacks versatility 04:00 – You can test Medium for link building 04:15 – If your blog blows up, you have no control with Medium 04:28 – The plus side of Medium is this—they

In Episode #72 Eric and Neil discuss they type of content you should be publishing on LinkedIn. Listen as they tackle post-strategy for target audiences, the benefits of posting directly to LinkedIn, the metrics LinkedIn offers, and why you need a personal blog to supplement whatever you post on LinkedIn. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:29 – Today’s topic: What kind of content should you publish on LinkedIn? 00:45 – LinkedIn built up an organic traffic base 00:50 – Benefits of being able to publish on LinkedIn 01:12 – Posts rank on Google 01:29 – Eric syndicates his posts on LinkedIn 01:44 – The more content Neil posts on LinkedIn, the more contact requests he gets 02:02 – More contact requests results in more business inquiries 02:30 – Posting same content from your blog to LinkedIn doesn’t do as well as unique content 03:12 – Add your sites and projects to your LinkedIn profile 04:00 – Metrics on LinkedIn posts 05:06 – Writing specific, tailored content performs the best 05:57 – Google’s

In Episode #71 Eric and Neil highlight where marketing efforts are wasted. They’ll teach you the tools, techniques, and strategies to avoid that waste and minimize costs. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:28 – Today’s topic: Where are most people’s marketing efforts wasted? 00:41 – You don’t need a big marketing team 01:24 – Look for contractors 01:36 – Hiring too many full-time people can slow down the process 02:14 – Outsourced doesn’t completely mean overseas 02:49 – You have to be strategic in marketing 03:23 – Don’t over extend yourself 04:12 – Design related elements sometimes waste too much money 05:08 – Don’t dedicate everything to a specific marketing process 05:36 – Budget out how much money and time you want to spend 05:48 – Try things but don’t forget to track! 06:27 – Cyfe 06:41 – Google or Youtube: OKR 07:14 – Track your ROI thru Google Analytics 07:54 – Make sure you’re tracking the right stuff 08:46 – That’s it for today’s episode! 3 Key Points: A big marketing team is n

In Episode #70 Eric and Neil highlight how YOU can start your VERY OWN podcast! Listen as they talk about resources you’ll need to acquire before you start, the research you’ll need to conduct, the people you should follow, and the tools you can use to amplify your reach. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:28 – Today’s topic: How to start a podcast 01:05 – Pat Flynn’s guide to start a podcast 01:20 – John Lee Dumas’ posts and podcast series 01:41 – Libsyn 02:19 – People normally link out to iTunes and android 02:43 – Create a website where people can listen online 03:08 – Smart Passive Podcast Player 03:40 – Figure out your own process 04:11 – iTunes will give you an initial bump at first 04:25 – Be consistent! 04:46 – Have the right keywords in your podcast title 05:01 – Make sure your title is attractive 05:18 – In the start, it’s all about listens and reviews 05:40 – Have an intro and outro 06:02 – Do episodes in batches 06:38 – Make it easy 07:21 – Podcast Motor 08:00 – Create an appea