Marketing School | Digital Marketing | Online Marketing

In Episode #121, Eric and Neil discuss the ways you can improve your PPC campaigns with just 10 minutes per day. Working at your PPC campaigns can be as simple as looking at your keywords’ reports or evaluating your landing page and copy. Listen as they list down different ways you can evaluate and adjust your PPC campaigns with a very small time commitment daily. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic:  00:33 – Regardless of the platform, think about how you can set a framework 00:59 – With AdWords, go through your accounts and pause the things that aren’t working 01:37 – Focus on the landing page and your copy 02:15 – Exit pop ups, do not break Google’s policy 02:40 – Use stock images or check out Design Pickle and see which images you can use for PPC 03:25 – Run a survey 03:50 – Use Qualaroo’s survey tool 04:15 – Look at your keywords reports 05:10 – There are limited resources for PPC 05:33 – Spend on your peak hours 06:38 – Spend money faster to get the results faster 07:01 – Send t

In Episode #120, Neil and Eric share the 7 ways you can become a thought leader. Listen as Neil shares his experience in becoming a thought leader to help you become one as well. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: 7 Ways to Become a Thought Leader 00:36 – Becoming a thought leader requires a mix of everything 01:17 – #1 Don’t just focus on one channel 01:46 – Neil describes how he became a thought leader 02:08 – Find your unique angle 03:22 – Join YEC (Young Entrepreneur Council) 03:45 – Go to LinkedIn and reach out to editors of large publications 04:19 – Using large publications is a bit overused, but still a good tactic 04:25 – #2 Guest post 04:42 – #3 Find your niche 05:36 – #4 Choose the platform you will use 06:49 – #5 Do something that makes you stand out 07:32 – Neil does crazy experiments 07:57 – #6 Take whatever you can 08:57 – #7 Don’t forget to focus on PR 09:39 – Use free solutions with HARO 09:58 – That’s it for today’s episode! 3 Key Points: Find your niche,

In Episode #119, Neil and Eric discuss how you can craft high converting explainer videos for your website. Listen as they help you uncover the feasibility of having explainer videos on every budget and how to craft an excellent explainer video that not only reaches your audience, but gets them hooked on your product. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Craft High converting Explainer Videos 00:38 – You DO NOT need a very high budget 00:45 – Youtube Director allows you to shoot decent videos from your iPhone 01:04 – Video Brewery is a market place for videos 01:24 – Be involved in crafting your videos 01:39 – You need to look at the objections 02:14 – Answering objections isn’t enough, you have to make a story 03:05 – Growth Everywhere’s Squatty Potty is described as an example 04:22 – Short explainer videos don’t get people hooked on your product 05:00 – People get hooked by how you good you are at answering questions and objections, building story, and connecting emotionally

In Episode #118, Neil and Eric drop 7 unorthodox SEO strategies you might be missing out on. Listen to learn what these 7 strategies and tactics are and discern whether these tools can fit your current business’ SEO plan. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: 7 Unorthodox SEO Strategies and Tactics That You Should Try 00:33 – #1 Use Scrapebox to find people within your space that talk about particular topics 01:43 – #2 Tube Buddy will tell you how your video is ranked 02:29 – #3 Brand loyalty—create new ideas to promote brand loyalty 03:29 – #4 Link blending 04:08 – Link to other credible sources beyond your own 04:44 – #5 Neil uses Animagraffs for animated infographics 05:33 – These visual infographics get so many links 06:08 – #6 Write original researched pieces of content 07:25 – #7 Translate your content 08:09 – That’s it for today’s episode! 3 Key Points: Keep coming up with NEW ideas to promote brand loyalty to your consumers. Try NOT to overuse your links—extend to othe

In Episode #117, Neil and Eric share 7 ways you can use Zapier and IFTTT to efficiently speed up workflow. Listen to discover new and effective ways to help you automate your business. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: 7 ways to use Zapier and IFTTT to speed up your workflow 00:36 – Zapier and IFTTT allow you to hook in and connect your web applications 01:08 – IFTTT is targeted more for the consumer while Zapier is more for a B2B 01:27 – #1 Zapier acts as a central location for content and pushes notifications if anything changes or comes up 02:09 – #2 Zapier automatically save tweets on a Google spreadsheet where you can go back to see which messages did well 03:02 – #3 If you’re using BidSketch or Qwilr—when a new proposal is signed, Zapier will create an automatic Quickbooks customer account, notify you on Slack, send an on-boarding email and create a Basecamp project 03:47 – #4 IFTTT sends email notifications when you’re mentioned on other websites 04:43 – #5 When there is a new I

In Episode #116, Neil and Eric list the 7 ways you can optimize your marketing proposals. Listen to learn more about optimizing proposals so you can ace that deal you’ve been aiming for. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: 7 ways to optimize your marketing proposals 00:31 – #1 Don’t talk about how great your company is 01:02 – #2 Don’t assume the decision maker will talk to you 01:23 – Make sure to have case studies in the proposal 01:38 – Show screenshots where the business is messing up 02:00 – #3 Use Qwilr or Bidsketch—this will help you make nice proposals 02:43 – #4 Learn from the people you don’t close 03:27 – #5 People want something customized for them 04:07 – #6 Don’t send people proposals right away 05:16 – #7 Don’t just send the proposal—walk them through it 06:00 – That’s it for today’s episode! 3 Key Points: It’s not about you or your company, it’s about them! Get feedback from the people who didn’t close a deal with you—learn from it. Talk to people in detail before

In Episode #115, Eric and Neil discuss the 7 things you should say NO to as a marketer. Listen to know more about which things to say no to and the reason why. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: 7 things you should say no to as a marketer 00:34 – #1 Making changes without data 00:57 – Make sure you test with data 01:10 – #2 Looking at the tactics all the time 01:26 – Leads to being in “tactical hell” 01:43 – Don’t focus on tactics 02:00 – #3 Don’t make short term gains for long term losses 02:53 – Don’t make changes for short term gains 02:57 – #4 Lack of organization 03:09 – Look at GrowthHackers Projects to organize all your ideas and experiments 03:28 – Look about documenting your marketing processes 03:48 – #5 Don’t do too many things at once 04:51 – #6 Don’t try to take everything on by yourself 05:48 – #7 Don’t run an A/B test on the same part of the funnel more than once at the same time 06:39 – That’s it for today’s episode! 3 Key Points: Don’t EVER make chang

In Episode #114 Eric and Neil discuss how tools create better marketing ROIs for your business. Listen to hear their examples and to better understand that links are a big factor for tools. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: How tools create a better marketing ROI 00:39 – Neil did a test 00:44 – Neil checked Hubspot 01:02 – Leads today from content marketing, conferences, sponsorships and ads 01:09 – During the early days, they got leads from their tools 01:12 – Word Stream also generates leads from their PPC creator 01:19 – Neil’s tool experiment on Quick Sprout 02:31 – Check Walkscore through Ahrefs and you’ll find a lot of anchor text going back to their site 02:56 – Don’t do black area 03:28 – Neil shares what he knows on Walkscore 03:55 – They created a tool 04:15 – How realtors helped Walkscore build links 04:40 – Realtors were able to use Walkscore as selling point 05:00 – Using links and badges these days can be hit by Google 05:46 – Don’t use tools for mischievous

In Episode #113 Eric and Neil talk about whether or not you should hire a PR agency for your business. Listen to know the pros and cons that are tied to hiring a 3rd party agency and why PR is not for new companies that are just starting out. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: Should I hire a PR agency for my business? 00:44 – If you’re first starting out, don’t expect a launch to take you a long distance 01:19 – Neil shares his negative PR experiences 02:05 – The best way to hire a PR person is to have them work full time for you 02:13 – Neil shares more of his PR experiences 03:53 – Find a person to do PR – do not find companies 04:17 – Eric shares his PR experiences 04:36 – The PR industry is antiquated 04:37 – Neil recommended Chris Barrett to Eric 06:01 – PR makes sense if the costs make sense 07:01 – If you’re looking for PR people, check out: Janine from Fresh PR and Richard Lorenzen 07:39 – Your goal is to graduate from an agency and hire in-house 08:01 – That’s it for tod

In Episode #112 Eric and Neil share their insights on when and where it’s worth investing your time in the pursuit of long tail keywords. Listen to understand what long-tail keywords are, what they are compared to, and how their strategic implementation can always help you rank. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: Is it really worth going after long tail keywords? 00:36 – Long tail keywords are 3-5 word phrases people are searching for 01:06 – Head term vs long tail keywords 01:35 – Wikipedia’s Abraham Lincoln page as an example 02:35 – Brian Dean’s 1M search results 03:28 – Long tail phrases are worth it 04:08 – Don’t think about long tail content 04:28 – Use Ahrefs to see long tail traffic that comes to your site 04:43 – When your content is older, you’ll start ranking for long tail phrases 04:50 – Use your Google Search Console 06:17 – Continually update content you already have 06:57 – That’s it for today’s episode! 3 Key Points: Long tail keywords are worth using. Long tail

In Episode #111 Eric and Neil help you decide whether you should or should not repurpose your content to bring to followers in. Listen to learn what the advantages and disadvantages are, and the truth about Google’s penalties for replicated content. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: Should you repurpose your content? 00:39 – Maximize your investment by repurposing 01:04 – Posting on multiple platforms is repurposing 01:15 – Repurposing helps you get eyes in other areas 01:37 – Not all form of content should be text based 01:42 – Misconception on Google for duplicate content 02:11 – Make sure to link back to the original source 03:29 – Splinter out posts and create more content 03:52 – Google content repurposing workflow 04:30 – Think about the monetization aspect of your business 05:20 – Medium and Quora rewrites certain answers 05:52 – Using Rev to transcribe podcast episodes 06:02 – That’s it for today’s episode! 3 Key Points: Repurposing content doesn’t mean you post the s

In Episode #110 Eric and Neil share their highlights from the past 100 podcast episodes. Apart from sharing what they’ve learned and what they’ve experienced, they’ll also thank all the listeners for being part of this journey with them! Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:26 – Today’s topic: Our biggest lessons from 100 episodes of marketing school 00:46 – #1 When you first launch a podcast, you won’t get too much traction 01:17 – As you do it more and more, people start to listen 01:52 – No huge ‘bang for your buck’ on the first 100 episodes 02:06 – #2 Great feedback but with couple of negative ones 03:11 – #3 People who launch a podcast for the sake of making one doesn’t do so well 03:41 – You have to have an audience to push it through 04:02 – #4 Consistency takes a lot of work 05:15 – #5 Blog audience helps the success of this podcast 06:03 – It’s not easy to get a lot of downloads and listens 06:22 – #6 Podcasting is just like blogging 07:11 – #7 Time buys you listens and traffic 08:24 –

In Episode #109 Eric and Neil talk about whether you should or should not have a Wikipedia page. Listen as they highlight the pros and cons of having a wiki page and to find out whether having one really does fit your business profile. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: The advantages and disadvantages of having a Wikipedia page 00:36 – Having a Wikipedia page adds credibility 01:05 – Neil used to have a Wikipedia page but he had it removed 01:23 – Knowledge graph pops Wikipedia to the top of search pages INSTEAD of Neil’s website 01:43 – A person or business can have a Wiki page for added credibility but not if you’re doing sales 02:53 – A Wikipedia page can help you with reputation management 03:28 – You can use it to verify your profiles 04:24 – Leonard Kim can help to make a Wikipedia page 04:41 – That’s it for today’s episode! 3 Key Points: Every platform has its own advantages and disadvantages. Wikipedia ranks so if you run a sales website, don’t use it. A Wikipedia page ad

In Episode #108 Eric and Neil reveal how you can get more YouTube views for your videos. Listen as they list their key tips and tactics for bolstering viewership on your channel. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to get more YouTube views 00:51 – Make different playlists for different topics 01:17 – Going out of your way in videos to tell people what they’re going to learn 02:05 – Tube Buddy allows you to see what tags you’re ranking for 02:54 – Look for popular videos in your niche and reply to comments 03:57 – Be consistent in publishing 04:39 – Work on crafting your story 05:16 – Focus on crafting a story in your video 06:28 – Narrating and relating your story 06:53 – YouTube ads 07:07 – Retarget people on a service page and add more value 07:43 – Squatty Potty as an example 08:08 – Check out the interview on Squatty Potty 08:13 – That’s it for today’s episode! 3 Key Points: Give value to your viewers—that is the cornerstone of YouTube success. Let your viewers know

In Episode #107 Eric and Neil highlight how you can take advantage of untapped ad opportunities. Listen to learn about the untapped opportunities that are available to you, and discover whether or not they are compatible with your business and budget.  Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to take advantage of untapped ad opportunities 00:33 – Check Twitch and see if it suits your target demographic 01:26 – Email bloggers around your niche and ask for advertisement opportunities 02:02 – It doesn’t cost very much 02:27 – And it converts well 02:41 – Podcast advertising on Midroll 03:12 – Driving leads from podcasts 03:42 – Pinterest ads can yield good ROI 03:50 – Taboola and Outbrain 04:23 – Apple’s new app ads 04:48 – Youtube ads 05:33 – Waze ads 06:11 – That’s it for today’s episode! 3 Key Points: Give unconventional platforms a try for advertising. Ads don’t have to cost much $$$. Check to see if your target demographics are compatible to the ads you’re looking into.

In Episode #106 Eric and Neil talks about how you can speed up the slow growing traffic on your blog. Listen to learn their tips for boosting traffic, and why sometimes it isn’t your content that’s the problem, but the code base on your website. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:28 – Today’s topic: How to Fix Your Slow Growing Blog Traffic 00:46 – Publish more content! 01:21 – Pay people to make content 01:36 – Check out ProBlogger 01:52 – The problem might be your internal structure and how you’re cross linking 02:18 – Link to your cornerstone content 02:31 – Use Google Search Console to look at the pages 02:55 – The depth of your content has to be longer 03:31 – You can add more value to your content 03:42 – Look at the code base too 05:00 – Neil’s friend from Goodreads added new servers 05:30 – Check out Google Page Speed or PingDom to know what makes your website slow 05:44 – Use a CDN Content Delivery Network 06:09 – Go to Twitter and search articles 06:57 – That’s it for today’s episode!

In Episode #105 Eric and Neil reveal how you can use mobile based pop-ups without getting Google angry. They’ll show you the technicalities to avoid and alternative ways you can make your site impervious to Google’s harsh penalties. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:28 – Today’s topic: How to Use Mobile-Based Pop-Ups without Getting Penalized in Google 00:40 – In 2017, Google will start looking at mobile pop ups 01:02 – Neil’s animated interstitial on his site 02:53 – You can do a model that doesn’t own the whole page 03:19 – Google doesn’t want pop ups consuming the whole screen 04:01 – Use sticky bars instead of pop-ups 04:22 – Google “interstitial penalty, 2017” to read more 04:43 – Integrate quizzes on mobile devices 05:10 – Google is adding a news carousel for amp pages 05:28 – That’s it for today’s episode! 3 Key Points: Pop-ups occupying the whole screen are a bad user-experience, which is why Google wants them GONE. Make use of the other techniques and tools other than pop-ups. Read more ab

In Episode #104 Eric and Neil list the 7 creative hacks you can use to help you generate more sales. Listen as they drop serious knowledge bombs about the tools and hacks you can employ in a business of any size.  Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:28 – Today’s topic: 7 Creative Email Hacks That Will Help You Generate More Sales 00:39 – #1 Use countdown timers like PlusThis 01:15 – #2 Run a reverse discount 01:43 – #3 Send customize emails with images with PicSnippet 02:15 – #4 Sign filled emails 03:39 – #5 When you should send out emails 04:23 – #6 Urgency and reminders 05:07 – #7 Scrub your list and use a service like MailGun 05:51 – That’s it for today’s episode! 3 Key Points: Create a sense of urgency and offer discounts that go with it. Customize emails for your audience. Remove all the names from your list that don’t engage so your deliverability doesn’t suffer. Leave some feedback: What should we talk about next? Please let us know in the comments below. Did you enjoy this episode? If

In Episode #103 Eric and Neil talks about how many links your website really needs. Listen to learn whether links need quantity or quality, and to know how you can outsmart your competitor with authority links. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:28 – Today’s topic: How Many Links Does Your Website Need? 00:38 – Look at your big competitors 00:50 – Use Ahrefs to see how much traffic or how many links they have 01:16 – Look at the quality of links 01:40 – Outperform your competitors by having authority links 01:49 – Get high authority links by producing awesome content emailing journalists, editors, and writers 02:27 – Use Brian Dean’s Skyscraper Technique 02:38 – Use Buzzsumo and find people who link similar articles 02:59 – Use Ahrefs for breakdown of domain authority 03:08 – Moz’s study on links 04:20 – Eric Enge’s post that links don’t matter in 2016 05:09 – Don’t focus on competitive key terms 05:25 – Go to Quora and use questions to get idea for content 05:48 – That’s it for today’s episode!

In Episode #102 Eric and Neil talk about whether or not you should do guest posting on other websites and blogs or just post on your own. Listen to learn the pros and cons for both options and why blogging now is much harder than it was before. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:28 – Today’s topic: Should you do guest posting or blog on your own property? 00:50 – If Eric is to pick one, he’ll pick writing on his own website 00:55 – Build on your own 01:09 – All great content should be your investment in your property 01:37 – Neil picks guest blogging 02:33 – The market changes 02:47 – Sites that get the highest quality of content tend to get most traffic 03:04 – Neil changed his blogging patterns on his website 03:24 – Blog thorough, in-depth content 04:44 – Guest blogging let’s you have quicker traction 05:16 – Choosing depends on where you sit 05:56 – Neil is cutting his guest posting in America 06:20 – Guest posting helps build your brand 06:36 – Shifting strategies 07:04 – Blogging is not as eff