Marketing School - Digital Marketing and Online Marketing Tips

In episode #661, Eric and Neil discuss whether you should ever change your company’s name. Tune in to find out if they think this is a fatal error or a smart move.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: Should You Ever Change Your Company Name?
• [00:35] Moz was formally SEOMoz, but they went through a process where they had to change domains.
• [00:57] When you change domains, you lose 5-10% of your link juice.
• [01:10] Moz wrote a blog post about their name change and how it affected the company.
• [01:20] If you are going to make the change, make sure that you have your SEO bases covered.
• [01:28] You could potentially lose traffic and revenue.
• [01:31] If you change the name of your company/domain, you will need a 301 Redirect for the homepage and all the internal pages.
• [01:50] The main reason to change your name is if the name keeps you pigeon-holed.
• [02:06] If you have a ton of negative press you can’t fix, it’s a good idea to change your company’s name.
• [02:10] Comcast had a lot of bad press that was unavoidable.
• [02:33] They changed their cable product to Xfinity and tried to rebrand.
• [02:56] It helped to bury the negative press.
• [03:27] From a reputation management standpoint, a name change makes sense.
• [03:44] Eric knows a person who was sued by the SEC. His name was so tainted by this, that he had to legally change his name to avoid the stink.
• [04:01] TechCrunch had MobileCrunch, but eventually dropped it to be under one name.
• [04:26] If you have a strong brand, consider reputation management before you scrap your name.
• [04:33] When Eric first took over Singlegrain, he didn’t change the name because there was no equity in the website.
• [05:15] That’s all for today!
• [05:19] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #660, Eric and Neil discuss how often you need to blog. Tune in to hear how often you should be blogging and why it matters.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: How Often Do You Really Need to Blog
• [00:35] Some people say quality, others say quantity.
• [00:48] Hubspot has a $4 Billion market cap.
• [01:02] They also get 6 million visitors per month.
• [01:26] From a traffic perspective, you want to blog as much as possible.
• [01:33] This means 4-10 times per day!
• [01:36] Look at how many posts Business Insider, HuffPo, Mashable, and Buzzfeed generate each day.
• [01:46] Quantity is key if you just want traffic.
• [02:00] Neil posts once per day.
• [02:30] HuffPo has a contributor network. The more contributors, the more content. They are playing a numbers game.
• [02:56] Neil’s site is more balanced, because the quality is much higher than sites that publish a bunch of stories each day.
• [03:38] You absolutely must be consistent.
• [03:55] Neil likes blogging frequently, but also makes sure the quality is high.
• [04:22] There isn’t an exact formula with blogging.
• [04:30] Take the posts that are doing well (Google Analytics) and update them to include your highest-ranking keywords.
• [05:20] You need to remain top-of-mind. The more you can publish, the more touch points you will have.
• [05:45] Eventually, being top-of-mind will earn you more traffic and conversions.
• [05:50] That’s all for today!
• [05:54] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #659, Eric and Neil discuss how you can be an introvert and still network effectively. Tune in to hear how you can overcome shyness and build connections.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: The Introverts Guide to Networking
• [00:48] Eric is an introvert, so networking was a struggle.
• [01:18] Eric and his friend had no idea what to do at their first event. Then they realized that other people were just as introverted.
• [01:40] At future events, they just introduced themselves to anyone in the room they wanted to speak with. It was a simple opening to future connections.
• [02:08] Storytelling is an important way to connect with others.
• [02:15] When people feel that they know and understand you, they will connect with you.
• [02:40] When people feel a commonality, they are more likely to work and connect with you.
• [03:00] Don’t force connections, just find truths and similarities that can facilitate a bond.
• [03:35] Don’t be the person just throwing their business cards at every single person.
• [03:55] Start with building ONE strong relationship.
• [04:20] You can throw dinners for like-minded people (Mastermind Dinners).
• [05:01] It’s not how many people you meet, but the quality of the connections.
• [05:15] Drinking isn’t necessary, but it loosens people up.
• [05:32] Once you’re used to networking, try to have real conversations with people. Go deeper.
• [06:08] That’s it for today!
• [06:12] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #658, Eric and Neil discuss how you can be creative when you are not a creative-minded person. Tune in to hear where you can find inspiration.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: How to Be Creative When You're Not Creative
• [00:34] At a retreat in Cabo San Lucas, Eric met a man who makes commercials for companies like Burger King.
• [00:50] His tip about creativity was zig when everyone else zags.
• [01:15] If a customer requests something, see if turning their approach on its head would be more effective.
• [01:50] If everyone is moving away from Snapchat, you should go towards it.
• [02:05] See what your competition is doing and see if you can build on what they are doing or flip their ideas.
• [02:32] Blogs and podcasts are more popular than ever.
• [02:49] Listen to Growth Everywhere and use the strategies that others have used to grow their businesses.
• [03:04] Take creative ideas that worked for others and run experiments using these techniques.
• [03:24] If an approach is working for someone else, see if it will work for you and figure out how you can build upon it.
• [03:45] Everything is an iteration of something else.
• [04:13] Draw creativity from your surroundings.
• [04:28] Remember to learn continuously!
• [05:00] Mastermind groups, marketing conferences, diving into people’s numbers will help you gain insight into what works.
• [05:35] Nathan Rabka had a guest on his show and the guest made up numbers about their growth.
• [05:57] Everyone lies and be careful to spot the misleading information.
• [05:58] That’s all for today!
• [06:00] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #657, Eric and Neil count out the 7 LinkedIn marketing tricks you must use. Tune in to hear what you could be doing do boost your visibility on LinkedIn.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: 7 LinkedIn Marketing Tricks That You Have to Deploy
• [00:33] Tip 1: Consistently post videos to YouTube and make sure you link to them through LinkedIn (LinkedIn tends to promote video content).
• [01:05] Tip 2: Use LinkedIn Autofill as a means to get people on your email list with minimal effort on their part.
• [01:45] Tip 3: Videos ads for LinkedIn are expensive, but well worth it.
• [02:20] Tip 4: Don’t post as often on LinkedIn. Only post your best content.
• [03:23] Tip 5: Use Duck Soup or LinkedIn Helper when visiting profiles: it collects their info for later contact.
• [04:07] Tip 6: Make sure your profile is set to let people know you are looking for full-time work.
• [05:05] Tip 7: Growth Pods came from Instagram, but are now available on LinkedIn. It’s a way to boost your likes and visibility. Band together with similar people and like each other’s posts.
• [06:20] That’s all for today!
• [06:27] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #656, Eric and Neil discuss why Trump has such an effective social media strategy. Tune in to hear how and why you should use his so-called technique.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: Here's What Donald Trump Can Teach You About Social Media
• [00:35] Every time Trump tweets about Amazon, the stock value goes down (however, it always bounces back).
• [01:02] The reason his tweets are effective is that he is “super emotional”.
• [01:18] Whether you agree or disagree with him, his messages are always emotional.
• [01:54] When you get emotional with your tweets, your followers are more likely to engage (with hate or love).
• [02:30] He is a “master marketer”.
• [02:47] He knows how to manipulate the media and continues to use his platform to his advantage.
• [03:06] He apparently has a strong brand.
• [03:25] It’s a game to him and he knows how to play it.
• [03:40] Take time to reach out to people and find out who your most loyal followers are; find out what they want to hear from you.
• [04:32] Make sure you convey emotion and make sure it appeals to your most loyal followers.
• [04:52] That’s it for today!
• [04:56] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #655, Eric and Neil discuss how you can market your business at speaking engagements. Tune in to hear if it’s wise to use the hard sell while on stage.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: The Art of Speaking: How to Market Your Business From a Stage
• [00:35] Neil has been speaking for over ten years.
• [00:45] He never joined Toastmasters, he is just naturally outgoing.
• [01:11] Neil creates his slides, but doesn’t rehearse, because he doesn’t want to sound robotic.
• [01:55] You have to cater your approach to each audience.
• [02:12] Anyone can read slides, it takes someone with public speaking abilities to keep an audience engaged.
• [02:33] Eric and Neil never do a hard sell in their speeches.
• [02:47] Russell Brunson makes a lot of money from his public speaking engagements.
• [03:15] He spoke at the 10X conference and made $3 Million because of that event.
• [03:30] Russell is great at creating the “FOMO” feeling.
• [04:00] Some conferences want speakers to sell their businesses.
• [04:55] The hard sell has rubbed people the wrong way.
• [05:03] Leadpages is a way to get people on your email list.
• [05:28] Give people a link to your product or get them on your email list.
• [05:45] Special offers are also a great way to get leads.
• [06:30] It’s worth it to play the long game.
• [06:51] That’s all for today!
• [06:53] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #654, Eric and Neil discuss ringless voicemails. Tune in to hear how you should be using this tactic.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: How to Grow Your Business Through Ringless Voicemails
• [00:37] Ringless Voicemail is a way to drop a voicemail without ringing through.
• [01:01] If someone opts into your email list, this is a great way to thank them and direct them to a webinar or other service.
• [01:37] A lot of people check their voicemails and it’s a personal touch.
• [01:55] Eric and Neil agree they wouldn’t answer a call from an unknown number, but they would check the voicemail.
• [02:17] Sly Broadcast or Stratix Network are ringless voicemail services.
• [03:00] Don’t call, but if you also send a text, people will at least read it.
• [03:18] Form fill and Zapier are tools that will help you round out this process.
• [03:37] The more automated a process, the smoother it will go.
• [04:04] That’s it for today!
• [04:09] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #653, Eric and Neil talk about the simple hack that will help you get more valuable leads. Tune in to hear how you can up your conversion rate.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: One Simple Hack That'll Make Your Leads More Valuable
• [00:33] Lead scoring is getting more details, a number, or ratio on your leads.
• [00:46] The issue is, your sales team will talk to leads that they may not close and the closing ratios will go down.
• [01:09] You want to give your sales team leads that they can close.
• [01:29] Hubspot will lead-score for you.
• [01:45] Neil lead scores by using a customer’s URL and how much traffic they think you get (SEMRush and Alexa help with this).
• [02:00] Neil and his team look at so many facets of a client’s background that will help them understand whether they will be a good lead (country, spending habits, job title, etc.)
• [02:28] Eric loves using ClearBit to do some of this work.
• [02:57] From there, you can use MadKudu will look at all the actions people take on your site and what they’ve opted in for and score the lead that way.
• [03:25] If you use lead-scoring tools in conjunction with something like Drip or Intercom, it makes the work easier for you.
• [03:39] LinkedIn autofill gives you all the info based on someone’s profile and it’s more accurate than ClearBit. If the customer is logged into LinkedIn, it will pre-populate all their data.
• [04:38] Conversational bots always help drive people to the right funnel.
• [05:09] That’s it for today!
• [05:14] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #652, Eric and Neil discuss affiliate marketing. Tune in to hear what steps you should take to be successful at affiliate marketing.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: Affiliate Marketing Made Simple_A Step-by-Step Guide
• [00:44] Affiliate marketing is performance-based marketing.
• [01:15] It has a bad rep, because some affiliates are really aggressive and don’t put out quality work.
• [01:59] Read Affiliate Program Management: An Hour a Day
• [02:45] It’s important to have an affiliate manager.
• [03:10] If you can find the right affiliate, they will help you scale your business.
• [03:22] TapFiliate is less expensive and great.
• [03:35] Get Ambassador is another good affiliate service.
• [04:00] A lot of affiliates won’t work for you if your funnel isn’t fine-tuned.
• [04:10] ConvertKit is a great recruitment tool.
• [04:33] They reach out to ideal customers and do joint webinars with blogs that have the target customers.
• [05:05] Educate and offer a deal, otherwise webinars won’t convert as well.
• [05:30] There’s a company that made $88 Million last year and all they do is affiliate marketing.
• [06:30] You have to make sure that you understand affiliate marketing, so you don’t lose your shirt.
• [06:47] When paying out your affiliates, don’t do net 30, do net 60.
• [06:59] That’s it for today!
• [07:02] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #651, Eric and Neil discuss how you can fix your declining traffic. Tune in to hear how you can fix problems with your SEO.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: When SEO Goes Wrong How to Fix Your Declining Search Traffic
• [00:54] When you haven’t changed anything and traffic declines, it could be the link algorithm, your content is outdated, or user experience isn’t that good.
• [01:22] Read Search Engine Journal, Search Engine Land, Search Engine Roundtable to see if you’re up to date on algorithms and changes to sites.
• [01:50] Use SEMRush and Moz to see indicators of change.
• [02:25] Look for correlation across the board.
• [02:38] Rusty Bricks looks for chatter on forums to see what problems arise for traffic.
• [02:55] It’s important to have quantitative and qualitative data.
• [03:00] Wicked Fire and Blackhatworld are good resources.
• [03:30] When traffic dropped for Neil, they ran experiments and tracked everything.
• [04:10] Make sure you are diversifying.
• [04:30] Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
• [04:47] Sometimes your rankings may drop due to a change you made on your own website.
• [05:44] Always track your changes.
• [05:55] Don’t panic and be willing to take risks.
• [06;15] Look at it quarter over quarter.
• [06:40] WP Engine is great because you can revert to previous versions of your site.
• [07:04] That’s it for today!
• [07:07] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #650, Eric and Neil discuss how often you should be running experiments. Tune in to hear when, why, and how you should be running experiments.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: How Often Should You Run Experiments?
• [00:39] Eric thinks you should be running experiments every single week.
• [00:55] For Eric’s site, they run experiments on the site itself and the business.
• [01:05] They use North Star to run these experiments and Eric loves the Leaderboard function.
• [01:45] The more experiments you run, the better off you are.
• [01:52] However, it’s hard to run experiments when you don’t have enough traffic.
• [02:04] Once you get enough conversion points (500 per month), you can run 1-2 experiments per month because you will be able to see micro and macro conversions.
• [02:28] A micro conversion could be someone going to your checkout page.
• [02:36] A macro conversion could be more sales in general.
• [03:00] If you’re a small business, it’s ok to track micro conversions only.
• [03:22] In the short run, if you can’t optimize for conversions and sales, your experimentation should be around traffic generation. Use Similar Web, SEMRush, and AHREFS.
• [04:15] Managing Oneself is a short booklet that talks about the importance of feedback analysis.
• [05:14] There isn’t one experiment that will make you a major success, but rather a lot of little things that add up.
• [05:36] Make sure to break down the experiments to focus on tiny aspects of your business.
• [06:28] Running experiments over time lets you see what your strengths and weaknesses are.
• [06:44] That’s all for today!
• [06:46] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #649, Eric and Neil discuss whether Twitch is worth your time. Tune in to hear why you might want to consider a new outlet.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: Is Twitch Worth Your Time?
• [00:37] YouTubers are starting Twitch channels.
• [00:54] First and foremost, it claims to be the sixth most trafficked website in the world.
• [01:20] They have 15 Million daily active users.
• [01:28] 81% of users are male and 55% are between the ages of 18 and 34.
• [01:47] The numbers are impressive.
• [02:12] There are a ton of gamers on Twitch. Just because they are gamers, doesn’t mean they aren’t interested in other things.
• [02:39] Twitch is fourth in traffic in the US.
• [04:00] You don’t need a professional set-up.
• [04:11] There is a misconception that high-quality video is the only option.
• [04:52] If you create video, why wouldn’t you post it on every site available?
• [05:50] The content re-usage framework applies here.
• [06:11] If you’re already doing the work, you may as well post to Twitch.
• [06:26] That’s all for today!
• [06:30] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #648, Eric and Neil discuss how to prioritize your marketing. Tune in to hear what you should be doing before anything else.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: What Runs First? How to Prioritize Your Marketing
• [00:50] If you are improving every week by 1-2%, this means you are improving by 50% per year, which is a good place to be,
• [01:16] Look at the funnel first: you can see in Google Analytics what’s working and what isn’t.
• [01:41] From there, you can determine what to focus on.
• [01:57] Look at what’s causing the biggest drop-off and run AB tests.
• [02:38] If you have a leaky bucket, you wouldn’t pour more water in.
• [02:53] Make sure your funnel is optimized before you drive a lot of traffic to it.
• [03:00] Both Eric and Neil know a man named Shaun Ellis who was on the growth team for Dropbox.
• [03:10] He went on to create Growth Hackers. They have since released a growth management tool. North Star.
• [03:40] North Star uses the ICE model (Impact, Confidence, Ease)
• [04:36] Average your scores in each category.
• [04:44] North Star allows you to test different hypotheses.
• [05:15] The problem with the ICE framework is that it only works if someone in your company knows marketing really well.
• [05:52] Once you fix your funnel, it’s all about driving traffic to your site/funnel.
• [06:00] The best traffic is paid traffic.
• [06:12] For paid traffic, you can try Facebook, Taboola, Outbrain, etc.
• [06:30] Measure traffic based on the ROI.
• [07:04] That’s all for today!
• [07:07] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #647, Eric and Neil discuss why you should post less frequently on social media. Tune in to hear what you should be doing instead.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: How Posting Less Frequently on Social Media Will Get You More Traffic
• [00:36] Eric used to use a tool Meet Edgar, but he doesn’t use it anymore because the engagement was too low.
• [00:55] By decreasing their social media posts, they focused on quality content instead.
• [01:30] MeetEdgar made the team lazy about social media traffic.
• [01:45] It should always be quality over quantity when it comes to social media posting.
• [02:24] If you keep posting crappy content, social media sites might bury your posts.
• [03:05] Don’t post for the sake of it, focus on high-quality content.
• [03:23] Neil would be lazy and just post a link to Facebook, but now he makes sure to add titles and descriptions, as well.
• [03:53] The VP of Marketing at Sales Hacker will write mini blog posts on social media, then add links to the full content. He will also tag people in the posts.
• [05:00] Post at least two to three times per week. Grant Cardone has great content, but doesn’t do well because he posts too often.
• [05:21] That’s all for today!
• [05:25] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #646, Eric and Neil discuss how you can use social media to dominate Google’s search results. Tune in to hear how you can leverage social media to rank higher in Google.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: How to Use Social Media to Dominate Google's Search Results
• [00:40] You have to create a lot of content.
• [00:50] You can use social media to rank for your brand, but also for a lot of other keywords or terms.
• [00:56] If you search for anything, Google will also bring up Twitter results.
• [01:30] By participating in all social media sites, you can show up for everything!
• [01:45] Eric helped an alarm company push up the results for their social profiles and buried their one negative Forbes review.
• [02:35] Link to your social profiles from your website.
• [02:52] The domain authority to these sites is so high already, that Google will push the results higher.
• [03:08] Participate actively on social media.
• [03:24] Make sure you engage other users on social media.
• [03:48] Listen to Eric and Neil’s episode about getting your social media profiles up and running/link building.
• [04:00] Make sure you cross-promote your social profiles once per month.
• [04:20] Get personal: social is meant to be about you. Talk about your team instead of the product.
• [05:00] That’s all for today!
• [05:03] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #645, Eric and Neil discuss how SEO is changing. Tune in to hear what will become of SEO next year and how you can adapt.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic:
• [00:38] SEO is heading towards voice search.
• [00:40] However, it’s not just SEO, it’s the world. Consider Amazon’s “Alexa”.
• [01:03] Search is changing, because people will ask an AI assistant as opposed to Googling.
• [01:56] There is a tool that was developed to help with semantic searches.
• [02:08] It looks for the meaning of what you are looking for (ex. What is love? And it will produce results that offer resources to answer that question).
• [02:50] AI and semantic searches are melding together.
• [03:09] Alexa the product is better at SEO, but the voice device outranks it.
• [03:25] Mobile is huge now.
• [03:33] If you are using a mobile phone, the search index you see is different than what you would get on a desktop.
• [03:50] It’s unclear how to monetize voice search thus far.
• [04:04] You need to be there, so once it’s monetized, you can jump on it.
• [04:46] Eric and Neil now have their podcast on Alexa and they are getting more listens.
• [05:20] That’s it for today!
• [05:22] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #644, Eric and Neil discuss why you should never rely on SEO or social media marketing alone. Tune in to hear why and how you should diversify your efforts.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: You Should Never Rely on SEO or Social Media Marketing
• [00:35] With social media sites, you are never in full control of your own destiny and you never want to put that in someone else’s hands.
• [01:00] Paid ads are great, but costs can go up or you can get banned.
• [01:26] Leverage SEO and Social, but you also need to diversify into things like paid advertising, email marketing, etc.
• [02:04] Be patient, get ONE thing working before you diversify.
• [02:47] When relying on social media channels, take your profits and diversify as quickly as possible.
• [03:05] Spend the money earlier on.
• [03:20] Once you have that multi-channel approach, make sure you are creating really high quality content.
• [04:00] Slow and steady wins the race with SEO.
• [04:11] It takes time and money to create great content.
• [04:44] Going for short-term hacks will screw you in the long run.
• [05:14] That’s all for today!
• [05:16] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #643, Eric and Neil discuss the best marketing tools for under $100. Tune in to hear which marketing tools are free or low cost and still get the job done.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: The Best Marketing Tools For Under $100
• [00:33] Eric likes BuzzSumo, because it lets you track your brand, certain keywords, and traffic coming into your site.
• [00:56] Neil likes SpyFu. It’s not as popular as SEMrush and AHREFS, but it’s a lot less expensive and has a lot of good data. You get similar results, so if you can’t afford the other services, this is a great option.
• [01:16] Wistia has a good free version you can use to make and post videos.
• [01:50] Sumo is a great way to collect emails and remarket to people. It’s an all-in-one free tool.
• [02:18] Frame.io streamlines the video-making process. It may run you over $100/year.
• [02:42] Survey Monkey is a great tool to help you get feedback from your customers; this is a way to qualitative data.
• [03:14] For heat mapping, Crazy Egg can’t be beat.
• [03:26] Convert Kit is for email blasts. While it doesn’t have full automation, it’s a useful and easy-to-use tool for marketers.
• [04:29] You don’t have to pay for these tools every month. Sometimes, you can use the free option and always upgrade for a month at a time.
• [04:40] That’s it for today!
• [04:50] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #642, Eric and Neil discuss the social media site that will drive more traffic to your site. Tune in to hear which social network you should be leveraging and what tactics you need to use.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: The Social Network That'll Drive You More Traffic Than Facebook
• [00:36] The social network that will get you more traffic than Facebook is LinkedIn!
• [00:45] It’s not popular, but it works better.
• [01:05] After the Microsoft acquisition, LinkedIn has stepped up their game.
• [01:14] When you post on LinkedIn, the post stays up longer and you get more engagement.
• [01:27] Facebook can do whatever they want, while LinkedIn is starving for content and needs to compete.
• [02:02] If you want organic traffic, use LinkedIn.
• [02:12] When Neil posts a video on LinkedIn, he gets anywhere from twice to seven times as many views as he would on Facebook.
• [03:03] To succeed on LinkedIn: take your video content and put it on LinkedIn.
• [03:11] To succeed on LinkedIn: Take the audio from your video content, turn it into a podcast and post on LinkedIn.
• [03:33] To succeed on LinkedIn: Post your blog posts on LinkedIn.
• [03:45] However, with blog posts you should put the title, first two paragraphs, and then a link to your site for the rest.
• [04:01] Engage with other groups and members.
• [04:16] That’s it for today!
• [04:20] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #641, Eric and Neil discuss the simplest way to lure people back to your site. Tune in to hear how you can increase your traffic and conversions.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: The Simplest Way to Bring People Back to Your Website
• [00:55] You either collect emails or get them to opt into push notifications. Then you have to continually urge them back to your site.
• [01:10] You can also get people to follow your social profiles, but they don’t convert.
• [02:00] Subscribers is a great email service, but you can also use ManyChat to push people back to your site.
• [02:40] Try retargeting, as well. Google Retargeting and you will probably come across Neil.
• [03:07] It is just putting a pixel on your site that alerts ad networks and lets them track visitors.
• This will then allow ad networks to spot your visitors and post relevant ads in their browser that will send them back to your site.
• [03:20] However, retargeting is expensive.
• [03:27] Neil agrees that email is a great technique and likes Mobile Monkey.
• [03:45] It’s harder to get traffic from Facebook ads now, so you should leverage sure things like email and chatbot marketing.
• [03:53] That’s it for today!
• [03:58] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #640, Eric and Neil discuss the marketing tactic you need to master this year. Tune in to hear what one tactic you should be leveraging.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: The Marketing Tactic You Must Master in 2018
• [00:33] Surprise: it’s branding!
• [00:49] Neil recently performed a survey to discover what causes people to engage with his brand.
• [00:57] He made sure it was an open-ended survey.
• [01:05] The answers were either that they saw him at a conference or watched his videos.
• [01:55] The reason Eric and Neil simulcast their podcasts on video is because people enjoy and engage with the videos more.
• [02:14] Even though it costs more upfront, it will pay off financially in the long run.
• [03:00] The market is very fragmented right now; the way people market and engage with content varies.
• [03:38] Make sure that you spread your content across the many different social media platforms, because you will reach different people on each one.
• [04:35] There are a lot of websites that get a lot of traffic, but bring in little revenue; so, Neil’s company has been buying them out in order to pick up the traffic.
• [05:10] That’s it for today!
• [05:14] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #639, Eric and Neil discuss the three best marketing strategies. Tune in to hear what three things you should be doing to increase your conversions.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: The Three Best Marketing Strategies
• [00:46] Posting less on Facebook, actually gets you more traffic.
• [01:14] Share your best pieces and you will get higher engagement.
• [01:40] Eric’s office has printed out and posted the Content Re-usage Workflow.
• [02:00] The framework says to start with a foundation, which will then give you options to spin the content down the line.
• [02:54] Google Analytics can now show you each person’s entrypoint to your site and what is causing a conversion.
• [03:05] Take the conversion data and take the low click-rate stuff and repurpose it.
• [04:15] Traffic that doesn’t convert isn’t worth your time.
• [04:37] That’s all for today!
• [04:44] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #638, Eric and Neil discuss why the small things can make a big difference. Tune in to hear how many different facets go into creating a successful business.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: Small Things Make The Biggest Difference
• [00:36] At a past job, Eric took the footer links on the homepage and added more that said “Learn Web Design” and “Learn Web Development”. These small changes helped to improve the domain authority.
• [01:23] The Dropbox referral program isn’t what made their company, even though it helped.
• [01:35] Their explainer video was also a small thing that helped make a difference without making the only difference.
• [02:00] Dropbox offered a lot of little things to help create the powerhouse they are today.
• [02:15] It’s never just one thing, but rather a lot of little things that make up a successful company.
• [02:45] It’s like a video game: you are constantly leveling up.
• [03:38] Think about building things up, but remember not to do it in isolation.
• [04:00] Figure out how you can do one small marketing thing each and every week.
• [04:05] Even though you won't’ necessarily see the results every week, it will pay off in the near future.
• [04:20] When Eric started at Single Grain, the web traffic was 4000/month. Now, it is 100,000+/month.
• [04:30] This improvement was made over the course of four years.
• [04:41] Never expect immediate results.
• [05:16] Eric remembers grinding away until he got results.
• [05:44] It’s all about the journey!
• [06:06] For the first year that Eric was podcasting Growth Everywhere, he would spend six hours putting together all the facets of creating and uploading an episode.
• [06:17] He only got 9 downloads per day, but kept grinding away until he got more listeners.
• [06:30] Now, they get 80,000 listeners.
• [06:44] There was no one thing that made the podcast big, it was a combination of factors.
• [06:48] That’s all for today!
• [06:49] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #637, Eric and Neil explain why paid ads are better than SEO. Tune in to hear why you should be focused more energy on paid ads.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: SEO Will Never be as Good as Paid Ads!
• [00:34] Content pages generally rank higher than product pages.
• [00:59] While paid ads are expensive, you can direct traffic to pages that will generate the most cash.
• [01:10] The conversion rate is higher, because visitors will land on a page that is selling them something.
• [01:29] You just can’t control SEO as well as you can paid ads.
• [01:57] With paid ads, you can scale as much as you need to.
• [02:20] VC’s really like pouring money into SaaS companies.
• [02:44] Google and Facebook wouldn’t be worth what they are, if it wasn’t for paid ads.
• [03:30] People are moving campaigns from TV to the Internet.
• [04:05] Focus on paid ads before SEO, especially if you have a product or service.
• [04:34] That’s it for today!
• [04:37] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #636, Eric and Neil discuss whether it is worth spending money on blog posts. Tune in to hear where your money should be going.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: Is It Worth Spending $200 Per Blog Post?
• [00:33] Yes, it is worth the money!
• [00:45] The cost per blog depends on the industry.
• [00:50] It’s not about how much you pay, but rather if it is on the right topic, using the right keywords, etc.
• [01:05] You can’t be pushing or schilling in the post, it needs to educate.
• [01;20] Neil writes long-form blog posts.
• [01:40] It costs him well over $200 per blog post.
• [02:05] Start with a strong foundation and build from there (videos, webinars, facebook ads).
• [02:23] Singlegrain went from 4000 visitors per month to over 100,000 by using this strategy.
• [03:15] Every quarter, open up a tool like AHREFS, see the keywords for which you rank well and improve upon them or replicate that content.
• [04:01] Once you build a strong blog foundation, you can expand into other areas of media. However, don’t neglect your blog posts as a result.
• [04:15] You will get higher ROI by fixing up old content.
• [04:42] Clickflow is a tool to help you figure all this out.
• [04:58] If you spend money on a post, remember that it keeps generating traffic each and every month.
• [05:18] Google “Tom Tunguz and compound marketing” and you will get a great blog post about this very subject.
• [05:41] That’s it for today!
• [05:44] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #635, Eric and Neil discuss an important SEO strategy. Tune in to hear what you may have been overlooking.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: 95% of You Will Ignore This SEO Strategy
• [00:36] Branding is what separates good companies from the bad.
• [01:30] If you don’t know how popular a brand is, it’s hard to outrank them.
• [02:00] Neil’s strategy used to be: create good content, create value, wait for results.
• [02:04] This wasn’t the best strategy.
• [02:15] His best branding strategy was the “Who is Neil Patel?” campaign.
• [02:45] BuzzSumo has a great alert system that will help you track your brand.
• [02:51] Neil likes to use Google Trends, which is free.
• [03:03] Google Search Console is also a great way to track your progress.
• [03:10] GSC tracks farther back than 90 days, which is more helpful when gauging progress.
• [04:15] The stronger your brand, the higher your domain authority.
• [04:40] That’s it for today!
• [04:44] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #634, Eric and Neil discuss the easiest way to be successful. Tune in to hear why experiments are key.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: The Straightest Road to Success
• [00:33] The key to success is experimentation!
• [00:51] A lot of people forget to build out an experimentation framework.
• [01:02] Neil will split his team into four groups and each group will submit ideas each week for “crazy” experiments they can run.
• [02:38] Each group needs to run experiments every week.
• [02:46] GrowthHackers created North Star, which helps you track experiments over time.
• [03:00] Northstar is a free service.
• [03:18] Try Google Experiments as another tracker.
• [03:34] Build experimentation into the fabric of your company.
• [04:00] It’s ok if experiments fail!
• [04:28] By doing radical experiments, you can learn how to grow your company at a fast pace.
• [04:50] Read Crazy Egg to learn more about experimentation.
• [05:01] That’s all for today!
• [05:04] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #633, Eric and Neil discuss why you shouldn't fall in love with an idea. Tune in to hear what you should love in order to be successful.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: Don't Fall in Love With an Idea
• [00:35] Most startups start with a totally different idea than what they are doing presently.
• [00:54] Don’t fall in love with an idea, fall in love with an industry.
• [01:55] As long as you stick with your industry, you can build upon that experience, as opposed to shifting to something else entirely.
• [02:18] It’s like compound interest: the moment you stop investing, you lose all that interest.
• [02:53] Stay in your lane.
• [03:01] In a Nathan Latka podcast interview, the discussion was about sticking with one industry instead of branching out into the unknown.
• [04:02] You need to love what you do, but make sure you love the industry.
• [04:20] Elon Musk had ZipTo, then Paypal, then SpaceX. Because he jumped industries, he struggled much longer before his success.
• [05:23] It’s like WOW: you need to keep levelling up.
• [06:00] That’s all for today!
• [06:04] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #632, Eric and Neil discuss why you shouldn’t copy your competition. Tune in to see why past techniques may not work for you today.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: Stop Copying Your Competition
• [00:38] What worked for your competition won’t necessarily work for you.
• [01:17] The problem with content marketing is that there is now a lot more competition.
• [01:40] Whereas Neil had success within the first three months, it would take people a year to do the same today.
• [02:18] Costs of paid ads have gone up and bigger brands drive prices even higher.
• [03:00] What people were willing to spend years ago, was a lot less than you would have to spend today.
• [04:00] Just because one tactic worked for another company, doesn’t mean it will work the same way for you.
• [04:15] Dropbox referral programs worked in the past, but they probably wouldn’t work now.
• [04:50] If you’re in business to make money, you should do something else.
• [05:03] You have to be three steps ahead of everyone; think about what will be popular in the future. Spot trends.
• [05:40] Take chances and shoot for the moon.
• [05:50] That’s all for today!
• [05:53] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #631, Eric and Neil discuss why it’s important to not overthink shit. Tune in to hear why overthinking could be ruining your business.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: Don't Overthink Shit
• [00:34] Everyone loves to come up with complex funnels.
• [00:48] When you make it complex, stuff is more likely to break down.
• [01:12] Start simple, then expand.
• [01:22] When Eric started, his channel was SEO. They wrote content and did a lot of guest posting.
• [01:43] They tried a complex marketing funnel, but it didn’t work.
• [01:55] They also were podcasting at the same time and then layered in content marketing once they got the hang of everything.
• [02:27] Just focus on the things that you are good at.
• [02:40] Don’t take on too much and you can layer things in later.
• [03:14] Why build a crazy marketing/sales funnel, when you haven’t tried a simple one in order to see if it would even work?
• [03:50] The boring growth is often the most sustainable growth.
• [05:06] Wait until the next marketing method has been effective and monetized by others, then jump on the bandwagon. You don’t have to be the first!
• [05:33] That’s all for today!
• [05:36] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #630, Eric and Neil explain how successful marketers think. Tune in to hear what you should be doing to become a more successful marketer.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: How Successful Marketers Think
• [00:35] Successful marketers are numb to failure.
• [00:45] Most experiments are going to fail, but as long as you continue to improve by 1%/week, that will be a 50% gain over the course of a year.
• [01:13] Consistency is key!
• [01:20] It takes time to get things right, but you have to stay the course.
• [01:45] Eric writes thousands of blog posts, even though he has terrible grammar. He knows it is important to follow through and be consistent.
• [01:50] Be a T-shaped marketer.
• [02:30] Spot trends! If you are not good at spotting trends, keep reading news sites and stay on top of things.
• [03:25] Things change so quickly in marketing.
• [04:45] If you are not thinking about ROI, you are not going to succeed in the marketing world.
• [05:20] It’s important to be data-driven; the numbers do not lie.
• [05:59] Don’t be afraid to shake up whatever industry you are in.
• [06:12] Neil is willing to do this by taking competitors products or services, copying them, and then offering them for free.
• [06:51] That’s all for today!
• [06:57] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #629, Eric and Neil Discuss how to get started in SEO. Tune in to hear what’s changed and how you can get a successful start doing SEO.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: How to Start in SEO
• [00:45] The biggest thing that Eric and Neil are seeing right now is that the path to success has changed.
• [01:18] If you spend a year practicing SEO on your own website, that’s no longer the way to go.
• [01:35] You should practice on someone else’s older website.
• [01:52] Hit up a ton of people offering your services for free.
• [02:00] It’s easier to grow a business than it is to start one.
• [02:25] During a TED Talk Eric saw, a Harvard Professor outlined the three elements of trust: authenticity, empathy, and logic.
• [02:45] When you develop your skills for free, you will eventually earn clients.
• [03:14] You will probably have to email 15-17 people before you get a solid “yes” when it comes to offering your services for free.
• [03:40] Make sure that the person to whom you offer your services is as committed as you are.
• [03:59] Even if you are working for free, make sure you get a contract to get the time that you need.
• [04:38] A semantic search tool was just released from a developer at Google.
• [04:57] Be aware that this is the future of searching and it will affect your SEO.
• [05:42] SEO and Sales are similar.
• [05:58] SEO is trying to sell yourself and get a link.
• [06:04] Victor Antonio has a great YouTube page about sales.
• [06:24] Most new SEO workers focus on traffic from relevant keywords, which Neil thinks is a terrible idea.
• [06:37] Just because you get more relevant traffic, doesn’t mean you get more sales.
• [06:50] Instead, look at Google Analytics, see where your ROI is coming from, focus on increasing traffic to the landing pages with the most revenue.
• [07:21] That’s it for today!
• [07:25] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #628, Eric and Neil have a 6-ish minute chat about planning for the long-term. Tune in to hear why you should always focus on long-term goals and solutions.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: 6 Minutes For the Next 60 Years of Your Entrepreneurial Journey
• [00:36] When you think about starting a business, most people think about “what problem should I solve?”
• [00:54] But you should also ask “will this problem that I’m solving still be relevant in the ensuing years?”
• [01:08] You don’t want to have to create a new business every few years.
• [01:30] Eric thinks Singlegrain will still be around in 20 years, but that it will have to evolve.
• [02:10] Five years into his business, Eric believes he still has a long way to go.
• [02:36] If you come up with a short-sighted solution, then you will have to start a new business every few years. It is easier to grow a business than it is to start one.
• [03:00] Elon Musk has a long-term plan to work towards getting people on Mars.
• [04:07] Often times, the most difficult problems to solve are also the most boring, but the boring stuff stands the test of time.
• [05:00] Neil believes marketing will always be around as a industry.
• [05:45] Focus on your strengths and then see how you can expand upon that.
• [06:10] Do the boring stuff!
• [06:36] Don’t focus on the short-term solutions or businesses.
• [06:53] That’s all for today!
• [06:58] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #627, Eric and Neil discuss how you can find a CMO. Tune in to hear what you should be doing to grab your next successful CMO.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: How to Find a CMO
• [00:33] They get hit up all the time for people looking to fill this position, but it is the hardest position to fill.
• [00:55] Tap into referral networks.
• [01:05] When Eric was hired at Treehouse, he was referred in.
• [01:27] Don’t just hire a CMO, have someone prove in a lesser position that they can deliver results for you. Have people work their way up.
• [02:55] Instead of having a CMO, just make the marketing department work together to guide the mission.
• [03:41] Contingency firms whose focus is on hiring executives is another way to go.
• [03:48] They will cost you a lot of money, but will deliver on the mission.
• [04:34] Org structures are different now, so it changes how you can operate.
• [04:38] To recap: referral networks work, contingency firms work, having NO CMO works.
• [04:48] That’s it for today!
• [04:50] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #625, Eric and Neil discuss where and how to focus your energy. Tune in to hear what you should actually be focusing on!

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: To Focus or Not to Focus, The Marketer's Dilemma
• [00:50] People have different concepts of how marketing works.
• [01:02] Your tactics all depend on what your business is, what its status is, etc.
• [01:37] Pick a tactic that is working the best for you and focus all your energy on that.
• [01:55] Once that tactic is operating to its best abilities, add in other tactics.
• [02:24] Eric worked at a company that tried a bunch of different tactics and found video marketing worked the best, then focused all their energy on that.
• [03:14] Neil met the Legal Zoom/Shoedazzle CEO; he told Neil to have laser focus.
• [04:10] Steve Jobs said that he is better at saying “no” than other people.
• [04:40] If your growth rate is accelerating, hit the gas. If it’s decelerating, think about what you can improve.
• [04:55] That’s all for today!
• [05:02] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #626, Eric and Neil explain why they don’t watch the news. Tune in to hear why  television news is a waste of your time.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: Why We Don't Watch The News
• [00:33] The news media is just another business.
• [00:45] It’s a viewership-driven business and they thrive on ad revenue.
• [01:00] Instead, Eric follows different people on Twitter and gets his news from that.
• [01:20] TV news is just noise!
• [02:21] You can get your news by browsing news sites instead.
• [02:34] If something really important or big happens, you will most likely find out about it on Twitter or social media, anyway.
• [03:15] By not spending time posting on social media, you gain a lot of hours back.
• [03:44] To beat your competition, focus on your business and what matters as opposed to being obsessed with frivolous social media posts.
• [04:40] The Economist Espresso is one or two paragraphs and summarizes the most important stories.
• [05:00] “If you want to do well, stop wasting your time” -Neil
• [05:07] That’s all for today!
• [05:10] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #624, Eric and Neil discuss how you can get more out of your day. Tune in to hear how you should be organizing your life.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: How to Get More Out of Your Day
• [00:40] Google “Michael Hyatt Perfect Day”, which will explain how to block out your day.
• [00:53] Eric and Neil record at a set time every week.
• [01:07] Thursdays are Eric’s content days. Fridays are for his SAS products.
• [02:05] Eric will do networking events, dinners, etc., because it is a priority for growing his business.
• [02:40] Figure out your end goal and cut everything else out.
• [03:00] Neil doesn’t do networking events, rather he does actual tasks.
• [03:15] He feels that if he hasn’t accomplished his goals, he can’t rest, so he doesn’t care about work/life balance: he works through illnesses and holidays.
• [03:29] Mark Schuster did a blog post “Learning Before Earning”, which you should read.
• [04:09] The book, The One Thing, tells you to pick your most important goal and to just focus on that.
• [05:06] Building or fostering good habits is key.
• [05:15] You have to rank things to determine which is the most urgent/important.
• [05:42] Check out Rescue Time: It will show you how you are spending your time and allow you to cut the fat.
• [06:15] Delegate!
• [07:10] That’s all for today!
• [07:16] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #623, Eric and Neil discuss how you can stay top of mind. Tune in to hear what you should be doing to remain popular.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: Here's A Unique Way To Keep Your Brand Top Of Mind
• [00:38] If you look at Drift, every time they launch a new feature, they always have a lot of fanfare and masquerade it as a product launch.
• [01:26] In 2017, Neil bought UberSuggest and relaunched it as a free tool in 2018.
• [01:45] He used Product Hunt to promote it.
• [02:15] Neil publishes to his blog 7 days a week!
• [02:32] You have to be relentless in order to stay top of mind. Tom Brady is a great example of relentlessness.
• [03:00] There is no one specific thing you can do to stay popular, but rather you have to try everything.
• [03:42] The rule of 7: someone has to see something 7 times before they convert.
• [04:10] By putting yourself out there, eventually, you will become top of mind.
• [04:51] Zoom doesn’t run a lot of ads, but they have billboards everywhere in San Francisco. They even bought a sponsorship at the arena where the Golden State Warriors play.
• [05:28] That’s all for today!
• [05:31] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #622, Eric and Neil discuss what you can do when you run out of marketing ideas. Tune in to hear where you can find inspiration to get you out of a rut.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: Running Out of Marketing Ideas? Do this
• [00:45] Eric opens Feedly, which has a bunch of marketing blogs, which can give him a bunch of ideas.
• [01:17] Nuzzle takes all of his Twitter followers and shows him who they are following.
• [01:34] Basically, go out and research in order to get new ideas.
• [01:47] Instead of doing more things, improve what you are already doing.
• [01:53] Try using Buzzsumo, SEMRush, AHREFS in order to see what your competitors are doing.
• [02:14] Re-write your competitors work and improve upon it.
• [02:46] Whatrunswhere shows you what banner ads your competitors are leveraging.
• [03:15] Keep things fresh: go look at your channels and update/upgrade them.
• [03:42] Crowdsource your ideas!
• [04:50] Listen to competitors’ podcasts, which will give you great ideas. Find out their numbers, see what’s working, and leverage this information to your advantage.
• [05:32] Eric did an episode of Growth Everywhere and his interviewee’s competitor was listening and reached out to Eric.
• [06:01] The competitor picked up some useful info, just from listening to the podcast.
• [06:25] That’s all for today!
• [06:29] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #621, Eric and Neil explain how marketers are full of shit. Tune in to hear how you can decipher a bullshitter from a talented marketer.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: Marketers Are Full of Shit
• [00:34] Marketers always talk a big game, but their results speak for themselves.
• [01:08] When hiring marketers, make sure whatever they claim to have done is backed up by proof.
• [01:45] Eric’s friend had to fire his marketing guy, because the marketer used up too many resources.
• [02:16] You must absolutely require proof of success and pay them for a trial period (run a series of paid tests).
• [02:48] Always test out a working relationship before you pull the trigger.
• [03:20] Neil doesn’t care what your title is, he is only focused on efficacy and results.
• [03:43] Eric and Neil can easily provide proof of their results.
• [04:05] “What is the most impressive win of your marketing career thus far?” is Eric’s favorite interview question. Once you start pressing for details, you can tell whether a candidate is lying.
• [04:40] Neil likes to show candidates his website and ask what they would do to fix any issues.
• [05:05] This is a great way to see if they can think on their feet or improve upon anything. It shows you if they know what they are talking about.
• [05:41] That’s all for today!
• [05:43] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #620. Eric and Neil discuss 7 unorthodox marketing hacks. Tune in to hear what you could be doing to drive conversions.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: 7 Unorthodox Marketing Hacks You Ought to Leverage
• [00:35] #1: When driving people to your website, less than 5% will convert. For the 95% that don’t convert, re-market them with an opposite pitch (logical vs. emotional).
• [01:22] #2: Every month, when Drift launches a new feature, they treat it as a product launch, which helps to keep them top-of-mind. Product Hunt is a great tool for this.
• [02:22] #3: There is a program on LinkedIn that gives a special button that populates their LinkedIn info into a form, so they have less work to do. This will increase your leads and conversions, because there is less work to be done
• [02:59] #4: Build a repurposing framework. Think about all the content you can take even further (turning a blog post into a video, social media post, webinar, etc.).
• [03:36] #5: To increase your traffic, start doing things people wouldn’t normally do.
• [04:01] The best way to get people from your blog to your landing page/product page is to place banner ads within your blog.
• [04:27] #6: Offer something for free for the cost of shipping.
• [04:57] Russell Brunson built his company by doing this.
• [05:10] #7: Give people options in your ads.
• [05:22] Within the first 30 seconds of a video about learning guitar, the instructor offered a link for beginners and a link for more advanced students.
• [06:04] That’s it for today!
• [06:06] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #619. Eric and Neil discuss how you can audit your content in 5 minutes. Tune in to hear how you can quickly improve your content.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: How to Audit Your Content in 5 Minutes
• [00:34] Eric likes to use Screaming Frog Spider, an SEO tool that allows him to crawl his website like a search engine would.
• [01:06] There’s an annual fee, but it’s a great way to audit your content.
• [01:12] Neil likes to make a list of all his Wordpress content, see which topics are duplicates, then plugs that into Google Search Console. Once he sees which ones are ranking, he will combine the similar posts and update his links.
• [02:04] This is the quickest way to audit your content and this will increase your rankings.
• [03:05] Using a tool like AHREFS allows you to do content gap analysis, while also offering a look at your competitors.
• [03:25] Content auditing doesn’t take long!
• [03:43] Click flow helps to optimize organic click-through rates to drive your traffic up.
• [04:12] That’s all for today!
• [04:15] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #618, Eric and Neil discuss why Ivy League graduates aren’t always the best marketers. Tune in to hear why you shouldn’t hire a Harvard grad.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: Why You Shouldn't Hire Harvard Graduates
• [00:35] People who come from Ivy League schools are smart and they are not saying not to hire them.
• [01:20] What you need to do, is hire people based on how creative they are and their past work.
• [01:38] If a candidate can turn a dud into a stud, they can probably do great work for you.
• [01:55] People who go to good schools are good at following instructions. When it comes to getting creative and thinking outside the box, they may not be able to do that.
• [02:40] When Eric was 22, there was a Harvard grad who was in the same position as Eric. The Harvard grad appeared to have no chutzpah and would come in and only do what he was told. This motivated Eric to work hard and be creative.
• [03:25] Affiliate marketers are the most creative, because they don’t operate based on rules.
• [04:15] People that operate outside boundaries and make difficult numbers work, are often successful affiliate marketers.
• [04:36] That’s all for today!
• [04:38] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #617, Eric and Neil count out their favorite WordPress plugins. Tune in to hear what plugins you should be using to optimize your posts.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: Our Favorite Marketing WordPress Plugins of 2018
• [00:35] YouTube Subscribe Bar allows you to embed videos and include a subscribe button. However, the subscribe button will subscribe viewers to your channel instead of the channel from which the video was posted.
• [01:13] Yoast SEO Plugin has an XML sitemap generator. They create XML sitemaps the correct way, whereas other plugins do not.
• [01:37] Tools like Pretty Links help to shorten links and make them more visually appealing.
• [02:05] Exit Pop Ups works well with Hello Bar and Neil likes it because you can make your background an animated GIF. Animated GIFs tend to up your subscribers.
• [02:27] Wordable allows you to write a post in Google Sheets and then push it directly to Wordpress.
• [03:18] Gravity Forms is a great way to do integrations and collect payments. You can hook it in with Woocommerce or Zapier.
• [03:52] WP Embed Code Generator, which is great for creating embed codes for your infographics, so other people can use them.
• [04:09] A Blogging Checklist is an oldie, but a goodie. The checklist is an easy form for everyone to follow. It’s a dummy-proof solution.
• [04:46] That’s all for today!
• [04:49] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #616, Eric and Neil discuss the 7 hacks you can use to stand out from the crowd. Tune in to hear what you should be doing to make an impression.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: 7 Social Media Hacks That'll Make You Stand Out From The Noise
• [00:42] #1: Neil took the most popular influencers and had them take photos of themselves holding signs that said, “Who is Neil Patel?”. Over the years, he has closed deals because people remembered this campaign.
• [01:26] #2: Allbird has custom illustrations and videos on Instagram. That kind of thing will help you stand out.
• [02:06] #3: See what’s working for your competitors and is getting them the most shares. Then, create similar content or posts.
• [02:38] #4: Social Blade shows stats for YouTube. You can see channel’s growth rates and what helped them achieve that growth. This will help you figure out what tactics to copy.
• [03:23] #5: Increase engagement by boosting posts to people on your fan page.
• [04:11] #6: Build pods with like-minded people and power-like each other’s posts.
• [04:38] #7: Figure out what each social network is missing. Facebook is trying to work on video, LinkedIn has a lot of gaps, etc. If you give the social network what they are lacking, they will promote it.
• [05:34] That’s all for today!
• [05:36] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #615, Eric and Neil debate which marketing channel has the best ROI. Tune in to hear on which channel you should be focusing your energy.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: Which Marketing Channels Have The Best ROI
• [00:35] Content marketing is one of the best options for good ROI.
• [00:40] On the other hand, Neil thinks using paid ads are the best.
• [01:06] You have to think of scalability and return on investment.
• [01:30] With content marketing, you could spend $1 Million and generate $10 Million, whereas with paid ads, you could spend $50 Million and generate $100.
• [01:40] If you combine those two channels, you could have a “monster” business.
• [02:00] One channel could work better than the other depending on the business.
• [02:25] A woman Neil met at a conference gets all her business through Facebook ads.
• [02:50] Another company grew solely off of social media paid ads, which proves this is a popular and successful method.
• [03:15] If you layer paid ads with content marketing, you will have twice as much business.
• [03:42] If you want to know which will produce the highest ROI for you, run some tests.
• [04:02] If you are not sure which channels to use, check out what is working for your competitors using SEMRush or BuzzSumo.
• [04:20] Think about where your audience is “hanging out” and tailor your approach.
• [04:42] If you need to need to go back to Marketing 101, read The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing.
• [04:46] That’s all for today!
• [04:49] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #614, Eric and Neil count out the 10 marketing tools you absolutely need. Tune in to hear which tools you should be using to help increase your revenue.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: The Only 10 Marketing Tools You Need
• [00:45] Marketers use too many tools and it was proven in a study.
• [01:01] #1: AHREFS is the tool that is great for competitive analysis or even analyzing your own performance.
• [01:30] #2: Google Analytics helps you track what is effective and compare yourself to your competition.
• [02:14] #3: Zoom is all-in-one webinar software. You can live chat with your team or have your webinar viewed by up to 10,000 people at a time.
• [02:52] #4: BuzzSumo is a way to track social media shares.
• [03:08] #5: Convert Kit or Drip as email service providers. Use something that is intuitive like these products.
• [03:39] #6: Crazy Egg is a heat-mapping tool that Neil helped to create. It does heat-map recording, scroll maps, AB tests, etc.
• [04:03] #7: Clickflow or Google Search Console (Neil is one of the co-founders of Clickflow). These products allow you to see which ones of your articles are popping and which are not. You can then optimize your titles and content using these tools.
• [04:20] #8: Subscribers is a great way to get people back to your website (you can use any chat bot as well).
• [04:55] #9: Sprout Social or Buffer are social media management tools. You can manage multiple accounts from one place.
• [05:19] #10: HubSpot helps to track sales-qualified leads and offers a lot of free tools.
• [05:37] That’s it for today!
• [05:40] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

Leave some feedback:

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In episode #613, Eric and Neil explain why they work so hard. Tune in to hear why they spend so much time working and whether it is worth it.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: Why We Work So Hard
• [00:43] Neil says he works so hard because he loves what he does and he also has nothing better to do.
• [00:50] He loves it so much it doesn’t feel like work for him.
• [01:01] Eric loves playing games and finds that marketing is a fun game for him (in terms of strategizing).
• [01:58] He is addicting to winning.
• [02:30] One of Neil’s partners said marketing is like a drug.
• [03:03] Eric sees systems of processes and finds them to be like puzzle pieces.
• [03:35] Business is a game that never ends.
• [04:01] Though Neil clearly grew up an Upper-Middle Class kid, he still had aspirations of being “rich” and privileged.
• [04:12] Eventually, he realized money doesn’t equate to happiness, but the challenges of the job were satisfying.
• [04:38] Figure out what your motivation is and once you find that, keep pushing forward. If you don’t love what you do, don’t do it!
• [05:32] Eric believes that when you work all the time, you get to meet a wide array of interesting people, which is beneficial and it evens out all the hours worked.
• [06:04] That’s it for today!
• [06:07] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

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In episode #612, Eric and Neil discuss their craziest marketing schemes. Tune in to hear some out-there ideas that may work for you, as well.

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: The Craziest Marketing Tactic Ever
• [00:36] The craziest thing Eric has ever done was bet an entire company (54 employees, 5 months of cash in the bank).
• [01:02] He bet everything on video marketing in order to hit numbers.
• [01:19] He was even surprised that it worked. The company now does $25 Million/year in business.
• [01:39] At the same time, Neil was spending $20 to acquire a customer and generating $200.
• [02:02] The craziest thing Neil has ever done was to launch the “Who is Neil Patel?” campaign. Though he got a lot of hate for it, it proved to be very successful.
• [02:42] It caused everyone to Google his name, which made his brand query shoot up, his search traffic skyrocketed, and his ranking improved.
• [03:12] You can achieve this by creating quizzes or paying celebrities to be part of an ad campaign, as examples.
• [03:50] Marketing works whether people love or hate the campaign.
• [04:32] Buying websites is another great way to improve your ranking.
• [04:55] Eric wanted to rank for elder-care related keywords, so he bought out some elder-care sites.
• [05:45] The site would then redirect to their main landing page.
• [05:52] That’s it for today!
• [06:01] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway!

Leave some feedback:

• What should we talk about next? Please let us know in the comments below.
• Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave a short review.

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• NeilPatel.com
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• Twitter @neilpatel
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Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.