Marketing School - Digital Marketing and Online Marketing Tips

In Episode #361, Eric and Neil discuss how to create engaging Instagram story ads. Instagram is an effective tool that can be leveraged for your marketing strategy, but you need to know how to use it right. Tune in to learn how you construct an effective Instagram story and why Instagram is more beneficial for increasing brand awareness than it is for ROI.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Create Engaging Instagram Story Ads
• 00:55 – Instagram story ads are the ads that pop up in between Instagram stories
• 01:04 – Instagram story ads are similar to Snapchat story ads
• 01:15 – The only time that Eric watched an Instagram story ad was when it was from Brendon Buchard
  • 01:21 – Brendon made his story ad look like the usual Instagram story
  • 01:38 – It was a selfie video where Brendon was teaching
• 01:58 – Target who you need and want
  • 02:33 – Your conversion will go up if you’re targeting the right profiles
  • 02:40 – Most ads aren’t relevant to a person’s profile
• 02:58 – It is more advantageous for you to try and get 10K followers and above
  • 03:11 – The swipe-up option is powerful and you can push people directly to your website
• 03:18 – Every Instagram ad needs to run for a long time for it to be effective
• 03:27 – Instagram is more for branding
• 03:42 – Marketing School is giving away a free 1 year subscription to Olark which is a live chat software tool
  • 03:56 – Subscribe, rate and review Marketing School
  • 03:59 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444 for those in the US
• 04:04 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Any ad on Instagram needs a long period of time to work, there’s no instant ROI.
2. Create Instagram story ads that are natural and don’t feel or look like an ad at all.
3. Stay relevant to your target profiles.

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In Episode #360, Eric and Neil discuss 7 growth hacking examples you can learn from. Tune in to be inspired by how these companies skyrocketed their branding and acquired more customers using a few tactical strategies. If you want to grow your company effectively, it doesn’t hurt to look to the best!

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: 7 Growth Hacking Examples You Can Learn From
• 00:37 – First is Dropbox
  • 00:40 – Dropbox used pay-per-click to acquire more users
  • 00:51 – Dropbox was making $60 in revenue per customer
• 01:23 – Second is Airbnb’s growth story
  • 01:29 – Airbnb got people to post on Craigslist
• 02:08 – Third is SEMrush
  • 02:16 – SEMrush started with a free usage model with the option to upgrade
• 02:56 – Fourth is Hotmail
  • 03:05 – Hotmail added “sent from Hotmail” at the end of their email to generate signups
• 03:38 – Fifth is Hubspot
  • 03:43 – Hubspot is a content marketing machine which drives a lot of signups
  • 04:00 – Hubspot also decided to create free tools
  • 04:10 – Hubspot can generate more leads from their free tools at a lesser cost
• 04:26 – Sixth is the Paypal case study
  • 04:31 – For every signup, they gave away $20, then reduced this amount over time
  • 04:46 – eBay was originally owned by Paypal
• 05:00 – Startups create press
  • 05:20 – Startups are directing Facebook and Google’s paid traffic to pages that have incredible content written about them
  • 05:54 – By directing traffic, PPC isn’t that bad and the conversion is quite high
  • 06:18 – This only works for an authoritative site; the quality of content you have is what attracts people to sign up
• 06:35 – Marketing School is giving away a free 1 year subscription to Olark which is live chat software tool
  • 06:48 – Subscribe, rate and review Marketing School
  • 06:52 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444 for those in the US
• 07:00 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Make people WANT to know more about you and your product; the quality of your content is the means to do this.
2. Offering an initial incentive can drive signups to your product.
3. Create great press around your product to show the value of your product.

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In Episode #359, Eric and Neil discuss 5 tools that’ll help you track your search engine rankings. Tune in to know the benefits of SEO tracking, why it’s good to see how your competitors are doing and how tracking can help you see what you need to tweak with your SEO.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: 5 Tools That'll Help You Track Your Search Engine Rankings
• 00:36 – Search engine rankings are important if SEO rankings are important to you
• 00:46 – First is Google Search Console
  • 00:58 – It’s not the best, but it’s a good starting point
• 01:04 – Second tool is Ahrefs
  • 01:18 – You can compare your performance and your competitors’ performance as well
• 01:29 – Third is Authority Labs
  • 01:38 – It is geared towards ranking
  • 01:47 – You can see if your SEO efforts are paying off
  • 02:01 – A Now Provided report shows you keyword opportunities
• 02:05 – Fourth is SerpBook which tracks your ranking accurately
• 02:31 – Fifth tool is SEMrush
  • 02:41 – It is growing and updating quite fast
• 03:15 – Marketing School is giving away a free 1 year subscription to Olark which is a live chat software tool
  • 03:22 – Subscribe, rate and review Marketing School
  • 03:26 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444 for those in the US
• 03:32 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Track your search engine ranking, especially if your SEO ranking is important to you.
2. Consistently checking your ranking will help you see if your campaigns and efforts are working.
3. If you track your competitor’s rankings as well, you will have an idea of how you can improve and revamp your strategies.

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In Episode #358, Eric and Neil discuss whether a focus group is still worth the investment for market research. Tune in to learn more about focus groups and how technology has played a major role in how we conduct market research today!

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: Are Focus Groups Still Worth the Investment for Market Research?
• 00:38 – A focus group is when a group of people that are your ideal customers come to discuss a certain product that you may be launching
• 00:56 – Neil did a focus group that was paid by Yahoo
  • 01:09 – The people discussed Yahoo and its competitors
• 01:50 – Focus groups were very effective before, but it won’t be as effective now
• 01:58 – Technology has changed the face of market research, people can find their answers online and surveys to collect information are done online as well
• 02:32 – Eric doesn’t see the need for an in-person focus group
• 03:02 – Mileage may still vary
• 03:12 – Marketing School is giving away a free 1 year subscription to Olark which is a live chat software tool
  • 03:24 – Subscribe, rate and review Marketing School
  • 03:30 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444 for those in the US
• 03:26 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. A focus group is a group of your ideal customers who meet you in person to discuss a product.
2. Focus groups were effective for market research before mass improvements were made in technology.
3. If your targeted customers are seniors, focus groups might still work as they prefer face-to-face surveys and conversations.

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In Episode #357, Eric and Neil discuss 3 creative ways to attract your ideal customer. Tune in to learn how you can draw the most curated customers to your website without coming off as spam. They’ll also discuss the benefits of hosting an event with a curated guest list of your liking.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: 3 Creative Ways to Attract Your Ideal Customer
• 00:40 – Eric usually throws a dinner with marketing directors
  • 00:59 – People like doing business with people
• 01:36 – Emailing potential customers is another way
  • 01:53 – Neil puts remarketing pixels in the email
  • 02:04 – Eventually, people will click the links
• 02:20 – Eric uses Dux-Soup which enables you to scan profiles on LinkedIn
  • 02:38 – You can set the search parameters
  • 03:05 – Dux-Soup is $15 a month
  • 03:15 – Caffeine can keep your screen on
• 03:40 – Marketing School is giving away a free 1 year subscription of Olark which is a chat tool that you add to your site
  • 03:54 – Subscribe, rate and review Marketing School
  • 03:58 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444 for those in the US
• 04:05 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Hosting a dinner gives you the power you choose who to invite, making the dinner more exclusive.
2. Customers will most likely click on your site when they see the value.
3. Leverage online tools that can help you see who the right customers are for you.

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In Episode #356, Eric and Neil discuss the 7 metrics you ought to monitor in Google Analytics. Tune in to learn how you can use these metrics in Google Analytics to drive more traffic to your site and increase your ROI. 

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: 7 Metrics You Ought to Monitor in Google Analytics
• 00:37 – First metric is the bounce rate
  • 00:54 – You can check which pages are causing the bounce and do necessary adjustments
• 00:59 – Second metric is the search traffic
  • 01:01 – You can monitor it daily and make weekly comparisons to see the trends
  • 01:21 – Neil started adding different languages on their website
• 01:56 – Third metric is the conversion
  • 02:02 – You should be looking at where your conversions are coming from and if you’re hitting your goals
• 02:22 – Fourth metric is the time on site
  • 02:42 – Check your time on site alongside your bounce rate
• 02:53 – Fifth metric is the site speed
  • 03:00 – Site speed is a ranking and experience factor
• 03:20 – Sixth metric is social referrals
  • 03:46 – Neil won’t spend more money on Facebook ads for USA because of its strict algorithm
• 04:12 – Seventh metric is pages per session
  • 04:30 – You can pull lessons from the well performing pages and duplicate them for your other pages
• 04:39 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. By paying attention to the metrics, you can track your progress and make the necessary adjustments.
2. First study the social platform where you want to have paid ads to make sure your money doesn’t go down the drain.
3. Set goals for your business to see if you’re on the right track.

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In Episode #355, Eric and Neil discuss how to retain your customers. Customer experience has the largest impact when it comes to loyalty. When you treat your customers well—acknowledging their value as client and friend—they will stay true to you, refer you to others, and contribute to the long-term success of your company. Tune-in to find how you can keep your customers for the long haul.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Retain Your Customers
• 00:40 – People like dealing with people so visit your customers and build a relationship when you can
  • 00:48 – It can be difficult at times, but you have to establish that relationship
• 01:17 – Add as much value as you can to your customers
• 01:24 – Your job is to make them look like a superstar so they’ll remember you forever
• 01:31 – Become their friend
• 01:44 – The onboarding experience affects retention more than anything else
  • 01:50 – Look at the metrics for your onboarding
• 02:17 – For service-based businesses, Conversion Rate Experts will ask you about the experience
  • 02:30 – They take the data to improve onboarding experiences and calls
• 02:48 – Some of Eric’s friends use Intercom for support
• 02:54 – Have great customer service
  • 03:15 – It’s part of the experience
• 03:35 – Do what’s right for the customer
  • 03:50 – Neil had a bad experience with a software company
  • 04:08 – The owner didn’t assist Neil well
  • 04:24 – Neil is a prime customer and when his order didn’t arrive on time, Amazon sent him a new product overnight and a rebate
• 05:25 – In the long run, a good experience will pay off
• 05:43 – People will remember how you made them feel!
• 06:15 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Build a relationship with your customers and consistently work to add value to them.
2. Your customers as friends, know their worth when it comes to the lasting success of your company.
3. Great customer service will keep your customers happy and satisfied—they’ll even be willing to refer you to others.

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In Episode #354, Eric and Neil discuss how to build DA 70+ links. Tune in to learn how you can effectively build your DA links and the importance of having the BEST content in your respective field before approaching high DA sites you want to link back to you.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Build DA 70+ Links
• 00:34 – DA stands for domain authority with a scale of 1-100, 100 being the strongest
  • 00:43 – The higher the domain authority is, the easier it is for you to boost your content
• 01:08 – Large publications usually have 60-90+ DA
  • 01:24 – Marketing School’s Episode about writing for large publications
• 01:32 – Go to your competition, take their URL and put into Ahrefs
  • 01:40 – You’ll see their backlinks, who’s linking to them and the articles they're pointing to
  • 01:47 – Create better articles, hit those sites up, and ask for a link
  • 01:53 – Neil finds this to be the most effective way
  • 01:57 – Check Brian Dean’s skyscraper technique
  • 02:00 – Check out Dean’s article on 10 ways to double your SEO traffic and 101 ways to double your SEO traffic on his website
• 02:56 – Building DA links is a timed game
• 03:06 – The best approach is to create great content and talk to the higher domain authority sites, asking them to link to you
• 03:23– That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Increase your domain authority by writing with large publications.
2. If your content is better than you competitors, you have a higher chance of high DA sites linking to you.
3. Building DA is a timed game; be patient and continue to be the best authority on a subject.

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In Episode #353, Eric and Neil discuss whether or not you should use a pop-up. Tune in to hear Eric and Neil’s experience with pop-ups, why they still work, and how you can recoup your spending by using this tool.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: Should You Use Pop-ups?
• 00:55 – Whether people like or hate pop-ups, they still use them because they work
• 01:04 – You should use pop-ups
• 01:13 – Use pop-ups when your visitor is about to leave your website
• 01:23 – Eric read a study that assessed whether a visitor left the website after seeing a pop-up
  • 01:42 – The metrics stayed the same
  • 01:56 – People still convert at the end of the day
• 02:16 – Hello Bar can be used for pop-ups
• 02:35 – You can recoup your spending through pop-ups
• 03:04 – There’s nothing wrong with pop-ups
• 03:10 – When your pop-up is great and people get value from it, they won’t hate you
• 03:27 – As Mark Cuban says “when you try to please everyone, you please no one”
• 03:30 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Pop-ups are still used today, because they WORK.
2. Use pop-ups not when the visitor enters your website, but when they’re about to leave.
3. Make sure your pop-up adds value to your customers and everyone walks away happy.

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In Episode #352, Eric and Neil discuss the 7 advanced segments you should be setting up in Google Analytics. Tune in to know how evaluating segmented data can improve your customers' user experience, provide you a picture of your search traffic per geographic region, and see who is actually spending on your website.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: 7 Advanced Segments You Ought to Set Up in Google Analytics
• 00:40 – Google analytics show you data
• 00:48 – With advanced segments, you can specify data and ‘slice and dice’ Google reports to look at the data based on the segments
• 01:10 – First, look at the regions where you generate most of your business from
  • 01:12 – Create advanced segments around those countries
  • 01:16 – Neil targets Brazil and other Spanish speaking countries with some European and US countries
  • 01:26 – Neil can track the traffic from those regions
• 01:43 – Second is the people who have viewed 3 or more pages
• 02:00 – Third is the search traffic per country
  • 02:09 – You can check how different regions are growing and declining
  • 02:18 – By segmenting, you can be more specific about the reasons why there’s decline and growth
• 02:40 – Fourth is the visitors who have generated over $100 in revenue
• 02:57 – Fifth is session duration
  • 03:00 – Neil created one that was under 40 seconds
  • 03:12 – Another variation is over 40 seconds
  • 03:38 – You can then start adjusting your website for a consistent user experience
• 03:56 – Sixth is the visitors whose search query is more than 4 words
  • 04:07 – Avinash Kaushik’s advance segments
• 04:28 – Seventh is having goals set up whether you’re an e-commerce site or lead gen site
  • 04:37 – Neil set up a segment related to transaction amounts
  • 05:10 – After looking at the transactions, Neil will have an idea of what makes people spend more
  • 05:33 – You can notice the patterns of people’s behavior on your website
• 05:50 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. While Google analytics show you data, advance segments will ‘slice and dice’ the specific data you want to evaluate.
2. Take advantage of advance segments to create a better user experience on your website.
3. Having a better knowledge on your customer’s behaviors can help you adjust for the problems on your website.

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In Episode #351, Eric and Neil discuss 7 chrome extensions that every marketer ought to use. Tune in to learn how these chrome extensions can make your work as a marketer easier so that you’re using your time in a way that maximizes productivity!

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: 7 Chrome Extensions Every Marketer Ought to Use
• 00:34 – First extension is Zest—it has tons of marketing articles
• 00:54 – Keyword Everywhere is an extension that when you search anything, it pops in data on the search volume from Google
  • 01:15 – It is useful for marketers because they can do keyword research through the Google browser
• 01:26 – Ghostery shows you the technology a website has
• 01:53 – Fourth is Save to Pocket
  • 02:08 – Allows you to save anything for future reference
• 02:20 – Fifth is Buffer for social media sharing
• 02:37 – Sixth is Email Hunter
  • 02:46 – It can figure out the email address of the profile you’re viewing
  • 02:58 – Neil used Rapportive but LinkedIn discontinued it
• 03:14 – Last is TubeBuddy which shows you the tags that you should be using in YouTube, the tags of the video you’re watching, and your tags ranking
• 03:50 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Chrome extensions can help you enormously, especially if you usually work with Google browser.
2. As a marketer, shifting through different websites or software can be time consuming making the use of extensions necessary.
3. Leverage the online tools that you can use to streamline your marketing processes.

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In Episode #350, Eric and Neil discuss how to get press like Richard Branson. Tune in to hear about Richard Branson’s unreal PR stunts that put Virgin company on the map! You’ll also find out why standing out and being bold is just what you need to do to make yourself memorable!

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Get Press Like Richard Branson
• 00:40 – Neil learned about how Richard Branson created Virgin during his speaking engagement at VTEX as an opening speaker for Richard Branson
  • 01:28 – Richard did a crazy PR stunt when Virgin was just starting and didn’t have enough capital
  • 01:44 – Richard used hot air balloons with their name on it so people would be exposed to the brand
  • 01:56 – When the London Eye couldn’t be lifted from the ground, Richard had a blimp that flew over London Eye with the message “BA Can’t Get It Up”
  • 02:28 – Richard went overboard for his company to grow at a rapid pace
• 02:38 – Richard lives his life how he wants it
• 03:06 – You have to do something remarkable to be memorable
• 03:45 – One thing to learn from Richard Branson is to create crazy and drastic stuff, especially when you’re just starting
• 04:06 – Don’t do something that everyone else is doing
• 04:12 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Richard Branson is known for his crazy, but effective PR stunts.
2. When you’re just starting, do something memorable and remarkable.
3. Stand out by being YOU.

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In Episode #349, Eric and Neil discuss how to rank #1 in Google. Tune in to learn how you can work your way up to the TOP of the Google search results and why being consistent and thorough with your content can skyrocket your ranking.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Rank #1 in Google
• 00:40 – The two main factors that affect ranking are your content and links
• 00:51 – Building backlinks becomes difficult over time
• 01:09 – Neil was at the SMX Conference and everyone was talking about links
• 01:20 – Neil found out over the years that Google values content more than they do links
• 01:27 – You want to get to Top 10 in the search result for any keyword you want to rank for
  • 01:35 – You can use the Keyword Density Tool by SEObook
• 01:40 – Make sure your content is VERY thorough to get more search traffic in the long run
• 02:00 – Wikipedia is always the top search result for “Abraham Lincoln”
  • 02:05 – The content is consistently growing
• 02:24 – Guest posting can also help your ranking and ROI
• 02:53 – Eric has a team that tracks their links using Pitchbox
• 03:23 – You can get a higher domain authority when you base your content on your keywords
• 03:37 – Ranking takes time
• 04:15 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Content and links are the main factors that account for your search ranking; but, at the end of the day, you should focus more on content.
2. Be THOROUGH when you write your content—this will get you to the Top.
3. Be patient and just continue to add value; your ranking will increase over time.

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In Episode #348, Eric and Neil discuss how to hire a blog editor. Tune in to learn the tasks you can assign your prospective editor. Assess as much as you can before hiring an editor such as whether or not you they can work well with you. You’ll also find out why Neil prefers paying a flat rate rather than an hourly rate.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Hire a Blog Editor
• 00:55 – Eric has used ProBlogger to hire writers and editors
• 01:34 – Neil evaluates a team of editors by how they streamline a task
  • 01:39 – Editors have to think of at least 20 variations of a headline
  • 01:48 – Make sure the content is free of lapses
  • 01:54 – Editors will also reach out to other editors that they’ve linked to through email
  • 02:17 – Next is scheduling the posts in different social media sites through Buffer
• 02:40 – A blog editor makes sure the right content will post at the right time
• 03:00 – Blog editors need to have a process for how they get things done
  • 03:40 – You can ask them if they can give you a sample of their work
• 03:50 – Neil hires editors who are also bloggers
  • 04:07 – Neil usually hires someone to work on an article—he checks to see if they are on-time, organized and are doing a good job
• 04:30 – You can also have an editor on a per post basis
  • 04:40 – Neil pays a flat rate of around $750-1K a month for 3 posts per week
  • 04:56 – Neil doesn’t like to pay an hourly rate
• 05:51 – Hiring in-house allows you to have more control of the editor’s work
• 06:00 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. You should try out your editors first before hiring them.
2. An editor should be a great writer—you can’t tweak content if you can’t write an article yourself.
3. Pay your editors depending on the content they take care of and what you’ve agreed upon.

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In Episode #347, Eric and Neil discuss why big brands get away with spammy link building. Tune in to learn how Google has changed their algorithms, making businesses think twice about using shady link tactics. And even if these tactics work, find out why it’s still not recommended for you to use them.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: Why Do Big Brands Get Away With Spammy Link Building?
• 00:44 – Big companies like Google and Amazon make hundreds of millions of links
• 00:50 – The over-optimization cup
  • 01:01 – Once it overflows, you’ll get hit with penalties and adjustments
• 01:08 – A new site or brand has a smaller margin of error
• 02:06 – One of hardest indicators to manipulate is brand craze
  • 02:10 – This is when more and more people are searching for your brand
  • 02:30 – When Google knows that you’re a big brand, it’s harder for them to remove you
  • 02:38 – Google just penalizes a big brand for shady link building
  • 03:05 – Google notices that people will turn to other search engines when they don’t see the big brands from the search result
  • 03:08 – Google now does not penalize big brands as easily
• 03:23 – A lot of industries are using shady link tactics
• 03:58 – Google has adapted different algorithms to determine if a brand should be penalized
• 04:30 – Google now tries to showcase the best sites first
• 04:27 – Viper Chill’s How 16 Companies Are Dominating the World’s Google Search Result
• 05:08 – Hearst Media started BestProducts
  • 05:24 – The total number of visits skyrocketed in just a few months
• 06:05 – SEO out-playing still happens
• 06:29 – If you’re creating too much possibility by doing something wrong, it will look bad
• 06:46 – Shady tactics still work but is NOT recommended
• 07:00 – Top keywords from SEMrush
• 07:31 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. People tend to use a different search engines when they don’t see the brands that they want from the search results.
2. Shady tactics are still being used today and while they work, they aren’t recommended.
3. Google now shows the best sites first.

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In Episode #346, Eric and Neil discuss whether public speaking is worth it. Tune in to find out the benefits of public speaking, such as networking and increasing your brand awareness. Eric and Neil also discuss what they aim for whenever they participate in a speaking engagement.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: Is Public Speaking Worth It?
• 00:50 – Neil was 20 years old when he started public speaking
  • 01:14 – Speaking consistently within your space will eventually drive a business
  • 01:26 – The content should be advanced
• 01:45 – You can get better offers if you’re a public speaker
• 02:01 – Eric was in Amsterdam a month ago and he talked with other public speakers
  • 02:12 – Having a network of public speakers is a benefit for Eric
  • 02:27 – The right people can introduce you to other people
• 02:38 – Public speaking is a great way to connect with people
• 02:50 – Eric will always aim for 1 good connection in every public speaking event that he does
• 03:00 – Neil observed that speaking outside of your country can get you better results
  • 03:12 – Neil was in Brazil for VTexDay, and was an opening speaker for Richard Branson
  • 03:25 – Neil and Richard were the only speakers on a specific day
  • 03:44 – Neil has met different government officials, investors and business owners who are on the Forbes list
• 04:40 – “There’s a much higher ROI speaking in smaller markets that aren’t as competitive”
• 04:48 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Speaking consistently can help build your brand.
2. Your content should be invaluable and well-prepared for your audience.
3. Growing your network and increasing your brand awareness are some of the benefits of public speaking.

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In Episode #345, Eric and Neil discuss how to become a contributor for well-known publications. Tune in to learn the strategies that will land you that GREAT deal—you only need one to make your efforts worth it. You’ll find out the importance of focusing on your content and connecting with editors and guest contributors.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Become a Contributor For Well Known Publications
• 00:47 – If you want to be a contributor for a specific publication, look at their format first
  • 00:53 – Write something that is interesting to the editor while following their format
  • 00:57 – Reach out to editors and try to help them out
• 01:06 – Check out other websites that are looking for guest bloggers through Google search
• 01:23 – It is true that you’re not going to generate a positive ROI from a guest post, but it takes ONE deal to make it worth it
  • 01:47 – Neil wrote on a publication before and was spotted by a CEO and Neil made a 7 figure deal
  • 02:35 – Guest writing will eventually pay off
• 02:44 – You can find editors on LinkedIn and find their emails though Hunter
  • 02:57 – Be brief and try to help them
• 03:01 – The publications are more interested with content
• 03:07 – Most contributors are not that big in their space
• 03:30 – Other than emailing editors, you can reach out to guest contributors of a publication
  • 03:35 – Network with them and try to help them
  • 03:46 – After they get comfortable with you, ask them to introduce you to the editor
  • 03:59 – When you get accepted, don’t backlink to your website because Google will know it
• 04:15 – Focus on building a brand
• 04:55 – The high DA links are not worth it
• 05:18 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Write something that will pique the editor’s interest and use their format.
2. Try to network with guest contributors and ask them to introduce you to the editor.
3. Focus on building a brand by creating GREAT content.

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In Episode #344, Eric and Neil discuss how to attract TOP marketing talent. Tune in to learn how you can easily find the top marketing talent, how to leverage LinkedIn updates for making those contacts, and the importance of communicating who you are (as a company) to potential new recruits.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Attract Top Marketing Talent
• 00:36 – Eric just hired a number of new employees
• 00:55 – Finding great marketing talent is more difficult than finding a designer
• 01:25 – Eric blasts his lists every once in while with his jobs page from Workable
  • 01:37 – From the applicant tracking system, Eric can monitor everything
• 01:51 – What Neil learned in recruiting is that possible recruits want to learn more about your company
  • 02:06 – Create a video about your company
  • 02:29 – Neil goes to LinkedIn to find people in the space and approach them
  • 02:49 – Neil creates a great job description to send to people
• 03:35 – Most people are on LinkedIn and the best ones aren’t looking for a job
• 03:50 – Eric would sometimes invite a potential candidate to meet them and get to know them better
• 04:08 – Check out the Forced Hiring blog post on Growth Everywhere
  • 04:12 – Mark Roberge of HubSpot shared how he hires people
• 04:42 – Eric and Neil are writing more updates on LinkedIn and Eric edited his profile, adding that he’s hiring
  • 05:03 – There was a guy who reached out to Eric through LinkedIn
• 05:33 – Create a process and reach out to people
• 05:40 – Recruiters are useful, too
  • 05:55 – They are worth the time and effort
• 06:04 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. People want to know about your company and having a video that describes your company makes hiring easier.
2. LinkedIn updates have a wider reach so there’s a higher chance of people finding out that you’re hiring.
3. Find out who are the great recruits from others’ recommendations.

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In Episode #343, Eric and Neil discuss how to use polls to attract new customers. Tune in to learn how you can use polls to engage and interact with your customers and, at the same time, attract new leads!

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Use Polls to Attract New Customers
• 00:40 – Neil was looking to acquire advertising companies that do pay per click management
  • 00:47 – Neil had a poll on his website asking if people spend money on Google AdWords or Facebook ads
  • 01:03 – Neil got 401 responses with 51% answering “yes”
  • 01:22 – Neil modified the poll asking how much people spend on paid advertising
  • 01:35 – Most of Eric’s clients leverage paid advertising
  • 01:56 – Neil told Eric how he can leverage his leads using polls
• 02:29 – You can get people engaged through polls
• 02:47 – A poll is a way to have a conversation with your customer and not just a form that needs to be filled out
• 03:21 – Eric is considering removing Intercom and using chatbots, like ManyChat
• 03:30 – Eric will also try using polls
• 03:40 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Polls are a great way to engage with your customers and start a conversation.
2. You can easily generate leads with polls—especially if you refrain from making it look like a form that needs to be filled out.
3. A similar feature akin to polls is using Chatbots.

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In Episode #342, Eric and Neil discuss how to leverage Quora ads. Tune in to learn why NOW is a good time to invest in Quora ads and the do’s and don’ts when it comes to answering a question to draw new business in.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Leverage Quora Ads
• 00:35 – Quora is a question and answer site that has raised a $100M round in June 2017
• 00:54 – Eric personally reads Quora
• 01:12 – Quora currently generates a lot of search traffic at the moment
• 01:19 – One of Eric’s clients, Lever, tracks the keyword applicant tracking system
• 01:31 – If you’re a content marketer on Quora, it is targeted and you can create articles that targets specific keywords easily
• 02:06 – Quora is a text-based content that sends people to a landing page
• 02:16 – With Quora, you want to answer their question and pitch them your product
• 02:24 – Quora is a mixture of using content marketing combined with paid advertising
• 03:13 – You can redirect people to search in Quora if you don’t want to pay for ads
• 03:18 – Quora ads are currently not that expensive
• 03:33 – Go to Quora.com/Business to know how to set up ads
  • 03:43 – Answers that are in ad format don’t usually convert
  • 04:52 – Your answers can give advice first, making them want more
  • 05:00 – Do NOT pitch right away
• 05:05 – Marketing School is giving away a free 1 year subscription of Drip which is an email automation tool
  • 05:22 – Subscribe, rate and review Marketing School
  • 05:27 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444 for those in the US
  • 05:33 – For international listeners, just email eric@singlegrain.com with your screenshot
• 05:40 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. People flock to Quora to hear answers for their questions from a variety of people.
2. Quora ads aren’t as expensive as others, but is effective in converting.
3. Do NOT pitch your product right away when you answer a question – give them advice, first.

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In Episode #341, Eric and Neil discuss which pages on your site you should consider no-indexing. Tune in to learn what pages on your website are the BEST candidates for no-indexing and how no-indexing pages can affect your crawl budget for the better.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: What Pages on Your Site Should You Consider No-Indexing?
• 00:38 – No-indexing is putting a code within your HTML that tells Google not to index the page
• 01:23 – Indexing a page can control your crawl budget
• 01:41 – You want to take your low-quality content to no-index
• 01:54 – Neil takes the pages that are not getting much traffic
  • 02:00 – Neil takes them from Google Analytics that has less than 100 visitors from a search
• 02:30 – For e-commerce, you can consider no-indexing search pages
• 02:40 – Look at your Google Analytics to know which page to cut out
• 02:55 – Eric thinks that the category page isn’t useful and should be no-index
• 03:20 – No-index your paginated results
• 03:30 – Marketing School is giving away a free 1 year subscription of Drip which is an email automation tool
  • 03:52 – Subscribe, rate and review Marketing School
  • 03:55 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444 for those in the US
  • 04:00 – For international listeners, just email eric@singlegrain.com
• 04:12 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. No-index the pages that are not creating traffic for your website.
2. Checking your Google analytics can help you analyze which pages are supposed to be on no-index.
3. Indexing pages can control your crawl budget.

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In Episode #340, Eric and Neil discuss how to do customer development. Tune in to learn the importance of getting every kind of customer’s feedback so that you can to adjust your sales strategy and boost your revenue, today!

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Do Customer Development
• 00:36 – Customer development is reaching out to customers and knowing their preferences and feedback
  • 00:46 – The data and feedback improve what you’re offering so you can increase your revenue and MPS score
  • 00:55 – You can use Qualaroo and SurveyMonkey to help you
• 01:05 – The two types of data are qualitative and quantitative data
  • 01:06 – Quantitative is what you get from Google Analytics
  • 01:11 – Qualitative is from customer development
  • 01:20 – You can’t easily know the problem just by looking at the data
  • 01:35 – You can get the qualitative data from talking to your customers
  • 01:59 – One of Neil’s friend sells HDMI cables and other electronic devices
  • 02:05 – Customers don’t buy from Neil’s friend’s site because he doesn’t offer free shipping
  • 02:17 – Neil’s friend took the average cost of shipping, added it to the product price and offered free shipping
• 02:52 – Steve Blank’s 4-step framework
• 03:27 – Getting your customers on the phone is very important
  • 03:37 – You want to solve your customer's’ problems
  • 03:49 – Make adjustments from the feedback you receive
• 04:16 – You want to talk to every kind of customer, not just the one paying you
• 04:39 – Marketing School is giving away a free 1 year subscription of Drip which is an email automation tool
  • 04:56 – Subscribe, rate and review Marketing School
  • 04:59 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444 for those in the US
  • 05:05 – For international listeners, just email eric@singlegrain.com
• 05:10 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Reach out to your competitors’ customers and those who left you—not just your paying customers.
2. Having both qualitative and quantitative data will better inform the adjustments you can make to your product and services.
3. Address the feedback and make the necessary adjustments.

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In Episode #339, Eric and Neil discuss how to leverage micro influencers. Micro influencers are those who have anywhere from thousands to 10K followers. When you get into the millions, you’re dealing with macro influencers. Tune in to learn if you should be reaching out to macro or micro influencers for the promotion of your business and why having just one influencer isn’t enough.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Leverage Micro Influencers
• 00:36 – Macro influencers are those who already have millions of followers on social media
• 00:49 – Micro influencers are those who have thousands or 10K followers and above
  • 00:56 – They have the following on a specific niche
  • 01:02 – Eric and Neil are micro influencers
• 01:37 – Most small businesses work with micro influencers
• 01:45 – Neil’s friend, who is in the fitness field, pays influencers to promote supplements and protein products
  • 01:53 – When they employed a macro influencer who had millions of followers, the promotion didn’t convert to sales
  • 02:08 – When a micro influencer, like a bodybuilder, posted about their products, they generated sales and the promotion cost was lower
• 02:23 – It’s not about the quantity, but the biggest influencer in your niche
• 02:50 – There are agencies nowadays who build influencer platforms
• 03:08 – Leveraging DM in Instagram
• 03:31 – Gary V’s the art of the DM
• 03:43 – When you want to work with micro influencers, you can’t just work with one
  • 03:57 – When everyone talks about you in your space, it’s much more effective
• 04:12 – Having micro influencers is the same thing as running ads
• 04:20 – There are pricing guides in paying micro influencers
• 04:30 – Marketing School is giving away a free 1 year subscription to Drip, which is an email automation tool
  • 04:42 – Subscribe, rate and review Marketing School
  • 04:50 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444 for those in the US
  • 04:56 – For international listeners, just email eric@singlegrain.com
• 05:50 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Find influencers who will not just drive people to your website, but will also convert those people into customers.
2. Just like with ads, paying influencers is an investment that gets key people in your space talking about you.
3. Micro influencers are much cheaper than macro influencers and will work in more specific niches.

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In Episode #338, Eric and Neil discuss if Bing is worth your attention. Tune in to learn why you should hop on Bing if you’re reaching an older demographic and the benefits and tools offered by Bing that will drive your ROI.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: Is Bing Worth Your Attention?
• 00:33 – Google search share is around 60% and Bing’s share growth is increasing faster
• 01:00 – Yahoo is at 12% which is next to Bing and the rest are just small share sites
• 01:12 – If you have things working out on Google, bring them to Bing
• 01:25 – Some of Eric’s clients that are using Google AdWords are on Bing as well
• 01:32 – Neil did tests with Bing and Bing has an older demographic
  • 01:40 – If you’re targeting an older audience, Bing is a good channel for you
• 02:05 – Bing has some great SEO tools
  • 02:11 – Search for Bing SEO Tools
• 02:48 – Bing is old, it works and drives positive ROI
• 02:55 – The cost of PPC (price per click) is cheaper
• 03:06 – Bing and Google don’t want to share the same top results
• 03:38 – Marketing School is giving away a free 1-year annual subscription to Drip which is an email service provider
  • 04:10 – Rate, review and subscribe to Marketing School to win
  • 04:13 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444 to prove your subscription
• 04:30 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Bing is similar to Google; therefore, what you have on Google will probably work on Bing as well.
2. Bing has SEO tools that make it easier for you to track your ranking on Bing.
3. Bing is cheaper, it works well, and drives positive ROI.

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In Episode #337, Eric and Neil discuss how to get your blog readers to come back to your site. Tune in to learn how you can keep your readers up to date on all your content, the importance of bringing your readers back to your website, and how being everywhere (on social media) results in your being top of mind!

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Get Your Blog Readers to Come Back to Your Site
• 00:35 – Retarget your readers
• 00:49 – Use OneSignal which is a push notification software
  • 01:03 – You can get a high click through rate and it’s very effective
• 01:15 – Facebook Messenger bots and ads can turn your reader into a subscriber
  • 01:21 – Chatfuel and ManyChat are bots for Messenger
  • 01:38 – You can also build a sequence
• 01:45 – Another strategy is to collect emails
  • 02:00 – Every time you publish a blog post, broadcast to them and link them back to your website
  • 02:05 – It is good for engagement and sales in the future
• 02:14 – Create a great intro email
• 02:28 – Set up a workflow at Meet Edgar
  • 02:34 – “You want to be everywhere”
• 02:54 – Once you get someone to subscribe to one of your channels, have an exit pop up that will ask them to subscribe to one of your other channels
• 03:36 – Doing the cross-motion with your social media channels makes it easier for your readers to come back
• 03:53 – There’s a higher chance of your readers seeing your updates if they are tuned in to all your social media channels
• 04:07 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Retargeting has always been a necessary action to take to make your readers circle back to your blog.
2. Leverage as many social media channels as you can and ensure your readers are aware of all of them—this way, they won’t skip a beat.
3. Be EVERYWHERE to be top of mind.

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In Episode #336, Eric and Neil discuss 7 tools to help you promote your content. Tune in to learn these standout, effective tools that can elevate your content promotion. You’ll also find out why contacting those who follow your competitors can help you boost your own content promotion.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: 7 Tools to Help You Promote Your Content
• 00:46 – First is to use Facebook ads which has the boost post button
• 01:20 – Second is to use BuzzSumo where you can type in different keywords that relate to your article
  • 01:27 – Click view shares and you’ll see the people who tweeted them, then email those people to promote yours
• 01:42 – Third is Meet Edgar which allows you to setup an automated queue of content in different channels
• 02:08 – Fourth is Ahrefs which will helps you find who’s linking your competitor’s content and you can message them to promote yours as well
  • 02:29 – It doesn’t track traffic right away, but it will eventually
• 02:25 – Fifth is IFTTT or If This Then That or Zapier that automates certain workflows
• 03:14 – Sixth is going after broken links and using a broken link checker
  • 03:36 – See who’s linking to the broken links and that has similar content to yours—and email them
• 04:11 – Last is Sniply which allows you to enhance every link that you share
  • 04:50 – the link can be a link to a lead magnet
• 05:00 – Contact Eric and Neil for any tools you find valuable to the listeners of Marketing School
• 05:10 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Go directly to those people who share your competitor’s links; it may take time, but it works.
2. Create a smooth workflow so you can maximize content promotion with your team.
3. Different channels are now updating to cater to content promotion and this makes it easier to cross-post.

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In Episode #335, Eric and Neil discuss how to rank higher on YouTube. Tune in to learn how you can successfully get your video ranking to new heights on YouTube and why a putting out a 20-minute video is better than a 2-minute one.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Rank Higher on YouTube
• 00:51 – YouTube tags help the algorithm figure out what the video is about
• 01:06 – You have different keywords and you need to know which keyword drives traffic
• 01:16 – Check out Keyword Tool, SEMrush and Google Search Console for keyword performance
• 01:36 – YouTube looks at your engagement
  • 01:54 – Between a shorter video and longer one; the longer one will rank higher because YouTube tracks the length of time viewers stay engaged with the video
  • 02:18 – The longer people stay on YouTube, the more engaged they are and the more money YouTube makes from their ads
• 02:53 – If you want to build your watch time, think about building a playlist
  • 03:03 – Playlists can get people to watch over time
• 03:31 – VIQ and TubeBuddy can help with the tags people are using on their videos and other statistics
  • 03:56 – TubeBuddy’s tag explore can help you find recommended tags
• 04:10 – To do well, upload videos consistently and share them to other channels to increase engagement
• 04:27 – It takes time to see results on YouTube
• 04:44 – Neil sees improvements on his YouTube videos after promoting them everywhere
• 04:52 – Eric’s Growth Everywhere YouTube channel is growing on its own
• 05:06 – Eric learned that once you get 10K subscribers, you’ll start to grow fast
• 05:30 – There’s an inflection point
• 05:50 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. The longer your videos are, the greater your chance at a longer engagement time which will inevitably boost your ranking.
2. Upload videos consistently and in large quantities if possible.
3. From YouTube, promote your videos on as many channels as you can to establish your following and increase your engagement.

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In Episode #334, Eric and Neil discuss how to be top of mind. Tune in to learn how Eric and Neil became top of mind with the content they put out there. They give you all their strategies that will increase your following and resulting views so that you, too, can be top of mind in your industry! 

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Be Top Of Mind
• 00:35 – Eric’s friends, John Hall of Influence & Co, just released a book called Top of Mind
• 00:45 – The content that Neil is creating is putting him at the top of mind
• 01:00 – In marketing, Neil believes in the rule of 7
  • 01:05 – It’s hard to be the best at everything but doing something that is good enough and with quantity, it is much more effective
• 01:27 – Everyone has a different playbook
• 01:29 – Neil’s friend, Brian Dean from Backlinko, creates blog posts that he doesn’t write as frequently as Neil
  • 01:36 – Brian’s blog posts gets more views but Neil beats him in quantity, resulting in Neil having more views
  • 01:54 – Neil has daily videos and Brian has his once a month or once a week
  • 02:02 – Brian’s videos have higher quality than Neil’s but Neil has more videos, so he will eventually get more traffic
  • 02:12 – It makes Neil top of mind for viewers and an industry leader
• 02:22 – If you don’t have a big team, but want to be top of mind, do what Brian is doing
• 02:47 – Moz’s blog spot and content is much better than HubSpot's, but HubSpot gets more traffic from Google because of their volume
• 03:07 – Eric and Neil are getting messages from people who have seen them in different channels, making them top of mind
• 04:15 – To be top of mind, you have to do things consistently, longer, and with quantity
• 04:51 – “Go try and be top of mind”
• 04:55 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. It’s better to create something good enough and in large quantities, rather than just 1 perfect piece of content.
2. To be top of mind, do things in consistently, over a longer time and in large quantities.
3. Leverage on different channels so that people see you often and consider you a leading voice on the subject.

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In Episode #333, Eric and Neil discuss how to create a target prospect list. Tune in to learn how a target prospect list is different from a simple prospect list. You’ll also see how a more targeted list creates a greater chance of conversion and stronger customer retention rate. 

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Create a Target Prospect List
• 00:57 – Find That Email helps you find email addresses
  • 01:10 – Eric uses this for their prospect list for SEO purposes
• 01:20 – If you’re in the B2B space, you can generate inbound leads through SEO and content marketing, but the leads aren’t always targeted
• 01:46 – If you have a target prospect list, your marketing team can go after them and hit all the relevant leads
• 02:05 – To get relevant leads, look at your competitor’s customers
  • 02:10 – You can go to Upwork and hire someone to check who’s using your competitor’s product and create a list for you
  • 02:36 – Once you have the list, marketing should send them the emails
• 02:45 – Create ad campaigns on LinkedIn targeting specific companies or people
• 02:52 – Uploading an email list and doing targeted ads on Facebook is also an option
• 03:00 – Having a targeted list lowers the cost of your ad expenses because with just 1 closed deal, your ROI is high
• 03:23 – It takes time to get into the mind of the consumers and you have to show them your product consistently before they convert
• 03:47 – JustReachOut is good for finding the right journalist that you’re looking for
• 04:36 – Datanyze will show you everyone who’s using your competition’s product
• 04:50 – You can enrich the leads who opt-in on your email and reach out to them based on the technology they’re using on the website
• 05:15 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. The chances of closing a deal is higher with a target prospect list.
2. Customer conversion takes time—you have to be consistently on the top of people’s minds.
3. Reach out to your target prospect list on every platform or channel.

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In Episode #332, Eric and Neil discuss if you should document or create content. Tune in to learn the difference between documenting and creating a content and why your personality and lifestyle are key factors for deciding what’s best for you.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: Should You Document or Create Content?
• 00:38 – Instead of thinking about your new content, why not just document what you’re doing
  • 00:47 – Logic is, when you document what you’re doing, people can pick up lessons from that
• 01:00 – Gary V and Casey Neistat are always vlogging and there is still so much information you can gain from them
  • 01:12 – Gary V usually just walks around in his office and shows his daily life
• 01:31 – It will also depend on your personality type
• 01:49 – Neil describes himself as a creator, so he creates videos with new information
• 02:15 – Focus on what works for you
• 02:49 – Eric can do both, but he prefers to create videos and plan ahead of time
• 03:15 – Having a process is important
• 03:32 – Eric is currently creating a reality series where they go into people’s offices
• 03:55 – Eric is experimenting
• 04:00 – Don’t force yourself into something that you’re not naturally good at
• 04:08 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. When you document your daily routine, it’s amazing what people can learn from watching you.
2. Do what works best for you and what you’re comfortable doing.
3. You can always experiment with both documenting what you do and creating content to see what fits you and your lifestyle.

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In Episode #331, Eric and Neil discuss how to find influencers on Instagram. Tune in to learn how you can find influencers that are popular in your industry. Eric and Neil discuss the easiest and fastest way to get going with an influencer and why they think Instagram is gold.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Find Influencers on Instagram
• 00:38 – There are companies who provide influencers but they’re expensive
• 00:45 – There are also some direct influencers, but it’s difficult to negotiate with them
• 00:56 – Neil suggests trying to get to know one influencer first
  • 01:04 – You can then go to different influencers’ parties
  • 01:12 – Offer that influencer a “part-time job” then he will also ask his influencer friends
  • 01:29 – It saves money and is quite easier than going through a third party
• 01:50 – The same tactic works for most social media channels
• 02:06 – The influencers reply faster and work quicker
• 02:28 – Eric has invested in an influencer marketing/AdWords platform
• 02:38 – There’s gold on Instagram
• 03:02 – You can leverage the search function on Instagram
• 03:14 – Find the top posts and top pages and reach out to those people
• 03:56 – Dig deeper on Instagram
• 04:18 – Gary V’s video regarding Instagram
• 04:43 – Go to targeted influencers in your space
• 04:50 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Find an influencer, offer him or her a “part-time job” and they will reach out to other influencers.
2. Instagram is a fantastic place to look for influencers—leverage it for your marketing.
3. Make sure your influencer is huge in your space or it’ll be a waste and will not convert.

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In Episode #330, Eric and Neil discuss when you should be upgrading, consolidating or deleting your content. Tune in to learn how updating your content can increase your traffic significantly, what’s worth deleting, and the benefit of consolidating similar articles of content.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: When You Should Be Upgrading, Consolidating or Deleting Your Content
• 00:43 – Neil doesn’t delete that much content
  • 00:45 – Neil did this with Crazy Egg’s content that was over one year old and had less than a hundred visitors
• 00:59 – Neil didn’t really delete the content, he just unpublished the articles on WordPress
• 01:09 – The traffic didn’t go up or down
  • 01:21 – Over time, content will get more traffic or less traffic
  • 01:41 – If the content continues to go up, there’s no modification needed
  • 01:44 – When the content goes down, they modify it from the metrics in Google Analytics
• 02:17 – Neil just updates his content
• 02:30 – Eric sees a 30% increase in updated content
• 02:37 – Eric will only delete content that is completely irrelevant or outdated
• 02:58 – Check out an episode from Pat Flynn’s podcast
• 03:34 – Eric consolidates content that are almost the same and that are competing in rank
• 03:48 – Hub and Spoke marketing
• 04:09 – Neil is getting 30-60% when he updates his content
• 04:40 – Update the posts that are generating traffic already
• 04:49 – Neil sorts their content through Google Search Console by the most popular and updates them
• 04:58 – Wikipedia’s content is always updated
• 05:17 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Updating content that is already getting traffic can further increase your traffic.
2. Consolidate the content that is very similar—this is the best thing to do so that they don’t compete for rank which using the same keywords.
3. You don’t have to delete content; they may be of use someday.

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In Episode #329, Eric and Neil discuss what Alexa Skills are and how to leverage this. Tune in to find out how Alexa makes your life convenient and how Alexa Skills can help your customers access your product or podcast with ease.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: What Are Alexa Skills (and How to Leverage This)?
• 00:46 – You can teach Alexa new skills and reach different types of customers
• 01:01 – You can ask Alexa to play specific podcasts for you
• 01:29 – “It makes your life really convenient”
• 01:35 – Alexa automates your whole life
• 02:28 – If you have an Echo, you can listen to Marketing School by adding the skill
• 02:46 – From Alexa skill, Marketing school has had 136 new customers, 309 new plays and 6 plays per hour
• 03:24 – Don’t expect amazing results from the Alexa yet, but it should work out well
• 03:40 – If you’re in the consumer space, you should be leveraging Alexa but it’s not as important for B2B
• 03:55 – When someone listens to something over and over, it will be on the top of their head
• 04:22 – Listening to podcasts is powerful
• 04:57 – Just search for Alexa Skills Kit
• 05:05 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Alexa automates your whole life.
2. Consumers can easily consume your product or podcasts through Alexa Skill.
3. Alexa Skills can track the new customers’ behavior right on the platform.

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In Episode #328, Eric and Neil discuss what Gmail ads are and how to leverage them. Tune in to learn how you can get creative with Gmail ads and why they are more valuable for B2B than B2C.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: What Are Gmail Ads (and How to Leverage Them)?
• 00:44 – Gmail ads are what you can see on your promotions tab when you open up your emails
• 01:04 – There are also some ads above your email inbox and when you click on your Gmail
• 01:15 – You can target specific keywords and be creative with Gmail ads
• 01:27 – Neil has been using Gmail ads for awhile
  • 01:33 – For Neil, Gmail ads don’t convert as much as direct AdWords
• 01:42 – Conversions with Google search list is much higher for Neil
• 01:46 – Gmail is much cheaper though
• 02:02 – Eric uses Pepsi and Coca Cola as a sample to target specific keywords in Gmail ads
• 02:30 – You can target specific people with Gmail ads, too
• 02:45 – From Eric’s observations, Gmail ads convert more for people who are 40 years old and up
• 03:02 – Neil finds Gmail ads working well for B2B rather than B2C
• 03:50 – You can test it first
• 04:00 – Neil has a blog about Gmail ads and Eric has one on Single Grain
• 04:10 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Targeting specific keywords can be done through Gmail Ads.
2. Gmail ads are still a good option for marketing, especially if you’re looking for a budget-wise channel.
3. Test every campaign that you do and track your conversion rate to see if it’s worth it. 

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In Episode #327, Eric and Neil discuss 7 things to consider before investing in Facebook ads. Tune in to learn how to successfully use Facebook ads and the checklist you should keep before putting your money down.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: 7 Things to Consider Before Investing in Facebook Ads
• 00:35 – First is to know your audience
  • 00:48 – You should know your target before spending money
• 01:10 – Second is to make sure you know what you’re promoting and that it is proven
  • 01:24 – It is important to test what you’re promoting and its conversion in other channels
  • 01:48 – Optimize your funnel and conversion rates in other channels before going into Facebook
• 01:53 – Third is to have goals set up
  • 02:10 – Figure out your key indicators
  • 02:20 – “What gets measured gets managed”
• 02:23 – Fourth is to have a testing budget
  • 02:45 – You need to do the testing in chunks or increments
• 02:57 – Fifth is to know the different formats when you’re starting out
  • 03:15 – Settle on one format first
• 03:26 – Sixth is how you’re going to get your creative work done
  • 03:50 – Think about how you’re going to make your ad images on a consistent basis
  • 04:04 – Keep rotating your creatives
  • 04:15 – Eric uses Design Pickle for their visuals
• 04:30 – Last is to make you’re split testing and your results are statistically significant
• 05:00 – Eric uses AdEspresso to manage ads
• 05:13 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Knowing your audience helps you target them well—making your spending worth it.
2. Track your funnel and conversion rate from other channels before trying it in Facebook ads.
3. Facebook ads work well if you know how do it the right way.

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In Episode #326, Eric and Neil discuss how to use Facebook Audience Insights to create highly targeted ads. Tune in to learn how you make the most out of Facebook ads by using Audience Insights and why you have to dump your generic tags in Facebook ads.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Use Facebook Audience Insights to Create Highly Targeted Ads
• 00:41 – Go to your Facebook Ads Manager and look at your Audience Insights tab
  • 01:06 – You can target specific people using the tab
  • 01:37 – It will help you make better ads
• 01:48 – You’re wasting money if your ads are not targeted
• 01:56 – Focus on your ROI by creating a targeted niche segment
• 02:12 – Generic tags do not work
• 02:23 – You need to be specific with Facebook Ads
• 02:40 – You have to target people’s interests
• 03:08 – Eric pulled out his Audience Insights for his Growth Everywhere podcast and he can see that 68% of his audience are men and 32% are women
• 03:22 – It also shows different lifestyles, relationship statuses and levels of educational attainment
• 04:00 – Neil advises to be careful to not overanalyze the data
• 04:25 – Neil tested on Facebook that women convert more on ads than men
• 04:41 – Just don’t look at the data and make assumptions off of it
• 04:50 – Eric looks at Pages Like which is helpful, too
• 05:12 – There’s also a purchases section which shows your audience’s purchase behavior
• 05:40 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Audience Insights allows you to create a more targeted ad so you’re not letting your money go down the drain.
2. Don’t over analyze the data you get and rely on what you see—do your research account for the results from your other tests.
3. There are a lot of Facebook ad features that need to be leveraged; you can get your ROI back in no time.

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In Episode #325, Eric and Neil discuss why you ought to leverage call tracking. Tune in to learn how to find out the sources of your phone calls and how tracking your phone calls enables you to see which campaigns are working and which ones are not.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: Why You Ought to Leverage Call Tracking
• 00:34 – Call tracking is tracking which traffic source is generating the phone calls you receive
• 01:04 – Getting someone on phone is better that just filling out a lead form
• 01:24 – Neil uses CallFire for call tracking
• 01:38 – Eric uses CallRail where you can also set different numbers for different campaigns
  • 01:57 – It is important to know who is coming in so you can optimize it
  • 02:20 – You can be in control of the phone calls that are coming in
• 02:43 – Search for Google AdWords call tracking to find other informative resources when you’re just starting
• 02:57 – Call tracking is affordable and it works
• 03:05 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. You have a greater chance of getting a hold of your customers when you’re able to get them on the phone rather than having them fill out a lead form.
2. Call tracking allows you to track which campaigns and keywords are working for you.
3. Try call tracking because it’s affordable and it works.

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In Episode #324, Eric and Neil discuss why you should host marketing meetups. Tune in to learn how you can benefit by either attending or hosting meetups consistently and why the focus should be one what you can learn from a meetup—not how many deals you can make.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: Why You Should Host Marketing Meetups
• 00:37 – Neil has never hosted a marketing meetup but has been to Eric’s
• 00:42 – Marketing meetups are an awesome place to learn from others
• 00:53 – You can grow your network through meetups
• 01:03 – You can accelerate your learning in meetups
• 01:17 – Eric tries to keep the meetups he organizes small and intimate
• 01:25 – Having just around 25 people makes connections easier and stronger
• 01:57 – A meetup doesn’t always have to be an entrepreneurial meetup
• 02:04 – Meetups are good for recruiting
• 02:27 – “It’s about being top of the line”
• 02:59 – Figure out how you can take your online stuff offline
• 03:08 – The best use of a meetup is to learn MORE
• 03:36 – Don’t have too many expectations, meeting one new person is enough
• 04:30 – Meeting people consistently will compound eventually
• 04:33 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Meetups are great way to increase your network and learn more.
2. Don’t go on a meetup thinking that you will go home with so many new deals, just enjoy the day.
3. When organizing a meetup, try to keep it small and intimate so it’s easier to make those connections.

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In Episode #323, Eric and Neil discuss how to create professional YouTube ads for under $100. Tune in to learn the tools that can help you create more cost-effective, but professional YouTube video ads and why Tai Lopez is being followed and copied by almost everyone.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Create Professional YouTube Ads for Under $100
• 00:35 – Animoto allows you to weave different images together and create a simple video
  • 00:50 – It looks professional and they have a free trial
• 01:05 – There are people on Fiverr who make videos for YouTube
• 01:13 – Using PowerPoint Presentations and recording your screen using a screen recorder gives you a video that you can upload on YouTube
• 01:31 – The ads that work best are the ones with better scripts and messages
• 01:43 – Tai Lopez creates ads from his phone
  • 02:01 – It is more realistic and you have to go against the grain
  • 02:15 – It can be more relatable and convert better
• 02:41 – It’s not about the video quality, but about the SCRIPT
• 03:18 – There are a lot of video marketers now who uses Tai Lopez’ strategy in recording videos
• 04:14 – Veeroll allows you to generate video ads quickly
• 04:42 – Focus on the script that for your video ad
• 04:53 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. You can create videos using a screen recorder or PowerPoint that can easily be uploaded on YouTube.
2. If you can afford it, you can hire people to make videos for you.
3. It’s not about the video quality, but the quality of your message that determines the success of your YouTube video.

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In Episode #322, Eric and Neil discuss how you will know if your SEO efforts are paying off. Tune in to learn the tools that you can use to track your ranking and why it pays to be patient with SEO.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: How Do You Know If Your SEO Efforts Are Paying Off?
• 00:39 – Eric uses a rank tracker called Authority Labs
  • 00:49 – It has a section for organic traffic called “Now Provide”
  • 01:10 – You want to know if your keyword traffic is increasing or decreasing
• 01:33 – Google Search Console will show you how many impressions your listings are getting
  • 01:49 – Impressions are the number of people seeing your listings, but are not clicking on them
  • 02:06 – Your impression time should go up eventually
• 02:45 – You have to stay patient with SEO
• 03:29 – Google Analytics is also an option for you to use
• 03:45 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. SEO takes time to see the results; be patient and you will see the outcomes.
2. Tracking your keyword effectiveness and traffic will inform you on which words work and which need tweaking.
3. Before your click rate goes up, your impressions should go up first.

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In Episode #321, Eric and Neil discuss what Google My Business is. Tune in to learn how you can leverage Google local listings and how it can BOOST your sales and search ranking.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: What Is Google My Business (and How You Can Leverage It)?
• 00:34 – Google My Business allows to create a free business listing on Google
• 00:41 – You can claim your business and verify it
• 00:57 – Neil claimed his address and verified himself through Google My Business
• 01:30 – The thing with Google My Business is that you can have multiple spots if you have multiple locations
• 01:55 – You need to get the reviews going, too
• 02:09 – You need to be descriptive and explain what you do
• 02:30 – There are annual guides and you’ll turn up better on Google searches
• 02:43 – Your SEO and links still matter
• 02:56 – Locksmith just claimed a bunch of listings and their sales went up
• 03:32 – Eric has claimed a few listings for himself
• 04:00 – Just don’t abuse it
• 04:09 – You can also check your listings at Google Analytics
• 04:25 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Claiming your listing on Google gets you better chances for turning up on searches.
2. At the end of the day, good reviews, SEO and links still matter to the customers.
3. Don’t abuse the system, because Google can get you suspended.

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In Episode #320, Eric and Neil discuss whether should you send gifts to your customers. Tune in to learn gift ideas for your clients, the benefits of being generous, and the importance of showing appreciation to your clients!

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: Should You Send Gifts to Your Customers?
• 00:34 – Neil is a big believer of sending gifts regardless of whether it is a high-paying or not
• 00:42 – It creates a ton of loyalty
• 00:48 – You can give your high-paying customer something more personalized
  • 01:10 – Add a personal note to the gift
• 01:30 – For lower-paying customers, you can send them “Thank You” postcards
• 01:58 – For sending postcards, you can use Letter Friend
• 02:18 – Gemnote sends premium gifts to companies
• 02:26 – Giftology is a book that is packaged in a leather bag
• 03:12 – The lifetime value of customers in the consulting world is high
• 03:19 – Eric wants to give memorable gifts
  • 03:26 – The most memorable gift Eric has received from a company is a battery pack from The RD Summit Brazilian Conference
• 04:04 – Eric has started looking at some of the best headphones and has sent them to their clients
• 04:24 – You’re creating goodwill and they will remember you
• 04:43 – Whatever you send, make sure it ties back to what you’re doing
• 05:27 – Do your research and look for what is relevant to your client and your business
• 05:40 – People like to do business at the end of the day so you have to know your client
• 05:48 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Regardless of the amount a client is paying you, you should send them all a token gift of appreciation.
2. Giving gifts to your clients creates loyalty.
3. Whatever you send, make sure it is relevant to your business and to your client, so DO your research.

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In Episode #319, Eric and Neil discuss what ringless voicemails are and how you can leverage them. Tune in to learn the benefits of sending personalized ringless voicemails to your customers and how it can help you get a higher open rate.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: What Are Ringless Voicemails (and How You Can Leverage Them)?
• 00:40 – Ringless voicemail is dropping a voicemail into someone’s phone without their phone ringing
• 00:50 – Eric and Neil don’t pick up much of their phone calls
• 01:23 – You can use ringless voicemail when someone opts into your email list
  • 01:34 – You drop the voicemail after the opt-in
  • 01:56 – It is more personalized and the open rate is higher
• 02:11 – Eric has used Stratics Network and Slybroadcast for ringless voicemail
• 02:50 – A possible problem is when your voicemail sounds like an automated recording
  • 03:23 – People will know if they’re automated, so they won’t respond and may just ignore them
  • 03:33 – Personalized messages are more likely to work
• 04:16 – In marketing, the moment it feels too pitchy or inauthentic, it’s not going to work
• 04:48 – Adobe has recently launched a product that can mimic voices, so you can try that
• 05:04 – Make the voicemail personally tailored to your customers
• 05:33 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Ringless voicemails are a great way to make a connection with your customers.
2. In marketing, people tend to ignore pitchy and automated recordings; so don’t use them.
3. Make your voicemails personally tailored to your customers.

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In Episode #318, Eric and Neil discuss what SMS marketing is. Tune in to learn how you can optimize your SMS campaigns and increase those open rates! Eric and Neil also discuss what NOT to do when it comes to SMS.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: What Is SMS Marketing (and How You Can Leverage It)
• 00:42 – SMS stands for Short Method Service
• 01:07 – If someone opts in to your email list and you’re able to get his number, send them a message
  • 01:12 – Open rates for text messages are higher
• 01:47 – Neil uses SMS for reminders with their marketing campaigns
  • 02:15 – Neil sends SMS reminders for his webinars
  • 02:56 – Events should have people asking for attendees’ phone numbers
• 03:38 – When you’re closing a deal, send them a SMS and give them a little value
• 04:11 – When you have leads coming to your site or from WordPress, the details can push them through Zapier then Twilio
  • 04:40 – You can do immediate action depending on the lead’s budget
• 05:24 – Call Loop can help you send SMS back and forth
• 06:03 – Tatango is what Neil uses, too
• 06:18 – Don’t be spammy in sending SMS; be respectful!
• 06:51 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. SMS can be sent out as a reminder for your customers for marketing campaigns or webinars.
2. Be responsible and respectful in your SMS campaigns—do NOT be spammy.
3. Leverage SMS marketing and provide value for your customers to increase those open rates.

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In Episode #308, Eric and Neil discuss if chatbots are really worth it. Since chatbots are still in its early days, the effectiveness and profitability of the tool is very much debatable. Eric and Neil discuss the tests that they’ve run and lay out the benefits as well as the weaknesses they’ve encountered. At the end of the day, the incredible open and click through rates from using chatbots is something that CANNOT be ignored.

• 00:30 – Today’s topic: Are Chatbots Really Worth It?
• 00:41 – Eric was moderating a panel with a guy from Hubspot and Wordstream
  • 00:53 – Eric’s open rates was about 80%, his friend was at 94%
  • 01:07 – A broadcast through email can get you 20-30% open rate, with 5% click rate
  • 01:14 – With chatbots 80-94%, at 50% click rates
• 01:40 – Neil says it’s about opportunity costs
• 02:21 – Neil was doing a test the other day and found that the opt-in rate was still quite low
  • 02:38 – Open rates are great, but opt-in rate needs to be increased somehow—this may get better in a few months
• 02:56 – Send your bot to ManyChat or Chatfuel and you’ll have a URL to drive traffic to
• 03:12 – Eric runs a page post engagement ad where people leave a comment if they’re interested and he then gets their email
  • 03:33 – You can get a subscriber for a couple cents
  • 03:48 – You can also get people to click on a link that brings people to your landing page and then they can message you directly
  • 03:54 – Manychat will help you make widgets and landing pages
• 04:16 – Eric ran a small test, received 300 subscribers and paid about 50 cents per subscriber
• 04:34 – Neil: The question is can you make them profitable?
  • 04:47 – Eric shares a story about a guy who directed his traffic to his chatbots as opposed to closing them in a webinar—he was able to make $400K in sales that way
  • 05:13 – Your mileage may vary in regards to sales from using chatbots, but it’s worth testing
• 05:21 – Neil says chatbots are still its early days and to not expect that these open and click through rates will stick; they will decrease over time just like everything else
• 05:46 – Eric and Neil will keep a close eye on this trend of using chatbots so stay tuned for future episodes
• 05:52 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Chatbots have the ability to get you email subscribers for a couple of cents an email—it’s worth looking into just for this reason alone.
2. Just like every other tool you use in marketing, test to see if chatbots will help you convert to real, profitable sales.
3. Direct your traffic from your webinars to your chatbots; using them in conjunction can play to the strengths of each tool.

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In Episode #317, Eric and Neil discuss the 7 things to consider before you start accepting guest blogs. Tune in to learn how you can carefully evaluate your potential guest bloggers so that your website maintains its quality and consistency.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: 7 Things to Consider Before You Start Accepting Guest Blogs
• 00:35 – First is to make sure that you’re ready to deal with spam
  • 00:41 – There are people who will try to sell links on your website, which will get you penalized by Google
  • 00:48 – Be sure that whatever you’re accepting, people aren’t shoving in irrelevant links
• 01:00 – Second is to ask for 3 links to their most impressive articles
  • 01:11 – It will give you a quick idea of their writing style
  • 01:24 – You still want to add value
• 01:42 – Make sure that the people are authoritative
  • 01:49 – Authoritative people won’t pass junk
  • 02:05 – Make sure the content quality stays high
• 02:10 – Fourth is to ask why they want to do it
• 02:40 – Fifth is when accepting guest posts, make sure you’re still building a community
  • 03:05 – Make rules for these people so there will still be growth
• 03:40 – Sixth is to ask for a couple of potential article titles and what will be a good fit for the website
  • 03:58 – It can be an evaluation point
• 04:24 – Seventh is you want to keep new and fresh content; run their content on Copyscape to check its authenticity
• 04:55 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Watch out for guest blogs who will try to sell links on your website.
2. Ask questions that will help you evaluate the guest blogger’s motive and relevancy for your website.
3. Make sure you’re building a community within your guest blogs and make them adhere to your rules for consistency.

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In Episode #316, Eric and Neil discuss the 7 tools to help you promote evergreen content. Tune in to learn which tools you can use to leverage your evergreen content to achieve that better ranking in Google and promote your best stuff! 

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: 7 Tools to Help You Promote Evergreen Content
• 00:34 – First, Meet Edgar allows you to schedule posts on different social media sites
  • 00:49 – Clean it up for things that are no longer relevant or for concepts that no longer apply
• 01:01 – Second is Ahrefs
  • 01:03 – Type in the competitor URL that has similar posts, see who are linking out to your competitor and reach out to them
  • 01:12 – It’s easy to do and provides great results, but is time intensive
• 01:35 – BuzzSumo can help you find posts and links that have a lot of social shares
  • 01:55 – Build out a prospect list and reach out to people who shared them
• 02:12 – Fourth is Google Search Console
  • 02:23 – For the posts that are gaining much traffic, look at the keywords that are driving you traffic, download the CSV file, take those keywords and innovate them within your content
• 02:45 – Repurpose your evergreen content
  • 02:58 – Repurposing is similar to promoting it
• 03:29 – Your evergreen content can rank in Google
  • 03:31 – if you’re going to make your title tags more appealing, you’re going to get more clicks and your search ranking will rise
  • 03:46 – A headline generator tool will give you ideas to update your title tags
• 04:18 – If you have very good evergreen content, put it into paid advertising
• 05:00 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Repurposing your evergreen content will help you to continually maximize its value.
2. Reach out to people who share your competitor’s post; perhaps they can help you to gain more traffic as well.
3. A great title tag can make your posts appealing which will attract more clicks and improve your overall search ranking.

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In Episode #315, Eric and Neil discuss the 7 fundamentals that every content promotion plan should include. Tune in to learn the checklists that you need for your content promotion plan and the importance of keeping your “unicorns” up to date!

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: 7 Fundamentals That Every Content Promotion Plan Should Include
• 00:36 – First is to have a checklist where you document everything you need as well as your standard operating procedure
• 01:04 – Second is to create a list of people you are going to hit up in your space
  • 01:08 – Every promotion has an outreach
  • 01:13 – You want to keep a list so you will know who responded and promoted
  • 01:17 – You want to hit up the same exact person 5x a week
  • 01:29 – You could also determine who to hit up for a specific type of post
  • 01:33 – You don’t want to burn the relationship
• 01:40 – Have an inventory of the tools that you have
  • 01:42 – Use LastPass to organize everything
  • 01:58 – Eric uses Meet Edgar and Buffer for promotion
• 02:13 – Fourth is to test out timing
  • 02:20 – Depending on your industry, there are times that are best to post
  • 02:28 – Stick with that time and be consistent
• 02:44 – Fifth is to use paid advertising
  • 03:04 – Look at your top performing content and check the ones that are getting the most shares and likes
  • 03:12 – The top performing ones are your unicorns and you want to push them
  • 03:14 – Larry Kim from WordStream and Dennis Yu from BlitzMetrics talk about this further
• 03:33 – Sixth is having your unicorns
  • 03:41 – Every 6 months, check all the content that has done well, re-share and update them
  • 03:57 – Update your old content or the traffic will decline
• 04:06 – Last is to measure results
  • 04:15 – If you’re not measuring and managing results, you’re not being a good marketer
• 04:24 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Set a goal and have a plan in place to reach that goal for your content promotion—this way you can track and measure your progress.
2. Keep your unicorns up to date so your traffic and engagement won’t decline.
3. Make sure that you keep track of your processes, plans, and create checklists to help organize yourself.

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In Episode #314, Eric and Neil discuss 3 simple ways to save money on SEO using PPC. Tune in to learn the importance of knowing the right keywords to use in SEO so you won’t end up wasting money or time.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: 3 Simple Ways to Save Money on SEO Using PPC
• 00:38 – Everyone looks at pay-per-click as an expense but it’s not a bad expense
• 00:49 – From an SEO perspective, it takes a long time
• 01:00 – The first way to save money is to target the right keywords
  • 01:05 – You can use Google Keyword Planner, UberSuggest or Keyword.io
  • 01:11 – “Volume isn’t everything if people don’t purchase from those keywords—no matter how many visitors you get, it’s useless”
  • 01:19 – With PPC, you can test out words and phrases and when you see conversion, start targeting from organic search perspective
  • 01:35 – If you want to scale, use AdWords Editor to move things faster
  • 02:00 – If you have a brand keyword, a competitor can start to categorize you as the brand owner
• 02:48 – Focus your SEO first on non-seasonal based terms
  • 03:10 – It costs the same time and money with seasonal-based keywords
  • 03:22 – Go to Google Trends, type the terms and make sure it’s not in the seasonality
  • 03:38 – After the terms get consistent traffic all year round, then go for the seasonal terms
• 04:03 – More consistent income is better than the income that goes up and down over a few months
• 04:15 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. PPC is an expense, but it is NOT a bad expense—test if it’s right for you.
2. While SEO can be cheaper, it takes time and testing to see which works best.
3. If you have a brand keyword, keep it, as a competitor will start to see you as the brand owner.

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In Episode #313, Eric and Neil discuss how to do SEO for small businesses with less than $1000 a month. Tune in to learn how you can still do SEO effectively—even with a small budget—and why you shouldn’t believe everything that Google tells you.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Do SEO for Small Businesses With Less Than $1000 a Month
• 00:35 – You can’t focus on everything
• 00:40 – Try to have your site on WordPress so you can have Yoast and not worry too much about on-page SEO
• 00:48 – Neil sticks to content creation and building links around the content
• 00:55 – Neil uses Ahrefs
  • 01:01 – Put in your competitor’s URL and click on the top pages that will show you the pages your competitor gets the most traffic
  • 01:29 – Look at that page and try to create a better version on your website
  • 01:38 – Find the people that are linked out to the page and reach out to them
  • 02:00 – Reaching out works, but it’s a long-term play
  • 02:08 – Keep it simple
• 02:34 – “Don’t believe everything that Google says”
• 02:58 – When you only have $1000 a month, you can’t go really fast
• 03:10 – You can also use BuzzSumo which is similar to Ahrefs
• 03:26 – You can find a journalist who can write content at JustReachOut which is a PR tool
• 03:48 – For link outreach, you can use Pitchbox and MixMax
• 04:03 – You have to make sure that you stay consistent with your SEO
• 04:22 – Consistency will give people the impression that you’re starting to build your flywheel
• 04:33 – Scripted allows you to buy content at scale
• 04:53 – Upwork and ProBlogger also have people you can hire to make content for you
• 05:16 – Scripted is like a marketplace
• 05:37 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. There are ways to work on your SEO while on a conservative budget.
2. SEO results takes time so you have to be patient.
3. Leverage free and affordable tools that you can use to make your SEO work successfully.

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