Marketing School - Digital Marketing and Online Marketing Tips

In Episode #312, Eric and Neil discuss how to create an experimental culture in your marketing department. Tune in to find out how Eric and Neil do experiments with their respective teams and how it boosted engagement and a sense of value and pride for team members to be a part of the experimentation.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Create an Experimental Culture in Your Marketing Department
• 00:38 – Twitter was running .2 tests per week when they were still struggling
  • 01:02 – After that, their usual growth skyrocketed
• 01:12 – Jeff Bezos of Amazon also brought tons of experiments that helped them boost quickly
• 01:17 – Driving experiments for the company or marketing department is really important
• 01:26 – Treat your experiment as a product
• 01:37 – Eric runs experiment meetings with his company, Single Grain
  • 01:49 – Every week, someone is required to bring in new ideas
• 02:33 – You can use Trello to write in your experiments
• 02:43 – There should be a well-thought idea and a plan as well as data to back up the plan
• 02:58 – Neil enforces the culture to everyone until they fully adapt to it
• 03:06 – Neil also believes that no opinions that are wrong or right
  • 03:13 – Just because you are doing marketing longer, does NOT mean you have better ideas
• 03:33 – It is a weekly process for Neil’s team
  • 03:49 – Neil encourages testing and gives a pat on the back to who has the best idea
• 04:04 – Once you start with testing, people will love it
  • 04:15 – The team will feel good that they’re making progress
• 04:34 – Eric tried to incentivize the person with the best idea, but now they’re having a monthly celebration
• 05:07 – One of the mistakes that Eric made with the experiment was that people were voting just by raising their hands—they shifted this to automated voting
• 05:43 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Engage everyone on the team in regards to the experiments and make sure that ideas are well-thought and planned.
2. Your team will have a sense of engagement and responsibility when they are included in the experimental process.
3. Incentivizing isn’t always beneficial for everyone—find what motivates your team.

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In Episode #311, Eric and Neil discuss the marketing tasks they do daily. Tune in to know what Eric and Neil do every day and how these habits contribute to their success.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: The Marketing Tasks Eric and Neil Do Every Day
• 00:36 – The big thing that Neil does is post on social media
• 00:49 – Neil also responds to comments from Social Web and Social Profiles
• 00:59 – Neil looks into Google Console to track posts that are declining in views and clicks
  • 01:07 – He will then update those posts and content and they will go back to where they were
• 01:27 – Eric is trying to work on the business more
• 01:44 – Eric is working on creating content
• 01:58 – Eric also checks his Google Console and track his posts’ ranking
• 02:33 – You do NOT have to do exactly what Eric and Neil are doing
• 02:35 – Eric also has a lot of one-on-one time with the team to see where he can help
• 02:48 – Eric checks the interns campaigns and coaches them if needed
• 03:09 – Neil reads marketing blogs and keeps himself updated on the industry trends
  • 03:15 – Neil also responds to Quora’s questions
• 03:54 – The biggest hack for Eric is listening to marketing podcasts daily
  • 04:04 – Eric recommends listening to Growth Everywhere and Digital Marketing Podcast
• 04:21 – There’s so much consumption you can do but you need to produce, too
• 04:48 – Eric and Neil both try to continue to level up and build a flywheel that continues to go
• 05:12 – Build all the pieces, hire the right people, put in the right processes and start to build the flywheel
• 05:20 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Keep yourself updated in the industry that you’re in.
2. Tracking your post’s analytics does not have to be done daily, but needs to be checked constantly to assess if you need to update.
3. Learning is useless without application.

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In Episode #310, Eric and Neil discuss how to rank in Google image search. Tune in to learn how Google can recognize your images more easily and how to adjust for Google’s limitations to BOOST your ranking.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Rank in Google Image Search
• 00:40 – If you are in consumer-based industry, you can generate a lot of traction from Google image search
• 01:00 – Image filing should be restricted to what you’re trying to rank for
  • 01:06 – If it’s a car, use all tags to describe to Google what your image is about
  • 01:57 – You can also use a long description which is similar to all tags, but longer
• 02:31 – If you’re always ranked over time, make sure you’re surrounded with text as Google uses text to figure out what the image is about
• 02:40 – In the next couple of years, Google’s AI might be able to identify which is which
• 03:06 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. How well you rank on Google image searches will depend on the industry.
2. Google will know what your image is about if you describe it well in text.
3. Google’s AI will probably improve in the future and won’t require as much text to recognize an image.

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In Episode #309, Eric and Neil discuss how to get tons of views on your LinkedIn updates. Tune in to know the number of views Eric and Neil received on their first LinkedIn update and why you should leverage LinkedIn NOW.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Get Tons of Views on Your LinkedIn Updates
• 00:38 – You can now write longer-form LinkedIn content now
• 00:55 – Eric has around 6K connections in LinkedIn and when he wrote about longer-form LinkedIn updates, he got a thousand views in just 10 minutes
  • 01:10 – There were also 2nd degree views in LinkedIn
• 01:23 – A simple text update can get you tons of views
• 01:34 – Neil has also tested LinkedIn updates
  • 01:44 – He got 232K views, 280 likes and 151 comments on his first update
• 01:57 – Neil learned that the more generic your update, the better off you are
• 02:28 – It comes down to how many views your content is getting by the right type of people that can potentially generate income—so be specific
• 02:48 – One guy reached out to Eric when he posted an update asking Eric if he can work for him
  • 03:04 – There are also paid advertising managers who approached Eric
  • 03:11 – One from Dropbox has reach out to Eric as well
• 03:33 – There’s a lot of potential with LinkedIn updates
• 03:54 – Go use LinkedIn now while only a few people are into it and leverage it
• 04:04 – AdWords is not restricting LinkedIn yet, so now is a good time to use it
• 04:14 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Take advantage of LinkedIn while it is not as saturated as other platforms.
2. Posting specific LinkedIn updates can target the RIGHT people who are possible sale leads.
3. LinkedIn updates can also help you connect with people who can become a part of your network.

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In Episode #307, Eric and Neil discuss where you can hire great developers. Tune in to learn how you can find great developers at a much cheaper rate WITHOUT compromising on value and efficiency.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: Where Can You Hire Great Developers?
• 00:42 – Eric and Neil both tried Toptal which is not a bad place, but quite expensive
• 00:51 – The best company for Neil is Crossover which is based in Texas
  • 00:58 – Their team of great developers are usually overseas
  • 01:02 – The labor is cheaper and they’re well educated
  • 01:08 – They have the software to know which is the best of the best
  • 01:30 – They offer 30 days of free development
  • 01:55 – It is quite cheap
• 02:09 – Eric currently has 2 developers
  • 02:14 – One is based in Singapore and the other one is in Lithuania
  • 02:26 – The developers are well-versed and get things done
  • 02:56 – Eric found them in CodePen’s job board
• 03:20 – Eric has used Crew and Andela
• 03:40 – Andela hires developers from other countries so you will get them cheaper
  • 03:44 – They have a strong vetting process
• 04:20 – Engineers and developers may not work well right away, but they should over time (once you find the amazing ones)
• 04:40 – Marketing School is giving away a free 1 year subscription of Sniply which allows you to overlay CTA or forms over social links that you’re sharing
  • 04:57 – Subscribe, rate and review Marketing School
  • 05:00 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444
• 05:18 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. There are a lot of great developers overseas that will cost you way less than in the USA.
2. Go to a website where developers usually lounge around—like forums and message boards.
3. It may take you a few tries before you find the excellent engineers and developers that you need.

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In Episode #306, Eric and Neil discuss where you can hire great designers. Tune in to hear an exhaustive list of where you can find fantastic designers and view their work. Or, if you are designer and are just needing some inspiration, Eric and Neil will tell you where to go. 

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: Where Can You Hire Great Designers?
• 00:32 – Eric uses Dribbble and looks at people’s portfolios
  • 00:42 – You can easily search for what you’re looking for, like an infographic
  • 00:50 – Look for the aesthetic that you like
• 01:08 – You can also reach out to people who have designed for your competition
  • 01:12– You can use LinkedIn to find this
• 01:36 – Neil uses 99designs where designers compete for a job
• 01:53 – Behance is also a platform where designers’ portfolios are available to view
• 02:02 – Visually is a good place for infographics
• 02:13 – Some designers post their designs on Pinterest
• 02:26 – Go to Product Hunt and type “landing pages”, then find a design that you can use as inspiration
• 02:40 – Marketing School is giving away a free 1 year subscription of Sniply which allows you to overlay CTA or forms over social links that you’re sharing
  • 03:01 – Subscribe, rate and review Marketing School
  • 03:05 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444
• 03:23 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Designers’ portfolios are a great way to understand a designer’s style and their medium.
2. Take advantage of the websites where designers post their work for free.
3. You can also find great inspiration online if you’re not keen on getting a designer.

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In Episode #305, Eric and Neil discuss why you should clean your email list. Tune in to learn what tools you can use to help you manage your email lists and the benefits of making this a TOP priority—including saving you money!

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: Why You Should Clean Your Email List
• 00:40 – Neil’s email is a mess and uses everything from Infusionsoft to Maropost to Mailgun
  • 01:02 – They’re trying to figure which one will work well
• 01:19 – “If you don’t clear your list, your deliverability goes through the shitter”
  • 01:24 – No one will get your emails
• 01:56 – Neil would clean the list, look at the most active subscribers and start sending emails to them
• 02:05 – Neil uses ConvertKit combined with Infusionsoft as their main mail service solution
• 02:30 – If you don’t clean your list up and you have a lot of inactive subscribers, you will be paying more
• 02:53 – Cleaning your email list is also saving you money
• 03:01 – Have a workflow using Drip or Infusionsoft
  • 03:05 – Have a re-engagement sequence in place
• 03:40 – Marketing School is giving away a free 1 year subscription of Sniply which allows you to overlay CTA or forms over social links that you’re sharing
  • 04:06 – Subscribe, rate and review Marketing School
  • 04:10 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444
• 04:30 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Cleaning your email list directly equates to lowering your expenses and minimizing waste.
2. Create a workflow for your email subscribers, especially when it comes to creating an re-engagement sequence.
3. If you don’t manage your email well, your subscribers may not end up not getting any of your emails.

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In Episode #304, Eric and Neil discuss where you can hire great writers. Tune in to learn how you can easily find great writers in your space and why hiring a full-time writer may work as a disadvantage to you. 

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: Where Can You Hire Great Writers?
• 00:46 – Eric and Neil both use Problogger religiously for finding their writers
  • 01:05 – It’s cheap to put a job posting and there’s a lot of great people you can meet there
• 01:12 – Neil checks his competitors’ blogs and reaches out to some of the writers
  • 01:22 – They usually accept any writing gig
• 01:30 – Don’t hire full-time writers because the ROI isn’t there
• 01:37 – People get burned out, so find someone who will write for you just a couple of times a week
• 01:51 – Find the most popular writers in your space based on comments and social shares
  • 01:56 – Social shares mean they’re driving traffic and comments mean they’re engaging the audience
• 02:07 – If you’re doing audio and video podcast, go to Rev and have them transcribe podcast episodes
• 02:55 – Marketing School is giving away a free 1 year subscription of Sniply which allows you to overlay CTA or forms over social links that you’re sharing
  • 03:07 – Subscribe, rate and review Marketing School
  • 03:12 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444
• 03:33 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Problogger is a great place to find your next writer.
2. Find great writers in your space based on how many social shares and comments they receive, then offer them something reasonable.
3. Transcribing your audio and video creates another way for your audience to engage with your content.

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In Episode #303, Eric and Neil discuss the type of content marketing you should create when you’re starting off. Tune in to learn why Eric would still start with blog posting even if people are saying that it is dying and why you should start with what YOU are good at.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: What Type of Content Should You Create When You're Starting Off?
• 00:38 – First, create blog-based content
  • 00:40 – It is the easiest type of content to create
• 01:00 – In content marketing, there’s no right form of content to start first
• 01:10 – If your skills are in audio or video, then start off with those and do what you’re best at
• 01:24 – If everything is going to one direction, try the other way
• 01:47 – Think of it as the Blue Ocean Strategy
• 01:58 – Gary V isn’t good at blog posts, but he’s good on camera
• 02:18 – If you have created video content in the past and are good at it, then go in that direction
• 02:30 – If Eric would start now, he would start with blog posting
• 02:53 – Just figure out what’s the easiest and go from there
• 03:00 – If you can’t blog consistently, do guest posting
  • 03:15 – Marketing School has an episode about guest posting 
• 03:29 – The content re-usage workflow
  • 03:34 – Chalene Johnson is good on camera
  • 03:50 – She starts with live videos, which she turns into podcast episodes, which turns to blog posts then social media posts
• 04:08 – A workflow tool like Gliffy can help you repurpose your content
• 04:20 – Marketing School is giving away a free 1 year subscription of Sniply which allows you to overlay links that you’re sharing with CTA
  • 05:02 – Subscribe, rate and review Marketing School
  • 05:05 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444
• 05:25 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Blog-based content is the easiest type of content marketing.
2. Focus on your strength, first—if it’s video, then start with video.
3. Repurpose your content into different channels to increase access and interaction points with your audience.

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In Episode #302, Eric and Neil discuss what should you do if the wrong page ranks for a target keyword. Tune in to learn what Eric is currently testing and how Neil managed to redirect his traffic from the wrong page to the RIGHT one.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: What Should You Do if the Wrong Page Ranks for a Target Keyword?
• 00:40 – Eric has a blog post right now that ranks for online marketing companies or internet marketing companies
  • 01:02 – Eric’s agency is top 10 for the keyword other websites are ranking for
• 01:18 – Eric and other SEOs that he has talked to suggested redirecting that page to what converts people
• 01:33 – Eric is currently testing having a ranking table with different agencies
• 02:11 – Eric is still trying several different things at the moment
• 02:21 – Neil suggests making internal links between your pages
• 02:25 – Google usually sorts things out and it’s just a question of time
• 02:31 – For the page that isn’t ranking but you want to rank, compare the keyword densities
  • 02:44 – Neil will then improve the keyword density on a page that isn’t ranking
  • 02:49 – Check who’s linking to that page, hit them up and get them to link to the page that you want to rank
• 02:59 – Promote the pages that aren’t ranking
• 03:10 – Neil’s blog used to rank for the keywords “SEO tool” and “SEO tools” rather than the actual tool itself
  • 03:22 – Neil built links to the SEO tool page and increased social media shares
  • 03:32 – Within 3-4 months, it sorted itself out
• 03:49 – Marketing School is giving away a free 1 year subscription of Zapier which helps you tracks the lifetime ROI of your Facebook campaigns
  • 04:20 – Subscribe, rate and review Marketing School
  • 04:23 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444
• 05:53 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Creating internal links between your pages can help distribute and redirect your traffic.
2. Promote pages that aren’t ranking through constant social media shares.
3. Check your keyword densities and ask people that are linking to your page to link to the page that you WANT to rank.

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In Episode #301, Eric and Neil discuss whether or not you should buy marketing courses. Tune in to learn the importance of putting learning BEFORE earning and why paying for a course is sometimes more beneficial than trying a free one.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: Should You Buy Marketing Courses?
• 00:39 – There’s a time for learning and there’s a time for earning
• 00:51 – Check Neil’s advance marketing course or his other courses that he has available
• 01:03 – Keep reading and keep learning!
  • 01:12 – Implement what you have learned
• 01:25 – If you’re starting off, courses are great
• 01:30 – If you’re not starting off, the best way to learn is by networking at events and by practicing and doing things on your own website
• 01:44 – Neil is a big believer that it is easier to learn through DOING
• 01:51 – Neil’s current courses are about investments
  • 01:53 – Neil invested in a Canadian company
• 02:17 – Instead of buying courses, Neil is investing on someone who already is doing them
• 02:30 – When Eric first learned about marketing, he had access to a site where he could buy courses or learn from free courses
  • 03:03 – The problem with free courses is you have too much information available for you and you’re not really invested in it
• 03:37 – An executive once said, people buy courses because courses are perceived progress
• 03:49 – If you buy courses, finish and complete them
• 04:13 – Marketing School is giving away a free 1 year subscription to Zapier which allows you to have different applications working with each other
  • 04:47 – Subscribe, rate and review Marketing School
  • 04:51 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444
• 05:09 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Put yourself in learning mode every day; there’s always an opportunity to learn something new.
2. Paying for a course is an investment—use it well and apply what you’ve learned.
3. If you have the knowledge, continue your learning by DOING.

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In Episode #300, Eric and Neil discuss marketing tactics that they still use today. Tune in to learn how content marketing has shifted and how Eric and Neil have grown from making simple blog posts to a whole host of different platforms to share their content. 

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: Marketing Tactics that Neil & Eric Still Use Today
• 01:11 – Neil noticed that over the years, content marketing has shifted
• 01:45 – You now have to be everywhere
• 02:10 – What’s going on with your email, podcast, webinar and blog is all considered content
• 02:20 – Gary V has been doing great with content marketing
  • 02:23 – He has a videographer who documents Gary V’s everyday life
• 02:35 – Content marketing still feeds into a different marketing stream
• 03:00 – Build something long-term by taking advantage of what’s available to you as a business
• 03:17 – Eric and Neil both look at things holistically
• 03:25 – Neil started with an agency website and he created a tool for how to do marketing better
  • 03:38 – Neil didn’t have much money back then so he just bought a script with the analyzer formula that you can just upload to your server
  • 03:50 – Neil still has an analyzer formula but this time, it’s a customized one
• 04:11 – When you’re producing content, you have to figure out the foundation piece of the content
  • 04:25 – You can start with a blog post first, which you produce daily or weekly, then have something for monthly, then quarterly
• 04:50 – Eric has a PDF study where they examine 1M backlinks
• 05:09 – The foundation for everything is content
• 05:26 – Neil and Eric are doing daily podcasts which they produce in batches
• 05:34 – Neil records 15-16 videos a day; it takes Neil 3 hours and the team a lot of time
  • 05:45 – The goal of the video is to release once a day and it works
• 05:56 – Eric suggests checking Episode 296
• 06:12 – If you’re not doing content now, you’re already behind
• 06:20 – Marketing School is giving away a free 1 year subscription of Zapier which helps you set-up workflows without coding
  • 06:55 – Subscribe, rate and review Marketing School
  • 06:59 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444
• 07:20 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Build something long-term by taking advantage of what’s available to you as a business.
2. The foundation for everything is content—if you haven’t started creating content yet, start doing it now.
3. Everyone is pursuing different content marketing streams.

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In Episode #299, Eric and Neil discuss how to deal with a negative PR. Tune in to learn why negative PR should be IGNORED, how it eventually fades away, and what you should be doing in the meantime.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Deal with Negative PR
• 00:37 – Neil leaves negative PR alone and doesn’t talk about it
  • 00:43 – When you deal with it, it just adds more fuel to the fire
• 00:54 – A negative result is also negative PR
  • 01:11 – Some would pay to remove the negative PR
  • 01:26 – There was an agency that was called out for buying links and the owner had a deal with people who wrote negative PR about the agency
• 01:45 – Eric also just ignores negative PR; it will go away in time
• 02:09 – It sucks right now but you can get through it
• 02:23 – Just continue to focus on refining your product and what you are doing
• 02:33 – Neil had negative PR when a magazine showed inaccurate client data
  • 02:50 – Neil learned along the process that it’s really better to ignore it
• 03:17 – Marketing School is giving away n free 1 year subscription of Zapier which helps you create workflows
  • 03:48 – Subscribe, rate and review Marketing School
  • 03:51 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444
• 04:13 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Leave negative PR alone; it just adds more fuel to the fire.
2. Continue to focus on improving your company rather than wasting time dealing with negative PR.
3. You can pay if you want your negative PR to be removed, but it might cost a lot.

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In Episode #298, Eric and Neil discuss how to do reputation management. Tune in to learn the strategies you can use to control your negative results regarding your brand or website. Also find out why getting help from a third party can be very helpful when dealing with your antagonizers.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: How To Do Reputation Management
• 00:34 – Reputation management is managing the negative result for a website or brand
  • 01:04 – Ripoff Report has a ton of reviews
• 01:28 – First is to look at Moz or Ahrefs; look at the top 10 results and the number of links going to the top 10 results
  • 01:46 – If you have a Facebook page, you can link that to the top 10 results to push negative results down
• 02:06 – Neil uses InboundJunction—it works out deals with the site and forms a contract so the text will be removed
  • 02:16 – It is the most effective, but most expensive too
  • 03:00 – The post was telling people that Neil isn’t an effective marketer
  • 03:10 – Neil learned that there are people who are difficult to deal with and it’s much easier to just get a third party to solve it
• 03:20 – Doing guest posts on popular sites like Entrepreneur
  • 03:43 – It is difficult for your site alone to take the 5 spots
• 03:56 – High domain authority pages can push links a lot faster
• 04:30 – Reputation is an online reputation management platform
• 05:00 – Andrew Stubbs is a pay per performance guy who can also help with reputation management
• 05:30 – Marketing School is giving away a free 1 year subscription of Zapier which automates different web apps, create and different workflows
  • 06:00 – Subscribe, rate and review Marketing School
  • 06:06 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444
• 06:30 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Once you see a negative result regarding your brand or website, find a way to control your traffic or your sales will suffer.
2. There are people who enjoy tearing others down. Talking to them may be difficult so hire a third-party to negotiate with them.
3. Linking to the top 5 spots can pull your positive results up.

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In Episode #297, Eric and Neil discuss what to look for in a CV as a recruiter for a marketing role. Tune in to learn why you shouldn’t be looking at CVs if you want to hire the crème of the crop and how LinkedIn, portfolios, and a good old-fashioned interview can be a better way to gauge the quality of your next hire.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: What to Look For in a CV as a Recruiter for a Marketing Role
• 00:48 – Looking at certain keywords on a CV depends on the role one is applying for
• 01:03 – Eric usually just scans the CV and pays more attention to their LinkedIn, social profiles and the examples that they have sent
• 01:21 – Neil doesn’t look at CVs at all; instead, he asks them about the work that they have done and checks and analyzes them
  • 01:39 – If the portfolio is good, you can ask them a marketing problem and if you like their answers, go from there
• 01:54 – “It’s all about the hiring process, at the end of the day”
• 02:07 – The best people typically aren’t looking for job so you have to check them on LinkedIn
• 02:15 – The best people that Eric has hired was from looking at their LinkedIn profiles and other online work
• 02:23 – CVs are outdated
• 02:34 – You have to laser target the best people and hire a recruiter, if needed
• 02:51 – Your next hire might just be standing next to you, so always be on the lookout
• 03:00 – Neil likes to figure out people’s thought processes and how they think about things
  • 03:18 – You can search for critical thinking questions, ask them and you’ll quickly know how they think
  • 03:46 – If they don’t pay much attention to details, they can take your revenue down
  • 04:02 – You want to have people who think outside of the box
• 04:22 – Eric and Neil don’t really look at CVs but if you have to, look for specific keywords
• 04:37 – Don’t blame people that you hired because it comes back to you and your process
• 04:46 – Marketing School is giving away a free subscription to FunnelDash which helps you track the lifetime ROI of your Facebook campaigns
  • 05:06 – Subscribe, rate and review Marketing School
  • 05:10 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444
• 05:32 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. CVs are outdated – employers are looking online to assess one’s previous work and capabilities.
2. The best people are not looking for job, so if you want to hire someone, you have to target them.
3. Don’t blame the people that you hired when things go wrong because it comes back to you and your hiring process.

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In Episode #296, Eric and Neil discuss the marketing tactics you should do regardless of ROI. Tune in to learn why Neil’s biggest tactic is to focus his energy on everything to do with branding and how helping others and fostering an attitude of goodwill is building for long-term relationships AND success.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: What Marketing Tactics You Should Do Regardless of ROI
• 00:36 – The biggest tactic that Neil loves is doing anything with branding
  • 00:44 – Everyone in marketing thinks about ROI, but you don’t need an ROI for everything
  • 01:20 – Branding is what causes your company and business to be on top of people’s minds
  • 01:25 – “Having a big brand is amazing and you have to strive to have that”
• 01:47 – People are always giving unsolicited advice
  • 02:07 – When Eric receives comments, he knows that he is on the right track
  • 02:29 – “Just stick with things when you know that you’re on the right track”
• 02:37 – Neil likes helping people
  • 02:46 – “I believe it creates goodwill”
  • 02:49 – Neil doesn’t want to make money out of it and just wants to help people
• 03:21 – This year, Eric started with his monthly dinner and happy hour and he hasn’t gotten any ROI; he also doesn’t care
  • 03:34 – Eric’s ROI is being able to connect people together
• 03:56 – When you do things without thinking about ROI, it is for long term and the results are better
• 04:22 – Marketing School is giving away a free subscription to FunnelDash which helps you track the lifetime ROI of your Facebook campaigns
  • 04:42 – Subscribe, rate and review Marketing School
  • 04:46 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444
• 05:06 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. When go far and beyond the call in helping people, it will create loyalty which will eventually convert people into customers.
2. It’s not always about ROI—sometimes it’s good to just help others and create that sense of connection and goodwill.
3. Branding is what makes people want to buy and it’s a long term process.

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In Episode #295, Eric and Neil discuss how to do B2B marketing on Instagram. Tune in to know how Instagram can help you close deals and how to use it well for B2B marketing.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Do B2B Marketing on Instagram
• 00:35 – Instagram is continuing to grow
• 00:51 – DMing people on Instagram is one of the options you can do for B2B
  • 00:55 – If you want to work with influencers, celebrities, or entrepreneurs, find their profiles and just DM them
  • 01:06 – Eric has a friend who just started shooting videos and DMed people that he wanted to make a shoot for and he got deals from it
  • 01:21 – If you have an Instagram that shows a good example of your work, it will work out well
• 01:38 – Neil tested different marketing strategies in Instagram and he learned that they don’t work well with B2B directly
  • 01:46 – Indirectly, it’s great for brand building and connecting with people
  • 02:00 – The problem with B2B is most buyers are desktop buyers
• 02:53 – In marketing, if someone uses your brand or company 7x, they are much more likely to convert
• 03:05 – Being on different channels will help you close different deals
• 03:39 – You can also use page shouts in Instagram for B2B marketing
  • 03:50 – You can search for hashtags in your area and reach out to people with a huge following and engagement
  • 04:11 – Check if they’re doing paid shouts where they can post about you and link you for an affordable price
• 04:43 – If you have a company, you can get your team in Instagram to post relevant stuff about your company
• 05:10– Marketing School is giving away a free subscription of FunnelDash which helps you track the lifetime ROI of your Facebook campaigns
  • 05:30 – Subscribe, rate and review Marketing School
  • 05:33 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444
• 05:53 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Instagram is HOT—take advantage of the number of people that are using Instagram for your marketing.
2. If people see you more, they are more likely to buy from you.
3. Find the influencers in your space and reach out to them for paid shoutouts—this is way cheaper than paid ads.

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In Episode #294, Eric and Neil discuss the 7 question to ask yourself before investing in content marketing. Tune in to learn why these questions are necessary for you to answer in deciding whether or not content marketing is right for you.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: 7 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Investing in Content Marketing
• 00:36 – Question 1: what are your goals? Are you trying to get more traffic or are you trying to get more leads? What is informed branding? What are you trying to do, specifically, that will shape your campaign?
• 00:46 – If you don’t have goals, you can’t manage what you’re doing
• 01:01 – The action that you take will depend on your goal
• 01:16 – Second is, how long are you going to make an investment?
  • 01:22 – “If you’re not willing to make the investment for a year without seeing an ROI, content marketing isn’t for you”
  • 01:17 – Content marketing is a long-term play
• 01:39 – Third is, who is your target audience?
  • 01:51 – Figure out your target audience first then figure out the personas you’re trying to create
• 02:07 – Fourth is, can you produce 3 pieces of blog content a week?
  • 02:12 – If you can’t, then it is not right for you
  • 02:24 – Producing 3 articles a week should be done in over a year
  • 02:27 – You can hire people from Problogger if you have the budget
• 02:39 – Fifth is, what do you want to share and why you do want to share?
  • 02:56 – When producing content, think about why sharing it will help you accomplish your objectives?
  • 03:29 – People tend to produce content just for the sake of it which is a BIG mistake
• 03:44 – Sixth is, is one of your competitors already doing content marketing and is successful at it? Is there someone you want to model after?
  • 03:52 – Typically, what works for your competition will work for you, too
  • 04:00 – If there are people in your space who are doing content marketing, use BuzzSumo and Ahrefs to figure out what drives them traffic and copy them
• 04:13 – Last is, what can you do differently?
  • 04:20 – Podcasts are getting popular and most marketing people are still doing blog posts
  • 04:51 – Search for Blue Ocean Strategy and apply the concepts for doing content marketing
• 05:14 – Marketing School is giving away a free subscription to FunnelDash which helps you track the lifetime ROI of your Facebook campaigns
  • 05:27 – Subscribe, rate and review Marketing School
  • 05:31 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444
• 05:53 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Establish clear and concise goals—this will guide your actions.
2. Producing valuable content thrice a week is essential for the success of content marketing.
3. Look around your space and see how people are doing it—if it works for them, it might work for you, too.

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In Episode #293, Eric and Neil discuss how to improve your net promoter score. Do you know the level of satisfaction of your current customers? If not, you need to get on this and start listening to your feedback. Tune in to learn the importance of understanding and maintaining your net promoter score and why having a score of 9-10 can be extremely beneficial for you and your business.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Improve Your Net Promoter Score
• 00:35 – A net promoter score expresses how much people like your company or brand
• 00:47 – One of the basic questions to assess this: how likely are you to recommend us to somebody else or another customer?
  • 01:13 – The goal of 60 means you’re doing a great job
• 01:20 – Eric recommends Google's net promoter score
  • 01:23 – It has a scale of 1-10
• 01:39 – To improve your net promoter score, you have to look at the feedback, first
  • 01:48 – Ask if there’s anything else they would like to add
  • 02:10 – Eric had a detractor in the past who told them the account manager needed more supervision and they were right
  • 02:42 – Eric fixed the problem and took the feedback seriously
• 03:00 – Qualaroo, Wootric and Promoter help you track your net promoter score
• 03:19 – Most people in marketing think about how they can bring in new customers rather than taking care of their existing customers
• 03:40 – Majority of the big companies take care of their customers and their customers love them
• 03:51 – The higher your net promoter score is, the faster you will grow
• 03:57 – When you get feedback, that’s when you want to continue with reiteration and keep running your promoter score to see if you can improve it
• 04:13 – When Eric gets a 9 or 10, that’s when he know he can jump into an opportunity
  • 04:29 – You can ask for referrals and it’s a great opportunity for upsells, too
• 05:00 – It is easier to retain and maintain current accounts, than to create the new ones
• 04:18 – Marketing School is giving away a free 1 year annual subscription of Funnel Dash which helps you hone in your Facebook ads campaigns and track the lifetime ROI of your ad campaigns
  • 05:38 – Subscribe, rate and review Marketing School
  • 05:42 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444
• 06:29– That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Make it a point to look at your feedback and fix any problems that are brought up.
2. A net promoter score of 9-10 gives you more opportunities, such as asking for referrals or upsells.
3. Taking care of your existing clients will be more beneficial for your business growth in the long run.

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In Episode #292, Eric and Neil discuss how to generate leads through LinkedIn. Tune in to learn what LinkedIn lead gen ads are and how it compares to Facebook lead gen ads. You’ll also learn how Neil boosted his website traffic to a thousand plus visitors a day through LinkedIn.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Generate Leads Through LinkedIn
• 00:33 – The LinkedIn lead gen ads are similar to the Facebook lead ads
  • 00:43 – It makes things a lot easier and faster
  • 00:48 – It works well for Eric and they’ll probably scale it up
  • 00:52 – Eric has spent around $700 on it and has acquired 4-5 leads
• 01:08 – Jump on to LinkedIn lead gen ads now
• 01:18 – LinkedIn has autofill where you can have LinkedIn forms on your website
  • 01:37 – Use it so you will have more data of your customers
  • 01:42 – It drastically increases your conversions and it is just a simple button you add on your form fields
• 02:14 – LinkedIn took away a retargeting pixel, but it is now back with better features
  • 02:40 – You can segment people who visited different pages in your website
• 02:55 – Neil’s team members post twice a day in LinkedIn
  • 02:59 – It skyrocketed their traffic
  • 03:12 – It generates qualified traffic that generates into leads
  • 03:21 – They add clicks so that you can continue reading other blog posts
• 03:32 – Eric recommends using Dux-Soup
  • 03:50 – It helps you visit different profiles and collect those profiles—drop those profiles into Hunter and start a reach process
• 04:10 – You can also LinkedIn leads for recruitment or partnership
• 04:28 – LinkedIn allows you to have 30K friends
  • 04:54 – A couple of years ago, Eric was on Fiverr and there were people selling friend lists from LinkedIn and Eric actually bought them
• 05:22 – Marketing School is giving away a free 1 year annual subscription of Design Pickle, a design service
  • 05:43 – Subscribe, rate and review Marketing School
  • 05:47 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444
• 06:08– That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Take advantage of LinkedIn lead gen ads now, while they’re still not that popular.
2. LinkedIn can significantly increase your website traffic; leverage it.
3. LinkedIn can help you in your recruitment and in generating more sales leads.

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In Episode #291, Eric and Neil discuss 7 techniques for keeping users engaged in 2000+ word blog posts. You don’t want your blog post to read like a lecture—your readers will drop like flies. Instead, in you employ even just a few of these techniques, you’re bound to increase that engagement and keep your audience scrolling down...

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: 7 Techniques For Keeping Users Engaged in 2000+ Word Blog Posts
• 00:43 – First technique is to make sure that your post is written in a conversational tone
  • 00:50 – Consider your post like you’re giving a lecture and you don’t want your readers to get bored
  • 01:03 – Use words like “you” and “I” within your blog post
• 01:10 – Second is to use bucket brigades; Eric learned this from Brian Dean
  • 01:19 – It is basically breaking up more paragraphs, instead of having walls and walls of text
• 01:43 – Third is sub-headings
  • 01:45 – Think of your blog post as a book
  • 01:48 – Adding a sub-heading makes it more scalable and it’s on top of bucket brigades
• 02:02 – Fourth is having great, engaging images to accentuate your content
• 02:15 – Fifth is the user pattern of a blog reader
  • 02:17 – They first go to your page, then to your headline, click on your blog post, and then they scroll all the way down to the bottom to figure out if they’re going to scroll back up to the top
  • 02:27 – End each of your blog posts with a conclusion that summarizes what the blog post is about
• 02:43 – Sixth is to not forget to publish if it actually makes sense
  • 02:51 – If you can add videos, infographics and a podcast to add value, you’re going to have a good engagement overall
  • 03:05 – “Take the time and be deliberate about what you’re doing”
• 03:11 – Last but not the least, end your blog post with a question
  • 03:17 – The people who read the question will likely respond with a blog comment
• 03:38 – Marketing School is giving away a free 1 year annual subscription of Design Pickle, a design service that allows you to make unlimited design
  • 04:00 – Subscribe, rate and review Marketing School
  • 04:10 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444
• 04:25– That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Writing in a conversational tone makes your blog post friendlier easier to engage in for the reader.
2. Bucket brigades make your content POP instead of seeing walls and walls of text.
3. Readers are more likely to leave a comment if you end your blog post with a question.

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In Episode #290, Eric and Neil discuss how to delegate marketing tasks. Tune in to learn the key things you, as a leader, need to recognize before passing off a task to someone on your team. Can they create a replicable process for that task? Will they be able to find a solution on their own or will they be needing help? Find out how important delegation is—not just for marketing—but for every type and aspect of business and how to do it effectively.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Delegate Marketing Tasks
• 00:43 – Delegation is not just for marketing. In any business, you’ll have to learn how to delegate
• 00:50 – Eric recommends reading Getting Things Done by David Allen and The Checklist Manifesto
  • 01:00 – These books will help you decide what to delegate
• 01:09 – Eric has his own checklist in Evernote of the things that he needs to do
• 01:14 – As you get bigger, there are tasks, like booking travel and scheduling, that can be assigned to someone else who can do it for you
  • 01:20 – You can free up your time to do things that are more worthy of your time
  • 01:28 – Learning to prioritize first will help you delegate better
• 01:35 – The 2 types of people that you can delegate things to—first, there are the self-sufficient ones who can do things their own
  • 01:41 – Second, the ones that need training and are not that good at figuring things out on their own
• 01:50 – What Neil does is he figures out what kind of a person someone is
  • 01:53 – When Neil gets to the ones that can do things their own, he gives them instructions and asks them to make a replicable process so other people will know how to do the task
  • 02:04 – If the person isn’t creative and cannot figure out steps on their own, Neil or someone from the team will teach that person
  • 02:43 – Even if the person doesn’t do it the way you want, you can give him a few rounds of critique; then, he’ll start to do it the way you like
• 03:04 – People somehow cringe on the topic of having a process
• 03:25 – If you want to take your business to another level, you have to create a culture of documentation or creating screencast so you can easily hand it to another person  
  • 03:34 – Training people repeatedly consumes time
• 03:42 – When Eric hires new marketing staff, they’re subscribed in an entrepreneur campaign
  • 04:01 – After they’ve gone through it automatically, they’ll understand and move faster
• 04:30 – What’s empowering for Eric, is that, as a leader you tell them exactly what you want them to do and let them do it
  • 04:45 – Having a good hiring process makes it more about the team and not just about you
• 04:53 – Just make sure when you’re delegating a task, you always create a process
  • 05:00 – The biggest mistake that people make is that they don’t try things out for themselves and don’t know how difficult things are
  • 05:20 – A process should always be tweaked
• 05:45 – Marketing School is giving away a free 1 year annual subscription of Design Pickle, a design service where you can request unlimited design each month
  • 05:58 – Subscribe, rate and review Marketing School
  • 06:00 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444
• 06:25– That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Delegation is important in every business—there’s no way around it, especially if your company continues to grow.
2. Having a process in place makes it easier for the team and new hires to adapt to your workflow and what you need as a leader.
3. When you delegate a task to someone else, ask them to create a replicable process and make sure you’ve done the task first so you know what to expect.

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In Episode #289, Eric and Neil discuss how to use dropped domains to enhance your SEO. Tune in to learn how to maximize those dropped domains and why it is better to use an established website rather than dropped domains if you have the cash to spend.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Use Dropped Domains to Enhance Your SEO
• 00:48 – Dropped domains are abandoned or expired domains
• 01:07 – Eric has been buying domains that have worked well and has a good number on Ahrefs
  • 01:12 – What Eric does is he takes the site, takes the top pages and redirects it over to his money site
  • 01:22 – The site that Eric bought has keywords that they’re targeting, at the moment
• 01:30 – Neil also learned something from this
  • 01:48 – If you already have a popular site, you will not gain from this doing this technique—it’s not for you
• 01:57 – The technique that Eric uses works, but the dropped domain must relate to what you are doing
  • 02:05 – You can use Internet Archive to see what the site used to be
  • 02:11 – You don’t want to have a dog website then get redirected to a marketing website
• 02:36 – You can buy dropped domains from GoDaddy
  • 02:45 – You can go to GoDaddy.com and they have the list of auctioned domains
  • 02:51 – You have to filter through the list to see the sites that have the most bids, offers, traffic and then take the site to Ahrefs to see if it is relevant to yours
  • 03:13 – Go to Wayback Machine to see what the website used to be in the past
• 03:53 – There are website brokers like FE International and Flippa if you’re willing to buy a more established site
  • 04:11 – Doing this with a more established website is way better than using dropped domains
  • 04:15 – Most people buy dropped domains and put a website on there or they take the domain to redirect traffic to their site
• 04:36 – If you think of the black hat SEO that works, why not just do it in a white hat way?
• 05:11 – Marketing School is giving away a free 1 year subscription to Design Pickle, a design service where Eric gets unlimited designs for blog and ad images
  • 05:33 – Subscribe, rate and review Marketing School
  • 05:30 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444
• 06:03 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Choose a dropped domain that is relevant to your site.
2. Don’t just buy a well performing website – make sure that it targets your market, is consistent and has the keywords that you’re needing.
3. You can use black hat SEO in a white hat way.

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In Episode #288, Eric and Neil discuss simple methods for calculating ROI on SEO. Tune in to learn the formula Eric and Neil use to project an estimated ROI and why some agencies won’t provide this information to their clients.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: Simple Methods for Calculating ROI on SEO
• 00:38 – Some agencies are not telling their clients the exact ROI that they’re going to get
  • 00:48 – It is indeed difficult to quantify
• 00:55 – What you can do first is look at the keyword volume
  • 01:00 – Look at how you’re currently ranking and your click-through rate
  • 01:04 – The formula is you take your traffic, you take your click-through rate, then you’ll have your estimated traffic
• 01:12 – You have to look at your conversion rate on your website
  • 01:18 – If you’re an ecommerce website, look at the average order value of a product or the specific keyword you’re trying to rank for
  • 01:26 – You now have your baseline metric, then you have to project it
  • 01:32 – If you move something from position 10 to position 2, your click-through rate might go from 2% to 20%
  • 01:39 – Then you can map out the estimated revenue or return
• 02:02 – Once you have the formula, go to SEMrush or Ahrefs
  • 02:16 – Look at all the traffic sources that your competitor is getting traffic from
  • 02:22 – Look at your competitors volume and compare it to your Ahrefs or SEMrush volume
  • 02:27 – Neil goes to Ahrefs; it says he has 100K visitors and his competitors have 200K
  • 02:36 – Ahrefs’ numbers are from Google Analytics
• 03:15 – Let Eric and Neil know if the formula works for you
• 03:32 – Most agencies fail to quantify projected ROI
• 03:52 – Marketing School is giving away a free 1 year subscription to Design Pickle, an awesome design service that Eric has been using
  • 04:27 – Subscribe, rate and review Marketing School
  • 04:31 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444
• 04:41 – If you have other services that you want to give away and Eric and Neil like them, just send them a message
• 04:50 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. It is quite hard to quantify the ROI, but there is a way.
2. Your clients need to know their ROI—this will inform them of whether or not it’s worth it to invest in SEO.
3. A projected, estimated ROI is better than not having any idea or information at all.

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In Episode #287, Eric and Neil discuss where you should focus your marketing efforts first. Tune in to learn why you need to market on your strengths, first and foremost, and the value of focusing on one task BEFORE moving or adding another.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: Where Should You Focus Your Marketing Efforts First?
• 00:35 – Focus your marketing efforts on what you’re the BEST at, first
• 00:46 – If you’re not sure what your specialty is, try different marketing tactics
• 01:03 – If you have a specific skillset, use that first
  • 01:10 – This will surely drive the best result
• 01:22 – Neil does paid ads, but he focuses on content marketing and SEO because that is what he and his company is good at
• 01:39 – Neil doesn’t consider himself as one of the best advertisers
• 01:42 – “I focus on what I know because that’s what tends to produce great results”
• 02:24 – The word Warren Buffett and Bill Gates believe makes them successful is “focus”
• 02:33 – Focus on one thing first, do it right and move to the next thing
  • 02:37 – Same goes for business and marketing, focus on one thing first
  • 02:44 – Get that one service or product right for business and get that one marketing channel right for marketing
  • 02:49 – Don’t try to do two things at once
• 03:17 – If you’re a new marketer going into a new company, take a look at their numbers and look at what’s working for them
• 03:23 – Treehouse focuses on YouTube ads
• 03:42 – Neil still remembers how Eric was crushing it with Treehouse
• 04:04 – YouTube ads are not Neil’s core competency, and so he wasn’t as successful as Eric was
• 04:18 – Marketing School is giving away a free 1 year annual subscription to Mixmax, a sales and marketing tool
  • 04:33 – Subscribe, rate and review Marketing School
  • 04:37 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444
• 04:59 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. If you focus on what you’re good at, this will drive the best results.
2. Don’t do a couple of things at the same time—focus your energy on one thing, master it, then move on to the next.
3. If you’re a new marketer going into a new company—look at their numbers and find what’s working for them and what isn’t.

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In Episode #286, Eric and Neil discuss the simple methods for creating fast and effective webinar content. Tune in to learn how Eric and Neil produce their solo webinars successfully and the tools that help them execute those webinars efficiently. 

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: Simple Methods for Creating Fast and Effective Webinar Content
• 00:42 – Neil recently had his Virtual Summit
  • 00:47 – Thousands of people registered
  • 00:50 – Neil educated people about SEO
  • 00:53 – It is a bit different from a webinar
  • 01:00 – If you want to create effective webinar content, it should be about educating rather than selling
  • 01:30 – Since Eric has a lot of podcasts at the moment, he repurposed some of his old webinars and made them valuable for the audience
• 01:54 – You can look at your past blog posts and webinars and check which ones are still valuable
• 02:11 – “You don’t want to create s**t content and you don’t want to create a webinar that no one wants to attend”
• 02:16 – Go to Slideshare and type keywords within your space
  • 02:24 – You can see everything from views to comments, and you can see what is currently trending
• 02:35 – Neil creates presentations using Keynote or Powerpoint and saves them as PDFs
  • 02:44 – From there, Neil does the webinar in GoToWebinar or WebinarJam
• 03:00 – Others are also saving their webinars on YouTube
• 03:04 – Russell Brunson has a perfect webinar script
  • 03:20 – They’re really good templates to follow
• 03:28 – Make sure you can figure out your own way of doing webinars if you want to create a solo webinar
  • 03:40 – Neil met up with Jermaine Griggs, Tai Lopez, Sam Ovens
• 03:56 – Neil learned that everyone who makes webinars have their own formula
• 04:01 – “You got to figure out what works for you and your audience”
  • 04:04 – You know your audience better than anyone else
  • 04:22 – DO what you feel resonates well with your audience
• 04:30 – When Eric first started doing webinars, he used Russell Brunson’s approach and it didn’t work out for him
• 04:54 – Educating works really well for Eric
• 05:01 – Marketing School is giving away a free 1 year annual subscription to Mixmax, a sales and marketing tool
  • 05:18 – Subscribe, rate and review Marketing School
  • 05:21 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444
• 05:43 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Effective and valuable webinar content includes EDUCATING your audience—don’t just focus on selling your product to your audience.
2. Plan your webinar according to your audience’s preferences.
3. Create your own webinar formula—one size does not fit all.

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In Episode #285, Eric and Neil discuss how to differentiate your product or service in a highly competitive market. Tune in to find out the 2 main strategies that will set you apart from the rest and the importance of having a product that is user-friendly.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Differentiate Your Product or Service in a Highly Competitive Market
• 00:40 – Eric’s agency charges more than their competitors but there’s a reason for that
  • 00:50 – Other agencies charge less and will hand your account to juniors who don’t know what they’re doing and are still figuring things out
  • 01:11 – You end up losing money
  • 01:22 – All of Eric’s people who work with an account have a couple of years’ experience
  • 01:29 – Eric gives access to 3 channels: AdWords and Facebook are two of the channels
  • 01:37 – Eric himself strategizes for the accounts
  • 01:43 – Eric’s agency is different because they bring new ideas
• 02:04 – Two main strategies of Neil’s are creating a unique angle and adjusting your messaging
  • 02:10 – For creating a unique angle, you choose between Neil’s agency and a big marketing agency who usually hires new graduates
  • 02:46 – Do you want to trust your account with a new graduate or with a small boutique agency where you can work directly with the owner
  • 03:35 – Figuring out a specific angle is the “easiest way to differentiate”
  • 03:45 – You don’t always have to differentiate by changing your product, it’s just about how you pitch it to the consumers
  • 04:06 – AirBnb gives you the opportunity to make money from your home versus HomeAway’s vacation rentals
• 04:54 – How would you differentiate a product?
  • 05:00 – Neil’s Crazy Egg may not have all the features that everyone has, but it’s easy to use and it’s accurate
  • 05:09 – Crazy Egg is easier to use than Hotjar
  • 05:27 – Neil’s market loves Crazy Egg
• 05:35 – Marketing School is giving away a free 1 year annual subscription to Mixmax, a sales and marketing tool
  • 05:52 – Subscribe, rate and review Marketing School
  • 05:57 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444
• 06:19 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Offer your service in the way you’d use it yourself.
2. Adjust your pitch to your consumers so that it is appealing and comprehensible.
3. Try to create a better product than your competitors by making your product user-friendly.

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In Episode #284, Eric and Neil discuss how you can find a reliable blogger. Tune in to know where you can post job postings as well as search for great bloggers. Eric and Neil will also discuss why setting criteria is important to find your next blogger and how to prepare for the inconsistent blogger.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: How You Can Find a Reliable Blogger
• 00:35 – Go to ProBlogger's’s job board
  • 00:43 – Eric found technical writers who write about machine tools
• 01:04 – Craigslist and Upwork are also good options
• 01:09 – It’s not about finding just good bloggers
  • 01:12 – You can add certain requirements in your job post
• 01:43 – The hardest part of getting bloggers is their ability to produce a great content, consistently
• 01:48 – Neil looks for people who don’t have jobs and freelancers who can produce a lot of volume for you
  • 02:09 – The key is to find freelancers who don’t have full-time jobs and can do a few pieces of content, each week
• 02:27 – Eric usually goes to Growth Hackers and Inbound.org to find people
• 02:36 – You can also look at designer’s portfolio to see their work
• 03:20 – There are online communities that have message boards where you can find possible bloggers
  • 03:28 – Go to Reddit to see what people are sharing and talking about, in general
• 03:48 – Bloggers usually break their consistency so make sure you have a huge backlog
• 04:02 – Having a number of bloggers and a backlog will solve your reliability issues
• 04:10 – Marketing School is giving away a free, 1 year annual subscription to Mixmax, a sales and marketing tool
  • 04:36 – Subscribe, rate and review Marketing School
  • 04:41 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444
• 05:20 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. When looking for a blogger, set a criteria that is right for you.
2. Reliability and consistency can be a problem with some bloggers so keep a huge backlog.
3. Go through different, online communities to see what people are sharing and talking about.

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In Episode #283, Eric and Neil discuss their biggest marketing frustrations. Tune in to learn why it’s OK to have marketing frustrations, the importance of sticking with them, and how you can keep ON TOP of the never-ending marketing strategies, tools, and trends. 

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: Eric and Neil’s Biggest Marketing Frustrations
• 00:37 – People are expecting things to happen quickly
• 01:16 – When you STICK with your marketing problems long enough, you are bound to solve more and more of those issues
• 01:24 – Neil uses Infusionsoft for marketing automation
• 01:54 – Don’t go with the tools that are easiest to use, but use the ones that have the right features to grow your business
• 02:14 – Eric is looking to hire creative people for his paid advertising team
• 02:25 – When you’re hiring people, make sure you hire the learners who are really creative
• 03:00 – With emails, it’s quite hard to get good deliverability
  • 03:20 – Hotmail is the hardest one
• 03:29 – “There’s always this new stuff going on with marketing, all the time”
• 03:45 – Eric always like to learn, but it’s hard to stay on top of his game
  • 03:55 – “My frustration is not being able to touch everything”
• 03:59 – If you hire a really good team, just let them go
• 04:10 – One of Eric’s friends from Entrepreneurs' Organization just grew his company from $3M to $22M in revenue
  • 04:23 – That friend just hired a really good team
• 04:35 – It’s OK to have marketing frustrations
  • 04:45 – “You don’t have to be perfect to create a big business, you just have to do 1 thing right”
• 05:00 – Prioritize!
  • 05:12 – Prioritize better, otherwise, you get stuck with all the frustrations
• 05:21 – Marketing School is giving away access to Mixmax, a sales and marketing outreach tool
  • 05:53 – Subscribe, rate and review Marketing School
  • 05:56 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444
• 06:16 – You can try a lot of tools with the same features to find the one that fits your business well
• 06:30 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Use the tools that will work well with your business and that will GROW it, not just those that are easiest to use.
2. Hire a GREAT team that will help you grow your business – you can’t do it all by yourself.
3. Use your frustrations as motivation to move forward and improve. Simply put, STICK with it!

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In Episode #282, Eric and Neil discuss if it is important to become Google certified. Tune in to learn what Eric received from his Google certification, the importance of creating a culture of learning in your business, and why Neil believes being creative is a KEY trait for success.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: Is It Important to Become Google Certified?
• 00:34 – Neil thinks it’s not important and that it’s actually useless
• 00:42 – Eric got certified a couple of years ago
• 01:10 – “Any person can learn how to use Google AdWords”
• 01:20 – The hard part in becoming a really good PPC manager is being creative
  • 01:27 – Google AdWords’ certification can’t make you creative
• 01:36 – Neil is lucky enough to be creative and he thinks outside the box
• 02:00 – Eric looks at the certifications of juniors before hiring them, just so he knows that they have the baseline knowledge
  • 02:31 – It is the same thing with people who have a bachelor’s degree
  • 02:52 – Having a certificate doesn’t mean that you’re going to be good at it
  • 03:10 – Google account reps don’t really know about the accounts and just want people to spend more
• 03:24 – Most of Neil’s employees are from Ivy League schools and most of them haven’t worked out that well
  • 03:44 – They’re better in memorizing than solving problems that are out-of-the-box
• 04:02 – Neil’s CTO in Crazy Egg doesn’t have a college degree, but is one of the smartest people Neil knows
• 04:10 – Neil has also hired people who have no certification, but “out-knowledged” those he hired with certificates
• 04:30 – Eric is more interested with those who are willing to learn
• 05:08 – Marketing School is giving away an access to Yesware, a sales tool that allows you to track the messages you send
  • 05:20 – Subscribe, rate and review Marketing School
  • 05:22 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444
• 05:40 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Creativity is what WINS in the end.
2. Create a culture of learning in your business.
3. When hiring, don’t just look at certifications—how well can that applicant problem solve or apply their knowledge?

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In Episode #281, Eric and Neil discuss how to reduce PPC spending in 1 hour without impacting your content conversions. Tune in to learn how you can efficiently run your PCC and paid ads campaigns without spending more than your desired budget and the importance of knowing when to stop your campaigns. 

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Reduce PPC Spending in 1 Hour Without Impacting Your Current Conversions
• 00:36 – We want to have efficiency when we run our PPC or paid ads campaigns
• 01:05 – What you want to do is take a look at the things that are not converting for you
  • 01:07 – Go to AdWords or Facebook and pause those that are not converting
  • 01:15 – You can pause the high CPA ads inside of Facebook
• 01:36 – You can also add a negative keyword
• 01:56 – Another option is to find the exact match, so you’re not digging around on the variations of the keywords that do not fit
• 02:05 – When you’re trying to figure out what term you want to bid on, make sure you remove the display network
  • 02:10 – “You only want to advertise on Google.com”
  • 02:15 – Advertising on partner sites is cheap, but does not convert
• 02:37 – You can just reduce your daily budget on the amount you want to spend
• 02:45 – Look at your site settings as well
  • 03:13 – “If you let Google spend, Google will definitely spend for you”
• 03:18 – Look at day party, as well
  • 03:19 – If you’re in B2B sector and you make all your money comes in from 8AM-4PM PST, stop bidding on hours before or after that
  • 03:30 – Same with consumer based businesses
  • 03:40 – A lot of people are bidding during the holiday season, but the cost per click goes up too, so most B2B slow down their budget during that time
• 04:14 – Marketing School is giving away an access to Yesware, a sales tool that allows you to track the messages you send
  • 04:34 – Subscribe, rate and review Marketing School
  • 04:38 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444
• 04:47 – As you use Yesware, you’ll get more open rates
• 04:55 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. The easiest thing you can do to reduce your PPC spending is to pause the things that are not converting.
2. Check your settings and don’t let Google spend for you – set a budget.
3. Take note of the season and timing of your sales—there are times where you need to slow down or stop your bidding.

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In Episode #280, Eric and Neil discuss how to move your target keywords from page 2 to page 1. Tune in to learn how you can move your website ranking from page 3 or 2 to 1 effectively and why being on page 2 is just not enough.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Move Your Target Keywords from Page 2 to Page 1
• 00:35 – If you’re ranking on page 2 of Google and you have a high search rate, people STILL won’t look at page 2
  • 00:49 – More specifically, they stick to the top 3-5 of the list
• 00:55 – What you want to do is find the keywords you’re ranking with on page 2 using the webmaster tool
  • 01:06 – Then, build links to the pages in page 2 or change your title tag to be more appealing
• 01:20 – Eric recommends looking at the top 3-5’s click through rates
  • 01:34 – Click through rates are constantly changing and Google is adjusting their result pages to drive more dollars and please shareholders
• 01:47 – The number 1 position could be at a 30-40% click through rate depending on the industry
• 02:03 – Look at Google Search Console as well, just to see where things are really are
• 02:11 – Type into Google search “the links really still matter Eric”
  • 02:17 – The post is from StoneTemple
  • 02:22 – They took high volume keywords on pages 2 and 3
  • 02:28 – Then, they built links to those keywords
  • 02:35 – Awhile later, those keywords are ranking into top 2 and 3 positions
• 03:02 – Neil assumes that links make the biggest effects in ranking
• 03:10 – Brand queries also helped Neil move to page 1
• 03:37 – Check Google Trends to know which keywords are ranking
• 03:57 – Marketing School is giving away access to Yesware, a sales tool that allows you to track the messages you send
  • 04:26 – Subscribe, rate and review Marketing School
  • 04:32 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444
• 04:42 – You can A/B test emails with Yesware and continuously improve them before sending them out
• 04:57 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. If you’re on page 2 on a Google search, you may as well be invisible as people look for the top 3-5 options on the FIRST page.
2. Boost your click-through-rate by improving and linking your keywords—look at the keywords used by the top 3-5 sites as a guide.
3. Links make the biggest impact on your ranking.

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In Episode #279, Eric and Neil discuss whether or not SEO will still be around in 10 years. Tune in to hear what Eric and Neil think SEO will look like in the future and how our younger generation will always dictate the changes and patterns in SEO.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: Will SEO Still Be Around in 10 Years?
• 00:37 – Eric thinks we are still in the early days of SEO
• 00:48 – As long as searches are around, SEO is going to be around
• 00:59 – There’ll be changes in the future, definitely
• 01:24 – There are multiple variations for SEO
• 01:39 – The problem with SEO right now is you do a search, you get the list of results, then go from there
• 02:02 – SEO is changing as more people are trying to use voice
• 02:10 – Neil thinks that SEO will probably change into just one result
  • 02:26 – The result will be personalized for each person
• 02:40 – “At the end of the day, it’s all about overall experience”
• 03:24 – We just have to be very vigilant with how things are evolving
• 03:32 – Marketing is changing all the time and the change is rapid
• 03:45 – “SEO will adapt based on how younger people use search engines”
  • 03:52 – Neil was with some kids who were talking about how great Kobe Bryant is as a basketball player
  • 03:56 – Neil was telling them that Michael Jordan is a good player, too
• 04:32 – The search pattern will change according to the next generation’s search habits
• 05:00 – Marketing School is giving away a FREE 1 year subscription of Yesware, a sales tool that allows you to track the messages you send
  • 05:26 – Rate, review and subscribe to Marketing School
  • 05:31 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444
• 05:40 – Neil uses Yesware whenever he sends out emails
• 06:00 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. As long as there’s still a need to search, SEO will be here to stay.
2. Marketing is changing all the time and the change is rapid.
3. Search patterns change alongside the search behaviors of the next generation.

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In Episode #278, Eric and Neil discuss how to structure your marketing team. Tune in to learn what you can do to improve your marketing team and the disadvantages of growing your team too big, too quickly.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Structure Your Marketing Team
• 00:50 – With startups today, there is a growth team, growth lead, and VP of growth
• 01:37 – Some companies who have growth or marketing teams forget to have engineers, developers or designers
• 02:12 – Make sure you have designers and engineers that can work with the marketing team
• 02:20 – Neil wants to hire just one person who is a good executor and knows what they’re doing
  • 02:27 – That one person can hire contractors who will get things done for them
  • 02:41 – As the team grows, the contractors are hired in-house and they become full-time employees
  • 02:50 – In Crazy Egg, the first guy was Shawn and the team grew to 4 or 5
  • 03:04 – When you add too many people at once, everything will slow down
  • 03:15 – Neil provides his marketing team with contractors from Europe who are cheap and quick at designing things
  • 03:31 – Neil hires just one engineer for marketing
• 03:43 – Eric goes through Behance and Dribbble to find creative people
• 04:04 – There are a lot of landing pages in Product Hunt that you can draw inspiration from
• 04:21 – Eric also asks around
• 04:28 – “Keep your team small”
• 04:46 – It is a struggle for many businesses to find that one marketing person who can execute a lot of tasks
  • 05:01 – Ideally, find a marketer who is on their way up
• 05:24 – You should be out there, constantly recruiting great teams
• 05:35 – Marketing School is giving away access to Yesware, a sales tool that allows you to track the messages you send
  • 05:53 – Subscribe, rate and review Marketing School
  • 05:58 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444
• 06:29 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. There should be at least one designer, developer or engineer in a marketing team.
2. Keep your team small – a big team costs too much and might slow down your processes.
3. Find a marketer who’s already on their way, even if they will only stay with you for a year.

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In Episode #277, Eric and Neil highlight how to create an SEO-friendly homepage for your website. Tune in to learn how your homepage can bring a cornucopia of traffic to your entire website and why you have to spend more time thinking strategically about conversions.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Create an SEO-Friendly Homepage
• 00:39 – “Your homepage is going to be the most-trafficked on your site”
  • 00:47 – Your homepage has to be good for Google and for users
• 01:00 – Keep in mind the overall theme of your site
• 01:20 – Make sure your website loads fast, link your major pages to your homepage, include an attractive title tag
  • 01:29 – Mention your brand under the title tag because it helps with search engine rankings
• 01:40 – The concept of internal linking
  • 01:42 – The SEO-friendly homepages where you will use internal linking
  • 01:49 – The clicks that you have on the homepage will be passed on to your other important pages
• 02:07- If you’re ranking for your homepage keywords, work on those keywords in creating new sentences
• 02:27 – If you link relevant links from your homepage, you can increase your traffic
• 02:41 – In Episode 252 (How to Maximize Your SERP Real Estate), this was also discussed
• 02:47 – Eric is trying to rank “digital marketing agency” for his homepage
  • 02:53 – Their rank is now between 4 and 7
  • 03:00 – Eric’s percentage traffic from Google is 30% of their overall search traffic
  • 03:38 – Eric shares how he tweaks overall search traffic
• 04:02 – “Your homepage won’t bring the majority of your traffic”
• 04:06 – Neil focuses on conversions more than anything else
• 04:18 – For Eric, their homepage is the highest converting page because they’re a marketing agency
• 04:40 – Eric and Neil both drive traffic to their homepage and they try to generate leads from the homepage
• 05:00 – Feel free to duplicate what Eric and Neil are doing
• 05:10 – This week’s giveaway is a 1 year subscription to Alexa – an SEO tool that is now owned by Amazon
  • 05:23 – Subscribe, rate and review Marketing School
  • 05:28 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444
• 04:53 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Your homepage should be good for Google and your website visitors.
2. Track the keywords that make you rank and use them to add more relevant sentences to your homepage.
3. You can generate leads directly from your homepage.

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In Episode #276, Eric and Neil talk about finding relevant guests for your podcast—who you should be asking depending on your niche and why it’s important to set a guest criteria.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Find Relevant Guests for Your Podcast
• 00:34 – Eric’s Growth Everywhere podcast is an interview podcast
  • 00:44 – Eric started Growth Everywhere to talk to people that understood marketing
  • 00:52 – There was no other interview podcast before
  • 00:57 – Eris reached out to people who knew marketing
  • 00:59 – Eric reached out to Neil Patel and Pat Flynn
  • 01:11 – Eric reached out through email and got his top 10 interviewees
• 01:17 – Eric’s criteria in looking for interviewee
  • 01:30 – If Eric doesn’t have criteria, “anyone” can be on the podcast, which isn’t helpful
  • 01:53 – People want consistency in a podcast
• 02:03 – To find relevant guest, you need to hand off the process
  • 02:07 – Screencast what you’re doing, use Hunter to find email address
  • 02:18 – Reach out to them by putting them into mail merge or Yesware
  • 02:24 – Do this once a month or once a week depending on your podcast
• 02:38 – Look at the other podcast within your space and hit up their guests
• 03:18 – When the guests are on your show, make sure you ask them to share the podcast and promote it to their audience
• 03:32 – You can use ScheduleOnce and Calendly to schedule your guest
  • 03:44 – You can also send your guests sample questions so they’ll be ready
  • 03:51 – You can send your guests a one sheeter where they’ll see the technical requirements like good mic, internet, and other stuff
• 04:14 – Eric goes to GrowthHackers and Product Hunt to find whose doing AMAs
• 04:37 – This week’s giveaway is a 1-year subscription to Alexa – an SEO tool that is now owned by Amazon
  • 04:55 – Subscribe, rate and review Marketing School
  • 05:01 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444
• 04:53 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. You can take advantage of the other podcasts in your niche and reach out to people whom they’ve interviewed.
2. Setting a criteria for your guest will make your podcast organized and consistent.
3. Always make the interview a comfortable experience for your guests.

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In Episode #275, Eric and Neil list the tools you need to build your very first (and very best) infoproduct. Infoproducts (like online courses) have never been so widely available and because of that more and more professionals are starting to offer them.

• 00:28 – Today’s topic: Tools to Help You Build Your Infoproduct
• 00:36 – Infoproducts are courses being offered online
• 00:42 – Eric has been looking at Tai Lopez’s agency course
  • 01:03 – Some infoproducts are kind of scammy because some people just make courses that are of low-quality
• 01:19 – Infoproducts are high margin
• 01:14 – Going to school vs enrolling in an online course
• 01:31 – Neil’s infoproduct is doing over half a million dollars per month
• 02:07 – If you’re creating an infoproduct, don’t worry about what everyone else is doing
  • 02:12 – Do what you feel is ethical
  • 02:13 – Don’t take shortcuts
  • 02:23 – Make sure you have videos – Quicktime and Screenflow work well
  • 02:42 – Record all sessions you have
  • 02:45 – Upload your recordings to tools like Vimeo or Wistia
• 03:02 – Neil uses the platform, WP Member
• 03:06 – Use Facebook Groups, Skype, and Webinar Jam
• 03:28 – For PDFs, use Uberflip
• 03:43 – Make sure you have email service providers for emailing your list
• 03:53 – Learn about Evergreen Launch Sequence
• 04:02 – Don’t forget to retarget people
• 04:28 – Eric recommends Teachable and Kajabi for platforms
• 04:48 – Skillshare is another platform to consider
• 05:13 – Neil has done really well with his courses
• 05:24 – You can really make money with courses BUT make sure you’re doings things right
  • 05:28 – “Don’t come off SCAMMY”
• 05:37 – Marketing School is giving away a 1 year subscription to Alexa, an SEO tool from Amazon
  • 05:50 – Subscribe, rate and review Marketing School
  • 05:53 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444
• 06:10 – If you have any paid tools on marketing, reach out to us
• 06:24 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Some infoproduct teachers don’t really have the authority to teach—but they do it anyway.
2. Only do what you think and feel is ETHICAL.
3. Do things right – remember to give the real value of what you’re offering.

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In Episode #274, Eric and Neil talk about whether you should sell your products through Amazon or just post it on your website. Listen as Neil and Eric lay down both pros and cons of Amazon and your own website and why they think you’re not necessarily building a business by selling only through Amazon.

• 00:28 – Today’s topic: Should You Sell Your Products Through Amazon or On Your Own Website?
  • 00:24 – “Amazon is a gold rush”
  • 00:42 – Check out Steve Chu’s site called, My Wife Quit Her Job
• 00:47 – Amazon one topic that everyone is talking about
• 00:52 – The problem is, you’re not building a business by selling in Amazon
• 01:21 – Sell on Amazon BUT sell on your website as well
  • 01:34 – You have to build your own asset, email list, traffic sources, and community
• 01:51 – Jeremy of Muscle for Life sells both on Amazon and website
  • 01:57 – He sells more on Amazon than in his website
• 02:17 – Do both to generate extra sales
• 02:24 – Even intangible products can be sold on Amazon
• 02:46 – Amazon has so much data on what does well and they try to offer the same item with their own brand
• 03:25 – This week’s giveaway is a 1 year subscription to Alexa – an SEO tool that is now owned by Amazon
  • 03:55 – Subscribe, rate and review Marketing School
  • 03:59 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444
• 04:23 – If you have any marketing related tool fit for the podcast, do reach out to us!
• 04:36 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Selling on Amazon doesn’t mean you’re building a business.
2. It’s important, as a business, to have your own asset, email list, traffic sources, and community.
3. The biggest downside in selling through Amazon is you cannot stop them from selling the same product you have through their own brand.

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In Episode #273, Eric and Neil discuss how to promote old content without being spammy. Tune in to learn updating tactics that will help you refresh your old content to make it new. Eric and Neil also share how to republish, re-promote, and repurpose your old content to drive more traffic to your site.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Promote Old Content Without Being Spammy
• 00:37 – Eric has been upgrading their past content
  • 00:41 – When content is being upgraded, Eric will notify their email list that the content is updated
  • 01:01 – Eric might use Facebook ads to communicate this as well
  • 01:09 – The content will then be new to people and still relevant
• 01:20 – Neil shares what Brian Dean of Backlinko did
  • 01:21 – Brian takes his old content, adds a few paragraphs, makes it better, changes the published date on WordPress so the content will be at the top and fresh
  • 01:35 – Brian then promotes it again on social media and it actually works well
  • 01:43 – Doing this keeps you getting more views and your rankings and traffic will go up
• 01:58 – Most of what Neil writes on his blogs is evergreen
  • 02:13 – Neil re-promotes and repurposes content that is valuable
  • 02:21 – “It’s all about value at the end of the day”
• 02:30 – You can use Edgar to continuously promote your post over time
• 02:55 – Some of Marketing School’s episodes are constantly republished, using the right setting
• 03:06 – You don’t need to republish content every month, just once or twice a year is fine
• 03:25 – Marketing School is giving away a free one-year subscription to Alexa, which is an SEO tool
  • 03:42 – Subscribe, rate and review Marketing School
  • 03:47 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444
• 04:02 – Alexa has changed and improved drastically
• 04:43 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. You can update your content by adding a few paragraphs of NEW information and it will still be valuable to people.
2. Republishing and repurposing your content can drives more and more traffic to your page—including new traffic.
3. Consistently promote your content with the right settings and to the right audience.

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In Episode #272, Eric and Neil discuss whether you still need to build links if your traffic is growing. Tune in to learn when it’s the RIGHT time to build your links and when it’s time to work on creating great content. This will help you save time and maximize your efforts.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: Do You Still Need to Build Links if Your Traffic Is Growing?
• 00:39 – “You don’t really need to build links if your traffic is growing”
• 00:48 – If you build links, you’ll only get results 6 months later
• 00:58 – Your traffic will grow from 3-6 months on, as soon as it starts flatlining, you will need to build links again
  • 01:17 – When your links start declining on the upwards swing, then you have to build more and more
• 01:26 – You don’t have to build your links every month because it’s expensive and time consuming
• 01:35 – If you have a good base, it is better to build more traffic, like what Eric does
  • 01:39 – Just write more content so you’ll have more words which will lead to more search traffic
  • 01:47 – Building traffic is easier than building links
  • 01:49 – You still need to have enough links for the content to work
• 01:58 – Neil builds links once every quarter
• 02:13 – When Eric started Single Grain, they only had 5K-7K website visits a month and it has now grown into 58K
  • 02:30 – Each quarter, Eric will do dial-up link building
  • 02:40 – Eric consistently creates content as well
  • 02:47 – Eric upgrades their content
  • 02:29 – Repurposing content works for Eric, too
  • 03:14 – Eric continuously hires new writers
  • 03:28 – When you’re domain authority is good and generating traffic organically, that’s when you slow down with link building and focus on content
• 03:46 – You need a base of links for your content to do well
• 03:58 – You can track your link building using Ahrefs
• 04:12 – Marketing School is giving away free one-year subscription of LeadQuizzes which will allow you to create quizzes that collect leads
  • 04:33 – Subscribe, rate and review Marketing School
  • 04:29 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444
• 04:58 – Eric and Neil simply want to share the tools that they use, they’re not getting anything from it
• 05:16 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. If your traffic is constantly and consistently growing, link building is optional.
2. You still need to have enough links for your content to work and generate traffic to your site.
3. It’s about testing – test to know what works well for your site.

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In Episode #271, Eric and Neil discuss how a small business can get started with public relations without hiring an agency. Tune in to learn the online tools that can help make your PR a breeze and other effective ways that do not cost you a single dollar.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: How Small Businesses Can Get Started with PR Without Hiring an Agency
• 00:36 – Public relations is still relevant today
• 00:49 – Eric recommends HARO or Help a Reporter Out
  • 00:54 – You can find reporters who are also looking for help
  • 01:04 – They have all sorts of categories of stories that you don’t expect
  • 01:16 – Monitor it and get daily alerts
• 01:28 – Neil, as a startup, loves using agencies and individual people
  • 01:37 – Chris Barrett is a performance-based PR rep
  • 01:47 – Traditional PR people don’t think that Chris’ model is healthy for the space
  • 01:55 – Chris still continues with his model and has also worked with Eric
  • 02:14 – Pay per performance is definitely an option
• 02:21 – PRLOG is another tool that you can use
• 02:28 – “The best PR isn’t what most people think of”
• 02:36 – Neil hit people up in their space and he helped them out for free
  • 02:44 – Get them to blog about your business in exchange for the “help”
• 03:06 – You can also use Mail Merge to reach out to people
• 03:22 – JournoRequest can also do PR for you
• 03:33 – Take a look at your dimensions and your competitors’ as well
• 03:51 – Have the monitoring tools in place
• 03:56 – PR is a numbers game
• 04:22 – Another tool is Radio Guest List which is similar to HARO, but for audio
• 04:56 – BlogDash will make blog outreach easier
• 05:15 – Marketing School is giving away a one year annual subscription to LeadQuizzes which allows you to collect leads from the quizzes you made
  • 05:30 – To win, rate, review, and subscribe to Marketing School
  • 05:33 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444
• 05:43 – Neil used LeadQuizzes on his website, Nutrition Secrets
• 06:18 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. PR is still relevant today and even small businesses need it – it increases brand awareness.
2. Pay per performance is an option that you can try, especially if you’re a small company.
3. PR is a numbers game – track your dimensions.

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In Episode #270, Eric and Neil discuss how to make videos on a budget. Tune in to learn why videos are significant to you content strategy and why you should hire a videographer and video editor instead of doing everything on your own. 

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Make Videos on a Budget
• 00:50 – It is important to have videos as part of your content strategy
• 00:58 – Videos are easier to consume and can be seen everywhere
• 01:14 – If you’re just starting, do live videos with Facebook and YouTube
  • 01:20 – Just take out your iPhone and talk into it
• 01:34 – Check Tai Lopez who spends millions on video
• 01:58 – Use Animoto to turn your simple videos into an ad
• 02:13 – Sean Duran’s explainer videos
  • 02:24 – Explainer videos should have a script that answers objections
• 02:43 – Neil pitched some of his friends to be his videographer and editor
• 03:08 – Neil’s friend posted a videographer job listing for $3K a month
  • 03:15 – The responses were crazy
• 03:40 – Eric had a job post in Workable for a videographer and received 400 applications
• 04:15 – Videographers are in demand
• 04:25 – You can get videographers and video editors on a budget
• 04:58 – Marketing School is giving away a one year annual subscription for LeadQuizzes which allows you to collect leads from the quizzes you made
  • 05:05 –To win, rate, review, and subscribe to Marketing School
  • 05:11 - Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444
• 05:19 – Neil tested LeadQuizzes on one of his websites, Nutrition Secrets
  • 05:43 – It increased Neil’s leads over 500%
• 06:05 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Going live on social media is one of the easiest ways to start with videos.
2. Videographers are currently in demand—find one who can deliver what you need at a price you can afford.
3. High quality videos boost your conversion rates, it’s definitely worth investing in.

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In Episode #269, Eric and Neil discuss how to find and work with influencers. Tune in to learn the ins and outs of influencer marketing including where and how to find them, why they’re cheaper than celebrities, and the importance of consistency in your influencer campaign.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Find and Work with Influencers
• 00:34 – Eric has a few friends who are working on their own influencer platform
• 00:50 – Influencer marketing has always been around
• 01:11 – “Anybody could become an influencer after putting in the work”
• 01:21 – The easiest way to search for an influencer, without spending, is going through social media sites
  • 01:27 – In Instagram, use certain hashtags and look for people who are up and coming
  • 01:32 – You can work with people who are starting to build their online presence—this way, it won’t be too pricey
• 01:50 – Eric has used influencer marketing for a previous client and they used FameBit
• 02:00 – Neil used influencer marketing on Facebook and Instagram and reached out to some celebrities
  • 02:18 – The Kardashians will do an online paid post for $500K
• 02:33 – “It’s so expensive to reach out to people”
• 02:45 – Neil suggests finding those that are popular with the people in your target market and pay them to pass over that network/audience to you—it’s so much cheaper than using expensive celebrities
• 03:18 – If you’re building an entrepreneur channel, use hashtags that are relevant to your market
  • 03:38 – Reach out to people who are getting a good amount of likes and comments and ask them for their paid shoutout rates
• 04:09 – Influencer marketing doesn’t always work
  • 04:46 – If you’re doing influencer marketing consistently, that’s when it will work
• 05:03 – If you’re doing influencer marketing, you should have content as well
  • 05:16 – Figure out how you can add value to your audience
  • 05:24 – There are pricing guidelines for how much you should be paying influencers on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram
• 05:55 – Marketing School is giving away a one year annual subscription to LeadQuizzes, which allows you to collect leads from the quizzes you made
  • 06:06 –To win, rate, review, and subscribe to Marketing School
  • 06:12 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444
• 06:30 – Neil and Eric are giving away tools that they use personally and they don’t earn from it
• 07:14 – You can go to Neil Patel’s LeadQuizzes case study to know how valuable the leads are from LeadQuizzes
• 07:35 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Influencer marketing has always been around and to be successful, you have to do it consistently.
2. Valuable content will make an influencer’s post more engaging.
3. You don’t have to spend much on an influencer – you just have to find the right influencer for your target market.

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In Episode #268, Eric and Neil discuss how to track brand awareness. Tune in to learn just how important it is to be on top of your brand awareness, the tools that you will help you track your brand’s online presence, and the NEW giveaway from Marketing School.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Track Brand Awareness
• 00:37 – Neil firmly believes in branding
• 00:57 – There are few things you can do to track brand awareness
  • 01:00 – One is to survey people in your industry asking how well they know your brand
  • 01:10 – Second is to use Google Trends to scope out the businesses you want to check and compare with your brand
• 01:35 – What Eric learned from Brendon Burchard, a fellow marketer
  • 01:43 – A brand isn’t just a logo, it’s a story
• 02:26 – When tracking brands, use Google Alerts or Mention to track keywords
  • 02:41 – You can be updated in real time when someone mentions your brand
  • 03:00 – You can then start a relationship with someone who mentions your brand and help them if needed
• 03:21 – Use Google Search Console to check on your monthly impressions
• 03:46 – Marketing School is giving away a free tool called LeadQuizzes which allows you to make quizzes for your target market
  • 04:05 – A one year annual prescription will go to 5 people
  • 04:16 – To win, rate, review, and subscribe to Marketing School
  • 04:21 – Text MARKETINGSCHOOL to 33444
• 04:38 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Branding is significant to one’s success – your brand should stick in people’s minds.
2. Track yours and your competitors’ brands to find out how to stay ahead.
3. Build a relationship with those who mention or appreciate your brand—it can be a potential partnership.

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In Episode #267, Eric and Neil discuss how to start a marketing agency. Tune in to learn how to scale yourself up from zero to a million as well as how to create an effective marketing tactic when you’re just starting out. It’ll get you those clients and perhaps a date on Tinder, too!

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Start a Marketing Agency
• 00:40 – Neil shares why he named his first agency ACS
  • 00:44 – ACS stands for Advantage Consulting Services
  • 00:47 – Neil and his co-founder thought of the name
  • 01:07 – ACS was created 16 years ago
• 01:30 – Neil is starting a new marketing agency
• 02:03 – Neil wanted a website like iProspect’s, which is one of the biggest marketing agencies
• 02:14 – When starting a website, have your own unique angle
  • 02:20 – Keep it simple
  • 02:22 – Go on Crunchbase, find companies that are recently funded, email them their flaws in a full detailed document
  • 02:49 – From there, you can get clients and start having your own agency
• 03:05 – If you want to start a marketing agency, you have to be confident in marketing
• 03:11 – You have to do business development
  • 03:28 – If you’re starting out, use Mixmax’s sequences
  • 03:30 – Set up sequences and reach out to people like a cold outreach
  • 03:57 – Going from 0 to 1M, it all starts with you
  • 04:12 – Eric got a client from Quora by answering a question for SEO
  • 04:21 – Think about where your people are hanging out
  • 04:30 – Eric has a friend who currently makes money from Instagram
• 04:50 – Neil asks Eric the one thing he would do if he’s just starting
  • 04:59 – "Give free advice every single day”
  • 05:24 – People will eventually respond to you
  • 05:33 – Eric even sent Neil a couple of emails before responding to Neil’s blog
  • 05:45 – “You got to show value first and then, from there, you can scale up”
• 05:50 – Neil will also do the same thing as Eric if he’s just starting out
  • 06:00 – Neil will send an email with the name and a catchy sentence about the person’s business
• 06:39 – Use tools like Mixmax, Outreach and ZenProspect to make sure you have a CSV of the company names for the outreach
• 06:47 – Marketing is a numbers game
• 07:02 – Eric used to take videos to get clients
• 07:22 – Start to build up your portfolio and do some work for free to get referrals
  • 07:33 – It’s going to be tough at first
• 07:39 – Neil has a reader who used his marketing funnels to get dates on Tinder
  • 07:50 – Funnels is compared to the act of swiping
  • 07:58 – The more people you email, the more opens you’re going to get
• 08:20 – In Tinder, there’s a feature called “super like”
  • 08:49 – A “super like” is when a person made you a favorite
  • 09:00 – If you have a good headline, people will click through
  • 09:20 – Make sure you have a good image, just like in Tinder
• 10:00 – “Do good work and then things will start to happen”
• 10:05 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Confidence is important, but being an excellent marketer is fundamental—people will know if you are an expert or are just trying to be one.
2. There’s no elevator to success. Reach out to people as often as possible and offer free work if needed.
3. Create a plan and research how you will develop your business.

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In Episode #266, Eric and Neil discuss how to leverage Pinterest search ads. Tune in to learn why the best time to try Pinterest search ads is NOW and how you can leverage it efficiently to get the most success.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Leverage Pinterest Search Ads
• 00:34 – In 2017, Pinterest has released the ability to run ads where you can target specific keywords
• 01:03 – Pinterest is growing and becoming a serious business
• 01:21 – Pinterest users are almost equally divided by men and women in other countries
• 01:33 – Neil asks Eric to try selling digital products to men and women to see who converts better
  • 01:40 – Women have a higher conversion rate and are less likely to refund
  • 01:47 – Eric wouldn’t make a refund
  • 01:53 – Guys always return Neil’s products
  • 02:05 – When a woman buys your product, they are more likely to read it, implement it, and learn from it
  • 02:19 – A guy buys it, but doesn’t do anything with it
  • 02:37 – One of Eric’s friends says “people are buying perceived progress”
• 02:57 – Neil has tried Pinterest search ads and it works really well
  • 02:59 – You have to really target your product in your search
• 03:09 – You may want to get into it now as it’s still new
• 03:30 – Don’t blame Neil, but you can blame Eric if you lose money
• 03:45 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Pinterest is becoming a more viable and serious business—it might be worth it to run your ads through this platform.
2. Create a product that is easily targeted in your search.
3. Pinterest is still unsaturated with ads, so there’s a good chance of you succeeding if you try it now.

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In Episode #265, Eric and Neil discuss what Apple search ads are. Tune in to find out the benefits of investing in an app, whether it’s a fit for your business, and the ways you can boost your install rate via Apple apps.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: What Apple Search Ads Are
• 00:37 – If you’re searching on the App Store, you can actually bid on specific keywords that will trigger your app on a search
  • 00:49 – You’ll have a sponsored ad on top of that and people can click through
• 00:57 – The goal is to get more installs
• 01:13 – Eric has been testing this for quite some time
• 01:17 – The average cost per install or CPI has been getting higher over the years
• 01:37 – If you have an app you want to push, this is one of the ways to do it
• 01:51 – Neil has also tried this and it works if your app has a decent rating
  • 02:13 – The rating should be from a good number of people
• 02:47 – Apps are supplemental for businesses, but don’t try to bet everything on the apps you create
  • 02:59 – It is too expensive
• 03:15 – It might worth a shot for your business—so try it
• 03:26 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. You can bid on a specific keyword to call up your app on the App store.
2. Your app needs decent ratings for the search ads to work well.
3. Apple search ads aren’t as sophisticated as Facebook or Instagram ads—but, is still worth a try.

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In Episode #264, Eric and Neil discuss how you can master the art of upselling. Tune in to find out how YOU can master the art of upselling, the benefit of targeting your existing clients, and how offering more speed and more automation can be your ticket to doubling your revenue.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Master the Art of Upselling
• 00:36 – Eric went to San Francisco to meet existing and prospective clients
  • 01:05 – Before going into the meetings, Eric had a talk with his team to discuss what they can offer their clients
  • 01:25 – Eric showed them mind-blowing facts about their clients’ competitors
  • 01:41 – Eric probably gained an additional $150K in contracts
• 01:54 – You need to add value, first, to master the art of upselling
  • 01:56 – If the client is satisfied with your work, they want to meet you and this is an opportunity to upsell
  • 02:02 – “It’s all about expansion”
• 02:15 – Upselling is about speed and automation
  • 02:28 – Neil learned this from Ryan Deiss of Digital Marketer
  • 03:21 – “You can’t just do more speed and more automation of something random, it has to be related to [your product]”
• 03:32 – Trey Lewellen uses Click Funnels for selling gun related products
  • 03:51 – Trey drives people to a landing page to buy gun oils
  • 04:00 – Trey has more upsells
  • 04:22 – Russell Brunson’s interview with Trey
• 04:58 – Eric uses Mixmax to set reminders for himself
  • 05:15 – Eric makes sure he follows up with his prospective and current clients and believes salespeople should do the same thing
• 05:34 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Adding value is the way to master the art of upselling.
2. Offering speed and automation for the product or service you offer is a great way to upsell.
3. The customers that have stayed with you the longest are the easiest to expand upon. 

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In Episode #263, Eric and Neil discuss what boosting a Facebook post actually does. Tune in to learn the benefits of boosting a Facebook post, whether it’s right for your company, and how to bank off that increase of traffic and engagement.

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: What Boosting a Facebook Post Actually Does
• 00:40 – Eric gets more emails when they boost a post
• 00:55 – Boosting a post makes it easier for Eric to test new content
• 01:13 – Eric is more interested in collecting more email addresses when he boosts a post
• 01:34 – Initially, boosting a post results in more engagement; then, you try to see if you can collect more emails from the CPA and from there, see if you can make an ad campaign from it
• 01:47 – Neil isn’t fond of the idea of boosting Facebook posts and would rather buy friends
• 01:55 – If you’re boosting a post, make sure your post has an email capture
• 02:21 – If you’re going to spend money on Facebook, spend it going to a landing page or getting more fans
  • 02:36 – Neil hates the concept of boosting a post, but has seen it successfully done
• 03:00 – Eric has done live videos in the past and would boost to their live audience, then retarget them
• 03:15 – At the end of the day, it is figuring out what works for you
• 03:54 – The value of Facebook Live has grown a lot
• 04:10 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. The goal of boosting a post is to grow your audience and increase that engagement with your content.
2. You spend money to increase your Facebook presence, so make sure you are also leading your audience to your website.
3. Find out what works best for you and suits you well – tests are invaluable for finding this out.

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In Episode #262, Eric and Neil discuss how to drive traffic with LinkedIn. Tune in to learn how LinkedIn can actually be cheaper, some tactics you can apply to increase your click-through rate, and how you can divert your LinkedIn traffic to your own website. 

• 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Drive Traffic with LinkedIn
• 00:41 – Make sure your targeting is tight and your offer is relevant to your target people
  • 01:01 – You can possibly get a click-through rate of 1% if the target is right and the offer is good
  • 01:07 – These are from the newsfeed ads you see on LinkedIn
• 01:12 – After seeing the 1% click-through rate, switch the advertising to CPM for cheaper clicks
  • 01:28 – Eric’s click-through rates have gone up to 2-3%
• 01:39 – You think you can’t make LinkedIn cheap, but you can actually can
• 01:43 – Add everyone who adds you as friend on LinkedIn; the limit is 30K friends
• 01:53 – Take all your contacts from your website, post your blog posts on LinkedIn once a day, using the first paragraph or two—then, add a link to continue reading at the bottom
  • 02:05 – That will drive traffic from LinkedIn to your website
  • 02:09 – Neil increased his overall traffic through this tactic
  • 02:30 – Adding the share button is also an option
• 02:38 – Using Zapier and IFTTT, you can push your updates to LinkedIn automatically
• 02:58 – LinkedIn drives leads
• 03:13 – Every time Neil publishes a blog post, he shares it to every marketing group in LinkedIn
  • 03:26 – Participate in the group as well and add value
  • 03:32 – Buffer is also good for sharing in groups
• 04:07 – That’s it for today’s episode!

1. Target your offer to the right demographic.
2. You can get higher click-through rates and cheaper clicks in LinkedIn.
3. Posting your blog posts in LinkedIn and sharing them to groups can significantly boost your overall traffic.

Leave some feedback:

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