Marketing School - Digital Marketing and Online Marketing Tips

In Episode #11 Eric and Neil discuss the value of customer feedback. Reaching out to your audience when you’re starting your business and as your business is developing will help your company to continue to grow and see success. Find ways to consistently get the truth from your customers—take even the negative feedback into consideration.

• 00:25 – Why and how should you collect customer feedback?
• 00:40 – What is customer feedback?
  • 01:09 – “All that matters is what your customers are telling you.”
  • 01:25 – The value of negative feedback
  • 01:40 – “You can’t live in the black box.”
  • 02:10 – Solve the customer’s problem
  • 02:30 – Eric and Neil’s mistake when they built a blog was to leave out the audience
• 03:15 – Customers will drive your business in the long run
  • 03:30 – Why people choose certain brands
  • 03:50 – “Delight your customers.”
• 04:15 – Survey your customers and your competitor’s customers
• 04:50 – How often do you survey your customers? – Once a month at least.
• 05:00 – Do something about problems that come up.
• 05:20 – Buffer and Zapier have outstanding customer support
• 05:40 – Calling the clients to see how they’re doing
  • 06:00 – Ask them: “If you had a bottomless budget, what would you have us do for you?”
• 06:45 – Don’t freak out about negative feedback
  • 07:05 – Look at the volume of good vs. bad feedback
• 07:20 – Don’t bribe people to give you feedback.
  • 07:50 – You want the truth.
• 08:00 – Requesting a testimonial from a happy customer
• 08:30 – Intercom helps you interact with customers
• 09:00 – Managing live chat on your website
• 09:30 – Leave a rating or review if you enjoyed the show today!

1. Don’t ignore negative feedback.
2. A good customer relationship will drive your business.
3. Consistently take time to gather feedback and see what problems are coming up.

• Buffer and Zapier – Two companies that are renowned for their incredible customer support
• Intercom – A company that can help you interact and get feedback from your customers

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In Episode #10 Eric and Neil help you decide where to start out for your first marketing job. They weigh the pros and cons of an agency or working in house, and they discuss what really matters most—your learning and growth.   

• 00:25 – What should your first marketing job be?
• 00:45 – Agency vs. in house
• 01:10 – Where should people should go? – Agency.
• • 01:40 – The poker analogy
  • 02:10 – Becoming a well-rounded marketer
• 02:45 – Getting into the agency world
• • 03:05 – Growth potential
  • 03:45 – Break Media
• 04:25 – Agency people typically have higher skills and more experience
• 05:25 – Neil’s experience at a startup
• 06:45 – Where’s the company at?
• 07:10 – “Are you growing or not?”
• • 07:30 – Opportunities will continue to come as you learn and grow
  • 08:20 – Experience is worth more than the pay
• 08:40 – Subscribe to this podcast and leave a rating and review!

1. Starting at an agency will give you a better learning environment.
2. Your first salary should not be as important as the experience and opportunity for growth.
3. Once you get in the door and continue  gaining experience, the better opportunities will come.

• Break Media (now Defy Media) – A company that produces online video content

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In Episode #9 Eric and Neil break down retargeting. Today, retargeting has made huge leaps and is a great resource that you should utilize in your marketing.  

• 00:25 – What’s retargeting? -- Ads the follow you from website to website
• 01:00 – Now retargeting has grown a lot
• 01:50 – Helping you build relationships with people
• 02:05 – Options today
• • 02:20 – Example of an ad on marketing funnels
• 02:50 – Giving people more opportunities to act, or to buy
• • 03:20 – “Turn all those people who said no into saying yes.”
• 03:35 – “Show them something different.”
• 04:00 – “Remarketing is like marriage and dating.”
• 05:05 – Digital Marketer Traffic Temperatures
• 05:40 – Cold traffic
• 06:30 – Segmenting who you’re going after
• • 07:20 – Marketing for a local business
• 07:40 – Look-alike audiences
• • 08:30 – An option to target cold audiences
• 08:45 – Start with Google and Facebook
• • 10:05 – Targeting people from your email list
• 10:45 – Subscribe to this podcast and leave a rating and review!

1. Retargeting helps you build longer lasting relationships with your audience.
2. Give people more opportunities to buy your service or product.
3. When you’re first starting out, try Google and Facebook for your retargeting.

Digital Marketer Traffic Temperatures – An article that will break down the different levels or “temperatures” of traffic for you

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In Episode #8 Eric and Neil talk about starting your first marketing campaign. When your business is brand new, you may want to try to get as much traffic as possible—but what you really need to worry about is creating one-on-one relationships with your first few customers.

• 00:25 – Where should you start your first marketing campaign? – “What worked for someone else won’t necessarily work for you.”
• • 01:00 – Neil’s experience copying the campaigns of other companies
• 01:20 – “Throwing spaghetti on the wall.”
• • 01:35 – Finding what sticks
  • 02:00 – Picking one tactic that has the most potential
  • 02:15 – Adding tools as you see success
• 03:00 – What’s your take on focusing on one area? – “That’s fine, just pick the one that sticks.”
• 04:00 – Growth for entrepreneurs
• • 04:10 – one-on-one contact
  • 04:30 – An example of this strategy
  • 05:11 – “First hundred customers are all being acquired manually.”
• 05:30 – Those first customers are important
• • 05:50 – Bad press when you’re starting out
• 06:10 – Driving traffic with blogs and ads
• • 06:45 – Content marketing takes time
• 07:00 – Consider your cash flow
• • 07:40 – With more money, focus on long-term strategies
• 08:00 – What channel would you avoid? – Partnerships.
• • 08:30 – They have a low success rate.
  • 09:00 – Content marketing
  • 09:10 – Understand your audience first.
• 10:10 – Kissmetrics started with the wrong audience
• 11:10 – Subscribe to this podcast and leave a rating and review!

1. You need to find the right marketing strategy for your specific business.
2. Find out who your audience is before you establish long-term marketing plans.
3. Avoid partnerships and content marketing when you are first starting out.

• Kissmetrics – Neil’s company that went through a lot of marketing strategies

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In Episode #7 Eric and Neil talk about why you need a blog in today’s age. Blogging is a free marketing tool, but it takes certain tactics and skills to be successful at it.

• 00:25 – Why do you need a blog today? – “Best way to get free visitors to your website.”
• 01:10 – “This will help you generate more leads.”
• • 01:20 – Providing value
  • 01:35 – The Points Guy
  • 02:00 – A home base
• 02:10 – Blogs generate as much traffic as paid advertising
• • 02:45 – Facebook’s fan pages
• 03:15 – What are some tactics to starting a successful blog? – Consistency
• • 03:30 – A long-term journey
  • 04:00 – Having patience
  • 04:35 – Traffic changes when blogs stop
  • 04:50 – Corporate blogs
• 05:10 – A conversational tone
• 05:45 – Your headline
• • 06:10 – Copy Blogger’s post on how to write good headlines
  • 06:20 – YouTubers
• 06:45 – Your headline drives readers
• • 07:00 – It must match your content
• 07:10 – “Make sure your content is relevant.”
• • 07:20 – Kissmetrics
• 08:15 -- Repurposing your content
• • 08:30 – Audio versions and YouTube
  • 09:10 – Touching a different audience
• 09:30 – Is blogging right for you?
• 10:00 – jobs.problogger.net
• 10:20 – Promotion of your content
• • 10:30 -- Ahrefs.com
  • 10:45 – Buzzsumo.com
• 11:40 – The importance of promotion when you’re starting out
• 12:20 – HubSpot statistics
• 13:00 – Subscribe to this podcast and leave a rating and review!

1. Blogging is a free marketing tool to drive traffic to your business.
2. With the right tactics, you can produce a successful blog.
3. There are proven statistics behind blogging which prove that blogs drive traffic and ultimately revenue.

• Kissmetrics – The company focuses on relevant content
• Copy Blogger’s post – Helpful insights for good blog headlines
• jobs.problogger.net – A great resource to hire a blogger
• Ahrefs.com – A tool to help you track the success of your blog
• Buzzsumo.com – Neil’s tool to find out what topics are trending in his industry
• HubSpot – A resource to help you see the statistics behind successful blogs

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In Episode #6 Eric and Neil talk about personal branding. The image that you put out for yourself can carry a lot of weight—even more weight than your company’s brand or philosophy.

• 00:25 – Why is personal branding important? – “You connect more with the individual than you do with the corporate brand.”
• 01:30 – Gary Vaynerchuk
• 1:50 – “You can control what you want to do with your audience.”
• 2:15 – What are some tactics to build personal branding? – Start out with social media and accept more friends and followers.
• • 02:55 – Cross-promote on different platforms
  • 03:20 – Twitter tools
  • 03:30 – Following tools
• 04:10 – The growth of Eric’s business and brand
• 05:00 – How can you show the value of your service to your audience and help your brand grow? – Writing a book
• • 06:00 – Blogging
• 06:15 -- How to reach out to be a guest poster on a blog
• 07:00 – Creating networks and relationships
• 08:00 – Finding opportunities as a writer
• 08:40 -- “You just have to start somewhere.”
• 09:10 – “People will reach out to you.”
• 09:50 – These are long-term goals.
• 10:10 – Associating yourself with famous/popular people in your field
• 11:40 – Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes!

1. Your personal brand is more valuable than your corporate brand.
2. Start building your personal brand by networking and blogging.
3. Associate yourself with people who are successful in your field and who will make you known.

• Social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.

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Welcome to The Marketing School Podcast—your resource to learn, grown, and nurture your passion for online marketing! In Episode #5 Eric and Neil center the conversation on, The Biggest SEO Mistakes of Their Career. Enjoy!

• 00:38 – Eric kicks off with blackhat, whitehat, and greyhat SEO
• • 01:29 – Building low-quality links to a brand-new sites
  • 02:00 – Google’s Algorithm’s are smarter than you—they will always find out if something shady is going on
  • 02:20 – That being said, it’s worth it to dabble in some “shady” business if it’s your own site as an experiment, to learn about both sides of the coin
• 02:48 – Back in the day, Neil would do whatever it would take to turn quick buck
• • 04:12 – Don’t think short-term, you need to think LONG term
  • 04:40 – Go whitehat and build for endurance
• 05:05 – Eric talks blackhat SEO in-depth
• • 06:01 – Take blackhat tactics and use them in a whitehat matter
• 06:27 – Do not crank low-quality content
• • 07:23 – The Google Panda Penalty
• 08:19 – a 35% drop in organic traffic
• • 08:30 – Make sure you do a redesign properly or you will get crucified in SEO
• 09:51 – Content is King—it’s a cliché but true
• • 10:16 – But you NEED backlinks too
• 10:53 – The two biggest factors to ranking in Google?
• • Links and Content

1. Links and content, links and content, links and content!
2. Dabble in blackhat on websites that you own and don’t care about so you can better understand that side of marketing and avoid it on things that matter.
3. When it comes to client websites—and websites you care about in general—think long-term and always go whitehat.

The Google Panda Penalty – An SEO penalty Neil was hit with on one of his websites.

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Episode 4 Summary:

Welcome to The Marketing School Podcast—your resource to learn, grown, and nurture your passion for online marketing! In Episode #4 Eric and Neil center the conversation on, How to Get a Job in Marketing. Enjoy!

Time Stamped Show Notes:

• 00:47 – Neil has lots of experience hiring marketers
• 01:03 – Never read resumes—they’re bullshit
• 01:25 – Put wannabe marketers on the hot seat
• 02:25 – If you don’t have your own website, how can you say you’ve ever marketed?
• 03:50 – Hire people to add value, not just fill rolls
• 04:15 – Stand out from the crowd
• 04:54 – Eric’s first marketing job
• 05:29 – Deliver work that is above and beyond
• 05:44 – Don’t obsess about theory in job interviews—share your wins, your actions and results
• 06:22 – The best marketers out there know how to think outside the box
• 07:45 – Creativity is the key to shining
• 08:23 – IF you want to show people you know what you’re talking about—create content for your application, a PDF, a screencast, SOMETHING
• 09:43 – Put yourself in the employers’ shoes—would you hire someone who just gives you a resume or would you hire someone that goes above and beyond?

3 Key Points:

1. If it was YOUR company, would you hire someone that just sends you a resume, or would you hire someone that goes above and beyond?
2. When you’re trying to get a job in marketing demonstrate that you’ve worked in marketing!—you need to know more than theory.
3. Don’t rely on your resume because resumes are bullshit—find a way to stand out!

Resources Mentioned:

• N/A

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Welcome to The Marketing School Podcast—your resource to learn, grown, and nurture your passion for online marketing! In Episode #3 Eric and Neil center the conversation on, Their Favorite Marketing Tools. Enjoy!

• 00:40 – Neil kicks off the conversation
• 00:45 – Neil’s favorite marketing tool is one that everybody fails to use properly…Google Anayltics
• • 01:35 – You need at least 6 months to generate quality organic traffic
  • 01:50 – What works on Facebook does NOT work well for organic
• 02:45 – Google Search Console
• • 05:00 – Nudging keywords up just a little bit can really maximize traffic
• 06:00 – Look for the low-hanging fruit
• 06:04 – AHREFS
• • 06:15 – Highlights backlinks, backlinks lost, and links of competitors
  • 07:48 – knowing what your competitors are ranking for is priceless
• 08:26 – Talking in detail about SEM Rush
• • 08:45 – Can show adverts competitors are running
• 09:12 – www.crazyegg.com
• • 09:50 – Transparency into how people engage with your website
  • 10:29 – Most people don’t scroll beyond the fold
• 10:55 – www.hellobar.com
• • 11:31 – Great at generating additional emails

1. What works for social doesn’t always work for organic and vice versa.
2. Gain insight into what your competitors are doing—it will really pay off.
3. If you’re using Google Analytics, chances are you’re using it improperly—make sure you really know what you’re doing, take the time to LEARN.

• www.crazyegg.com – Gain transparency into what visitors are doing on your websites
• www.hellobar.com – A tool to maximize email acquisition
• AHREFS – Use to gain insight into what competitors are doing
• Google Anayltics – Neil’s holy grail of online marketing

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Welcome to The Marketing School Podcast—your resource to learn, grown, and nurture your passion for online marketing! In Episode #2 Eric and Neil center the conversation on, Their Biggest Marketing Wins. Enjoy!

Show Notes:

• 00:42 – Neil kicks off the conversation
• • 00:55 – Authenticate sign-ups through Facebook or Gmail
  • 01:29 – Eliminate the friction of signing up
  • 01:53 – This ONE trick helped Neil double their sign-up numbers
• 02:18 – When you’re writing content, what is your goal?
• • 02:43 – Defining the content upgrade
  • 03:30 – Offering content upgrades led to a roughly 10% conversion increase
• 04:12 – Thrive—a GREAT plugin especially when combined with leadpages
• 05:25 – Link your content to detailed guides
• 05:47 – Go ABOVE AND BEYOND and you’ll have better content than your competition every time
• 06:14 – Don’t litter your guides with fluff—be detailed
• 07:05 – SEM Rush
• 07:50 – Get the traction first—you need to hit singles before you can hit homeruns
• • 08:19 – Betting the house on YouTube Marketing
• 08:55 – Snapchat 10B views per day
• 09:12 – The things that require the most work are the things that have the biggest payoff
• 09:52 – Translate your content into other languages

3 Key Points:

• Most of the stuff on the internet is for English-speaking people, but most people in the world don’t speak English—translate your content.
• Go above and beyond—that which requires the most work comes with the biggest rewards.
• When you’re creating content, always be cognizant of your end-goal.

Resources Mentioned:

• SEM Rush – Tool Eric loves
• Thrive – a GREAT plugin recommended by Neil, particularly when it is combined with Leadpages

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In Episode #1 Eric and Neil introduce the world to The Marketing School—a daily podcast built to share marketing insights with the world. Today’s main topic: where you can go to learn marketing. 

 Show Notes:

• 01:36 – Do you want learn about online marketing?—Don’t go to college!
• • 02:22 – College professors don’t have practical, up-to-date, field experience
• 02:31 – Go to blogs like www.moz.com, www.backlinko.com, www.singlegrain.com
• • 02:45 – Read some articles, take what you learn, and apply it to your website
• 03:19 – Every single online marketer that’s good got started on their own website
• 03:27 – Learn before you earn
• 04:01 – Learn to be persistent
• 04:35 – Small wins add up over time
• 04:45 – How Neil become Eric’s mentor
• 05:29 – Keep your foot on the peddle and you’ll start to pass everyone around you
• 06:00 – Like Eric, Neil got his start by emailing a random entrepreneur he looked up to
• 07:29 – Be willing to trade knowledge all the time
• 08:03 – How Eric learns marketing now?—Nuzzel
• 08:35 – www.Kissmetrics.com
• 08:55 – Feed.ly and www.jonloomer.com
• 09:19 – Neil just learns by CRUSHING blogs and articles—he picks the ones with the most social shares
• 10:32 – Education is about actionable material
• 11:15 – Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes!

3 Key Points:

• Only read detailed articles or guides—skip the generic overview stuff.
• Understand that you have to learn before you earn, and then be persistent with your education.
• If you want to get into marketing, start experimenting on your own website.

Resources Mentioned:

• www.moz.com – Blog recommended by Neil
• www.backlinko.com – Blog recommended by Neil
• www.singlegrain.com – Blog recommended by Neil
• www.kissmetrics.com – Resource Eric relies on to improve his marketing knowledge
• Nuzzel – Tool Eric uses to organize and catalog his Twitter feeds

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