Marketing School | Digital Marketing | Online Marketing

In episode #680, Eric and Neil discuss what you should be doing on your Thank You page. Tune in to hear how you can use this page to drive more conversions. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES [00:27] Today’s Topic: Here's What You Should Put on Your Thank You Page [00:38] Make the most of your “Thank You” page. [01:20] Eric put a video on his page, thanking people for joining the community. It’s a way to drive another conversion or get the viewer to share the page. [01:48] Neil also has a video that explains what his customers’ options are, which directs them to more conversion paths. [02:30] For Ecommerce businesses, someone already has to buy a product to get to your Thank You page. [02:45] Try to offer relevant upsells to these people. [03:15] Try to target people based on their presumed needs. Survey your customers! [03:30] Once you know what they are looking for, offer similar upsell items. [04:06] Amazon is great at Ecommerce upsells. [04:30] On the Thank You page, make sure your upsells are one-click

In episode #679, Eric and Neil discuss why videos are better than text content. Find out why you need to be incorporating videos into your marketing. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today’s Topic: Why Videos Are Better Than Text Even Though They Don't Rank on Google [00:41] Eric thinks videos are better than text. YouTube is the #2 search engine in the world and videos can rank on the front page. [00:55] Because we all have faster internet, video content in rising in popularity more so than before. [01:05] Neil thinks text generates long-term search traffic that can’t be beat. [01:28] In an ideal world, you would do video and text. [01:45] Video is time consuming, harder to rank, harder to go viral, etc. [01:57] Even so, the people who watch are more engaged and conversion rates are higher. [02:10] Incorporating video into your blogs is a great method. [02:40] At conferences, Eric and Neil get great responses from the videos they post. [03:00] If you can’t get high view counts, get other sites t

In episode #678, Eric and Neil discuss cheap ways you can get celebrities to promote your business. Tune in to hear how you can get affordable celebrity plugs! TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today’s Topic: A Really Cheap Way to Get Kim Kardashian to Promote Your Business [00:38] There is a site called Charitybuzz where celebrities post causes that are important to them. [00:53] You can bid money for a celebrity’s time and the money will go to their charity. [01:00] Tai Lopez probably uses this site. [01:15] You can get videos, podcast audio, etc. from big celebs. [01:25] You can’t be aggressive with your product, but you can do a meet and greet or get photos, video, audio and in effect promote your business. [02:08] Eric and Neil have had people do free work for them (they offered). [02:16] These people did their research and offered a solution in order to build a relationship. [02:33] Eric and Neil have a mutual friend who built a relationship with Neil, simply by being persistent. [02:58] Peo

In episode #677, Eric and Neil discuss how sex is still used in marketing. Tune in to hear what they think about this method of advertising and whether you should be using it. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today’s Topic: Sex Still Sells [00:40] The most popular people on the internet still use sex to sell. [00:56] We’re still at a place in marketing, where sex sells. [01:24] When you see Trump in the news all the time, it’s because he is generating reactions, which is kind of selling. [01:35] Using sex is problematic, whether you are leveraging men’s or women’s sexuality. [01:53] You’ll get a lot of haters, but you will also get a lot of conversions. [02:00] There was a case study done by affiliate marketers where they posted a Facebook ad and the image was of a woman’s breasts. The click-through rate was extremely high, but it was also extremely distasteful. [02:32] GoDaddy used Danica Patrick to sell their service. [02:55] That was tasteful. [03:05] Beats used the Kardashians, but in a way t

In episode #676, Eric and Neil Discuss the two schools of thought on content marketing. Tune in to hear how your conversions rates can be affected. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES [00:27] Today’s Topic: Content Marketing Doesn't Work The Way You Think [00:37] There are two schools of thought on content marketing: The first is: Write a lot of content and you will get rankings, traffic, and generate a ton of sales. [01:02] Someone will not convert the same way if they visit your home page vs. your blog post, because the intent is to read, not to buy. [01:20] You just have to keep in mind how conversions work. [01:38] The second school of thought is that quality wins over quantity every time. [01:50] Backlinko writes infrequent, high-quality content. [02:07] HubSpot posts the most content, but their quality isn’t as good. [02:44] However, they still do extremely well in rankings, conversions, etc. [03:08] Backlinko is worth less than HubSpot. [03:40] Guest contributors can bring in new audience members and

In episode #675, Neil breaks down his long and short-term strategies for success. Tune in to hear what keeps Neil in business. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today’s Topic: Neil Patel's Personal Marketing Strategy [00:50] Neil used to have an ad agency 16 years ago. The way they grew the business was through cold-calling clients. [01:13] Once blogging became a thing, he decided to use it to generate leads. [01:42] Right now, Neil still spends a lot of time and money on content marketing. [02:00] They get 2 million visits per month thanks to content. [02:20] If you don’t keep releasing more and more new content, your numbers won’t go up. [02:37] They are now buying and merging other businesses. [03:08] They spend 80% of their money on giving away free marketing tools. [03:24] Giving away free stuff is the best way to generate traffic. [03:45] Neil thinks creating tools are a good long-term plan. [04:48] Over the next few years, after continuing to give away tools and grow the business, Neil wil

In episode #674, Eric and Neil discuss the First Mover Advantage. Tune in to hear why being first may not make you the best. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today’s Topic:  How First Mover Advantage Can Kill Your Business [00:50] Coca-Cola is the beverage king. They are the first mover. [01:11] The first mover advantage helped Coke become the dominant brand. [01:26] Peter Thiel has a concept that says whoever the first to market is, gets a huge advantage. However, you also end up with a lot of high costs and inefficiency. [02:17] Last mover advantage is taking what has been done and improving upon it. [02:31] Being the last in is a huge advantage. [03:23] Moz was the first marketing tool out there, but other brands that came after have overtaken them. [03:35] SEMRush and AHREFS are go-to’s and improved upon what Moz does. [03:58] YouTube did really well at first, because they didn’t have to deal with the lawsuits other sites did. [04:30] Napster was a great service, but they had to deal with law

In episode #673, Eric describes his long and short-term goals for Singlegrain. Tune in to hear what makes Eric so successful! TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today’s Topic: Eric Siu's Personal Marketing Strategy [00:55] Daily, Eric’s team is focused on retaining clients (services and sales). [01:15] He personally wants to remove himself from the business almost entirely. [01:38] What is working is podcasting, video, SEO, content marketing, and referrals. [02:00] Big clients may start small, but if you can build trust, you will be able to expand into a bigger account. [02:35] Podcasting is 15-20% of sales. [02:45] 0% comes from video, because they are just starting to use it. [02:53] 50-60% comes from content marketing and SEO. [03:10] Most of his money is spent on content marketing and SEO. [03:18] Eric found Vivid Vision really helpful when planning long-term goals. [03:32] Eric’s long-term goal is to have Singlegrain be self-sustaining. [03:45] People tend to poach great marketing talent. H

In episode #672, Eric and Neil gush about HubSpot’s stellar marketing. Tune in to hear how you can be more successful like HubSpot. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today’s Topic: The Genius of HubSpot's Marketing [00:35] HubSpot is a CRM and they are a large, publicly traded company who coined the term “inbound marketing”. [01:00] HubSpot’s marketing is so good, because they aggressively use content marketing; they looked at the data and saw what moved the needle. [01:20] They check what ranks for their competitors and copies that topic/style. [01:45] HubSpot also hires the best. [01:57] In order to maximize their content marketing, they have two full-time employees who repurpose all their content. [02:08] They call them ’historical content managers”. [02:20] HubSpot also finds ways to offer free tools that are similar to successful paid versions. [02:30] They are ruthless. [02:52] Website Grader was a great resource and helped HubSpot get backlinks and traction. [03:20] They have created a lar

In episode #671, Eric and Neil discuss which A/B you should run to improve your sales. Tune in to hear what will help you up your conversions. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today’s Topic: What Kind of A/B Tests Should You Run to Improve Your Sales [00:40] Add pop-ups to your site! [00:42] You can use tools like Opt-in Monster, Sumo, and HelloBar to do this. [00:52] From there, you just try to drive people to a conversion. [01:08] Headlines and copy affect conversions more than most things. [01:20] Get on the phone with your customers and ask what got them on board. [01:35] You’ll find people will say a lot of the same things. [01:39] Take what worked and incorporate it into your headlines and copy. [01:53] You need to make sure your copy is cohesive throughout your site. [02:00] Urgency is key. Have deadlines. [02:09] Use Deadline Funnel to create a countdown. [02:17] When something seems limited, it makes it more appealing. [02:30] The final email you send out before the deal expires is us

In episode #670, Eric and Neil discuss how you can consolidate your marketing. Tune in to hear how you can get back to basics. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today’s Topic: How to Consolidate Your Marketing [00:36] When you look at anyone in marketing trying to grow a company, they don’t know what to do first or even how to do them. [01:03] Eric has about 40 tools in his marketing stack, which is crazy, because that’s the number after they consolidated everything. [01:14] It’s overwhelming. The operations guy keeps telling him to prune the tools. [01:31] When you shut a tool down, you drop the ball on five things, so it’s a slow process. [01:58] Some of the tools Eric stopped using have resurfaced, because his team has decided to retest them. [02:40] Eric’s team tried to shed a link cloaking tool, which has since been reincorporated. [02:50] The point is that paying for all these unnecessary tools is like death by a thousand cuts. [02:55] Neil says stick to the basics. [03:05] He posts social m

In episode #669, Eric and Neil discuss tactics for reaching influencers. Tune in to hear how and if you should be trying influencer marketing. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today’s Topic: How to Reach Influencers [00:34] Influencer marketing is getting bigger and bigger. [01:01] Go after micro-influencers first. People on their way up are easier to get. [01:15] Micro=5,000-20,000 followers. [01:27] Search for specific hashtags, see who is geographically close to you, and get in touch. [01:36] You will find these upstarts are open to collaboration. [01:43] There are Instagram pods, where people follow and promote each other. [02:01] Influencer marketing doesn’t work the way most people think. [02:14] When one of the fit tea guys started using influencer marketing, it was low cost and converted well. [02:31] Over time, as more products and influencers came around, influencer marketing didn’t work as well. [03:00] The only way to really get a good ROI today, is to pay relevant influencers who ha

In episode #668, Eric and Neil break down their marketing dollars. Tune in to hear what the biggest marketing costs are and how you can avoid overspending. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today’s Topic: Where do Neil and Eric Spend Their Marketing Dollars? [00:51] Eric spends about $10,000-$15,000/month on blog content. [01:12] Neil spends about $4,500/month on video content. [01:24] Podcasting costs Eric and Neil $700/month each. [01:40] They spend the same on video content. [01:48] Eric’s team just starting ramping up/retargeting their ads and spent $3000-$4000. [01:54] Neil spends most of his money on making and giving away free tools, which costs around $80,000/month. [02:12] Building tools takes up a lot of time. [02:20] Neil’s team found it is cheaper to buy out other companies than to spend money on marketing. [02:50] Building free tools gets you organic traffic. [03:02] If they were to add in salaries, that would only add an additional $25,000 to the mix. [03:15] Neil’s numbers include

In episode #667, Eric and Neil discuss which channels are causing your sales. Tune in to hear how you can track this information. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today’s Topic: What Marketing Channel is Really Causing Your Sales? [01:03] If you are direct-response marketing, using Wicked Reports can help you succeed. [01:20] Wicked Reports will find out when your leads opted in, took actions on your website, and will track how profitable that lead became months down the line. [02:02] Google Analytics also has multi-channel attribution. [02:27] When thinking about multi-channel attribution, you will find that some channels drive the majority of your revenue. However, marketing is all about the rule of 7. [03:30] You can’t always put a price on good will. Some of your social media work won’t show up in analytics. [04:20] Segment will take your data points and push it to your CRM. [04:46] That’s all for today! [04:49] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway! Leave some

In episode #666, Eric and Neil discuss what to do with your success. Tune in to hear what your next steps should be. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today’s Topic: So You're Making Money Now... What's Next? [00:48] Neil’s current salary is $0 and he dumps all profits back into his company. [00:55] He has no other passions, so what would he do with the money? [01:10] Neil thinks a business is like a baby and they only want to nurture their baby. [01:30] Take the absolute minimum salary that you would need. Don’t forget you have to pay taxes on your income! [01:45] Putting your profits back into your business is the best ROI. [02:15] The best bet is always the one you take on yourself. [03:05] If you have other aspirations besides your business, that’s cool, but if you want to further your business, always reinvest in it. [03:32] If you’re content and don’t care for more money, take the money and do what makes you happy. [03:50] OR you could hire people to run your business and take it to the next

In episode #665, Eric and Neil tell you what you should do instead of starting a business. Tune in to hear why you don’t have to start your own business. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today’s Topic: Forget Starting a Business, Do This Instead [00:46] Neil thinks starting a business is one of the hardest things to do. It is far easier to buy a business. [01:25] Buy a company and grow it. [01:48] Income Store has over 800 websites. They buy other websites and promise a return to their investors. [02:09] They brought in $28 Million last year. [02:29] If you think you can’t afford to buy a business, you can always do cellar-based financing where you pay a monthly fee. [02:53] You can do a lot of creative things to cut costs and improve profits. [03:05] You can also only buy a portion of the company and include a clause where you can buy them out in the future. [03:34] FE International has great content about buying businesses. [03:45] Buy Biz Sell, Flippa, and Empire Flipper are also great resourc

In episode #664, Eric and Neil discuss a simple way to increase your time on site. Tune in to hear what you can do to give users a great experience. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today’s Topic:  A Stupidly Simple Way to Increase Your Time on Site by 19% [00:35] Time on site meaning, time visitors spend on your site. [00:41] If you can increase the time spent on your site, Google will see this and up your ranking. [00:50] If you have a high time on site, you're less likely to get hit by the Google Panda Update. [00:56] The panda update is all about measuring quality. [01:30] If your time on site is low, it’s a negative signal. [01:50] You want to deliver a good experience. [01:53] Amazon recently came out with a product called Amazon Polly. [01:57] Amazon Polly takes your text and converts it into an audio file. [02:14] Using this increased Eric and Neil’s dwell time by 19%. [02:25] Use the Polly WordPress plugin. [02:50] Make sure you add videos to your blog posts! [03:04] This has increase

In episode #663, Eric and Neil discuss why your traffic is going to tank. Tune in to hear how you should deal with this problem. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today’s Topic: Your Traffic Is Going to Tank and You Won't be Able to Fix It [00:52] A lot of paid advertisers change their algorithms, so you can’t control your output. [01:13] There will inevitably be a time in your business when traffic declines. [01:20] Not everything is in your control. Just accept it and diversify your traffic sources. [01:45] An omnichannel approach will help you maintain your traffic. [02:00] The easiest channels to go after are: content marketing, paid ads, social sharing, link building, and building an email list. [03:00] There are a ton of channels. Experiment and see what works. [03:30] Eric’s team uses Northstar from Growth Hackers. [03:39] It’s a project management tool that helps you be more methodical. [04:22] Cross-posting video content is helpful and gets you organic traffic. [04:45] Remember to re-tar

In episode #662, Eric and Neil discuss what old brands can teach you about marketing. Tune in to hear how classic brands stay relevant. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today’s Topic: What The Oldest Brand in The World Can Teach You About Marketing [00:35] Stella Artois is the oldest brand in the world. [01:00] The old brands last because they are boring. They repeat their marketing over and over. [01:15] It’s also key that they are a great product. [01:30] Stella and other older brands take pride in creating a good product. [01:45] They also try to stay relevant. [02:00] Their ads are prevalent and they attempt to stay top-of-mind. [02:40] Old brands do well when they adapt to fit with trends. [03:31] Stella made special cans for the Cannes Film Festival. [03:54] Someone told Neil that Stella Artois is considered “crappy”. Here in the U.S., it has a different reputation. [04:11] Perception is everything. [04:30] Influencers are important to hyping up your product. [04:49] That’s all for today

In episode #661, Eric and Neil discuss whether you should ever change your company’s name. Tune in to find out if they think this is a fatal error or a smart move. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today’s Topic: Should You Ever Change Your Company Name? [00:35] Moz was formally SEOMoz, but they went through a process where they had to change domains. [00:57] When you change domains, you lose 5-10% of your link juice. [01:10] Moz wrote a blog post about their name change and how it affected the company. [01:20] If you are going to make the change, make sure that you have your SEO bases covered. [01:28] You could potentially lose traffic and revenue. [01:31] If you change the name of your company/domain, you will need a 301 Redirect for the homepage and all the internal pages. [01:50] The main reason to change your name is if the name keeps you pigeon-holed. [02:06] If you have a ton of negative press you can’t fix, it’s a good idea to change your company’s name. [02:10] Comcast had a lot of bad p