Marketing School | Digital Marketing | Online Marketing

In Episode #136, Eric and Neil list and explain the different ways you can validate your business idea for less than $100. Validating your business idea does NOT have to be expensive and these two experts will give you the tools you need to confirm that your idea is a great one. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Validate Your Business Idea for Under $100 00:35 – Tim Ferris’ validation on the 4-Hour Work Week on Google AdWords costed $50 01:09 – Use tools like Google Surveys and Survata 01:36 – Post an ad in Craigslist 02:43 – Use surveys in person or in video to get feedback 02:56 – Keep trying to get the best results 03:31 – Check Reddit and Quora 04:37 – Go to the INC5000 list and see what other companies are doing 05:13 – Look for companies in the same industry as yours 06:11 – Research the problems companies in your industry are trying to solve 06:30 – Look at Amazon and Ebay, if you’re selling consumer products 06:43 – Check Flippa and FE International to see what ne

In Episode #135, Neil and Eric discuss the importance of quizzes to increase your leads. Tune in to discover how to create a short, well-made quiz that can increase your sales and how businesses today are taking advantage of this technique. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:28 – Today’s topic: How to Use Quizzes to Increase Leads 01:36 – Quizzes should optimize for email collection 02:00 – Quizzes should match the offer 02:50 – Yuri Elkaim offers a lot in the health market and has implemented tons of quizzes 04:12 – Make sure you have at least 5 questions in your quizzes 04:30 – Use LeadQuizzes as a tool combined with Facebook ads 04:55 – Neil still uses quizzes in their funnel 05:10 – Revolution Golf also makes use of quizzes for their marketing 05:50 – That’s it for today’s episode! 3 Key Points: The quiz should match and be consistent with your end offer—wrong leads means no sales. Quizzes should NOT be long, but just the right questions to pique your customer’s interest. Utilize quizzes by pairi

In Episode #134, Neil and Eric discuss how to use Pinterest to drive more traffic and revenue. Tune in to discover the ways Neil, Eric and other entrepreneurs use Pinterest to drive more interest to their business at a low cost. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:28 – Today’s topic: How to Use Pinterest to Drive More Traffic and Revenue 00:45 – You can advertise in Pinterest 01:06 – The clicks in Pinterest are cheaper than other platforms 01:31 – Neil found the article The Pinterest Traffic Experiment: I’m Up 2350% in 60 Days at HustleNation.com 01:48 – The tool BoardBooster that can boost boards in Pinterest 02:54 – You can also automate pinning with BoardBooster 03:20 – Ezra Firestone Pinterest ads 03:45 – Ezra made $41,000 using Pinterest ads 04:33 – Samuel O taught Neil how to overcharge 05:46 – Ezra’s advertorial in Pinterest explained 06:17 – Pinterest, in general, has a lot of testing but you can eventually figure it out 06:40 – That’s it for today’s episode! 3 Key Points: Pinterest

In Episode #133, Neil and Eric list the 7 things to assess when your content marketing is failing. Tune in to discover how Neil and Eric use different tools and websites to understand their viewer engagement and the effectivity of their content marketing campaign,  Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:30 – Today’s topic: 7 Things to Assess When Your Content Is Failing 01:31 – Find the cause of why your content marketing is failing through analytics 01:44 – Analyze quantitatively 02:29 – The data will tell you what’s wrong with your blog post 02:54 – Get feedback from people asking them what needs improvement 03:03 – People want something that is actionable 03:26 – Find the basic metrics of your site 03:43 – Install Google Search Console 04:10 – In the Google Search Console dashboard, click “analytics”, and search for the “impressions box” at the top left corner 04:45 – Use Hemingway App – a desktop application 05:01 – Hemingway App is the more advanced version of Docs and is best for writers

In Episode #132, Eric and Neil share how you can generate content ideas for your website without having to do keyword research. Listen as Neil and Eric drop tips and tricks to help you generate better content for your website and for your specific audience. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Generate Content Ideas Without Keyword Research 00:38 – SEO and keyword research is important BUT it’s also important to start with your audience 00:56 – Think about what’s interesting and trending 01:05 – Eric shares his Feedly account with his team to stay on top of trends 01:18 – Eric also has Panda as a Chrome extension that shows him 3 different feeds from the sites he follows 01:56 – Neil takes his competitors’ links and runs it in BuzzSumo 02:37 – Look at your competitor's’ posts and try to replicate but make it better 02:41 – Look up Brian Dean’s Skyscraper Technique 03:16 – Email out people who share your competitor's’ content and ask them to share yours, too 04:21 – Use io to s

In Episode #131, Neil and Eric discuss how to improve your mobile conversions. Listen to know how you can optimize your mobile conversions and what to expect in Google’s upcoming changes for 2017. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Improve Your Mobile Conversions 00:32 – Google has changed things; they now have mobile index 00:52 – A description of how mobile pop-ups work 01:09 – Neil doesn’t use mobile pop ups and explains why 02:05 – “Optimize for conversions through the flow” 02:48 – Breakdown steps and forms 03:08 – There will be an interstitial update on pop ups in 2017 03:27 – Convertflow can show different offers to people 04:36 – Different conversion rates for people who already opted in 05:01 – Neil integrates CTAs in his blog posts 05:48 – Single Grain has an “opt-in” bar at the bottom of their mobile page 06:10 – Make sure your pop ups don’t take most of the screen 06:31 – Search Google interstitial penalty 06:38 – That’s it for today’s episode! 3 Key Points:

In Episode #130, Neil and Eric list the ways you can use live chat to grow your business. The two men discuss that there are right and wrong ways to use live chat in order to increase your sales. Also, tune in to discover how Neil tests Eric’s own live chat service without his knowing just for our benefit. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:28 – Today’s topic: How to Use Live Chat to Grow Your Business 00:48 – Live chats should pop up at engaging points of interaction to work well 01:25 – Avoid using live chat to interrupt the sales flow 01:47 – Eric has tried Olark and Zopim as live chat tools in the past 02:08 – Eric found out more people are using Intercom.io for their live chats 03:17 – Neil drops what Eric doesn’t know! 03:46 – Intercom.io and Drift are two most popular live chat tools 04:26 – Get in touch with people at certain engagement points 04:58 – Neil messaged Eric on his website using the live chat! 06:03 – Always put the person’s name on the chat 06:25 – How Eric does his live chats 06:

In Episode #129, Neil and Eric discuss the ways you can amplify your content. Listen to learn the tips and tactics you can use to boost your viewership and get that traction you’ve been looking for. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:28 – Today’s topic: How to Amplify Your Content 00:35 – 20% of your time should be spent creating content and 80% marketing it 00:51 – Hand-to-hand combat – Hunter.io or LinkedIn will let you access emails of people of whom you can ask to share your content 01:21 – Groove HQ’s CEO’s strategy was to get people to share their content 01:45 – Use hunter combined with every site you’re linking out to 03:06 – Don’t focus on getting people to link back to you, direct your focus towards getting people to share your content 03:22 – Send emails manually instead of using tools like SendGrid 03:29 – Use HubSpot to track how many email opens you’re getting 04:14 – Try paid advertising like Facebook Ads, Twitter, LinkedIn and Gmail Ads 05:57 – Google and study the “Pinterest Traffic E

In Episode #128, Neil and Eric share tips on how to use Google’s Search Console to grow your traffic. Listen to grow your understanding of the Google Search Console and how Google’s features can help you drive more traffic to your website. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Use Google’s Search Console to Grow your Traffic 00:37 – Google’s Search Console is a free SEO tool from Google 01:05 – Click on the search analytic section to know which clicks you should be getting 01:38 – Sort impressions and look at your CTR 02:37 – You should be using structured data 03:55 – Get started with Rich Cards 04:07 – Look at the crawl errors that are happening on your site 05:10 – Under search appearance, use “accelerate mobile pages” for gaining traffic from mobile 06:31 – Look-up “mobile usability” 07:02 – Look at the regions you’re targeting and select accordingly 08:08 – That’s it for today’s episode! 3 Key Points: Google Search Console has so much to offer for FREE—get acquainted wi

In Episode #127, Neil and Eric talk about the different ways you can combine your content marketing with paid advertising. Listen as they list down pros and cons for different Facebook ads, and the difference between Facebook, LinkedIn, Google and Twitter ad costs. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Combine Content Marketing with Paid Advertising 00:45 – Neil’s favorite strategy is using Facebook fans’ “likes” 01:21 – When you drive paid clicks and you stop paying, you’re not going to get anymore 02:04 – The goal is to have the least amount of fans that create the most amount of engagement 02:30 – “Boost Post” button to Facebook works 03:33 – Look at your Facebook insights 03:51 – Make sure you have a content upgrade – you can use Thrive 04:54 – Spend what you need to get the right campaign/headline that results in the most “shares”, “posts”, “likes”, etc. 05:25 – Eric promotes the page post engagements 06:31 – Think about the channel before investing in paid traffic 07:22 –

In Episode #126, Neil and Eric discuss strategies for setting up a basic re-marketing campaign—what it is, why it works, and how it can drive significant increases in conversion. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Set-up a Basic Re-marketing Campaign 00:37 – Re-marketing is when a page you recently visited shows up in another you’re viewing 01:01 – Make sure you have the right pixel on your site when doing re-marketing 01:10 – Have a Google Tag Manager setup to manage the pixel 01:38 – Create new creative and rotate those createives often to attract more views 02:08 – You can buy stock images from Fotolia 02:16 – A good digital marketer will always have a Venn diagram of the different types of traffic 02:22 – Cold traffic has never heard of your brand before 02:26 – Warm traffic is when they visit your website and join your email list 02:29 – Hot traffic has spent at least a dollar with your brand 02:36 – “You are marketing to people, not objects” and don’t forget it! 03:16

In Episode #125 Neil and Eric talk about the factors you need to consider when setting up a marketing budget. Listen as they illustrate why marketing budgets don’t need to be BIG so long as they adequately accommodate the marketing strategy in place. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to set a marketing budget 00:34 – Bigger companies’ budget vs small companies’ budget 00:52 – Neil doesn’t believe in a marketing budget 01:18 – Your budget should be flexible depending on the results you’re getting 02:24 – The one that spends the most, is the one that wins 03:31 – The budget should be set by internal resources 04:02 – Spend money on things you get results from 04:24 – Explain why you’re capping budgets 05:17 – Neil talks about his and Eric’s trip to Las Vegas 06:32 – Neil is a gambler in business 07:21 – Spend money in the right areas 07:57 – That’s it for today’s episode! 3 Key Points: Your budget should always be flexible. Analyze your marketing campaigns for areas of

In Episode #124 Neil and Eric talk about what you should do when you don’t see the marketing results you were looking for. Listen to learn about the elements you might be missing in the marketing equation, and hear them discuss the common causes for campaigns struggling to yield results. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: What you should do when you’re not seeing marketing results 00:44 – Starting with paid advertising will take you 2-3 months before you start setting any measurable results 01:02 – Be patient, above all be patient—it’s prove to work, but not quickly 01:31 – Your analytics and your data will tell you where your weaknesses are so pay attention to them 01:58 – Ask people questions with the help of Qualaroo 02:15 – Eric shares an example of a company he worked for in the past where the marketing was really struggling 03:01 – A lot of people make the mistake of thinking they’ll hit their targets immediately 03:35 – Not every campaign needs to work, just one or two 03:45

In Episode #123, Neil and Eric discuss the ways you can create form fields that lead to conversion. Listen to know more about which form field strategies actually work and which ideas you can incorporate into your own. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Create Form Fields that Actually Convert 00:41 – Having less form fields will lead to higher conversion rates but quality will go down 01:00 – Break up form fields 02:20 – Your mileage will vary 02:31 – It’s about getting conversions for qualified leads 02:40 – Small tweaks can make a difference 03:32 – Remove the asterisks in your forms 03:41 – Leverage exit pop-ups 04:18 – Add a check mark for “other” options to get more insights 04:55 – Integrate form fields into stories 05:51 – Check out Quick Sprout and Neil Patel for more info on how to optimize form fields 06:16 – That’s it for today’s episode! 3 Key Points: The goal is NOT about getting the most conversions. Breaking up your forms into steps will help you segment y

In Episode #122, Neil and Eric share about how to integrate the holidays into your marketing campaign. Listen as they list down the ways and tactics you can use to get that “most wonderful time of the year” feel in your marketing. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Integrate the Holiday Seasons into your Marketing Campaign 00:37 – Have a holiday calendar 00:53 – Google “Holiday Campaigns” to know what others are doing 01:05 – Offer discounts and promotions 02:10 – Make sure you have your products in stock 02:43 – Promote holiday campaigns in advance 03:44 – Set partnerships and promotions beforehand 04:43 – Have upsells and downsells to maximize profit per user 05:22 – Use contests for holidays 05:35 – KingSumo is one contest platforms you can use 06:09 – Put countdown timers like PlusThis in the emails to set the urgency 06:47 – That’s it for today’s episode! 3 Key Points: Discuss with your team what you can offer for the holiday seasons. Make sure your inventory is full

In Episode #121, Eric and Neil discuss the ways you can improve your PPC campaigns with just 10 minutes per day. Working at your PPC campaigns can be as simple as looking at your keywords’ reports or evaluating your landing page and copy. Listen as they list down different ways you can evaluate and adjust your PPC campaigns with a very small time commitment daily. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic:  00:33 – Regardless of the platform, think about how you can set a framework 00:59 – With AdWords, go through your accounts and pause the things that aren’t working 01:37 – Focus on the landing page and your copy 02:15 – Exit pop ups, do not break Google’s policy 02:40 – Use stock images or check out Design Pickle and see which images you can use for PPC 03:25 – Run a survey 03:50 – Use Qualaroo’s survey tool 04:15 – Look at your keywords reports 05:10 – There are limited resources for PPC 05:33 – Spend on your peak hours 06:38 – Spend money faster to get the results faster 07:01 – Send t

In Episode #120, Neil and Eric share the 7 ways you can become a thought leader. Listen as Neil shares his experience in becoming a thought leader to help you become one as well. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: 7 Ways to Become a Thought Leader 00:36 – Becoming a thought leader requires a mix of everything 01:17 – #1 Don’t just focus on one channel 01:46 – Neil describes how he became a thought leader 02:08 – Find your unique angle 03:22 – Join YEC (Young Entrepreneur Council) 03:45 – Go to LinkedIn and reach out to editors of large publications 04:19 – Using large publications is a bit overused, but still a good tactic 04:25 – #2 Guest post 04:42 – #3 Find your niche 05:36 – #4 Choose the platform you will use 06:49 – #5 Do something that makes you stand out 07:32 – Neil does crazy experiments 07:57 – #6 Take whatever you can 08:57 – #7 Don’t forget to focus on PR 09:39 – Use free solutions with HARO 09:58 – That’s it for today’s episode! 3 Key Points: Find your niche,

In Episode #119, Neil and Eric discuss how you can craft high converting explainer videos for your website. Listen as they help you uncover the feasibility of having explainer videos on every budget and how to craft an excellent explainer video that not only reaches your audience, but gets them hooked on your product. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Craft High converting Explainer Videos 00:38 – You DO NOT need a very high budget 00:45 – Youtube Director allows you to shoot decent videos from your iPhone 01:04 – Video Brewery is a market place for videos 01:24 – Be involved in crafting your videos 01:39 – You need to look at the objections 02:14 – Answering objections isn’t enough, you have to make a story 03:05 – Growth Everywhere’s Squatty Potty is described as an example 04:22 – Short explainer videos don’t get people hooked on your product 05:00 – People get hooked by how you good you are at answering questions and objections, building story, and connecting emotionally

In Episode #118, Neil and Eric drop 7 unorthodox SEO strategies you might be missing out on. Listen to learn what these 7 strategies and tactics are and discern whether these tools can fit your current business’ SEO plan. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: 7 Unorthodox SEO Strategies and Tactics That You Should Try 00:33 – #1 Use Scrapebox to find people within your space that talk about particular topics 01:43 – #2 Tube Buddy will tell you how your video is ranked 02:29 – #3 Brand loyalty—create new ideas to promote brand loyalty 03:29 – #4 Link blending 04:08 – Link to other credible sources beyond your own 04:44 – #5 Neil uses Animagraffs for animated infographics 05:33 – These visual infographics get so many links 06:08 – #6 Write original researched pieces of content 07:25 – #7 Translate your content 08:09 – That’s it for today’s episode! 3 Key Points: Keep coming up with NEW ideas to promote brand loyalty to your consumers. Try NOT to overuse your links—extend to othe

In Episode #117, Neil and Eric share 7 ways you can use Zapier and IFTTT to efficiently speed up workflow. Listen to discover new and effective ways to help you automate your business. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: 7 ways to use Zapier and IFTTT to speed up your workflow 00:36 – Zapier and IFTTT allow you to hook in and connect your web applications 01:08 – IFTTT is targeted more for the consumer while Zapier is more for a B2B 01:27 – #1 Zapier acts as a central location for content and pushes notifications if anything changes or comes up 02:09 – #2 Zapier automatically save tweets on a Google spreadsheet where you can go back to see which messages did well 03:02 – #3 If you’re using BidSketch or Qwilr—when a new proposal is signed, Zapier will create an automatic Quickbooks customer account, notify you on Slack, send an on-boarding email and create a Basecamp project 03:47 – #4 IFTTT sends email notifications when you’re mentioned on other websites 04:43 – #5 When there is a new I