Marketing School - Digital Marketing and Online Marketing Tips

In episode #622, Eric and Neil discuss what you can do when you run out of marketing ideas. Tune in to hear where you can find inspiration to get you out of a rut. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today’s Topic: Running Out of Marketing Ideas? Do this [00:45] Eric opens Feedly, which has a bunch of marketing blogs, which can give him a bunch of ideas. [01:17] Nuzzle takes all of his Twitter followers and shows him who they are following. [01:34] Basically, go out and research in order to get new ideas. [01:47] Instead of doing more things, improve what you are already doing. [01:53] Try using Buzzsumo, SEMRush, AHREFS in order to see what your competitors are doing. [02:14] Re-write your competitors work and improve upon it. [02:46] Whatrunswhere shows you what banner ads your competitors are leveraging. [03:15] Keep things fresh: go look at your channels and update/upgrade them. [03:42] Crowdsource your ideas! [04:50] Listen to competitors’ podcasts, which will give you great ideas. Find out their numbers, see what’s working, and leverage this information to your advantage. [05:32] Eric did an episode of Growth Everywhere and his interviewee’s competitor was listening and reached out to Eric. [06:01] The competitor picked up some useful info, just from listening to the podcast. [06:25] That’s all for today! [06:29] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway! Leave some feedback: What should we talk about next? Please let us know in the comments below. Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave a short review. Connect with us: NeilPatel.com Quick Sprout Growth Everywhere Single Grain Twitter @neilpatel Twitter @ericosiu Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In episode #621, Eric and Neil explain how marketers are full of shit. Tune in to hear how you can decipher a bullshitter from a talented marketer. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today’s Topic: Marketers Are Full of Shit [00:34] Marketers always talk a big game, but their results speak for themselves. [01:08] When hiring marketers, make sure whatever they claim to have done is backed up by proof. [01:45] Eric’s friend had to fire his marketing guy, because the marketer used up too many resources. [02:16] You must absolutely require proof of success and pay them for a trial period (run a series of paid tests). [02:48] Always test out a working relationship before you pull the trigger. [03:20] Neil doesn’t care what your title is, he is only focused on efficacy and results. [03:43] Eric and Neil can easily provide proof of their results. [04:05] “What is the most impressive win of your marketing career thus far?” is Eric’s favorite interview question. Once you start pressing for details, you can tell whether a candidate is lying. [04:40] Neil likes to show candidates his website and ask what they would do to fix any issues. [05:05] This is a great way to see if they can think on their feet or improve upon anything. It shows you if they know what they are talking about. [05:41] That’s all for today! [05:43] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway! Leave some feedback: What should we talk about next? Please let us know in the comments below. Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave a short review. Connect with us: NeilPatel.com Quick Sprout Growth Everywhere Single Grain Twitter @neilpatel Twitter @ericosiu Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In episode #620. Eric and Neil discuss 7 unorthodox marketing hacks. Tune in to hear what you could be doing to drive conversions. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today’s Topic: 7 Unorthodox Marketing Hacks You Ought to Leverage [00:35] #1: When driving people to your website, less than 5% will convert. For the 95% that don’t convert, re-market them with an opposite pitch (logical vs. emotional). [01:22] #2: Every month, when Drift launches a new feature, they treat it as a product launch, which helps to keep them top-of-mind. Product Hunt is a great tool for this. [02:22] #3: There is a program on LinkedIn that gives a special button that populates their LinkedIn info into a form, so they have less work to do. This will increase your leads and conversions, because there is less work to be done [02:59] #4: Build a repurposing framework. Think about all the content you can take even further (turning a blog post into a video, social media post, webinar, etc.). [03:36] #5: To increase your traffic, start doing things people wouldn’t normally do. [04:01] The best way to get people from your blog to your landing page/product page is to place banner ads within your blog. [04:27] #6: Offer something for free for the cost of shipping. [04:57] Russell Brunson built his company by doing this. [05:10] #7: Give people options in your ads. [05:22] Within the first 30 seconds of a video about learning guitar, the instructor offered a link for beginners and a link for more advanced students. [06:04] That’s it for today! [06:06] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway! Leave some feedback: What should we talk about next? Please let us know in the comments below. Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave a short review. Connect with us: NeilPatel.com Quick Sprout Growth Everywhere Single Grain Twitter @neilpatel Twitter @ericosiu Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In episode #619. Eric and Neil discuss how you can audit your content in 5 minutes. Tune in to hear how you can quickly improve your content. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today’s Topic: How to Audit Your Content in 5 Minutes [00:34] Eric likes to use Screaming Frog Spider, an SEO tool that allows him to crawl his website like a search engine would. [01:06] There’s an annual fee, but it’s a great way to audit your content. [01:12] Neil likes to make a list of all his Wordpress content, see which topics are duplicates, then plugs that into Google Search Console. Once he sees which ones are ranking, he will combine the similar posts and update his links. [02:04] This is the quickest way to audit your content and this will increase your rankings. [03:05] Using a tool like AHREFS allows you to do content gap analysis, while also offering a look at your competitors. [03:25] Content auditing doesn’t take long! [03:43] Click flow helps to optimize organic click-through rates to drive your traffic up. [04:12] That’s all for today! [04:15] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway! Leave some feedback: What should we talk about next? Please let us know in the comments below. Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave a short review. Connect with us: NeilPatel.com Quick Sprout Growth Everywhere Single Grain Twitter @neilpatel Twitter @ericosiu Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In episode #618, Eric and Neil discuss why Ivy League graduates aren’t always the best marketers. Tune in to hear why you shouldn’t hire a Harvard grad. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today’s Topic: Why You Shouldn't Hire Harvard Graduates [00:35] People who come from Ivy League schools are smart and they are not saying not to hire them. [01:20] What you need to do, is hire people based on how creative they are and their past work. [01:38] If a candidate can turn a dud into a stud, they can probably do great work for you. [01:55] People who go to good schools are good at following instructions. When it comes to getting creative and thinking outside the box, they may not be able to do that. [02:40] When Eric was 22, there was a Harvard grad who was in the same position as Eric. The Harvard grad appeared to have no chutzpah and would come in and only do what he was told. This motivated Eric to work hard and be creative. [03:25] Affiliate marketers are the most creative, because they don’t operate based on rules. [04:15] People that operate outside boundaries and make difficult numbers work, are often successful affiliate marketers. [04:36] That’s all for today! [04:38] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway! Leave some feedback: What should we talk about next? Please let us know in the comments below. Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave a short review. Connect with us: NeilPatel.com Quick Sprout Growth Everywhere Single Grain Twitter @neilpatel Twitter @ericosiu Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In episode #617, Eric and Neil count out their favorite WordPress plugins. Tune in to hear what plugins you should be using to optimize your posts. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today’s Topic: Our Favorite Marketing WordPress Plugins of 2018 [00:35] YouTube Subscribe Bar allows you to embed videos and include a subscribe button. However, the subscribe button will subscribe viewers to your channel instead of the channel from which the video was posted. [01:13] Yoast SEO Plugin has an XML sitemap generator. They create XML sitemaps the correct way, whereas other plugins do not. [01:37] Tools like Pretty Links help to shorten links and make them more visually appealing. [02:05] Exit Pop Ups works well with Hello Bar and Neil likes it because you can make your background an animated GIF. Animated GIFs tend to up your subscribers. [02:27] Wordable allows you to write a post in Google Sheets and then push it directly to Wordpress. [03:18] Gravity Forms is a great way to do integrations and collect payments. You can hook it in with Woocommerce or Zapier. [03:52] WP Embed Code Generator, which is great for creating embed codes for your infographics, so other people can use them. [04:09] A Blogging Checklist is an oldie, but a goodie. The checklist is an easy form for everyone to follow. It’s a dummy-proof solution. [04:46] That’s all for today! [04:49] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway! Leave some feedback: What should we talk about next? Please let us know in the comments below. Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave a short review. Connect with us: NeilPatel.com Quick Sprout Growth Everywhere Single Grain Twitter @neilpatel Twitter @ericosiu Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In episode #616, Eric and Neil discuss the 7 hacks you can use to stand out from the crowd. Tune in to hear what you should be doing to make an impression. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today’s Topic: 7 Social Media Hacks That'll Make You Stand Out From The Noise [00:42] #1: Neil took the most popular influencers and had them take photos of themselves holding signs that said, “Who is Neil Patel?”. Over the years, he has closed deals because people remembered this campaign. [01:26] #2: Allbird has custom illustrations and videos on Instagram. That kind of thing will help you stand out. [02:06] #3: See what’s working for your competitors and is getting them the most shares. Then, create similar content or posts. [02:38] #4: Social Blade shows stats for YouTube. You can see channel’s growth rates and what helped them achieve that growth. This will help you figure out what tactics to copy. [03:23] #5: Increase engagement by boosting posts to people on your fan page. [04:11] #6: Build pods with like-minded people and power-like each other’s posts. [04:38] #7: Figure out what each social network is missing. Facebook is trying to work on video, LinkedIn has a lot of gaps, etc. If you give the social network what they are lacking, they will promote it. [05:34] That’s all for today! [05:36] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway! Leave some feedback: What should we talk about next? Please let us know in the comments below. Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave a short review. Connect with us: NeilPatel.com Quick Sprout Growth Everywhere Single Grain Twitter @neilpatel Twitter @ericosiu Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In episode #615, Eric and Neil debate which marketing channel has the best ROI. Tune in to hear on which channel you should be focusing your energy. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today’s Topic: Which Marketing Channels Have The Best ROI [00:35] Content marketing is one of the best options for good ROI. [00:40] On the other hand, Neil thinks using paid ads are the best. [01:06] You have to think of scalability and return on investment. [01:30] With content marketing, you could spend $1 Million and generate $10 Million, whereas with paid ads, you could spend $50 Million and generate $100. [01:40] If you combine those two channels, you could have a “monster” business. [02:00] One channel could work better than the other depending on the business. [02:25] A woman Neil met at a conference gets all her business through Facebook ads. [02:50] Another company grew solely off of social media paid ads, which proves this is a popular and successful method. [03:15] If you layer paid ads with content marketing, you will have twice as much business. [03:42] If you want to know which will produce the highest ROI for you, run some tests. [04:02] If you are not sure which channels to use, check out what is working for your competitors using SEMRush or BuzzSumo. [04:20] Think about where your audience is “hanging out” and tailor your approach. [04:42] If you need to need to go back to Marketing 101, read The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing. [04:46] That’s all for today! [04:49] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway! Leave some feedback: What should we talk about next? Please let us know in the comments below. Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave a short review. Connect with us: NeilPatel.com Quick Sprout Growth Everywhere Single Grain Twitter @neilpatel Twitter @ericosiu Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In episode #614, Eric and Neil count out the 10 marketing tools you absolutely need. Tune in to hear which tools you should be using to help increase your revenue. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today’s Topic: The Only 10 Marketing Tools You Need [00:45] Marketers use too many tools and it was proven in a study. [01:01] #1: AHREFS is the tool that is great for competitive analysis or even analyzing your own performance. [01:30] #2: Google Analytics helps you track what is effective and compare yourself to your competition. [02:14] #3: Zoom is all-in-one webinar software. You can live chat with your team or have your webinar viewed by up to 10,000 people at a time. [02:52] #4: BuzzSumo is a way to track social media shares. [03:08] #5: Convert Kit or Drip as email service providers. Use something that is intuitive like these products. [03:39] #6: Crazy Egg is a heat-mapping tool that Neil helped to create. It does heat-map recording, scroll maps, AB tests, etc. [04:03] #7: Clickflow or Google Search Console (Neil is one of the co-founders of Clickflow). These products allow you to see which ones of your articles are popping and which are not. You can then optimize your titles and content using these tools. [04:20] #8: Subscribers is a great way to get people back to your website (you can use any chat bot as well). [04:55] #9: Sprout Social or Buffer are social media management tools. You can manage multiple accounts from one place. [05:19] #10: HubSpot helps to track sales-qualified leads and offers a lot of free tools. [05:37] That’s it for today! [05:40] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway! Leave some feedback: What should we talk about next? Please let us know in the comments below. Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave a short review. Connect with us: NeilPatel.com Quick Sprout Growth Everywhere Single Grain Twitter @neilpatel Twitter @ericosiu Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In episode #613, Eric and Neil explain why they work so hard. Tune in to hear why they spend so much time working and whether it is worth it. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today’s Topic: Why We Work So Hard [00:43] Neil says he works so hard because he loves what he does and he also has nothing better to do. [00:50] He loves it so much it doesn’t feel like work for him. [01:01] Eric loves playing games and finds that marketing is a fun game for him (in terms of strategizing). [01:58] He is addicting to winning. [02:30] One of Neil’s partners said marketing is like a drug. [03:03] Eric sees systems of processes and finds them to be like puzzle pieces. [03:35] Business is a game that never ends. [04:01] Though Neil clearly grew up an Upper-Middle Class kid, he still had aspirations of being “rich” and privileged. [04:12] Eventually, he realized money doesn’t equate to happiness, but the challenges of the job were satisfying. [04:38] Figure out what your motivation is and once you find that, keep pushing forward. If you don’t love what you do, don’t do it! [05:32] Eric believes that when you work all the time, you get to meet a wide array of interesting people, which is beneficial and it evens out all the hours worked. [06:04] That’s it for today! [06:07] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing tool giveaway! Leave some feedback: What should we talk about next? Please let us know in the comments below. Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave a short review. Connect with us: NeilPatel.com Quick Sprout Growth Everywhere Single Grain Twitter @neilpatel Twitter @ericosiu Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.