Marketing School - Digital Marketing and Online Marketing Tips

In episode #562, Eric and Neil discuss why you should probably not buy an expensive home. Tune in to hear on what you should actually be spending your money on. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today’s Topic: Should You Ever Buy a Multimillion Dollar Home? [00:34] The home Eric just sold was worth close to a million. [00:43] Neil has lived in some big homes. [00:55] Neil had an expensive condo on the Las Vegas Strip because the builder was selling them for less than their value. [01:20] Neil doesn’t think homes are valuable and a waste of money. [01:34] Neil’s friend has a two-bedroom condo and believes real estate is one of the worst investments. [01:52] You could make more money investing in Tech. [02:00] If you are interested in real estate, look up Grant Cardone, who has a funny YouTube channel all about it. [02:09] Eric’s mom is a real estate agent and she is always pushing him to buy a home. [02:31] Eric and Neil would rather invest in businesses and themselves. [03:19] All the homes Neil has ever purchased were for investments. He believes in staying in hotels and dumping money back into tech. [04:00] Instead of wasting money on a down payment, put it back into your business. [04:13] You are better off renting. [04:54] Warren Buffett talks about staying in your lane. [05:10] Eric and Neil focus on investing in what they are good at or that they understand. [05:38] If you choose to have a big home, use it to have dinners for entrepreneurs. [05:57] Dinners led to $200,000 in deals for Eric’s company. [06:15] Eric originally paid for dinners, but then found a way for his guests to pay for it. [06:23] He used Eventbrite and put a price on the ticket to dinner. [06:37] That’s all for today! [06:39] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special marketing goodies 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 #561, Eric and Neil discuss how you can market your business for under $1,000. Tune in to hear how you can market your business for free! TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:27] Today’s Topic: How to Market Your Business for Less Than $1,000 [00:47] “Hand-to-hand combat” works in the beginning (making interpersonal connections). [01:17] It’s all about using cash flow from your first few deals to invest in basic marketing concepts. [01:43] Find people (via social media) who are unhappy with their marketing service and pitch them. [02:13] Offer free marketing in exchange for their positive testimonials. [02:24] One customer took a screenshot of his analytics and passed that on to other VCs. [02:45] Digital Telepathy did work for big names for free in exchange for having their name on the client’s website. [03:48] Look at Twitter List and Similar Web to get started. [03:57] Hunter.io is good for email marketing. [04:01] You can set up a mail-merge using GMASS. [04:12] There are plenty of free versions of helpful tools. [04:24] Listen to Eric’s other podcast, Growth Everywhere, to hear from your competitors and how they have succeeded. [05:00] Copy other people's tried and true methods! [05:25] One person listened to an episode of Growth Everywhere to pick up tips and now has a seven-figure business in Barcelona. [06:19] That’s it for today! [06:20] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special 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 #560, Eric and Neil discuss ways that unhappy customers can actually help you grow as a business. Tune in to hear how you can turn failure into future success. Time-Stamped Show Notes: [00:27] Today’s Topic: How Unhappy Customers Will Make You Grow - As Long As You Do This [00:55] Eric’s business grew 139% in 2017, but there was an “incident” and they lost 40% of their clients. [01:31] So they called an all-hands meeting and found out why they lost the clients. [01:50] Eric then reached out to the clients to see what their experience had been. [02:02] If you talk to your customers, it will help you figure out what needs to be fixed. [02:26] Neil calls former clients to see why they left and he performs surveys every month for current clients. [03:14] There is a process in place now at Eric’s company to help retain clients. [04:22] You need to do whatever it takes to improve. [04:36] Talking to unhappy customers helps you grow as a business. [05:18] If you please the majority of the customer base, they will remain loyal. [05:37] Eric personally reaches out to happy clients and he finds out what their goals are for the coming year. [06:24] That’s all for today! [06:26] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special 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 #559, Eric and Neil explain when and why you should not hire freelancers. Tune in to hear how the allure of low-priced freelancers may end up costing your company more. Time-Stamped Show Notes: [00:27] Today’s Topic: When You Should NOT Use Freelancers [00:36] When you are looking for someone to do paid ads or an involved marketing activity, ideally this will be a full-time hire that you work with directly. [01:01] Freelancers have a few clients at a time and cannot give you their full focus. [01:25] As you’re trying to scale, you’ll find they won’t move as quickly as they want. [02:06] Because you are paying for their time, try to use time-trackers like HubStaff that takes screenshots of what your freelancers are doing. [02:54] As you start growing, freelancers will sometimes take your trade secrets and use them with other clients. [03:40] Freelancers are cheaper than employees, but it may hurt you in the long run. [04:02] Is it cost or is it price that is important to you? [04:15] If you hire the least expensive freelancer, what will it cost your company when you don’t get results? [04:49] If price is more important, you will probably lose out and cost your company more. [05:03] A full-time person may cost more up front, but cost your company less in the end. [05:15] When starting out, use freelancers. When you are trying to scale and grow, it is wiser to use full-time employees. [05:39] That’s it for today! [05:41] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special edition of Crazy Egg, the heat mapping tool. 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 #558, Eric and Neil explain why newsletters are dying out and how chatbots are the next big thing. Tune in to hear how to leverage your chatbots for better results. Time-Stamped Show Notes: [00:27] Today’s Topic: How Newsletters Are Dead: You Should Do this Instead [00:45] Eric and Neil still have newsletters, but engagement is dropping. [01:01] It’s harder to get results because it can get filtered out or lost in the shuffle with the tons of emails everyone gets everyday. [01:26] You need to come up with new ways to connect. [01:38] Build up communities via social media and other outlets. [01:54] YouTube and chatbots have been great outlets for Eric and his clients. [02:11] Alex Becker does email a lot, but he is focused on building up his messenger subscribership. [02:36] Though newsletters are unpopular, they are still effective. [02:45] Eric and Neil have been moving towards shifting this message to chatbots. [03:15] Growth Everywhere added the Facebook Messenger App and they have seen great results from that. [03:38] ManyChat has growth tools that are helpful. [03:54] One of Eric’s most profitable campaign is shifting to chatbots. [04:15] Collect emails through things like content upgrades. [05:05] Always collect emails, because you don’t know when Facebook will change their algorithm and traffic will drop. [05:15] Zapier can work with ManyChat. [05:30] The bot will collect the email and it will be sent to your CRM and your webinar provider. [05:54] That’s all for today! [05:56] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special edition of Crazy Egg, the heat mapping tool. 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 #557, Eric and Neil discuss what they learned by putting a lot of money into YouTube Advertising. Tune in to hear killer tips for marketing yourself or your business on YouTube. Time-Stamped Show Notes:   [00:27] Today’s Topic: What We Learned by Spending $11K on YouTube Advertising [00:36] $11K is an arbitrary number. Chances are they have spent more than $100,000. [01:20] Eric found that when he started running ads on YouTube, his subscriber count doubled. [01:50] Neil did a test where he turned off his paid ads in early January. [02:18] His suggested video count continued to grow. [02:45] In general, it was higher than when he started ads. [03:06] He is trying to boost viewership and branding. [03:42] Most people run ads for views, but Neil was aiming to gain subscribers. [04:06] Tai Lopez is a great example of what to do using social media and YouTube. [05:15] He now has the most popular cryptocurrency-based podcast on a certain streaming service. [06:10] If you build your brand, you can use that to grow anything in the future. [06:20] That’s it for today! [06:22] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special edition of Crazy Egg, the heat mapping tool. 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 #556, Eric and Neil lay out five hacks that will help you increase your sales. Tune in to hear how you can convert more clicks into customers. Time-Stamped Show Notes:  [00:27] Today’s Topic: 5 Creative Ad Hacks That Will Double Your Sales [00:35] Hack #1: Use video re-marketing ads. [00:54] Create a video ad that shows what people will get when they purchase your service or product. [01:15] Hack #2: Use Facebook Analytics. [01:52] You will see diminishing returns on paid Facebook ads. [02:20] Agora is a great site that broke down the difference between 7, 8, and 9-figure earners. [02:39] Hack #3: You need to have upsells and downsells. [02:56] Hack #4: If you are able to consolidate your ads through one Page Post ID, it will help bring your CPCs and CPAs down. [04:03] Hack #5: Use the rule of 7: if people see you seven times, they are more likely to convert into customers. [05:10] Neil flooded the market with different types of ads on different platforms and he converted a large number of people. [05:44] Overall, the ROI numbers went through the roof. [05:49] That’s it for today! [05:51] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special edition of Crazy Egg, the heat mapping tool. 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 #555, Eric and Neil discuss ways in which marketing blockchain companies is like being in the Wild West. Tune in to hear their thoughts on successfully navigating this new technology. Time-Stamped Show Notes:   [00:27] Today’s Topic: How to Market a Blockchain Company [00:47] One of the blockchain companies Eric is working with is very traditional. [00:51] They are doing media buys on a site with a lot of traffic, drive people to the landing page, and then get them on the email list. Then, they use a chat program, Telegram. It’s a high-level funnel. [01:34] The marketing is still very traditional. [01:42] It reminds Eric of the Wild West, because it’s new territory and people are getting paid in new currency. [02:16] Most people aren’t using traditional channels. [02:46] Banner ads and press aren’t doing much anymore. [03:03] Celebrity endorsements are passe. [03:15] You need to be focusing on the technology. [03:33] While it may be easier to raise money on the blockchain, that doesn’t mean it’s right for the long-term success of your business. [03:49] A lot of people raise money, but then don’t update their investors. [04:05] If you’re getting millions, you should at least update your investors. [04:42] Neil feels there is zero accountability in the startup industry right now. [05:18] In terms of marketing, “All the things that we talk about on this podcast are going to work.” -Neil [05:22] If you are looking to start a marketing agency, now is a good time, because everyone is doing things that have already been done. [05:43] Your brand is priceless. [05:54] Warren Buffett always writes a one-page update for his investors and top-level employees. [06:21] That’s it for today! [06:23] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special edition of Crazy Egg, the heat mapping tool. [06:31] Tweet at Eric if you would like them to curate their podcast content. 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 #554, Eric and Neil share some of their daily habits that they believe contribute to their success. Tune in to hear some great tips for being productive!  Time-Stamped Show Notes:   [00:27] Today’s Topic: Daily Habits Shared by the World's Most Successful Marketers [00:36] You have to continuously learn, because things are always changing. [00:42] Eric is always checking Feedly to keep abreast of issues and changes in marketing. [01:30] Neil, one of the world’s most successful marketers, likes to make to-do lists and break things down into daily tasks. [01:42] He finds he learns the most from events and meetups. [02:15] Eric learned some vital techniques from the book The One Thing. [02:20] He uses Evernote to organize his to-do lists. He puts one thing at the top as the one major thing he absolutely must get done that day. [02:57] The tool that Neil looks at every day: Google Analytics. [03:20] He uses GA because it helps him see issues before they are even publicly announced. [03:43] He also uses Gmail and Skype daily, Ahrefs and SEMrush several times per week. [04:00] Daily tools that Eric uses: Pocket, Slack, Asana. [05:10] Neil likes Trello, as it allows him to see all his agency’s projects at once. [05:45] Daily meditation, journaling, and exercise are other great daily tools. [06:11] Neil’s daily habits are: waking up at 5am, working out for 30 minutes or so, eating breakfast, meetings throughout the day. [06:57] The more you can optimize your life, the better. [07:29] Neil also tries to take a walk every single day to clear his mind. [08:24] If you don’t want to spend money on expensive exercise classes, you can buy a walking/standing desk. [08:36] That’s it for today! [08:38] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special edition of Crazy Egg, the heat mapping tool. 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 #553, Eric and Neil reveal some important things that big agencies won’t tell you. Tune in to hear what you should know before signing on to work with a major marketing agency. Time-Stamped Show Notes: [00:27] Today’s Topic: What Most Marketing Agencies Won't Tell You [00:37] There are good and bad clients. [00:45] They measure this using the labor efficiency ratio. [01:04] When the whales are profitable, you are going to spend more time on that client. [01:24] Most agencies are pitching a dream, but they aren’t always able to deliver. [02:10] When you go to Chipotle or Taco Bell, you’re expecting the same thing every time. [02:20] When you have an agency with hundreds of clients, you are looking to deliver the same experience every time, to everyone. [02:32] Eric recommends that you actually have an in-house marketing person to have a laser focus on your goals. [03:12] Maybe start with an agency, then hire someone full-time, then consider using an agency again. [03:32] When you are starting out, you say “yes” to everything simply because you need to earn revenue. [03:40] When you’re established, you can be a lot more selective. [03:53] Eric feels the quality of his work suffered when he was doing every aspect of marketing and was trying to deliver on things that weren’t his or his agency’s strengths. [04:34] The quality of paid ads and SEO is better now, because he isn’t spread so thin. [04:56] People on Eric’s team want to add services, but he’s trying to temper that. [05:22] When working with an agency, you have to ask them what their strengths are. [06:04] You only want to work with people on things that they are good at. [06:22] Full-service agencies are big, brand names, with great revenue, but the quality suffered because they couldn’t possibly specialize in anything. [07:00] That’s it for Today! [07:04] Go to Singlegrain.com/Giveway for a special edition of Crazy Egg, the heat mapping tool. [07:09] Tweet at Eric @Ericosiu and let him know if you want them to curate their podcast content. 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.