Marketing School - Digital Marketing and Online Marketing Tips

In episode #492, Eric and Neil talk about how to manage your business while traveling. Tune in for some great tips on how to stay involved while also trusting others to step up in your absence. Time-Stamped Show Notes: [00:22] Today’s Topic: How to Run a Business While Traveling [00:31] Eric and Neil are going to try a new format for the next twenty or so episodes about this type of content and would like your feedback. [01:05] Eric likes to make sure he has ironed out processes and delegated important tasks before he travels. [01:40] Traveling internationally doesn’t mean you can’t reach your team; you can still work in your current time zone. [02:10] Compromising with your leisure and work time while traveling is the best way to get everything done. [02:30] Having amazing managers in place means you can actually enjoy your travels and have fewer work responsibilities while you’re away. [03:10] Parkinson’s Law applies: “Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” [03:50] Just because you own the business, does not mean that you have to do everything: reliable employees are key. [04:06] Eric recommends Insta Sleep to help you get your rest on the plane and adjust to another time zone. [05:30] Traffic is the lifeblood of your business. [05:55] Eric recommends Traction as required reading. [06:45] Eric and his team use Slack and 15Five to keep organized and in touch. [07:20] It’s important to have systems in place to retain excellent workers. [07:40] Always use the plane’s WiFi, so you can communicate and get work done on the go. [08:15] The American Express Platinum card gets you travel perks that offset the costs of membership. [08:33] That’s it for today! [08:42] Eric and Neil recommend the Problem Solvers podcast, because there is an episode about Burrow, the Dollar Shave Club for couches. To listen go to singlegrain.com/solve. 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 #491, Eric and Neil explain the purpose of Google’s AMP and why it may be killing your revenue. If you are an e-commerce business, this episode should be of particular interest to you. Tune in to discover how AMP is hurting your business. Time-Stamped Show Notes: [00:27]   Today’s Topic: Google’s AMP Is Killing Your Revenue [00:35] Explaining the purpose of Google’s AMP. [01:13] When stripping down sites for mobile access, it strips away ads to get the sites to load more quickly. [01:30] Reasons why certain countries have different rates of search traffic. [02:30] Why your revenue will tank in spite of search traffic increases. [03:13] Even though Google says they are adding tools for publishers, take it with a grain of salt. [03:35] If you are an e-commerce business, it can be detrimental to use AMP. [03:48] That’s it for today! [03:50] Marketing School is giving away a 90-day free trial to Crazy Egg, which is a visual heat-mapping tool. [03:55] Go to SingleGrain.com/giveaway to get your free copy. You can also learn how to win a one-year subscription to Crazy Egg.  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 #490 of Marketing School, Eric and Neil explain why social media scheduling tools can hurt your numbers in terms of reach. Ultimately, live posts are still where it’s at. Time-Stamped Show Notes: [00:30] Today’s Topic: Buffer and Hootsuite Are Hurting Your Facebook Reach [01:05] When using Buffer and Hootsuite to schedule posts, it doesn’t get nearly as much engagement as “live” posts or by using Facebook’s own tools. [01:54] These tools are ok to use with Twitter. [02:19] They ultimately recommend to avoid using tools and post manually. [02:20] That’s it for today! [02:22] Marketing School is giving away a 90-day free trial to Crazy Egg, which is a visual analytics tool. [02:28] Go to SingleGrain.com/giveaway to get your free copy. You can also learn how to win a one-year subscription to Crazy Egg. 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 #489, Eric and Neil give advice on how to increase the number of your Instagram followers. A lot of it is as simple as interacting and engaging others on the social media platform. Listen in for more specific advice on how to get your first thousand followers. Time-Stamped Show Notes:  [00:28] Today’s Topic: How to Get Your First 1,000 Instagram Followers [00:44] Gaining Instagram followers by doing “shout for shout” [01:59] Promote your social media profiles by cross-linking them all and linking to them from your website. [02:58] It’s harder to rank on Google organically, because if it wasn’t, they wouldn’t get money from ad revenue. [03:14] If you have an email list, link to your social media profiles in your blasts. [03:50] Interact and engage on Instagram to make your profile more visible. [04:35] That’s it for today! [04:37] Marketing School is giving away a 90-day free trial to Crazy Egg, which is a visual analytics tool. [04:43] Go to SingleGrain.com/giveaway to get your free copy. You can also learn how to win a one-year subscription to Crazy Egg. 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 #488 of Marketing School, Eric and Neil discuss whether it is better to hire an agency or a freelancer to market your business. Tune in to learn which approach is best for you and your company. Time-Stamped Show Notes: [00:27] Today’s Topic: Should You Work with an Agency or Hire Freelancers? [00:36] Establish a goal. [01:15] Freelancers are great if you have a lot of time to manage people; plus it’s more cost-effective. [01:46] Agencies tend to move faster than the companies that hire them; hire them if you need someone to push you. [02:33] You can find freelancers on sites like Upwork, Problogger, or Fivrr. [03:38] You can use tools like Hubstaff to manage your freelancers (it takes screenshots and helps to track their time). [04:15] Before you hire anyone, be sure to ask what they are going to do for your business. [05:00] Check agencies’ and freelancers’ past work, experiences, and ratings. [05:33] That’s it for today! [05:35]  Marketing School is giving away a 90-day free trial to Crazy Egg, which is a visual analytics tool. [05:42] Go to SingleGrain.com/giveaway to get your free copy. You can also learn how to win a one-year subscription to Crazy Egg. 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 #487, Eric and Neil discuss how to learn copywriting when you suck at writing. Tune in to learn that you don’t have to be an expert writer to be a copywriter. Focus on overcoming objections and solving problems. They also shares books, tools, and helpful resources. Time-stamped show notes: [00:28] - Today's topic: How to Learn Copywriting When You Suck at Writing [00:43] - If you suck at writing, it doesn't mean you can't do copywriting to compel people to take action. [01:00] - Read Persuasion by Robert Cialdini and The Boron Letters by Gary Halbert. [01:53] - Neil is great at copywriting, but not writing. He learned he doesn't have to be the best writer from Frank Kern. [02:26] - You just need to be able to answer the customer's objection. [02:43] - Survey your visitors and find their objections. Use SurveyMonkey or any survey tool. [02:49] - Find out why people aren't converting and answer those objections in your copy. [03:08] - Solving people's problems will make them much more likely to convert. [03:27] - AppSumo is based on sending emails. Neville Medhora from Kopywriting Kourse helped Noah Kagan build AppSumo. [03:37] - You have to have good copy when sending emails. [03:58] - Also check out CopyBlogger and the podcast from John McIntyre and Ben Settle’s emails. [04:15] - When looking at copywriting think of the concept of Seinfeld emails: talking about nothing or the story of your day and weaving in your offer. [05:14] - Conversion rates are 1 to 3 percent. To get people to convert, you have to create multiple ways to help your customers convert into buyers. [06:29] - Talking to people and presenting information in the right scenario can also help with conversion. [06:41] - That's it for today! [06:45] - Marketing School is giving away a 90-day FREE trial to Crazy Egg which is a visual analytics tool. Go to SingleGrain.com/giveaway to get your FREE copy. [06:53] - You can also learn how to win a one-year subscription to Crazy Egg.  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 #486, Eric and Neil discuss how to create the perfect “About” page. Tune in to learn how to have an About page that resonates with people through storytelling, connecting emotionally, and giving readers next steps to follow. Time-stamped show notes: [00:28] - Today's topic: How to Create the Perfect About Page [00:35] - The Single Grain About page describes our process, who we have contributed to, and our core values. [01:12] - Neil's About page is a story. Storytelling is one of the most powerful forms of marketing. [01:21] - Create a story with an emotional punch and you are more likely to convert those people into customers. [01:44] - Also give next steps about what people should do after reading your story. [02:30] - The story needs to resonate with people. [02:49] - Neil's About page used to have an image of Neil and things he liked, such as tacos. [03:16] - Think about how to connect and resonate with people. [03:25] - We speak at conferences to connect with people and find their story. [03:35] - That's it for today! [03:37] - Marketing School is giving away a 90-day FREE trial to Crazy Egg which is a visual analytics tool. Go to SingleGrain.com/giveaway to get your FREE copy. [03:49] - You can also learn how to win a one-year subscription to Crazy Egg.  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 #485, Eric and Neil discuss how to write a killer blog conclusion that leaves the reader satisfied. Tune in to learn how having a conclusion can encourage the skimmer to read the entire article, encourage engagement through next steps and questions, and cap things off with a concise summary. Time-stamped show notes: [00:28] - Today's topic: How to Write a Killer Blog Conclusion That Leaves the Reader Satisfied [00:46] - How Neil always had a conclusion on Quick Sprout, his first big marketing blog. [01:09] - Ending a conclusion with a question mark encourages more comments. [01:19] - The conclusion should summarize the blog post. People scroll to the bottom and read the conclusion first. [01:46] - Eric likes to get to the point and extract value. [02:06] - Put next steps in the conclusion such as “leave a comment” and “check out this post”. [02:25] - Have conclusion, ask a question, and summarize things. Cap it off. [02:38] - That's it for today! [02:41] - Marketing School is giving away a 90-day FREE trial to Crazy Egg which is a visual analytics tool. Go to SingleGrain.com/giveaway to get your FREE copy. [02:51] - You can also learn how to win a one-year subscription to Crazy Egg.  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 #484, Eric and Neil discuss how to turn marketing qualified leads into sales qualified leads. Tune in to learn the difference between a marketing qualified lead and a sales qualified lead; how to convert an MQL into an SQL through criteria, and how to automate the scheduling and sales calls. Time-stamped show notes: [00:29] - Today's topic: How to Turn Marketing Qualified Leads Into Sales Qualified Leads [00:39] - MQL or marketing qualified leads are actions that are taken inside your email marketing software or marketing automation software. Such as Drip or Marketo. [00:49] - Once someone visits a certain number of pages they may have a marketing score of 70 which makes them a marketing qualified lead. [01:02] - A sales qualified lead is based on the ideal client profile. [01:11] - How do you turn marketing qualified leads into sales qualified leads. [01:18] - Different behavior triggers can move someone into a sales sequence based on criteria that you set. [01:47] - Ask for a lot of criteria when qualifying a lead. Use a form field and pass it to sales. [02:11] - If sales reps aren't talking to the leads, they are not generating conversions. [02:17] - Once the lead hits the form fields you can schedule them automatically in a call using something like ScheduleOnce. [03:26] - Once a lead comes in we use Clearbit to enrich the leads. We only reach out if they fit a certain criteria. [03:50] - If you want more sales qualified leads have an online chat on your site like Drift. [04:20] - Think about what types of leads are closing based on region. [05:20] - That's it for today! [05:22] - Marketing School is giving away a 90-day FREE trial to Crazy Egg which is a visual analytics tool. [05:27] - Go to SingleGrain.com/giveaway to get your FREE copy. You can also learn how to win a one-year subscription to Crazy Egg. 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 #483, Eric and Neil discuss how to do content marketing if you’re in a boring industry. Tune in to learn how you can use other forms of content like video, make content that is either fun or useful, find out what is popular, and build a brand over time. Time-stamped show notes: [00:29] - Today's topic: How to Do Content Marketing if You’re in a Boring Industry [00:34] - Squatty Potty in 2015 did $20 million in sales on Shark Tank. [00:58] - They spent $600,000 on a fun video with a unicorn pooping out rainbows. [01:24] - Content marketing can be video too. [01:29] - Use BuzzSumo to see what is popular. Education and helping other people is sexy. [01:50] - Your content just has to be helpful and people will link back to you. [02:03] - The Points Guy talks about credit cards and miles. [02:26] - The only way to build a brand is to provide value to people. [03:00] - How Neil couldn't find a good article on how to install a bidet. Some people may think it is boring, but if the content is helpful you can do well. [03:35] - Just look at How to Tie a Tie the number one result is very useful which is sexy at the moment. [04:01] - Look at the opportunities and what is performing no matter what niche you are in. [04:11] - That's it for today! [04:14] - Marketing School is giving away a 90-day FREE trial to Crazy Egg which is a visual analytics tool. [04:23] - Go to SingleGrain.com/giveaway to get your FREE copy. [04:30] - You can also learn how to win a one-year subscription to Crazy Egg. 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.