Marketing School | Digital Marketing | Online Marketing

In Episode #149, Eric and Neil discuss how to create a first-class case study. Tune in to discover the ins and outs of a well-designed case study and how case studies will boost your marketing and draw in those quality leads you’ve been needing. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 - Today’s topic: How to Create a First-Class Case Study 00:40 – It is important to have a data that stands out 00:55 – Be specific with numbers 01:19 – Start your case study with the result 01:30 – If you’re doing an SEO, start with the results 01:48 – Neil’s sample headline is “Neil took me from $600K a year to $15M a year” 02:00 – Break down the solution 02:20 – Show people how they can do it too—not just screenshots 02:58 – Break down the form fields into multiple steps to get to the most relevant leads 04:11 – Conversion-Rate-Experts.com has in-depth and well-designed case studies 04:30 – Find a good presentation or PDF design with Dribbble and 99designs 04:40 – Neil was paying $20,000 a month for CRO services 05:10

In Episode #148, Eric and Neil discuss 7 ways to get more people to open your emails. Tune in to find out how tweaking and adjusting your subject line can lead to a higher open rate. In addition to this, Eric and Neil also stress that providing consistent, high quality content plays a huge factor in maintaining high open rates. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 - Today’s topic: 7 Ways To Get More People To Open Your Emails 00:41 – The open rate with the subject “Hey!” is 60% 00:48 – Invokes curiosity 01:12 – Add RE: to the subject line 01:32 – Open rate goes up at least 10% 01:37 – Add the receiver’s name on the subject line 02:25 – The line “[First name], I need a favor….Can you help me?” works well 02:40 – Telling the receivers that the deal is “Starting now” or “Almost expiring” 02:50 – The last minute signups for webinars are from those types of emails 03:23 – Use different email sender names 03:57 – Add the question “Are you joining us?” on the subject line 04:40 – Don’t copy other em

In Episode #147, Eric and Neil discuss the how, when and why of rebranding. The decision to restructure your brand requires a lot of upfront deliberation and Eric and Neil walk you through that very discussion. Tune in to find out the scenarios in which you SHOULD rebrand and how to make that transition as smooth as possible for your existing clientele. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: How, When and Why to Rebrand Your Business 00:36 – Moz (formerly known as SEO Moz) took the “SEO” out of their name to show they were branching out in other fields 01:01 – There’s a lot to consider with rebranding such as site migration 01:18 – Neil doesn’t like rebranding 02:13 – What is your reason to rebrand? 02:17 – “Think about what people are coming to you for” 02:46 – Neil shares about Coca-cola’s rebranding 03:10 – Is the audience open for rebranding? 03:38 – Rebranding can also mean changing your image 04:10 – Burberry changed their endorsements and, in turn, changed the image of their brand

In Episode #146, Eric and Neil teach us how to migrate a website. Whether it’s for a redesign, server improvement, new services offered, or overall better customer experience—at some point, you’ll need to migrate your website to a new one. Tune in as Neil and Eric walk us through the steps of website migration and as they offer us valuable tips to make this process stress-free and easy. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Do a Website Migration 00:33 – Why migrate a website? 01:02 – You’re usually migrating servers as well 01:34 – Make sure you have a backup of your website 01:51 – Duplicate your site to the new server 02:04 – Have everyone check both sites 02:25 – Use a tool like Screaming Frog to crawl your website and see what’s happening on the old site 02:51 – Redirect the top pages to the most relevant pages 03:52 – Be careful when redesigning your website as you migrate your website 04:29 – Neil mentions a story from Eric’s website migration 04:58 – Have the right struct

In Episode #145, Eric and Neil teach us how we can do an SEO audit using Google Search Console. Since SEO plays such a valuable part in our content marketing, we need to tighten our SEO campaigns and understand how they work. Learn more about how you can best utilize your audits from Google Search Console and make the changes that drive more traffic to your website faster and more efficiently. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Do an SEO Audit Using Google Search Console 00:32 – Make sure you have Google Analytics and Google Search Console installed 01:02 – Both are free to install 01:50 – Login to your console, then add and verify your website 02:04 – Go to search traffic and search analytics and sort by pages 02:28 – Tick box on clicks, impressions, position, and click-thru rates 02:56 – Change the ticked box from Pages to Queries 03:02 – It will show you all the queries that are driving you traffic to that page 03:12 – Look for the ones that have high click-thru rates and

In Episode #143, Eric and Neil discuss how to map out your marketing funnel. Tune in to discover the importance of knowing how your funnel affects potential customers, how to troubleshoot questions they may have along the way, and how to make a logical sequence that converts. Eric and Neil drop specific tools, tips, and sources that will help you map out your funnel to take it to that next level. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Map Out Your Marketing Funnel 00:35 – A marketing funnel consists of the steps a customer takes going through your website 01:13 – The possibilities are endless depending on your business type 01:30 – Most people design a website for people to buy something, but sometimes your customer is not ready to buy 01:50 – List out all the possible scenarios that someone could end up going through BEFORE actually buying your product 02:00 – Use a tool called gliffy.com and MindMeister.com 02:40 – Google “autopilot lead nurturing sequence” 02:54 – Autopilot incre

In Episode #142, Eric and Neil discuss the 7 tools that can help you in marketing design. Tune in to discover some of the best online tools that provide you quality images and designs for your marketing campaign that are both easy-to-use and affordable. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: 7 Tools to Help You in Marketing Design 00:46 – First tool is Canva 00:52 – Currently has around 10 million users 01:00 – Pre-made templates, designs, and dimensions are available for specific social media platforms 01:18 – Very easy to use and intuitive 01:49 – Second tool is Balsamiq for a non-techy person, you can drag and drop 02:33 – Third tool is 99designs 02:53 – Inexpensive option 03:00 – An alternative is DesignCrown 03:09 – Fourth tool is infogr.am 03:20 – Create infographics at an affordable price 03:29 – Has cool and interactive graphics you can embed within blog posts 03:52 – Fifth tool is InVision App 04:15 – Allows you to collaborate different design projects 04:36 – S

In Episode #141, Eric and Neil discuss the ways you can make changes to your website without the help of developers. Tune in to know that you do NOT have to be a technical person to know the ways around your site and to use the tools that can help you make the changes you need. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Make Changes to Your Website Without the Help of Developers 01:06 – Google Tag Manager allows you to make adjustments to pixels 01:46 – Segment.io is a paid alternative for Google Tag Manager 02:09 – The key is to make changes without having to wait for your developers 02:42 – Neil wants to make a few small changes without having to rely on developers 02:49 – Optimizely, Visual Website Optimizer and Crazy Egg have A/B testing with WYSIWYG tools 03:57 – Google Tag Manager allows you to use other tools within your website 04:16 – Watch tutorials of Google Tag Manager Trainer in Youtube 04:58 – Try to get your developers to use WordPress to put up your content as Wordpress

In Episode #139, Eric and Neil talk about how you can create a culture of testing for your business. How important is testing for your business and product? Listen as Eric and Neil discuss from their experiences the benefits of continual testing, the tools you can use to help you, and why teamwork plays a huge role in creating this culture of testing that makes your business better. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Create a Culture of Testing 00:32 – Most companies have no real process for testing their business 00:44 – You have to create a testing process 01:00 – Have at least a project management tool like MS Excel, Trello or GrowthHackers Projects 01:53 – Check out Sean Ellis’ videos online 02:04 – Group people from different departments into teams so you can test the product internally 03:01 – Let members submit their ideas on how they can grow the company faster 04:09 – Experimenting is only a failure if you have no hypothesis—but, if you learn something, it’s a success

In Episode #138, Eric and Neil discuss whether or not direct mail is a fading marketing strategy. Listen as they discuss how targeting advertisements to the right demographic as well as being creative with your copy and message can be the strategies needed to save this older, tried-and-true method.  Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: Does Direct Mail Still Work? 00:35 – It’s untrue that direct mail doesn’t work anymore 00:41 – Russell Brunson from ClickFunnels is a great example of how well it works 01:07 – “Direct mail is NOT dead” 01:21 – Direct mail still works for businesses that cater to older people 01:48 – Direct mail needs to be creatively made to get someone to open it, otherwise it can be considered junk mail 01:57 – Neil describes an ad he got in the mail the other day that he actually opened 02:21 – Like a website, direct mail also has funnels 02:47 – Send a unique letter to get someone open it 03:00 – Have persuasive copy 03:10 – Neil is testing out a marketing strategy

In Episode #137, Neil and Eric discuss the importance of knowing how to control your crawl budget. Tune in to discover how the quality of your pages affects your crawl budget and, in turn, can directly influence the level of traffic to your website.  Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: Why and How You Should Control Your Crawl Budget 00:35 – The definition of a crawl budget 01:09 – “Every site has a limited crawl budget” 01:28 – Control what pages Google crawls and have them crawl your most important ones 02:02 – Make sure the Google Search Console is installed 02:50 – Consider removing low quality pages from your website or use robotstxt to block Google from crawling them 03:21 – Deleting content can sometimes increase traffic 03:35 – Look at impressions in your Google Search Console 04:11 – Link and direct more people to high quality pages 04:29 – WhitePages block off a lot of pages 05:03 – Check the crawl error section in your Google Search Console 06:20 – The faster your servers,

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 #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 –