A blog about smart marketing and conversion optimization.

I have started four companies.  For the first one, I raised over $10 million from venture capitalists.  I also spent over $10 million.  In between, the company generated virtually no revenue.  A year after the raising funds, the company was out of business.

For my last business, I spent about 300 bucks and then got profitable.  The company went on to make millions, and I literally never had a day without profit.

Through all that experience, I learned the difference between shopping and working.

Shopping: Hiring a design agency for $2,500 to create a logo that is recognizable, memorable, brandable, and cute, then spending three months tweaking the logo to make it perfect.

Working: Realizing that the brand makes the logo memorable, not the other way, and then hiring a guy off Craiglist to create a “good enough” logo in two days for $50.

Shopping: Knowing that you need a “web strategy” and allocating $5,000/month to social media.

Working: Knowing that the web strategy is a means to an end (to make money) and tightly controlling your spend while testing and measuring every action you take while eliminating the non-performers.

Shopping: Realizing that you are not at the top of page one for paid search on the keyword “gullible” so you accept Google’s recommended bid of $4.56 per click.

Working: Realizing that the goal is to make money off your clicks even if that means not being able to advertise on every keyword where you desire to see your brand name.

Shopping: Feeling overwhelmed and then hiring someone to help relieve the burden.

Working: Feeling overwhelmed and then taking the time to prioritize your tasks and only focusing on the ones that will bring money in the door while eliminating the others.

Shopping: Haggling with a new employee over his or her salary request of $50,000 per year.

Working: Realizing that the salary request is not the problem; it’s that you don’t need a full time employee.  You can afford to pay a nice hourly wage to this person but to hire him or her for just the ten hours a week of real work that you need taken care of.

This guest post was written by Jason Yelowitz, author of The Bathrobe Millionaire.

There’s a lot of bad Google AdWords ad copy out there. Here’s a brief how-to guide for self-starters cranking away on their first campaign.

1. Lose the brand name

Unless the weight of your brand name can be likened to Coca Cola, or unless the search term in question happens to be your brand name, nobody cares about the name of your company. Instead, focus your ad on convincing the user you’ve got what she’s lookin’ for.

In the example below, I searched for “mugs.” I know it’s hard to resist the urge to plug the name of your store into the ad copy — sorry, Amsterdam Printing — but in the 1.4 seconds I’ve dedicated to scanning your ad, if I don’t see “mugs,” it’s over.

2. Promise instant gratification

Tailor your message to the search term as closely as possible. Your ad for “find good tweezers” should include “Find Good Tweezers” in the copy. Show a different ad when the search is “best tweezers” — that’s right — use the word “best” in the copy.

3. Deliver instant gratification

Whatever your ad promises, that is what you shall deliver. Take the user to a landing page that matches as closely as possible the search term and the ad you’re showing for that term. If your ad is for a free white paper on ad copy tips, there damn well better be a free white paper on that topic close at hand when I click your ad, or I’m leavin’.

4. Test profusely

All kinds of stuff has been purported to get clickthroughs. Here are a few ideas.

• Try capitalizing the first letter of each word. It’s been shown to increase clickthrough rate (CTR).
• Tout the awesome publications that have written about you. Do your customers care about the credibility of your brand?
• Try using the word “free” vs. not using “free” and compare conversion rates.
• Draw up a list of benefits and test an ad that focuses on each one.
• Don’t test too many components at once. Try 2 different headlines with the same description, for example.

5. Use that display URL to your advantage

When the user’s search term is found in your ad, Google makes it bold. The more bold in your ad, the better your CTR. So put the search term in your display URL and measure whether CTR increases. Remember, the only requirement is that your root domain matches the destination URL; what comes after that is 100% up to you.

From Slide Rocket:

Subject: Your Presentation Coach Is Ready To Help

Hi Joshua,

I wanted to send along a friendly reminder that as your SlideRocket Coach I am here to lend a hand as you try out new SlideRocket features or have any questions.

I do recommend checking out the SlideRocket blog where you can pick up great ideas and advice on slide design, giving a presentation, and a number of helpful external resources.

Please free feel to reach out to me at any time via email, or just give me a call at [Contact Info]

From Brendan Burchard:

Subject: how I get sponsors and promotional partners

Heya –

This will help you really get your message out there.

When I published my book Life’s Golden Ticket and later
launched all my events and products, I had support from
sponsors and promotional partners who helped me
get my message out to the masses.

Now I’ve helped thousands of people find sponsors and
partners and I’ve advised everyone from experts like
Tony Robbins to newbies like first-time entrepreneurs do this.

This video shows you why you should work with sponsors
on your next project or promotion, and reveals all the cool
stuff they’ll do for you (and WHY). I put the video on
Facebook so you could like it, comment on it, and share it
with anyone you know trying to get their message out there.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Brendon-Burchard-Live-Love-Matter/141502009216768

Your message and your brand is important. Work with
other organizations to get the word out.

Enjoy the video! If it helps you and you want more, then
just “like” me and I’ll send more training your way.

[Contact Info]

From: Josh Krafchin

Subject: Meet Clever Zebo

Dear Friends,

Clever Zebo is alive! What is Clever Zebo? We’re a web marketing crew that markets like it’s 2016 and loves likes it’s 1969. We looked around at an industry where agencies are scrambling to snag brand names and/or are so specialized that they lose track of the big picture and decided growing companies deserve an option that combines deep online expertise with entrepreneurial zeal and a whole lotta heart.

I’m writing to ask for your help. If you, your company, or someone you know needs help growing their business online, please don’t be shy — give us a half-hour, and we’ll give at least three relevant, powerful ideas for setting up or improving an online marketing program.

Please check out CleverZebo.com, and let me know what you think. And if you know anyone who could use an online marketing firm, please send them our way!

Thanks!

Josh Krafchin

p.s. You were added to this mailing list because at some point you signed up with, talked to, emailed with, met in person, worked with, gave birth to or are otherwise related to Joshua Krafchin. If you don’t recognize me or for any other reason don’t want to receive further email about Clever Zebo, you can unsubscribe from future Clever Zebo emails any time. While some abandonment issues may arise for me, they’ll be outweighed by the marketing-analytics-geek in me who’s grateful for another statistic to analyze.