Other

One thing companies don’t realize when they brag about revenue and sales is that they give away a lot of their secret sauce.  For example, I build (have someone build when it’s out of my skill set or I’m being lazy) weird algorithms and formulas for fun regularly (mainly because it is fun to mess with colleagues and friends) and because it gives me an advantage in the business world.

Whether it is creating a plan to destroy a client’s competitor, pitch a new affiliate or pitch a potential client who won’t share data, I can get solid estimates by simply gathering some of the data points they post publicly and weighing them out with a series of if/then, and/or statements and weights.  The company is usually shocked when I start reading the results to them, mostly because they don’t realize how simple it is to do this.  The best part is that most of it is publicly available, you just need to put the pieces together.  So why did I just ramble for two paragraphs?

Someone recently said, you can’t tell my AOV and I won’t share it.  If you know me well you know I love a challenge, so here’s what I did.

Note: I have not created this algorithm….yet….but I might in the future.  =0)

[Read more…] about How to Forecast a Competitor’s AOV & Beat Them

This is not a this year post, this is evergreen and won’t change.  It is something I print out and keep handy during each holiday shopping season and since we’re now in October, I figured it’s time to share it with you all.  It’s a checklist of things to remember so that you can do your best have a successful Q4 with your marketing campaigns and strategies.

The big thing to remember is that if it’s not making you more money and more productive, it won’t impact your Q4 and it does not matter.

Do Not Complain About Missing or Lower Traffic

Complaining and worrying about missing traffic or a channel that is falling won’t make you money.  Tweeting to Google, yelling at an affiliate manager who lost a big partner or complaining in a Facebook group about the Facebook algorithm doesn’t make you feel better in the long run and distracts you from what is important.  You know what does make you feel better, recovering sales and growing.  Sit back and see what is in your control and then focus on that, not complaining and looking for peer reaffirmations.

Can you launch in new places like Amazon, Walmart.com or other market places.  There are almost always untapped traffic sources within your reach and this could be the time to test them.  Same with going to Bing if you’re only running Adwords or you can begin creating video and video ads for YouTube.  You probably have a cell phone or a computer with a camera, use it.  Don’t let fear and self doubt stop you!

What Are Other Ways You Can Use What You Have

As a digital marketing consultant for both large and small companies I have to be creative regularly and evaluate, audit and come up with recommendations based on capabilities, availability of skills, financial situation and the reality of executing campaigns properly.  To do this I have to be creative and think of alternate ways that clients can use their assets without eating up too much time and also have a good chance at driving revenue and leads.  The same goes for you.

Think about your newsletter list.  If you’re only emailing to it you’re limiting your own potential.

Other ways to use an email list:

• You can upload it to social media ad platforms or Google and run ads
• Use it for cross promotions with complementary companies for a giveaway to grow it
• Cut a deal with a media outlet like a blog, local paper or even a major media site that sells impressions.  Trade them coverage for the promise of you emailing the coverage/article to your list.

[Read more…] about How to Prepare Your Business for a Successful Holiday Season

Q4 is now upon us, well in about a week or so, and with this happy time that makes marketers want to scream comes a plethora of predictions, analysis and hopes for an exciting new year.

Below you’ll find some of our predictions for SEO and Affiliate Marketing in 2019 and we feel confident that a majority of these will in fact come true.

[Read more…] about 100% Accurate SEO & Affiliate Predictions for 2019

This year has been especially busy with red flag emergencies.  Sites that once produced sales or businesses whose leads stopped overnight wake up and see nothing, then hit panic mode.  Do not be one of these business owners, instead read this post and process the situation before reacting.

Although there is not a one size fits all solution, I help companies with this regularly and am going to share some of the ways I approach these situations before developing a custom plan and strategy unique to theirs.  Use these steps as a starting point and to help trouble shoot a way to work through the issues you’re website is facing.  If they don’t work, feel free to contact me using the form on the right and I can help to troubleshoot with you.

Steps to Find Out Why Website Sales Stopped:

1. Find the missing traffic or sales
2. Look for where you can recover immediately
3. Test your sales or lead funnel based on the channel or broken piece
4. Find the right person to fix the specific issue

Now let’s go into more detail on each.

[Read more…] about What To Do When Sales & Leads Stop Overnight

AdCombo reached out and asked me to do a sponsored review.  Below you’ll find everything good, bad and in between that I could see when going through their CPA network.  The post is based off of my initial reaction and as I went through the process from a publisher (and potential advertiser) standpoint.  I encourage you to read through the entire post.

Note: This process started out negative because I had to jump through a few hoops.  However, that is also the same reason I found myself really liking this CPA network.  I now enjoy it enough that I am recommending it to one of my non US clients that needs a solution for international traffic.  I never thought I would recommend a CPA network to a client, but AdCombo impressed me so I am…with restrictions and some precautionary warnings. 

Homepage:

[Read more…] about AdCombo CPA Network Review

If you’re a local business with a brick and mortar location, driving foot traffic is vital.  Advertising is expensive when you compete on PPC as well as in media buys including local print publications.  You also cannot track it as easily if you don’t have a good marketer working with you.  However, if you get creative there are some affordable ways you can still bring people into your business and convert them into sales.  The trick is making sure that you target the right people and have something that is directly relevant to them.

Below you’ll find three options to target tourists using games like Pokemon Go, dating apps and even maps like Waze.  This can be applied to everyone from tourists to locals and even people passing through.

[Read more…] about 3 Mobile Advertising Options Perfect for Small Businesses