I normally charge $100 per hour for Internet marketing consulting. But this week, I’m doing something special.
I’m teaching a class on Thursday and Friday specifically about Google AdWords. I know this stuff and I know how to make money with it. I’ve been a certified Google AdWords Professional for several years. I created my first account in 2002 and I still manage that same account and make money with it.
I honestly think that almost every business can make money by spending a specific and budgeted amount on Google AdWords. I also firmly believe that almost all SEO work should start with a small amount of Google AdWords. It’s the BEST Keyword Research in the world. I show how in this class.
It will be held in the training room at our office and I sincerely hope you can make it. So here’s my offer…
If you come spend 2 days with me learning how to build and/or refine your Google AdWords campaigns, I have two $100 Google AdWords coupons I will give you for free. You can use them on new accounts.
After the class, you’ll know exactly how to turn them into even more money for your business.
There’s only one catch. The class costs $299. But even at that rate, once you get the $200 in coupons, you’re really paying less than $50 per day for training.
I guarrantee it will be worth it to you. You can register here.
For the next two months, we’re working on a new, big project here at Hippo. So you won’t be hearing much from me.
I’ve got my entire team really focused on this new initiative. We’ve got a lot of people involved and I need to stay focused to succeed.
As you can imagine, it involves a lot of Internet marketing and I really want us to hit this one out of the park. So, I’m learning a lot as I go. In fact, once I’m done I’ll probably teach a new class on the subject and show what we did, including the corresponding results.
Unlike so many, I’m not a floundering marketer or business owner that bounces from one shiny object to another. I own several e-commerce sites. I teach and do SEO, Google AdWords, and many other forms of Internet marketing.
I don’t chase every new thing and I don’t waste a lot of time in Social Media.
In fact, about two and a half years ago, I stopped taking clients. Why? I wanted to work more on the businesses and training programs. I wanted to help my students more and build my own businesses.
Overall, it worked.
My businesses are growing. And about 100 students have come through our training programs over the last two years or so. I still keep in touch with many of them. A lot of them are doing very, very well. I love hearing from them.
(It’s amazing. This Internet marketing stuff really works! But you can’t just learn it. You have to DO it.)
So what’s next?
I’m not satisfied.
Over these past two years, I know for a certainty that if I could get more done (even just 10% more) each week, I could grow my business more and help my students more.
In fact, let’s think about it another way…
If I could get just 10% more done each week, I could take 10% of the week off. I could spend it with with my wife and other loved ones, doing the things I want to do. (There’s life beyond SEO. At least for me.)
Think about that. Just 10% of 40 hours per week is a half day off every week! Do you work 40 hours per week? More? Want a half day off to do anything you want?
Become more efficient! Get more done in less time. That’s the key.
I want to share this.
So I did it. I got more efficient. How?
1. Better processes for getting things done. 2. Better layout & organization of my work environment. 3. Lots of miscellaneous tools and tips. 4. A little piece of software I found.
I’m not kidding. I’ve been working at this for two and a half years. I’ve been making notes along the way. I think I have it down, although it’s not perfect. And I want to show you.
I’ll do so on March 4. It’s a free event at downtown Charlotte and I hope to see you there. More details here.
Here at Hippo Internet Marketing, we’re looking for a local web designer with e-commerce design experience. (Technically, the Hippo Inc side of my business is in need, not the Internet marketing training side.)
We’re not looking to hire, and it’s not a big job. However, we are doing more and more with Magento in particular. So, we’d like to have someone local that we can call upon.
What we need…
Although we have some specific work now, we are really hoping to find someone that we can call upon for years to come as things come up.
For now, we have a couple of specific projects in the pipeline.
One is pretty much done, but we could use a little more help with fine-tuning our product pages and creating more of a custom look for them.
The other site is in need of a new template overall. We’re entering all the data quickly and will need someone to take the basic ideas we have and create a new overall design and implement it.
As time goes on, we may need some help with designing some of the content-heavy pages also.
Bottom line? The work will be off and on, but if you are good, fairly quick, and offer a reasonable price, we may work together for a long, long time.
Requirements…
1. Freelancers only please. We’re not looking to hire a company, but a person that can be available to help us when we need them (within reason).
2. You must have experience in working with Magento e-commerce.
NOTE: We’re primarily looking for a designer, not a programmer. We have a good programmer on board. We need a designer, but with some Magento experience.
Include your basic contact information (or a link to it).
Include your history & experience in e-commerce web design.
Include examples of sites you’ve worked on (or a portfolio link)
Include your typical cost structure.
NOTE: Please don’t bother calling me. For those of you that know me, you know why. If you don’t know me, you can learn why it’s no use calling me on March 4 here.
The Apple iPad announcement was the biggest news of the year so far, hands down. Some say it’s just a big iPod Touch. Some think it’s the next big thing. Others complain about the lack of features.
But let’s talk about the SEO & Internet Marketing implications.
But first, let’s move beyond just talking about the poorly named iPad. It’s barely been a week since the announcement and already we’re hearing rumblings about Google making something similar.
Why not? Google is turning Chrome into an OS and have already ventured into hardware with the Nexus One! Check out the images and videos on this page and see what you think of them.
Personally, I like the idea of having a slim, non-keyboard appliance to browse the Internet and check email on. It would be a little easier to have something like this near the couch and perhaps even take with me on short non-work trips. I welcome the idea. After all, that’s what I use my iPod Touch for and I love it!
Let’s face it, the Internet is not just confined to a desktop or laptop anymore. It is there. But it’s also on our phones, our video games, and elsewhere.
How does this affect SEO? How does it affect your Internet marketing plans and efforts?
This should not surprise you, but search will still be a major part of these methods of using the Internet. But it may look different.
Like Google does now, we will start to see much more than just ten links to web pages. We’ll see links to videos, images, news, social media, etc. We’ll see personalized results and localized results. You’ll soon start to see different results on your laptop, your phone, and perhaps even your “pad”.
So your exact ranking for a particular phrase will become even less useful than it is now. But SEO is not dead. Do you SEO best practices. Work your on-page factors and get your links. But most importantly, just be the best at what you do.
If you’re still staring at PageRank and obsessing over your exact rankings, it’s time to move on. Start improving your site and being the best at what you do, no matter what it is. Write intelligently. Make good content. Have good prices. Create quality video content. Be the best.
It’s not hard. But it does take work. Build a business, not just a search engine ranking. It’s in your best interests long-term.
The Apple iPad announcement was the biggest news of the year so far, hands down. Some say it’s just a big iPod Touch. Some think it’s the next big thing. Others complain about the lack of features.
But first, let’s move beyond just talking about the poorly named iPad. It’s barely been a week since the announcement and already we’re hearing rumblings about Google making something similar. 
How does this affect SEO? How does it affect your Internet marketing plans and efforts?