Marketing Speak

In this episode, we are going to peel back the curtain on marketing agencies, learning about how they handle scope creep, attribution and misattribution of their efforts, setting and resetting client expectations, retainers, performance-based pricing, leading and lagging metrics, dashboards, negative keywords, and a lot more. Our guest is Ken Jurina. He founded his company, Top Draw, in 1993. In the early days, Top Draw was a humble graphic design agency and he was the sole employee. When he realized he was going to face some pretty stiff competition in the graphic design space, he knew he needed to differentiate himself. That is when he recognized that the internet represented a massive opportunity to grow his business. Fast forward 25 years, Top Draw is now a fully integrated digital marketing agency with dozens of employees and an impressive client list.   These days, Ken is focused on business development and SEO which he has had the foresight to realize would give him a massive advantage over its competitors back in the ‘90s. Ken was also Co-Founder and Co-Chair of the Canadian Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization which establishes and promotes ethical internet marketing practices and guidelines in Canada. If you are in the mood for a masterclass, keep reading because you are about to hear some tips and secrets drawn from years of blood, sweat, and tears.

Markets move quickly and they're full of unexpected surprises. If you run a business, you have to be resilient. You have to keep up with new technology and emerging trends so you don't get left behind by your competitors. My guest for this episode is Jeremy Goldman. He is someone who's thought deeply about how to future-proof a business. He's the author of the books, Getting to Like and Going Social. He's the founder of the Firebrand Group and co-host of the Futureproof podcast. Our conversation is all about the next big thing. If you're curious about innovations like augmented reality, drones, AI, and cryptocurrency, and how they can help your business, stick around because we're about to take a wild ride into the future.

Split testing is typically a term bandied about in the CRO world, not the SEO world. In this episode, you're going to learn how to split test SEO. Running tests in parallel is not something that's easily done with SEO. There are plenty of reasons for that. Each page has its own link profile, making it hard to do head-to-head comparisons, not to mention, you don't want to create duplicate content. The copy on the pages need to be different, too. Nevertheless, there are workarounds which you are about to learn about. My guest is Will Critchlow. He's the CEO of Distilled, a company he founded in 2005 with Duncan Morris. Distilled provides online marketing services from offices in London, New York, and Seattle, hosts the SearchLove Conference series in the US and UK, produces the popular online training platform, DistilledU, and runs the SEO testing platform, DistilledODN. Will, welcome to the show.

China is a hot topic in the business world right now. It seems like everyone is looking East, but how many of us in the Western world really understand the nuances of the Chinese market? There are so many issues to consider - from censorship and government regulation to the wild world of Chinese influencers. The right advice can really make or break your success. If you're currently doing business in China or you're considering it in the near future, then you'll want to hear what my guest for this episode has to say. Nicolas Chu is truly a global citizen. He's the founder and CEO of Sinorbis, a digital marketing firm that specializes in helping Western companies access the Chinese market. He's also managing director of Sydney-based consulting firm, Altpure, an author, an international speaker, and an ex-lecturer in business at the Diderot University of Paris. Whether you're looking for advice on digital marketing in China or you're simply curious about the opportunities on the other side of the great firewall, tune in as Nicholas shares some critical advice on achieving success in this lucrative but complex environment.

I'm stoked to have the Founding Developer of WordPress, Matt Mullenweg, on this episode. WordPress powers 30% of websites on the internet. WordPress isn’t just a blog software. It isn’t just a content management system or CMS. It’s an entire ecosystem and one that’s founded on the philosophy of open-source. If you come back through my blog posts and articles, you’ll see that I have been an advocate for WordPress since it was founded in 2003. It powers a great many of my sites to this day. To be a part of something that has touched so many people is an achievement in it itself. Matt is also an entrepreneur and the Founder of Automattic, who you may know as the creators of WooCommerce, VaultPress, Akismet, Gravatar and more. Any business would be proud of that staple of products, but Matt is not motivated purely by profit. He is a passionate advocate of open-source software and his work is informed by a unique personal philosophy that is more about making the web and the world a better place. If you love WordPress as I do, you are in luck. You are about to hear from the WordPress founder himself. Get ready for some amazing WordPress power tips and secrets.

In SEO, the Google Algorithm is king. If your site winds up on the wrong end of a Google Algorithm update, watch out. You could see your rankings, traffic and revenue plummet. You may have been hit with a Google penalty. Like me, my guest on this episode number 162 has spent years studying Google’s updates and helping her clients stay on Google’s good side. Marie Haynes is a Search Marketing Consultant and expert on Google penalties. She has written extensively on Google’s site quality guidelines and major Google updates like Panda, Penguin and Medic. She also runs a searchable database of bad links on her website. While Google updates are unpredictable, there are plenty of things you can do to minimize your risk of being affected by an update. Stay tuned as we reveal tips and best practice techniques for avoiding the wrath of Google.

I saw the movie A Star is Born, which stars Lady Gaga and all I can say is, “Wow.” Not only is she an amazing singer, but she is also an amazing actress. One thing you may not know about her though is she is also world-class at customer loyalty, which is the topic of this episode. Our guest is Jackie Huba. She has published three books on customer loyalty, including Monster Loyalty: How Lady Gaga Turns Followers into Fanatics. Another one of Jackie’s books is Creating Customer Evangelists: How Loyal Customers Become a Volunteer Salesforce. Jackie is a master at drawing profound insights from unexpected places and an expert in participatory marketing and cultivating word of mouth. She even coined the term customer evangelism. She is a sought-after keynote speaker and works with companies like Whirlpool, Dell and Kraft. I got to know Jackie well-over a decade ago back when we were both speaking for the American Marketing Association. She was also on the MarketingProfs Telesummit on Buzz Marketing that I have put together way back in 2006. I'm beyond excited to have her on the show. Get ready to dive deep into customer loyalty and help turn your customers into fanatics just like Lady Gaga does.

If you're a Marketing Speak regular, then you know I'm a real uber-geek when it comes to technical SEO. That's why I love so much matching wits with a fellow SEO tech geek such as Barry Adams in this episode number 160. Barry is the founder of Polemic Digital, a UK-based SEO agency that focuses on eCommerce and news websites. He's also a speaker, writer, and the coach chief editor of the European marketing blog, State of Digital. Barry and I will be getting down and dirty on technical SEO. Stick around for plenty of cutting-edge tips on how to tweak your website and improve your rankings. This is a transatlantic meeting of the SEO minds that is not to be missed.

Our guest for this episode is known for meatball sundaes, purple cows, and unleashing idea viruses. He's written books on these very topics. I'm not talking about a mad scientist or a performance artist. I'm talking about the legendary author, entrepreneur, and teacher, Seth Godin. Seth Godin's reputation precedes him. I can't tell you how excited and honored I am to have had the opportunity to interview him. He's one of the true godfathers of marketing. Seth is a master at cutting through the noise and cutting right to the core of the matter. His provocative ideas have garnered him much attention, but they have also deeply reshaped the way we think about marketing. Seth is the author of nineteen bestselling books, including his book, This Is Marketing. He's not just a prolific author; he's also a prolific blogger and runs an awesome podcast, Akimbo. His quote adorns the back cover of my book, The Art of SEO. It meant a lot to me to have the endorsement of someone who is a marketing hero to me. Stay tuned as we go deep and philosophical about marketing and some other mind-blowing topics.

Have you ever considered buying a website? Buying instead of building can be a big shortcut to online success. It could even be a passive income stream for you. How do you make sure that site is not a dud? My guest on this episode number 158 is serial entrepreneur, Chuck Mullins, who built his first profitable website way back in 1996. Since then, Chuck has bought and sold many online businesses and has a keen eye for a good deal. Chuck’s advice is highly sought after by both investors and sellers. He speaks at events around the world and in fact, that’s how I met him as we were both regular speakers at Affiliate Summit. I’m really excited to have Chuck on the show to share his wisdom. If you’re interested in buying or selling websites or perhaps even treating them like assets and portfolio, this episode is going to be a real treat.