The Edward Show

E554: Postmates was acquired for $2.65 BILLION in 2020. This is the legendary story of how they got their first customers. The first part of the episode is me reading how they did. The second part is a concise summary of the tactics they used and how they learned and validated what people actually wanted. The third part is how you can do this with SEO. How Postmates got their first 1,000 orders: https://read.first1000.co/p/postmates Compact Keywords: https://compactkeywords.com/ 00:00 Introduction to Postmates' Early Days 00:41 The Initial Concept and Challenges 02:50 Pivoting to Consumer Demand 03:42 Early Customer Acquisition Strategies 06:16 Leveraging Media and SEO 09:04 Reflections and Conclusion The Edward Show. Your daily digital marketing podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ #startups #ycombinator #gotomarket #marketingstrategy

E553: Google is caught. Another statement that flies in the face of past statements. Core Web Vitals do not impact SEO rankings. Nope. Sorry, they don’t. Countless dollars, time, and effort spent trying to optimize for Core Web Vitals when the real SEOs know it doesn’t make a difference. This is what Google has said and what the SEO community has to say. Stories, anecdotes, and data shared. Read it for yourself - tons of evidence: https://www.reddit.com/r/SEO/comments/1hvb2jy/googles_team_let_slip_that_cwv_site_speed_just/ 00:00 Introduction: The Core Web Vitals Debate 00:22 Reddit Thread: Google's Stance on Core Web Vitals 00:52 User Experience vs. Core Web Vitals 02:05 Conspiracy Theories and Google's Motives 03:11 Personal Insights and SEO Strategies 03:48 Compact Keywords Is Live! 04:30 Testing and Real-World Examples 10:11 Focus on What Matters The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ #corewebvitals #seotips #searchengineoptimization #webdevelopment

E552: A Google Maps engineer saw my viral video about a Local SEO exploit in Google Maps. It’s a pretty crazy exploit, if true. And the Google Maps engineer addressed it directly. I checked LinkedIn to make sure the guy really works at Google Maps. He does, and was at Microsoft before. This is what the black hat exploit is (warning: it’s explicit) and the Google Maps engineer’s response. Watch the Viral Reel: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DEX60-nifgC/ 00:00 A Wild Social Media Story 00:19 Discovering the Google Maps Hack 01:25 Creating the Viral Video 01:49 Unexpected Response from Google 02:21 Recording at Cafes: An Engagement Shortcut 03:04 The Process of Making the Video 05:11 Dealing with Online Haters 06:31 SEO Exploits and Theories 10:42 The Long Game in SEO 11:48 Conclusion and Final Thoughts The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ #localseo #localmarketing #seotips #socialmediamarketing

E551: Just as the title describes, this person got 20,000 users in 3 months for his startup with only $50 and shares how he did it. Very actionable and repeatable strategies in this one. If you want to get users and qualified traffic for your company, these methods will be great. Sources: How I got 20,000 users in three months with $50: https://www.indiehackers.com/post/how-i-got-20-000-users-in-three-months-with-50-5d1f91a4ba Relaunch like a pro: 100+ places to launch, relaunch, and list your product: https://www.indiehackers.com/post/relaunch-like-a-pro-100-places-to-launch-relaunch-and-list-your-product-wWBE9KERza5CqZgAmc5U EIN Presswire: https://www.einpresswire.com/ PRLog: https://www.prlog.org/ 00:00 Introduction to Today's Share 00:24 Launching Startup Timer 01:18 Marketing Strategies: IndieHackers and Reddit 01:53 Old School Marketing: Press Releases 03:29 Press Release Success Story 05:55 Submitting to Software Websites 06:33 Journalist Outreach Campaign 08:37 Additional Resources and Episode Wrap-Up The Edward Show. Your daily digital marketing podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ #saasmarketing #gotomarket #marketingstrategy #digitalmarketing

E550: This guy nuked his company by getting greedy with AI generated pages after first seeing success. This is a story mirrored by many reckless SEOs and webmasters. I even share a story of a startup I’ve been monitoring for over a year now. They used tens of thousands of AI generated pages to rank for 213,000 keywords in just a few months. Now… they only rank for 1 keyword in the top positions of Google. Absolutely decimated. But it turns out it is possible to recover from having your site penalized for using AI-generated spam. I share how one webmaster personally did it and how others say it has been done. I think I killed my startup with GPT generated pages: https://www.reddit.com/r/SEO/comments/1hu5jgw/i_think_killed_my_startup_with_gpt_generated_pages/ Google penalizing all Google Search Console properties: https://x.com/NicheSiteLady/status/1766043621529174081 This website didn’t exist one year ago: https://edwardsturm.com/articles/this-website-didnt-exist-one-year-ago-remarkable-seo-story/ 00:00 Introduction 00:26 A Year of Monitoring an AI Site 01:15 Reddit Thread: Seeking Advice from the SEO Community 02:48 Google's Spam Policy and Scaled Content Abuse 03:57 Recovery Strategies and Success Stories 04:18 Google Search Console 08:03 Additional Comments 10:14 Case Study: Eightify.app’s Rise and Fall 13:49 Closing Remarks The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ #seotips #searchengineoptimization #digitalmarketing #marketingstrategy

E549: The rules of building a personal brand have changed. 2025 is going to be great for them, but not if you waste your time with one cardinal sin. This is what that sin is - how to avoid it - and the four pillars that will make you an authority in your niche. How to build a personal brand in 2025… explained in under 6 minutes! My Exact Social Media Posting Strategy: https://edwardsturm.com/articles/social-media-posting-strategy/ Content Inc. Second Edition: https://www.amazon.com/Content-Inc-Second-Content-First-Successful-dp-1264257546/dp/1264257546/ref=dp_ob_title_bk 00:00 Introduction 00:12 The Decline of Traditional Blogging 00:42 Social Media Platforms 01:40 The Four Pillars of Personal Branding 02:27 Content Type 03:20 Home Platform 03:53 Cross-Platform Distribution 04:47 Final Tips The Edward Show. Your daily digital marketing podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ #personalbranding #branding #instagrammarketing #tiktokmarketing

E548: More and more creators are coming onto the scene every day. People using their face and faceless AI. So how do you stand out? This is one basic thing to focus on and then two things people don’t realize. Two hacks for creating above-average mobile video - TikToks and Instagram Reels. This is what I have personally learned from making literally 3,000-4,000 videos since starting on November 1, 2022. And this advice will get you views and sales. 00:00 Introduction: Three Epiphanies 00:26 Critiquing Brett's Video 01:17 Strong Hook 02:33 Serious Delivery 05:41 Underproduction 06:52 Down to Earth 10:19 Turning Authenticity to Sales 14:08 Conclusion and Final Thoughts The Edward Show. Your daily digital marketing podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ #socialmediamarketing #instagrammarketing #tiktokmarketing #digitalmarketing

E547: Impactful, unexpected, ROI-driving, and some unusual ways to boost local SEO with Google Business Profile and more. This is not your standard “add high-quality photos” advice. This is the exact content to make, the language to use, and even a crazy black hat technique that you’ve probably never heard of. This advice is focused on making the phone ring, not just on getting better rankings. This stuff will bring you real qualified traffic with local SEO. Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/SEO/comments/1hn6n2c/if_there_were_only_5_weekly_things_you_could_do/ 00:00 Boosting Local SEO 00:33 Reviews Equal Revenue 01:06 Optimizing Money Pages 01:29 Photo Hacks for SEO 01:45 Radius Domination Strategy 02:08 Competitor Price Stalking Strategy 02:40 Psychology and Sales in SEO 03:10 Black Hat Local SEO Advice 05:43 Practical Tips for Local SEO 09:47 Final Thoughts and Conclusion The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ #localseo #localmarketing #seotips #digitalmarketing

E546: This guy hacked growth on Reddit to build his software as a service (SaaS) company to over a million dollars. The strategy is straightforward, repeatable, and works for any niche and any brand. This is a good one. Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/SaaS/comments/1hqdd65/how_i_hacked_growth_on_reddit_to_build_a_1m_saas/ 00:00 Introduction: The Reddit Growth Hack 00:41 Why Reddit is a Goldmine for Growth 02:10 Five Straightforward Strategies 05:07 Viral Post Formula on Reddit 07:00 Final Tips and Conclusion The Edward Show. Your daily digital marketing podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ #digitalmarketing #seotips #redditmarketing #searchengineoptimization

E545: Positive Friction in apps is one of the strangest retention tricks ever. Get people to expend more effort and it makes them stick with an app more! Very similar to the Ben Franklin Effect. Get somebody to do something for you and they like you more! As marketers, we look for every edge we can get, not just in awareness, but in getting people to stick with our brands. These tricks are very cool and very worth knowing. 🧪 Positive Friction: https://read.first1000.co/p/positive-friction The Ben Franklin effect: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Franklin_effect 00:00 Introduction to User Experience and Positive Friction 01:13 Understanding Positive Friction 02:11 Examples of Positive Friction in Apps 03:36 Positive Friction in Onboarding and Registration 04:31 Positive Friction in Purchase Flows 06:35 The Ben Franklin Effect 08:28 Conclusion and Final Thoughts The Edward Show. Your daily digital marketing podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ #uiux #digitalmarketing #userexperience #psychology