I stumbled across Alaura’s article on CopyHackers – StoryHacking: Cracking The Code Behind the Irresistible Selling Power of Stories – and within 5 minutes knew I wanted her to join us to teach you all about the power of StoryHacking.

This isn’t just the same old advise you hear from marketers “tell a story” – she goes into great depth and detail into the various aspects of how to actually do this and do it effectively. It’s especially great for someone like me who is NOT a natural storyteller. It’s explained in a way that even I can get it, and start to work into my marketing.

For instance, Alaura teaches us that your content needs a Hero (which might not be who you think it would be!) and a protagonist (also not who you might think) and tangible ways to incorporate these into your brand’s content.

Alaura even gives me some suggestions for how to market and position this podcast

Whether you’re working on blog posts, product pages, email newsletters, social media – I think you will really enjoy this conversation and hear a lot of inspirational and actionable tips!

Sit back, relax and listen now!

And don’t forget to subscribe on iTunes!

Links

• Alaura’s Website
• Jelly App
• Storyhacking: Cracking the Code Behind the Irresistible Selling Power of Stories
• The Dream Society
• Medium
• Volunteer Match
• GoPro
• Moz
• TimeHero

People

• Alaura Weaver
• Rick Mulready
• Anuj Adhiya
• Joanna Wiebe
• Simon Sinek
• Rand Fishkin
• Warby Parker
• Neil Patel
• David Ogilvy
• TimeHero
• Tim Ferriss
• Chewbacca

Agenda

Alaura’s Background

• 10 years of sales experience
• “Remember the phonebook?”

Speaking Human

• Creating tribes

Story Hacking

• “The word, ‘hacking’ is a buzzword…but it’s become part of the vernacular.”
• Who is story hacking for?
• Stories within stories

Elements of Story Hacking

• Identifying the hero (your target customer)
• Identifying the world of the protagonist (emotional spectrum)
• Call to adventure (the goal of the protagonist)
• The stakes/refusal of the call
• A helper (the brand’s solutions)
• A magical item (the offer)
• Crossing the (first) threshold (the call to action)

The Mindset of Telling a Great Story

• Building trust

Dan Gets Meta

• Uses story hacking elements to deconstruct the podcast

The post 024: The Irresistible Power Of StoryHacking w/Alaura Weaver appeared first on Evolving SEO.

Drumeo is an online community and educational resource for drummers. They have almost 500,000 subscribers on their YouTube channel with over 97 million total video views. Some of their videos receive over 1,000 comments and over 1 million views.

Drumeo didn’t do this with sleazy marketing tricks or buying subscribers on Fiverr. They did it by organically building a community from the ground up.

Jared Falk of Drumeo is going to explain steps that they took to grow their community and attract the likes of drummers that have performed with Prince, Jay Z, Aretha Franklin and more to teach on their YouTube channel.

Enjoy!

Subscribe to Experts On The Wire on iTunes!

Links

• Drumeo
• Jared in the Beginning
• Behind the Kit Podcast
• Victoria Drumfest
• Drumeo’s YouTube Channel

People

• Jared Falk
• Riley Armstrong
• Rick Kettner
• Pat Petrillo
• Tony Royster
• Peter Erskine
• Jim Riley
• Mark Kelso
• Gary Vaynerchuk

Agenda

Jared’s Background

• “Wheeling and dealing hockey cards online”
• Four months of touring and gigs
• Where does the name come from?

What Drumeo Does

• One new drum lesson every day
• YouTube is a main acquisition channel

YouTube

• “You’re getting pretty close to 500k subscribers.”
• How did you get subscribers in the beginning?
• Keyword Research – “We went longer tail.”

How Drumeo Gets Guests

• “We started by asking them.”
• We need to provide value in return (exposure and a fee)
• “If you provide someone with a lot of value, they’ll spread the word for you.”

Mistakes

• Deposit/Withdrawal

Advice to New YouTube Publishers

• Learn how to write captivating titles – “It sells the viewer on the click.”
• Thumbnail needs to represent the video

Viewer Retention

• “Our average view rate is above five minutes.” (YouTube)
• “What did you like best about the lesson?” (comment contest)
• “We’re at 97 million views on our channel.”
• Where are people dropping off while watching your videos? (audience retention data)
• Look at stats on other publishers’ videos

Facebook Video

• “Facebook video is huge.”
• “We don’t upload long videos to Facebook.”
• The user intent is different on Facebook vs YouTube

Social Media

• “I’d listen on social and try to find out how you can add value.”
• “95% of what I share is value based.” (not asking for something)
• “Being on social is like trying to advertise at a party.  If you’re at a ‘party,’ try to get to know people.

Testimonials

• “Testimonials are there to answer any objections potential customers may have.”

Offline

• Go to festivals
• Roots in the community

Being an Entrepreneur

• “What is my unique ability?”
• “I like change.”

The post 023: Building A YouTube Community With Jared Falk Of Drumeo appeared first on Evolving SEO.

Hey everyone we’re going to do something a little different today.

I had wanted you to meet someone, from a brand that I’m sure you’ve all heard of (we’ll reveal that in a moment):

But first, this is a brand that has:

• 532,000 likes on their facebook page
• A Single Article With 79+ Linking Root Domains
• And Domain Authority of 75

OK, I’m telling you all those numbers just to impress you – and also to say that I know metrics matter. But HOW you get those metrics matters even more.

And this brand has done so, by building a thriving community. Just today, one of their organic facebook posts has 38 comments, over 1,100 shares and almost 2,000 likes.

To quote the person from this brand I want to introduce you to – she says: a positive brand interaction “builds friendship. Friendship builds loyalty. And loyalty will eventually build sales.”

You can see why I wanted to talk to her.

So, with some persistence,  I found her email address and reached out to ask for an interview.

Their PR company wrote back

and said…

…. you didn’t think I was going to tell you everything in the description?

Listen to the show to find out.

Enjoy.

Never miss an episode! Subscribe on iTunes.

Links

• DJ Waldow’s Video From 2012
• Feature Brand’s Website
• Brand Facebook Page
• The Broken Art of Company Blogging
• Google: Comments Help SEO
• Buffer’s Lost Traffic Post
• Inbound.org
• Growth Hackers
• Reddit
• Marketing By Sharing
• 80/20 SEO

People

• PJ Hamel
• DJ Waldow on Twitter
• DJ Walow’s Website
• Jason Fried
• Jennifer Slegg
• Gary Illyes

Agenda

• …something different
  • They have over 500,000 likes on Facebook
  • “They Said No”
  • We’re going to do it anyway
• Using Facebook To Build Friendships
  • “I was a writer first”
  • Technology Connects People
  • Ask For Help
  • Learn About Your Audience
  • This Brand’s Best Social Channel
  • Friendship->Loyalty->?
  • Be An Educator
• Why Community Is Important For SEO
  • The Broken Art of Company Blogging
  • Google: Comments Help SEO
  • Buffer’s Lost Traffic
• 5 Ways To Inspire Blog Comments
  • Asking For Help
  • Researching & Focus Groups
  • Education
  • Friendships
  • Going Cross-Discipline
• Measuring Comment Success
  • Establishing Your GOALS
  • Example Metrics
  • Do An 80/20 Analysis

*Photo by Brooke Cagle via Unsplash

The post 022: One Brand, A Thriving Community, Blog Comments & How They Help SEO appeared first on Evolving SEO.

Chances are, you’re looking for NEW ways to drive quality traffic to your site, business or blog. But it can be tough to know what direction to take or what new channel to try.

Today, Rick Mulready is going to teach you all about Facebook VIDEO ads – and how they can hold great opportunity for you to drive low cost targeted traffic. He’ll clearly walk you through what you need to know to get started experimenting!

Rick Mulready is a consultant, trainer, speaker and also a Podcaster! His background is in corporate America, where he even worked for the show Funny Or Die, before moving on from his 6-figure job to start his own business in 2012.

Listen Now!

Don’t forget to subscribe on iTunes!

Links

• rickmulready.com
• https://www.facebook.com/business/help/194355723944655
• https://www.facebook.com/business/ads-guide/clicks-to-website/links
• rickmulready.com/facebook-video-ads
• The Complete Guide to Facebook Pixels
• Inside Social Media – Podcast
• The Art of Paid Traffic – Podcast
• https://rapportive.com/
• https://www.voilanorbert.com/

People / Companies

• Rick Mulready
• Will Ferrell
• Pat Flynn
• King Arthur Flour
• Scott Monty
• Starbucks
• Jet Blue
• Ford Motor Company
• Rick Wion

Agenda

“I come from a corporate background.”

• Worked at Yahoo
• Recruited to work for Funny or Die
• “I got bit by the entrepreneurial bug in 2010.”

Facebook Ads

• “I started creating ads for friends.”
• Boost a post
• Are ads for ‘anybody’?
• “What is your goal?” You got to have a clear objective.
• Types of ads (standard, video, carousel, etc)
• “100 million hours of video are being consumed on Facebook every day.”
• “Let Facebook’s algorithm do the work for you.”
• Facebook can now transcribe your video ads
• “You always want consistency between an ad and landing page.”
• Facebook pixels

Podcasting

• Rick’s former and current podcast
• “I have no audio background whatsoever.”
• Asking for Reviews
• Getting (high profile) guests

The post 021: Facebook Video Ads With Rick Mulready appeared first on Evolving SEO.

For those of you that do not know my guest today, Tom Critchlow has a diverse background of experiences. He was Head of Search Marketing and then VP of Operations at Distilled for 4 years, worked in Google’s Creative Lab for 2 years, and has since founded Fiercely Curious – an online gallery of art from Brooklyn artists. He also is a freelance strategy consultant – all in an English accent

I’ll start this episode with the quick story of how I met Tom. Then we chat for an hour about Google, SEO, Startups, and a TON more.

Listen Now!

Don’t forget to subscribe on iTunes!

Links

• Tom Speaking at MozCon 2012
• http://www.fiercelycurious.com/
• http://tomcritchlow.com/
• http://makercamp.com/map/#host-a-campsite
• https://www.google.com/get/cardboard/
• https://www.distilled.net/blog/distilled/guide-to-google-docs-importxml/
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUG9qYTJMsI (Dollar Shave Club)
• http://tomcritchlow.com/2016/01/07/team-building/
• http://www.recode.net/2016/5/9/11610100/the-facebook-papers-part-1-the-great-unbundling
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8I4WkhG_GRM (Attention: The New Currency)

People

• Tom Critchlow
• Mike King
• Will Critchlow
• John Doherty
• Moz
• Larry Page
• Johnathan Jarvis
• Distilled
• BuzzFeed
• Quartz
• Sree Sreenivasan

Agenda

What Tom Has Been Doing

• Stepping Away from Social
• What Does Social Do for You?

Escaping the SEO Vacuum

• “No one got into SEO for SEO’s sake.”
• “SEO is a slightly more boring industry.”

Where Does Search Fit In

Pros/Cons of Agency, In-House, and Entrepreneur/Freelance Work

Did You Meet Larry Page?

Is There Anything You Worked On (at Google) You Can Talk About?

Providing Insight for Free (“Giving It Away”)

Marketing Mistakes Startups Make

What is Fiercely Curious?

The post 020: Tom Critchlow On Working For Google, Escaping The SEO Vacuum & Startup Mistakes appeared first on Evolving SEO.

It’s true that there’s a LOT of misinformation out there about Analytics. It can be hard to dig through all the content out there for the right path to take.

Thankfully, we have a true expert on the show today. Annie Cushing has spent over 10 years mastering, practicing and teaching analytics. In this episode she distills down her expertise into easy explanations – so you don’t have to spend hours upon hours wondering what direction to take.

For example, Annie will teach you the exact way to tag your paid social media ads (hint: don’t use ‘cpc’!), and where to go to easily set up simple dashboards that will give you more time to actually do marketing (and impress your boss).

Listen Now!

Don’t forget to subscribe on iTunes!

Links

• http://www.annielytics.com/
• https://www.buzzfeed.com/
• https://www.annielytics.com/guides/definitive-guide-campaign-tagging-google-analytics/
• http://www.lunametrics.com/
• www.analytics-ninja.com
• http://www.annielytics.com/annielytics-dashboard-course/
• http://www.tableau.com/
• http://www.cyfe.com/
• https://dashthis.com/
• www.analyticscanvas.com/
• https://www.klipfolio.com/
• http://www.salesforce.com/
• http://mailchimp.com/
• www.thesempost.com/google-analytics-referral-spam-removed/
• https://www.techsmith.com/jing.html
• https://www.techsmith.com/snagit.html
• https://www.techsmith.com/camtasia.html
• http://www.annielytics.com/guides/definitive-guide-to-channel-groupings-google-analytics/
• http://www.annielytics.com/blog/analytics/track-social-ads-google-analytics/

People

• Annie Cushing
• Justin Cutroni

Agenda

Basics of Analytics

• Purpose
• Setting-up an account
• Track what’s most important (to you)
• ‘Keeping the puppy inside the box’
• Mistakes

Dashboards

• ‘The data comes to you’
• Customization
• Should everyone have a dashboard?
• How intimidating is learning to set-up/use a dashboard and related tools?

Referral Spam

• Is there a solution?

Screencasts

• Use them for clients?
• Too many screenshots or too many words

Campaign Tagging

The post 019: Analytics Explained With Annie Cushing appeared first on Evolving SEO.

Johnathan breaks down PPC concepts in a clear, understandable way – better than almost anyone else I’ve heard. Maybe you’ve “tried” PPC in your business and though it “didn’t work”, or maybe you’ve been doing SEO and want to get into PPC, or maybe you’re looking for an additional source of high quality traffic.

You’ll learn about why Johnathan think CPC and quality score doesn’t really matter (not in the way you think they do). He’ll explain “Sardines vs Whales” in search marketing, caring about the details and lots more.

This episode is a must listen. MUST.

Listen Now!

Don’t forget to subscribe on iTunes.

Links

• https://klientboost.com
• http://unbounce.com/ppc/why-adwords-works-for-everyone-but-you/
• https://klientboost.com/ppc/adwords-strategy/
• http://unbounce.com/author/johnathan-dane/
• https://www.upworthy.com/
• https://www.buzzfeed.com/
• http://unbounce.com/ppc/doing-adwords-wrong-make-it-right/
• https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/252816
• https://slack.com/
• https://klientboost.com/cro/landing-page-forms/
• https://www.searchenginejournal.com/adwords-competitors-making-money/160356/
• http://blog.ispionage.com/search-marketing-agency-interview-johnathan-dane.html

People

• Johnathan Dane
• Gary Vaynerchuk

Agenda

Company day-to-day

PPC Ad Misalignment

“PPC Didn’t Work”

• Attracting traffic, converting traffic, and closing a sale

Danger of Wasting Money

Starting the Process

• “How are you judging success?”

Ad Spend is Arbitrary Number

• Clients spend on average 5k per month

Metrics to Measure

• Cost per Click and Quality Scores don’t matter
• Cost per acquisition (so you can be more aggressive with bidding)
• Sales rate per keyword

Whales vs. Sardines

• Know which keywords (and platforms) invite the best opportunities

Data from AdWords

• Search term vs keyword
• Matched search query
• Tracking template

Use the Data to Optimize Sales vs Conversions

Creating Titles

• First started writing for Unbounce
• Evoking emotion
• “Attention is the ultimate courtesy”

Replying to Blog Comments

I Want All of the Pages on My Site to Kick Ass

• About Us page
• “Caring about the details is a trust builder”

Ask Clients Annoying Questions to Build Trust

Landing Pages

• Mistakes

The post 018: Johnathan Dane on PPC, Sardines vs Whales & Why CPC Doesn’t Matter appeared first on Evolving SEO.