Today for our 40th episode, we will talk with Ayat Shukairy, Co-Founder of Invesp, serial entrepreneur and someone who literally wrote the book on conversion rate optimization.

I was introduced to Ayat from a podcast listener who heard my interview with Talia Wolf in episode 38, and suggested that we connect. I’m sure glad we did.

Ayat joined me from Istanbul, while I was on the line from Thailand. And now it’s coming to you, wherever you are listening from! This continues to be one of my favorite things about the podcast format. I have been on the road for well over a year now, and podcasts are one of the most consistent things I have in my life.

They keep me connected with the world and keep me inspired. For example, my recent routine has involved biking up Doi Suthep mountain and listening to the Marketing in your car podcast from Russel Brunson. He’s giving me tons of valuable ideas for how to best structure my Agency Course launch in March. Hopefully the Jumpstart podcast is also becoming part of your routine. And if it is, please do leave us a review on iTunes or whatever podcasting application you use.

Back to Ayat. How does an English teacher get into SEO? How does an SEO get into CRO? How many acronyms can I use in one breath? You’ll find all of these answers and more as we talk with Ayat.

Listen on to learn how to drum up interest in your agency through speaking, word of mouth and writing books. Learn how Ayat developed a methodology to help clients, and how this has resulted in conversion rate increases of over 65% for her customers.

And then hear our prognosis for where the fascinating world of Conversion Rate Optimization may be heading in the future.

It was a real treat to talk with Ayat, and to listen to an entrepreneur who never stops striving to get better at her craft. There is a lot to learn for all of us.

Quotable moments from our talk with Ayat Shukairy

On stubborn clients:

On CRO methodology:

On importance of informing your audience:

Links related to this week’s episode

* @ayat on Twitter

* Ayat Shukairy on LinkedIn

* FigPii

* Invesp

* A Guide To Writing Product Page Copy That Creates A Memorable Brand Experience

* Google’s Schmidt Says Internet ‘Cesspool’ Needs Brands

Did you like this episode? Listen to past episodes on SoundCloud!

Today for our 39th episode, we will talk with Dan Shure, owner at Evolving SEO and a Moz associate.

I have seen Dan’s name around the SEO world for a few years, but this was our first time talking to each other. We were introduced by Fred Pike, who is a friend of Jeffalytics and thought we would have a lot in common. I’ll save you the suspense here and say that we really do have a lot in common!

We both recorded this podcast in sweltering offices (Dan’s to counteract the cold outside, and mine to keep the noise out from the Thai countryside). We recorded Friday evening my time, and Friday morning on the east coast of the US.

On the other hand, there are a few places where we differ. Like music. Dan started out both as a musician and making websites, balancing the two for several years in his career. A few pivots later, and Dan turned into an SEO champion. But as always, I don’t want to give away the story, I’d rather have Dan tell it himself.

What I can tell you is that I walked away impressed. From a struggling musician making ends meet to a successful SEO practice, Dan has had to hustle every step of the way. But this interview is more than just a journey, it’s action packed with ideas for how you can improve your own prospects by listening to the marketplace.

If you have been listening to the podcast for a while, you probably will note similarities between musicians and marketers. Michael King talked about this in his episode, Dan Golden and Marty Weintraub did, too. It makes me wish that I had some musical talent myself.

Of course, I’ll have to leave the music to the professionals and just stick to podcasting.

Quotable moments from our talk with Dan

On networking opportunities:

On following your gut feeling:

On following someone else’s path:

Links related to this week’s episode

* @Dan_Shure on Twitter

* Dan Shure on LinkedIn

* How to rank number one on google

* Dan’s company timeline

* The podcast Dan listened to when it struck him that SEO could be a full time job!

* Jam packed resource for all things SEM/SEO

* Will Reynolds gig at MOZ 2012 – you can actually hear both Dan and Jeff LOL in the audience (jk)

Did you like this episode? Listen to the past episodes on SoundCloud!

Today for our 38th episode, we will talk with Talia Wolf, Conversion Optimization Expert, Consultant & Keynote Speaker.

Talia and I met last summer in Tel Aviv while we were both speaking at the All Things Data conference, and we have hit it off ever since.

Turns out that two entrepreneurs who love speaking and educating the community get along famously in real life! Thanks to previous podcast guest Angie Schottmuller for the introduction.

We have talked with each other several times since that initial conversation, and I must say that each time I talk with Talia I walk away smarter. Even after this conversation I had several wonderful ideas about how to improve my marketing based on her passion.

Speaking of passion for marketing, that is exactly how i would describe Talia Wolf. She is driven, won’t take things at face value, and always striving for improvements.

This drive led her to starting an agency (with her own methodology for conversion optimization) and has propelled her career in many other ways as well. Talia’s story may just be considered a must-listen podcast for future generations of marketers.

Quotable moments from my talk with Talia

On the ways to treat your customers:

On the importance of the purchase process:

On difference between a profession and a calling:

Links related to this week’s episode

* @TaliaGw on Twitter

* Talia on LinkedIn

* Talia’s CRO Masterclass

* Talia’s website

* Dan Ariely’s blog

Did you like this episode? Listen to the past episodes on SoundCloud!

Today for our 37th episode, we will talk with David Baker, founder of Recourses and a sage for agency owners looking to take on their biggest challenges.

David and I were introduced to each other through another podcast guest, Dan Golden from episode 32. Dan and I talked for a fair amount of time after our recording, and he mentioned that I really need to have David as a guest on the podcast.

So we had an initial conversation and discovered we get along famously. Not too long after that, a podcast episode was born.

We recorded this episode while I was in Thailand and it is going live while I am in India for the Superweek conference. This will be the third continent for me when it comes to Jumpstart, and my 4th continent speaking overall. It will be great to see several friends at this conference, especially the organizer Zoli.

Back to David. When we first talked, it was one of those conversations where things felt effortless. We were on the same page right away, and practically finished each others’ sentences. We shared our stories about agency ownership, the mistakes we made, and how we can help the next group of entrepreneurs move forward with their businesses.

David is focused on working directly with agency principals to help grow their business and overcome their biggest challenges. I loved hearing about his progression and how he has grown over time. There is a lot of wisdom in his words, so make sure you hang onto them if you are ever thinking about freelancing or owning an agency some day.

It’s also cool to hear that the services he offers are complementary with my Agency Jumpstart Course that is coming out in March. You can take the course when you are getting started out, and then work with Recourses when your agency needs one on one attention.

And that’s where we will leave it. Listen on for sage advice from David Baker as he talks about his career evolution – which really has lead to agency revolution!

Quotable moments from our talk with David Baker

On answering the market challenges:

On business and creativity:

On hustling to keep your business healthy long term:

Links related to this week’s episode

* David C. Baker as @ReCourses on Twitter

* David C. Baker on LinkedIn

* David’s books and more

* One of many powerful pieces by David

* When A Key Employee Should Become a Partner

Did you like this episode? Hear past episodes on SoundCloud!

Today for our 36th episode, we will talk with Rick Webb, former agency owner, author, investor and all-around interesting guy.

Rick and I met several ago when he came and presented at MIMA in Minneapolis. I was a board member of the organization at the time and I remember commiserating after his speech over sliders at La Belle Vie, then the nicest restaurant in town.

I’m not sure I actually said much or offered enough to leave an impression. Rick was the center of attention and all I wanted to do was listen.

This guy had stories for years, insights for decades and was just so interesting I wanted to hear everything he had to say.

He was wise, spot-on and just really fun.

So when I got connected with Rick again as a potential podcast guest, I thought “I know that guy, he’s awesome” and we got something on the calendar… for me to chat with Rick first thing in the morning at 6AM Thailand time.

That wakeup call was an early one, but lucky for me it was all about Rick’s experiences guiding the conversation. And they were great.

Rick shared insights on how he got into advertising (because it was cool). How technology factored into the process and the inflection points that lead him to a career as an agency owner.

We talked about his origin story, what he learned, and even about his book about running an agency.

And he had me entertained the whole time.

An hour into the interview and I was wishing I had booked even more of his time.

Quotable moments from our talk with Rick Webb

On dealing with new tools and technologies in digital marketing:

On secret forces behind every business (or life) adventure:

On taking advantage of a crappy job:

Links related to this week’s episode

* @RickWebb on Twitter

* Rick Webb on LinkedIn

* Rick’s website

* Rick’s book on starting a creative firm

* One of the ads that blew Rick’s mind

* Rick’s music collection that blew our mind

Today for our 35th episode, we will talk with Ilise Benun, Mentor to creative professionals and founder of Marketing Mentor.

Ilise has been working for over 25 years to help creative professionals run better businesses and get more fulfillment in their work. While her focus is on her clients, Ilise’s story is pretty remarkable as well.

I can’t say enough good things about my conversation with Ilise, but I will give you the setting. It was 10 PM in my local time. I was in Western Australia, 3 hours south of Perth. A few minutes before our call I was lamenting how hard it will be to keep this podcast energy going with the time difference. I was literally at the exact half way around the world mark from Ilise in the United States. She was just getting up, and I was just winding down a long day.

And then Ilise started into her story and I was sitting on the edge of my seat listening to her journey and how she found her niche. I mean, this is a person who started helping creatives find their voice before there was the Internet. You name a trend over the last 30 years, and Ilise was part of it (maybe even set it).

She mastered the art of growing an audience and becoming in-demand on her own, and then taught it to thousands of people through her company Marketing Mentor.

She has reached many more through her 7 books, her podcast, and all kinds of other ventures over a decorated career that is still thriving.

She inspired me to understand what a career may look like after 3 decades of helping people find their niche.

I hope you enjoy our conversation as much as I did.

Quotable moments from our talk with Ilise Benun

On networking:

On joining different groups:

On content creation:

Links related to this week’s episode

* Marketing Mentor Case Studies

* Quick Tips from Marketing Mentor

* Designers Guide to Marketing & Pricing

* Get the Work You Want Marketing Plan

* The Pick a Niche Kit

* Command the Fees You Deserve

* MarketingMentorPodcast.com

* Free 30-minute mentoring session

* Marketing Mix Blog

* Get Better Clients Bootcamp

* @ilisebenun on Twitter

* Ilise Benun on LinkedIn

Past episodes on SoundCloud

Today for our 34th episode, we are going to share some of our favorite quotes from the first year of the Jumpstart Podcast.

I recorded this episode from Thailand, where I am spending the winter working on some important projects and doing the whole Digital Nomad thing.

It’s thanksgiving in the US, so today’s episode is going to be a little shorter than normal. No guest this time. Instead, we are going to give a special introspective episode on the past year.

Can you believe it’s been a year already? We released our first episode on October 1st of 2015 and have done 33 episodes since then. We moved to a every-other-week schedule earlier this year and have made a few adjustments along the way.

I appreciate you listening to me as we find our voice and I also hope you were inspired by the awesome guests we have had on the show.

But most importantly, I appreciate our guests who have given up their valuable time to talk about their origin stories.

It’s been so much fun talking to everyone. These are friends, these are people I root for, people I want to see succeed.

So that’s all I have for you. Enjoy the episode!

Links related to this week’s episode

* Jumpstart Podcast Quotes

* Our full podcast listing page

Past episodes on SoundCloud

 

Today for our 33rd episode, we will talk with Jen Havice, copywriter extraordinaire at Make Mention Media.

Even though Jen and I are from the same location in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis/St. Paul, we did not cross each other’s paths until 2016. But from there, the floodgates opened.

When I needed some help with the landing page for my Analytics Course, my friend Peep Laja at ConversionXL highly recommended that I talk to Jen.

When I started working on my upcoming Agency Course website, Jen’s name came up again and again as someone to talk to moving forward. So we met for coffee last month, and now she is a guest on the podcast.

Funny how these things work out.

But as you listen to Jen’s career journey, this becomes a common theme. Many of the things worked out for Jen through self study, networking with others and mastering her craft. Now she is an in-demand conversion focused copywriter. It was great to hear about her journey.

This episode was particularly interesting to me, because conversion copywriting is not something we have talked about on the podcast. The idea of getting into the thinking that goes into decisions our prospective customers make, and using feedback to increase chances of buying really hits home to anyone working on the web.

It makes a lot of sense to provide the most clear information we can to our prospects in order to get them to buy what we are selling. It’s not just the words we put together, but it’s the way we arrange them to sway prospects into customers that counts. Jen gives some practical tips about how she makes this happen in our interview.

Now I could go on all day about the importance of conversion, but I would rather have our expert tell you that part. So let’s get to our interview with Jen Havice.

If you like what Jen has to say, I definitely recommend that you check out the special offer she has provided to podcast listeners. It’s a free download that tells you how to get more conversions using your customers’ own words.

Quotable moments from our talk with Jen Havice

On the biggest career impact:

On making that most difficult 1st step:

On testing your copy in the wild:

Links related to this week’s episode

* As a thank you for listening to me on the Jeffalytics Podcast…

* Jen’s Book

* Jen’s Company

* Jen’s advice on AB testing

* How to Gather Qualitative Data for Insights

* 3 Ways to Convert Your Visitors with Targeted Copy

* Write More Persuasive, Believable and Usable Copy

* @jenhavice on Twitter

Past episodes on SoundCloud

Today for our 32nd episode, we will talk with Dan Golden, President of Be Found Online and Adjunct Lecturer at Depaul University in Chicago.

Dan and I first met back in 2014 when I moderated his session at HeroConf in Austin. In looking back at our old email exchanges, Dan asked that I introduce him like Michael Buffer introduces boxing matches, complete with a fog machine for dramatic effect.

Naturally, I declined. I told Dan he didn’t need to rely on gimmicks, just needed to prove his knowledge.

That’s the same arrangement we had for our podcast recording session. I just wanted Dan to tell his story, share some of the secrets to his success and hear about his areas of expertise. We recorded the session when I was in Washington DC, and this intro is being recorded from my hotel room in Sydney, Australia.

I just wrapped up a really intense two months of teaching, speaking and working on the next product we will be releasing at Jeffalytics. This product is an online course and support network that focuses on building a profitable and growth oriented digital marketing agency. If you are a freelancer or small agency owner, this course might be a perfect fit for you. Go to agencycourse.com to sign up for our mailing list.

Why do I mention my new course in this intro? Because there are a lot of gems that Dan provides in this interview. Dan has an awesome story, complete with an inspirational journey about how he grew his agency to be among the fastest growing agencies in the US.

He also talks about some of his passion projects. One of these is Employers for VTO.

For those of you who have been living under a rock, there is an election happening in the US November 8th. Even if you are not in the US, you have probably been unable to escape the coverage.

This organization encourages employers to give their employees paid time off to get out and perform their civic duty. I commend him for that.

Ok, enough politics. Let’s hear it from a smart agency owner who has figured out the business side of things and hear about his journey to success!

Quotable moments from our talk with Dan Golden

On looking at the big picture in digital marketing:

On digital marketing #Jumpstart:

On keeping the retention rate high at your agency:

Links related to this week’s episode

* @thegoldendan on Twitter

* See how Dan uses Geo-Targeting Strategies

* Wrigley – Premier Rooftop Destination

* Dan on LinkedIn

* Some of Dan’s Kick Ass Blogposts

Today for our 31st episode, we will talk with Jacob Baadsgaard, Founder of Disruptive Advertising.

Jake and I had talked previously about our respective businesses, so this was our second time chatting. This time, the introduction came from Andrea Warner, who you may remember from Episode 30 (aka our last guest). It was nice to hear Jake’s story, and I walked away impressed.

I recorded this episode in Arlington, Virginia and when it goes live I will be teaching in Minnesota. Trying to get episodes lined up before a crazy few months ahead with teaching, speaking and our newest course launching in January.

But enough about that, let’s talk about Jake.

Jake is like a textbook case of how to find success in business and a great case study on how to plan for the future. He went to school for an in demand degree, then worked for the hottest technology startup as his first job.

After learning a ton working with hundreds of enterprise clients, he rounded out his experience on the client side. Then he started his own business, which we talk about in detail. It was really a pleasure talking with Jake and I look forward to talking more now that we have made a strong connection.

I hope this conversation impresses you too!

Quotable moments from our talk with Jake Baadsgaard

On going solo in business:

On biggest challenge in running a ppc business:

On partnerships:

Links related to this week’s episode

* Jake’s Agency – Disruptive Advertising

* @jakebaadsgaard on Twitter

* Jacob on LinkedIn

* Are You Compensated Fairly? 5 Steps to Get Paid What You Deserve

* Hilarious yet educational article by Jake

Past episodes on SoundCloud