The Collective

This was a wide ranging conversation across recent travel, OpenAI’s Canvas & the Data Google Hides:

In this conversation, Trevor and Steve explore various topics ranging from their recent trip to Austin, reflections on their podcasting journey, and the implications of OpenAI's new Canvas tool for content creation. 

They then dive into Google's mobile-first indexing and the ethical concerns surrounding data collection and user privacy. The discussion also covers the complexities of Google Ads and the future of search engines, highlighting the challenges and opportunities in the evolving digital landscape.

It’s crazy how no one talks about Google hides 20-30% of search queries in both Google Ads and Google Search Console. 

Want to learn more about us and our services? Reach out!

Steve:

https://collective42.com/

Trevor:

https://www.r40collective.com/

#digitalmarketing #ai #aimarketing #ppc #seo #growthhacking #googleads #searchenginemarketing #sem #ga4 #googleanalytics #growthmarketing #demandgen #pmax #performancemax #gtm #tagmanager #marketingagencies

OpenAi is valued at $150 billion, yet their entire executive team from the founding days have left:

In this conversation, Trevor and Steve discuss their experiences with podcasting, the evolution of AI, and the implications of Sam Altman's leadership at OpenAI. It’s been interesting to follow along with Sam’s journey, through the Elon drama and now to see the company raise the largest round of funding of all time just to see the entire leadership team leave.  Something seems fishy.  The guys also highlight how Sam publicly has stated he doesn’t need or care about money yet drives a $4million dollar car. 

They then explore the challenges of maintaining a podcast, the importance of engaging content, and the potential impact of AI on jobs and education. The discussion also touches on the future of AI in daily life and how it can serve as a tool for productivity rather than a job killer.

We think you’ll leave this episode with a more positive take on AI! Lol

Want to learn more about us and our services? Reach out!

Steve:

https://collective42.com/

Trevor:

https://www.r40collective.com/

#digitalmarketing #ai #aimarketing #ppc #seo #growthhacking #googleads #searchenginemarketing #sem #ga4 #googleanalytics #growthmarketing #demandgen #pmax #performancemax #gtm #tagmanager #marketingagencies

How we use LinkedIn for business development and personal branding 

In this episode, Trevor shares a personal story of a recent business development through a LinkedIn DM and how he optimizes his profile for business development.

Steve states how your LinkedIn can be used as a remarketing tactic to stay top of mind for your audience. 

The guys then turn the discussion into a bit of a health related conversation discussing some supplements they’ve recently been testing and how Mr. Beast started an ultra-processed foods company.  

Want to learn more about us and our services? Reach out!

Steve:

https://collective42.com/

Trevor:

https://www.r40collective.com/

#digitalmarketing #ai #aimarketing #ppc #seo #growthhacking #googleads #searchenginemarketing #sem #ga4 #googleanalytics #growthmarketing #demandgen #pmax #performancemax #gtm #tagmanager #marketingagencies

We spoke through a recent shadow ban we experienced and then shifted to a conversation about Steve’s agency doing keyword testing for inbound: 

In this episode, Steve discusses his recent experience from a trip to Texas for a bachelor weekend.

The guys then shift to speak about an update from a recent shadow ban they experienced on YouTube. 

They explore the importance of collaboration in client experiences and the idea of creating a community through a Slack channel. The goal here is to create a community of those in digital marketing looking to improve performance and to not feel like they’re on an island in this remote world.

Lastly, the conversation ends when the guys discuss Steve’s agency doing some keyword bidding search campaigns for client acquisition, highlighting the challenges of navigating paid media campaigns. They emphasize the significance of negative keywords and understanding search intent in optimizing campaigns.  There’s a lot of golden nuggets in the approach to constructing search campaigns and certain settings are highlighted that you should avoid. 

Want to learn more about us and our services? Reach out!

Steve:

https://collective42.com/

Trevor:

https://www.r40collective.com/

#digitalmarketing #ai #aimarketing #ppc #seo #growthhacking #googleads #searchenginemarketing #sem #ga4 #googleanalytics #growthmarketing #demandgen #pmax #performancemax #gtm #tagmanager #marketingagencies

Leon Hitchen’s founder story & POV on building a great agency business: 

Leon Hitchens, co-founder of Ruskin Consulting, shares his journey from tech blogging to starting a marketing agency. 

The agency primarily focuses on white-label marketing services for other agencies, offering Google ads, SEO, and web work. 

Leon and his business partner have also diversified their business by investing in other ventures, including a tax business, a hiring business, and real estate. They aim to build an agency that provides cash flows and then use those cash flows to invest in other assets. 

Leon emphasizes the importance of finding a niche and being passionate about it, as well as replicating processes and onboarding across clients in the same niche. 

In this conversation, Leon discusses the various tools and software his agency uses for project management, billing, invoicing, communication, SEO, and CRM. He emphasizes the importance of using tools that are simple and easy to use, such as Basecamp for project management. 

Leon also talks about the benefits of using AI in marketing and the potential opportunities it presents. He shares his experience as a business mentor and the value of having mentors in entrepreneurship. 

Overall, the conversation highlights the importance of staying adaptable and embracing new technologies in the marketing industry.

Takeaways: 

Get in touch with Leon Hitchens:

https://ruskinconsulting.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/leonhitchens/

Want to learn more about us and our services? Reach out!

Steve:

https://collective42.com/

Trevor:

https://www.r40collective.com/

#digitalmarketing #ai #aimarketing #ppc #seo #growthhacking #googleads #searchenginemarketing #sem #ga4 #googleanalytics #growthmarketing #demandgen #pmax #performancemax #gtm #tagmanager #marketingagencies

Striking a balance between being authentic & providing value with our personal organic social content: 

In this conversation, Steve and Trevor discuss their experiences with posting content on platforms like YouTube and LinkedIn. They talk about the importance of being authentic and providing value in their posts. They also touch on the topic of LinkedIn strategies, including commenting on other people's posts and connecting with past clients. 

The conversation covers various topics including the templatization of social posts, loyalty to companies, the impact of LinkedIn on job hopping, the future of work, and the use of AI in software development. 

They discuss the preference for genuine social media content over templated posts and the different mindsets and values people have when it comes to marketing. 

They also explore the changing dynamics of job loyalty and the role of LinkedIn in facilitating career hopping. 

The conversation touches on the emergence of AI tools like Cursor that allow for prompt coding and the potential impact on software businesses. They conclude by discussing the generational divide in adopting new technologies.

They also touch on: 

Want to learn more about us and our services? Reach out!

Steve:

https://collective42.com/

Trevor:

https://www.r40collective.com/

#digitalmarketing #ai #aimarketing #ppc #seo #growthhacking #googleads #searchenginemarketing #sem #ga4 #googleanalytics #growthmarketing #demandgen #pmax #performancemax #gtm #tagmanager #marketingagencies

Christian Hustle, founder of WooBound Marketing joins the show: Christian Hustle, founder of WooBound Marketing, joins Trevor and Steve to discuss SEO and the challenges of running an agency. They talk about the importance of creating quality content, dealing with haters, and the concept of programmatic SEO. 

They also touch on: 

> The limitations of automated SEO tools and the value of Google Search Console emails. 

> Challenges of dealing with SEO errors and the importance of having a mentor or experienced professional to guide you. 

> The impact of title tags and meta descriptions on SEO rankings and the potential benefits of using sentence case instead of title case. 

> Importance of online reviews for businesses and the impact of review velocity on rankings. 

> Dependence on digital maps and the challenges of navigating in foreign countries without reliable map apps. 

> Unpredictability of Google's algorithm updates and the potential for websites to recover from ranking drops.

Want to connect with Christian?

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christianarriola/

WooBound: https://woobound.com/

Want to learn more about us and our services? Reach out!

Steve:

https://collective42.com/

Trevor:

https://www.r40collective.com/

#digitalmarketing #ai #aimarketing #ppc #seo #growthhacking #googleads #searchenginemarketing #sem #ga4 #googleanalytics #growthmarketing #demandgen #pmax #performancemax #gtm #tagmanager #marketingagencies

Harris campaign manipulates headlines to highlight favorable news coverage: The conversation discusses the topic of political advertising, specifically focusing on the recent controversy surrounding the Harris campaign's use of text ads on search results pages. The hosts explore the tactics used by the campaign, such as buying keywords and creating misleading headlines to promote positive news articles about Kamala Harris. They also question how the campaign was able to send traffic to websites they don't own, which goes against Google's advertising policies. The conversation highlights the lack of transparency and ethical concerns surrounding this practice.

Also, the guys discuss Google’s push towards using ONE primary conversion action in your ads account and how this is a massive change.  They get into how you can deploy this update in your ads account and discuss some things advertisers should consider before implementing. 

#digitalmarketing #ai #aimarketing #ppc #seo #growthhacking #googleads #searchenginemarketing #sem #ga4 #googleanalytics #growthmarketing #demandgen #pmax #performancemax #gtm #tagmanager #marketingagencies

Lending Tree has a sophisticated marketing funnel: The guys did a live audit for the “auto insurance” industry and came across a wild one

During their live audit the guys broke down what they liked and didn’t like about the auto insurance industry, specifically through the lens of SEO and PPC.  And during the pod the guys discussed a brand that has the simplest form submission action and quickly discovered Lending Tree owned it and has dozens of “brands” they deploy for their marketing funnel.

Tons of golden insights in this one!

#digitalmarketing #ai #aimarketing #ppc #seo #growthhacking #googleads #searchenginemarketing #sem #ga4 #googleanalytics #growthmarketing #demandgen #pmax #performancemax #gtm #tagmanager #marketingagencies

Is AI Positive for Society: The guys had one of their most interesting conversations on the podcast to date.  

They covered the wide ranging topic of is AI positive for society and in general how we think about success in society.  For example, is building a social app that gamifies the experience to get users addicted to the platform and destroys people’s attention spans a net positive on the world?  Will AI further reduce human’s attention spans?  Will AI ruin or vastly reduce human’s critical thinking abilities?  

Overall, it was a fascinating conversation.  The guys urge everyone to take a step back and consider everything happening with technology, AI and social media a net positive.  Or are we seeing the hollowing out of resourcefulness, critical thinking and problem solving because technology is making everything too easy?

Let us know what you think! 

#digitalmarketing #ai #aimarketing #ppc #seo #growthhacking #googleads #searchenginemarketing #sem #ga4 #googleanalytics #growthmarketing #demandgen #pmax #performancemax #gtm #tagmanager #marketingagencies