Keeping Detailed PPC Records

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Nov. 15

In pay per click search engine marketing, a lot is going on at once. Even more is going on if you follow my advice around making progress in your search engine accounts. Now, if you’re like most search engine marketers, your records may be less than perfect. Today, I’m excited to discuss my thoughts around records in PPC and why they’re import both for the health of your campaigns but also your personal SEM career growth.

Good Records Will Help Your SEM Career

PPC To Do List

I’m going to jump right to the fun stuff. How can good records in pay per click help your personal career? It’s simple: Records are the easiest way to remember all the hard work you have invested when the time comes for your performance review. Pay per click is a very fast paced career. We’re getting so much done and often switching tasks so quickly that it’s absolutely impossible to remember everything you’ve accomplished. Here’s where good records come in. Take the time to thoroughly document everything you’ve done and then leverage this information during your performance review. Even better, proactively send your manager regular updates on your (and your team’s) accomplishments. One of my all time top teachings about the search engine marketing game: If you don’t proactively take credit for the projects you’ve completed, you’ll never get credit. It’s up to you!

Good PPC Records Will Improve The Performance of Your Campaigns

Now, let’s see how good records will help the performance of your campaigns. (As a side note: Again, this really is a career boost for you as well because solid campaign performance is the engine behind rapid career progression.) It’s all really simple: Too much is happening in SEM. Just think about all the changes and all the different people involved! Not only are you making changes, but everyone on the team is making changes, your search engine reps are making changes, search engines are changing their algorithms, the engineering team is regularly updating the site, and the list goes on. Keep track of everything in a detailed manner and it will greatly improve your campaign management abilities. Good records will instantly answer many of your campaign questions.

How Do I Keep Good PPC Records?

So I’ve convinced you and you’re ready to improve your record keeping practices. I’ll start out with an interesting story. When I first started out managing teams in pay per click, I used to print out every single analysis my team completed and kept them all in a binder which I carried with me everywhere. If I ever got a question about what we were working on or what was happening with a campaign, I would quickly pull out the binder and flip to the right analysis. While this is an extreme example, there’s nothing wrong with it and it only makes you look more prepared as a PPC team manager.

While I’m not carrying around the binder these days, I still take incredibly good records. Following are my favorite tips:

  • First and foremost, leverage your company’s internal task list infrastructure (such as Sharepoint) if they have one. If they don’t, talk to your manager and request that your company invests in one. Even if I finish a project that only takes one hour, I’ll open a ticket and then immediately close it just so I have detailed records. At the end of the quarter, you can easily look at all the completed tasks both for yourself and your team.
  • Second, if you’re a people manager spend at least 20 percent of your time planning, forecasting, and keeping records. If you’re an individual contributor, spend at least 10 percent of your time. While this may sound extreme, I’m a big believer in SEM productivity leverage. If you simply take a step back, you will immediately improve your productivity. If you don’t take a step back, it’s very easy to get absolutely lost in the sea of projects going on, losing your ability to see up from down.
  • Third, regularly send updates to everyone involved including your team and manager. Even though you’re tracking your projects in Sharepoint or whichever system your company uses, don’t assume everyone is on the same page (especially your manager). Send regular email updates on what was accomplished, what’s on your list, relative priorities, and most importantly forecasted and real numbers.
  • Finally, always include numbers with everything. I’m sure you already know it: numbers are everything in pay per click. As a pay per clicker, you need to become a master at forecasting. Always forecast the benefits of each project, but make sure to close the feedback loop and report back on the accuracy of your forecast. If you’re able to accurately forecast and consistently deliver results, you will get promoted quite rapidly.

To close out, I hope I’ve convinced you to keep good records and leverage them to your advantage in growing both your personal SEM career and also your campaigns. Moreover, I hope these tips provide some "quick wins" in your search marketing career. One things is for sure: I will continue to push myself each and every day to keep great SEM records!

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Search Engine Marketing Conference Tips

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Nov. 15

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending Yahoo’s Ad Forum, an exclusive conference for Yahoo’s top advertisers. It was actually my third Ad Forum and by far the best one yet. I really enjoyed learning more about the Yahoo Microsoft Partnership, new upcoming releases to Yahoo Search Marketing, information about Yahoo Smart Ads, and so much more. More than anything, it was a great opportunity to network with top executives at Yahoo in addition to search marketing leaders at other large companies. I’m a huge proponent of actively participating in conferences and industry events. Today, I’m looking forward to highlighting my strategies for getting the most out of search engine marketing events.

Get Out of The Office Today

Hello My Name Is PPC Ian

This first point is very important. In the world of search engine marketing, it’s extremely easy to get caught up in the day-to-day details. We’re so focused that we rarely get out of the office. This is exactly why it’s important to take every opportunity possible to attend industry conferences. It’s simply not sustainable to stay in the details without any breaks and networking. Special note to team leads and people managers: Make sure to get your team out of the office. It will give them a much needed break and make your team even more productive over the long run. Moreover, this is a great way to retain your team members and lower stress levels.

Speak Up at Search Marketing Events

I absolutely love this second tip because it’s all about challenging yourself. If you’re like most people, you may feel a bit intimidated about public speaking. With a hundred or so people in the audience, you might feel a bit nervous about asking questions and speaking up. My advice to you: Never leave a search engine marketing event without actively speaking and participating. Life is a challenge! You want to be a leader in the industry, right? You want to continue to grow your career, right? You simply want to feel good at the end of the day that you did your best, right? For all of these reasons, it’s very important to participate.

So how do you participate? It’s easy! Why not start small and ask some questions during the smaller breakout sessions. When you have a little more experience, why not ask questions in front of hundreds of people at the larger sessions? Once you’re comfortable in that setting, why not volunteer to speak on a panel? Next, you’re ready to lead an event!

I recently spoke on a panel to a few hundred Google employees and it was the opportunity of a lifetime. I was certainly a bit nervous before the event, but that nervousness quickly went away once I started speaking. I ended up totally owning the panel! The event was an incredible success and a big move for my career and personal brand image in the search engine marketing world.

Take Diligent Notes

As mentioned in the introduction, I just attended Yahoo’s Ad Forum. I was careful to take diligent notes during the event and came back to the office with several solid action items and a variety of other notes. I quickly typed up my notes, sent them out, and prioritized several new projects. My advice to you: Take diligent notes because solid revenue-generating action items will come out of these conferences if you listen carefully.

Network With Other Search Marketers

As you know from my post all about Growing Your SEM Career With LinkedIn, I’m a huge fan of networking. It’s a really small industry and your network means everything. Now, can you think of a better opportunity to network than search marketing conferences? I can’t! Make sure to bring business card and introduce yourself to as many people as possible. This can be a great recruiting ground as well. Another tip: Make sure to stay until the very end. At the end of these events, they often have cocktail hour. This is the best time to really network.

I hope this article helps you get the most out of your next SEM conference and wanted to leave you with a final tip: Make sure to Dress For SEM Success when you attend your next SEM conference.

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Review of eBay’s Quality Click Pricing

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Nov. 11

I run a web publishing business in my free time and have found it to be just about the best testing ground to learn new PPC and SEO strategies. In fact, I credit my web publishing business as fueling my corporate career because it has given me the opportunity to learn new things that I simply wouldn’t have the time to learn at work, especially on the SEO side. Today, I wanted to discuss my excitement for eBay’s new quality click pricing.

My eBay Affiliate Program Earnings Are Up 40%

Let me cut right to the important stuff: Since October 1, 2009 my eBay earnings are up over 40% compared to my previous peak month. I haven’t made any significant changes on my end during this time period (I’ve actually been focused 100% on my full time gig) and I credit this entire increase in earnings to eBay’s new quality based pricing.

eBay Has Consistently Innovated Their Affiliate Program

eBay Profits Increasing

I’d like to start off by taking a step back and thanking eBay for their innovation. I’ve been an eBay affiliate forever. When I first started, their affiliate program was on Commission Junction. Back in those days, I did reasonably well, but must admit the program was a bit cumbersome. Since then, eBay has really stepped things up.

First, they brought their affiliate program in house and built out an amazingly helpful tracking and reporting system. Their affiliate portal alone has made a very significant impact on my earnings. In pay per click search engine marketing, accurate tracking and reporting is everything. eBay gets it and has applied that mentality to their affiliate program.

With eBay’s most recent changes around quality click pricing, they continue to push forward with the innovations and I commend them. The new system smooths out your earnings to a per click basis and over-rewards high quality clicks while under-rewarding lower quality clicks. I guess I fall in the high quality clicks bucket because my earnings have risen sharply and have been very consistent on a day-to-day basis!

My Personal Strategy on eBay’s Affiliate Program

My strategy is actually relatively simple. I built out an organic website that focuses on a niche of a niche of a niche. I totally own that niche and picked a niche that meshes well with products sold on eBay. It’s a niche that I’m personally passionate about and have personally purchased all of products I promote through eBay. I talk about my experience and offer honest and useful information to my audience. At the end of my articles, I’ll include a targeted link to the relevant products or seller on eBay. Sometimes, I’ll leverage eBay’s seller widget and include that in the article as well.

Why do I think this strategy works so well? I’m honest with my readers and a personal consumer of the products I promote. Because I’m sharing my own experiences, the reader trusts me and is more likely to make a purchase on eBay. My advice to you: Be authentic in your writing. Only endorse products that you personally buy. Speak clearly and openly with your readers. eBay’s quality click pricing will be there to reward you!

I hope this encourages you to give eBay’s affiliate program a try! I’ve read mixed reviews on other blogs and really wanted to take the time to highlight my positive experience to underscore that it’s totally possible to thrive under eBay’s quality click pricing system.

Want to learn more about my web publishing endeavors? Make sure to check out my post all about moonlighting and your SEM career.

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Increase Your Search Marketing Leverage

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Nov. 08

There’s no doubt about it! Pay per click search engine marketing is a time-intensive career. Look at the Wall Street trading floor. Pretty hectic, right? Now, consider a 24 hour, 7 day a week Wall Street. That’s pay per click in a nutshell. All of us in pay per click have faced the challenge of time. We never have enough time to get it all done. Moreover, our job often permits very little personal time which is just not sustainable in my opinion. Today, I’m going to go through 10 tactical tips with the goal of saving you time immediately. In my opinion, the 40 hour work week is not only possible in pay per click, but it’s preferred if all 40 of those hours are passionate, high energy, and high leverage.

Tip 1: Outsource Manual Work, Spend Your Time on PPC Process

Cube Standing Out

There are certain routine manual (yet extremely valuable) PPC processes that can be well defined with the right manager who’s passionate about good documentation. Leverage the global business economy to find cost-effective resources to focus on your well-defined processes. This is quite possibly the best way to quickly gain more leverage for your entire pay per click team! (Side Note: Documentation is a cornerstone of solid pay per click people management. I’ve written a few hundred pages of documentation during my various gigs and have gotten tremendous leverage through documentation. What’s the ultimate leverage? It’s when you can leave the equation and your team continues to function smoothly thanks to your flawless documentation.)

Tip 2: Build, Buy, and Leverage Free SEM Technology

I learned this very early on: Automation and leverage through technology is everything. In my early SEM days, I spent half my time product managing complex internal bidding and campaign management solutions. The good news: Times have changed and the off the shelf solutions are absolutely amazing and better than what most organizations could build internally these days. Moreover, the desktop editors available today make free what many companies have invested significant time and money building. The end verdict: Stay on top of the technology and leverage it to your advantage.

Tip 3: Reports and Alerts Are Your Friend

Tired of cycling through all of your campaigns and adgroups every morning just to make sure everything’s ok? Even more tired of knowing that your entire team is doing this as well? Invest some serious time building reports and alerts. While you’ll spend more time up front, it scales rather quickly. Another tip: While you’ll be able to leverage free alerting and reporting (Google’s alerts are great), I highly recommend talking to your internal Engineering and operations teams for more robust intra-day solutions.

Tip 4: Leverage Your Search Engine Reps

I view my Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft reps as extensions of my internal pay per click team! When I report on my team’s priorities, I include my reps side-by-side with my internal team. Make sure your search engine reps always have a full meaningful queue of work and your leverage will reach a new level.

Tip 5: Get Sleep and Exercise: Make Every Hour High Impact

I’m a huge proponent of the 40 hour work week. It’s absolutely amazing what you can accomplish when you’re firing on all cylinders. How do you accomplish this? Get sleep and exercise. You may even want to consider a personal trainer. My wife and I see our trainer regularly and it’s one of the best investments we’ve ever made!

Tip 6: Proper People Management and Delegation Is Key

What’s the number one pitfall I’ve seen in the world of search engine marketing people management? Improper delegation. Why? In my opinion, there are two reasons. First, most SEM people managers are young and aren’t formally trained in management and delegation. Second, we’ll often face such complex problems that it’s “easier” to solve it ourselves. As someone who takes people management very seriously, I encourage you to delegate and invest time training your team. Otherwise, you’ll rob your team the ability to learn and you’ll rob yourself the opportunity to manage and leverage your time.

Tip 7: Prioritize Your Queue of SEM Work Effectively

You arrive in the office a ton of stuff is thrown your way. You just jump into the action and start doing stuff. Sound familiar? This is a very common scenario in the world of search engine marketing because our job is incredibly real time and complex. While it may sound counter-intuitive, I strongly encourage you to spend at least 10% of your time planning. The ramifications on your productivity and prioritization will yield incredible results.

Tip 8: Audit Your Time Allocation Regularly

I’ll admit I don’t follow this SEM productivity tip too often. I’ll perhaps audit my time allocation once every year or two, typically when I find myself in a rut. My advice to you: Invest the time in this one. Seriously! Keep a log of everything you do throughout your workday for two weeks. You’ll oftentimes be absolutely amazed at the stuff you’re wasting time on and how little time you’re spending on the important stuff.

Tip 9: Leverage Every Excel Shortcut Imaginable

Excel shortcuts really add up. If you can save second here and there throughout your day, all of the sudden you could find yourself saving 15 minutes or even a half hour per day. That’s some serious time. Moreover, you just can’t call yourself an expert search engine marketer without leveraging every Excel shortcut out there! Side note: If you’re managing a team of pay per clickers, this is one of the first things you will want to teach them because it immediately streamlines their work by getting rid of the tedious stuff.

Tip 10: No SEM Project Should Take More Than 2 Hours

Rewind 5 years, Ian’s first day of work in search engine marketing. I received some incredibly valuable advice that day: never spend more than 2 hours on any analysis. There are exceptions to every rule. However I strive every single day to hold myself to this rule. The rationale: If something’s taking more than 2 hours, it should be automated, outsourced, completed by someone who can do it quicker, or approached in an entirely different way.

Bonus Tip 11: Change Your Location of Work

I really enjoy my current job because I’m splitting my time between two different offices. This change of location is really helping my productivity and focus by keeping things fresh and interesting. My advice to you: make sure to change things up. If you’ve got a flexible employer, try to spend some time working on your laptop at Starbucks one or two days a week (a strategy that really helped at my last search marketing job)!

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