Don’t Check Email Right Before You Go To Bed

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Jan. 18

Today, I wanted to share a quick tip that will help you in business and life: Don’t check your email right before you go to bed. If you’re already in bed and have your iPhone right near you on the nightstand, resist the temptation!

Email

Last night, I made the mistake of checking my email right before bed. After a really long day at work and a long weekend (I worked most of last weekend), I was not in the frame of mind to deal with the email. However, I checked my email and found one that worried me. It was not a worked-related email, but rather a personal one. Upon reading this email, my mind went racing and I lost some serious sleep. Moreover, my day today got off to a rocky start. I missed out on sleep and more importantly had not “solved” the dilemma presented via the email.

However, after thinking about the email throughout the day today, the “solution” came to me. I’m really proud of the solution and feel like it’s a great one. At the end of the day, I think the solution would have come to me quicker and I would have gotten much more sleep had I not checked my email right before going to bed.

Going forward, I am going to resist checking my email right before going to bed. I hope to get more sleep this way and also make optimal decisions in life. Of course, this does not mean I will avoid checking my work and personal email at night. It just means I will have a cutoff time when I stop looking (probably around 9:00 pm or 10:00 pm at night). Today was definitely a learning lesson for me and I hope this tip helps you out too!

Image of Email © iStockPhoto – barisonal

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Major Fun Times In Maui Hawaii

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Sep. 04

My beautiful wife and I just returned from our 8 day long vacation to Maui, Hawaii. We had an outstanding time, the perfect combination of exciting activities (such as zip-lining and body boarding) and relaxation (days at the Westin Maui pool and beach). Each year, we try to visit Hawaii as it’s one of our favorite places in the world. Just last year, I blogged about our Maui 2010 vacation. Today, I’m thrilled to share some pictures and experiences from our Maui 2011 vacation.

We Visited Maui Thanks To Online Marketing

Dinner Hard Rock

Ian and Nicole at the Hard Rock Cafe Lahaina

Before doing so, however, I wanted to make sure to tie this post back to online marketing. It’s really because of online marketing (the corporate route and also my affiliate marketing activities) that make these types of vacations possible. If you’re a smart, hard working individual you can make it big in online marketing. Moreover, online marketing can be your road to a more mobile lifestyle which makes these types of vacations possible. While I didn’t do a ton of work from Maui, I was able to monitor my stats and also publish a blog post about PPC checks (all from my iPad). Now, without further ado, let’s get into the specifics of our vacation!

PPC Ian’s 2011 Maui Vacation Details

Maui Zipline Team

Ian, Nicole, and Maui Zipline Team

This year, we really had some major fun times! Following is a day-by-day outline of our trip.

Day 1: We arrive at our hotel, the Westin Maui on beautiful Kaanapali beach. We’re absolutely thrilled with the hotel, and especially our ocean front room. The reason we originally picked this hotel is its proximity to the ocean (the beach is literally steps from the hotel), the amenities (it’s quite the nice place), and also the proximity to shopping (the Westin Maui is right next to Whalers Village, some of the best shopping around). On our first day, we decide to take it easy and eat lunch at Westin poolside. We also enjoy the flamingos at the hotel, it’s really amazing that that they have a lagoon when you walk in filled with tropical birds such as flamingos.

Day 2: After we’re all caught up on sleep, we start day two with a workout at the Westin gym and then the amazing Westin Maui breakfast buffet. This buffet is no joke, we’re talking about waffles, grilled mahi mahi, pancakes, papaya, pineapple, and basically any kind of breakfast food you’d want to enjoy ocean side in Hawaii. In an effort to eat healthy, get up early, and enjoy the hotel, we actually had the breakfast buffet each day of our vacation. Later in the day, we hang out at the Westin pool, work on our tans, and enjoy the water slide at the hotel. For dinner, we head over to the town of Lahaina, enjoy some shopping, and eat dinner at the Lahaina Prime Rib and Fish Company.

Maui Sunset

Enjoying a Beautiful Maui Sunset

Day 3: After starting out the day with a nice run along the Kaanapali beach, we want to experience some sea life and do just that at the Maui Ocean Center. We really enjoy the fish, sea turtles, octopus, and sharks at this aquarium. Also, their gift shop is simply divine, voted the best in Maui. Later, we head over to Buzz’s Warf for lunch (highly recommended, great fish sandwiches), followed by some amazing shaved ice at a local place. After our big day at the aquarium, we go back to the hotel, enjoy the beach, and then head over to the Hula Grill for dinner.

Day 4: On our fourth day, we want to seek some adventure and did just that with Maui Zipline at the Maui Tropical Plantation. After ziplining, we head over to “Beach Bums” for lunch, a really great Hawaiian BBQ (but can’t find their website). Later, we hike at Iao Valley, go miniature golfing, and end the day with an Italian dinner at Pulehu. This was quite the busy day, but I was also amazed at how much energy Hawaii brought to us. For some reason, we had more energy than ever on this trip. I think it’s the relaxing environment, great weather, unparalleled food, and overall lifestyle. Definitely want to find ways to spend even more time in Hawaii over the coming years!

Maui Body Board

PPC Ian Body Boarding and Enjoying The Waves

Day 5: Continuing our adventure, we snorkel at black rock after breakfast. The waves at Kannapali start getting a little bigger so I also enjoy some body boarding. Day five ends with an amazing dinner at Sea House restaurant on Napili beach. This is our favorite restaurant in Hawaii, a restaurant we first discovered in our prior trip. The Fisherman’s Stew is incredible if you like seafood. Napili is very quiet and relaxing area, the perfect setting for a Hawaiian dinner.

Day 6: The diverse nature of Maui’s landscape is really evident when you start going to Maui’s upcountry. On Day six, we venture to Alii Kula Lavender Farm for a tour, then to Ulupalakulu Ranch for lunch (the elk burger was among the best I have had), and then onto Maui Winery at Tedeschi Vineyards for wine tasting. The Maui Splash wine was so good that we had some shipped home!

Lunch Leilanis

Lunch at Leilanis, Whalers Village

Day 7: We were ready for a bit of relaxation again on day seven so we start the day off with a gym workout, but then take it easy. We do some serious shopping at Whalers Village and purchase a variety of great souvenirs (my favorites being ceramic koi fish, Hawaiian angels, and of course clothes). Later in the day, the waves are picking up so I enjoy a bit more body boarding. We eat lunch at Leilanis, enjoy the Ulalena show in Lahaina, and have a wonderful dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe Maui.

Day 8: Our final day is all about enjoying one last breakfast at the enjoyable Westin breakfast buffet, followed by a little relaxation, and then the plane flight back home. Overall, we couldn’t have asked for a better vacation and have memories that will last a lifetime. Until next time, Hawaii. PPC Ian readers, remember online marketing is lucrative and enjoyable but it’s important to take a break. It’s all about the work hard, play hard way of life!

More Pictures From Our Maui Vacation

Westin Maui

Westin Maui, A Great Place To Stay

Maui Zipline

We Had So Much Fun Ziplining At Maui Zipline

Westin Breakfast Buffet

The Breakfast Buffett At The Westin Is Great

Westin Flamingos

The Flamingos At The Westin Are Great

Maui Lavender Farm

The Maui Lavender Farm, Spectacular Views

Maui Octopus

Octopus At The Maui Ocean Center

All images in this post © PPCIan.com

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PPC Ian Visits Maui

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Sep. 12

Pay per click can be a crazy career at times. Why? Just think of it as the NYSE trading floor, only it’s open 24 hours a day, 7 days per week. That’s also part of what makes it so much fun in my opinion! At the same time, it’s imperative to take vacations and recharge. After all, career longevity is the real key to making it big in online marketing. Today, I’d like to talk about my recent trip to the Ritz Carlton, Maui, my first "real" week long vacation of the year!

My First Real Vacation of 2010, It’s About Time!

PPC Ian and Nicole In Maui

2010 Has been a crazy year. I have been making stellar progress against my 2010 goals but have hardly had any time off. In fact, I’ve only taken one official day of PTO (paid time off) all year. That’s a good thing in that I’ve truly accomplished a lot. However, it’s a bad thing in that it’s not super healthy to work that hard with no break. As such, I’m extremely happy that my wife and I spent an amazing week relaxing at the Ritz Carlton, Maui.

The crazy thing about PPC: It’s really addictive and you can get stuck in a mode where you really don’t even want to take time off. It’s this strange state that’s brought about by the instant feedback loop of PPC. I was most definitely in that mode. My advice to you: Force yourself to take a vacation! You are in this for the long term.

My First Vacation With My iPad

I’m PPC Ian so you know I didn’t check out completely! I actually wrote and published two blog posts while on vacation: Inflection.com and Commission Junction. The fun part of it all: I didn’t even bring a laptop to Hawaii. I wrote and published these posts on my new 32 GB iPad with 3G. Moreover, I kept up with important work email and campaign management, all on my iPad! It’s important stuff: When your’re a Director, you can’t just abandon your team while on vacation. It sure was refreshing to have long battery life and less weight in my carry-on.

The only downside: Things took a little longer, especially considering I was having troubles pairing my wireless keyboard even though it worked just fine at home. Oh well, I was on "island time" anyway!

Hawaii Is Ideal For PPC

My wife and I love Hawaii. I also love the pay per click career path. The natural conclusion: Find a way to spend more time in Hawaii (maybe a few weeks each year) while working remotely. This may be even easier to swing if I can split the time up into a few separate blocks. This goal is something that will continue to motivate me well into the future! One thing is for sure: I’m blessed to be a leader in an industry that theoretically has no geographical boundaries!

Image In This Post © PPCIan.com

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Pay Per Click Persistence

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Aug. 30

Over the last few months, my wife and I have been running a lot of great races! The first one was back in May, the 5K San Carlos Fun Run. One week ago, I’m pleased to announce that I ran my first 10K race, the San Mateo Bay Vista Run. You can see some pictures from the race in this post. The 10K is definitely an endurance race, one that requires a lot of persistence both during the race but also in training. My persistence certainly paid off and I finished the race with an excellent time and more excitement for running than ever! In addition to my running career, persistence has been absolutely critical in my pay per click career and today I’ll tell you why!

Persistence, A Requirement For New PPC Campaigns

Right Before Bay Vista Run

Pay per click is very different than it was in 2004 when I started. Back in the day, I could simply launch new campaigns and they would turn to pure gold relatively quickly. Sure, there would be some optimization required, but profitability usually came within a few short days or less.

These days, however, profitability typically takes some time. That time is typically anywhere from one week all the way to a month. Why? Two big reasons: competition and quality score.

The competition side is simple enough. The pay per click marketplace is saturated. The bids are high, the landing pages are outstanding, and most of the keywords have been discovered. Because of all this competition, it takes a lot longer to really figure it out and make your new campaign profitable.

Now, let’s add the concept of quality score on top of that. Not only do you have to optimize around the fierce competition, but you need to establish a strong quality score from day one. I’ll keep it short because I recently posted a video about launching a new AdWords account where I cover this very topic. The takeaway: It’s always smart to go out the gate with strong bids so you establish a great quality score from day one. The downside? This will definitely lower your profitability in the short run (but will dramatically increase it in the long run). When you launch new campaigns, it’s all about persistence. The rewards will come, but it definitely takes time!

Persistence and Career Longevity

Running In Bay Vista Run

I’m a huge fan of the pay per click career path. I’ve made it big in online marketing. How? Hard work and persistence.

There are two main reasons persistence will pay off handsomely in your online marketing career. First and foremost, this is a difficult career path. We’re managing multi-million dollar budgets and have a lot riding on our shoulders. As such, pressure can exist. I actually embrace the pressure (I view it as excitement) and harness its power to my advantage. It’s a rush for me.

However, many people don’t look at it this way. They can’t take it and leave the industry. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve seen leave a great PPC gig because they didn’t have the persistence. What happens when you’re the last one standing? You learn a lot really quickly and have the opportunity to get promoted very fast. Leverage persistence to your advantage, career longevity is your secret weapon.

The second reason persistence pays off in your online marketing career: It’s all about stock options. My stock option batting average has been simply amazing. However, to really cash in on stock options you need to vest as many of them as possible. What does it take to vest a lot of options? Persistence!

All Images In This Post © PPCIan.com

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PPC Ian Runs The 5K San Carlos Fun Run

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May. 23

Hey Everyone,
Hope you’re having a super weekend! I’m always talking about PPC and online marketing around here, a good thing considering the name of my blog is PPC Ian and online marketing is a fascinating topic. However, today I’d like to break things up a bit with a very exciting update from my personal life! Today my wife and I ran the 5K San Carlos Rotary Club Fun Run. We had an amazing time and thoroughly enjoyed the event. I’m looking forward to sharing my experience with you.

PPC Ian’s 2010 Goals

Ian Lopuch San Carlos Fun Run

If you’ve been reading PPC Ian for a while, you probably know that I’m huge on goal setting. I’m really excited because I recently spoke about online marketing at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, one of my big 2010 goals.

In addition to participating in one major public speaking event, I also have the 2010 goal of getting six pack abs. In terms of achieving that goal, my wife and I have been diligently working out with our trainer, attending boot camp, and also working out on our own each and every week for months! I can definitely see results and am thrilled!

Taking the fitness goal to the next level, we decided to participate the in the San Carlos Fun Run. The 5K race sponsored by the Rotary Club spanned the beautiful foothills of San Carlos, a small city close to our home on the San Francisco Peninsula. The race spans all age groups and included several hundred participants. As someone who’s a bit out of practice in the world of competitive running and who has gained a lot of muscle, I went into the race with a goal of breaking 30 minutes. I’m thrilled to report that I came in at 28:19, well ahead of my goal!

We Plan To Participate In More Runs

After the event, my wife and I were thrilled. It brought back the sense of excitement I experienced during my high school varsity cross country and swim team days. In those days, I was able to finish 5K in the low 20s. However, I also had about 30 pounds less muscle to carry around and two hours per day to practice. Nonetheless, I’m looking forward to pushing it and getting down to the 25 minute level by next year’s run! Moreover, we’re looking forward to participating in more 5K or even 10K runs in coming months. Another PPC Ian 2010 goal: Spend a lot of time with my wife. Running and training has been a great way for us to spend quality time together and I highly recommend it to anyone.

Fitness Brings Great Results In Pay Per Click

I wanted to close out with a quick tip: Take time to exercise regularly. PPC and online marketing in general is a crazy career. It’s incredibly rewarding and exciting, but also very time consuming and addictive. I’m often completely glued to the computer. However, it all comes down to productivity and longevity. I’ve personally found fitness to be an incredible driver in my long term happiness and also productivity. After today’s run, I’m definitely pumped up and excited to head into a productive work week tomorrow!

All the best,
PPC Ian (Ian Lopuch)

PS – It’s a crazy small world. I ran into one of the top executives of Inflection (formerly People Search Media) at the run today! As you may know from my about me, I worked at Inflection before my current gig. The moral of the story: Keep your eyes open, it’s a small world and great opportunities to network and run into friends are plentiful!


Right After The 2010 San Carlos Fun Run

All Images In This Post © PPCIan.com (An IJL Productions LLC Website)

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