My 2013 Goals

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Jan. 03

Happy new year! 2013 is officially here and it’s time for my 2013 goals post. It’s a long standing tradition here on PPC Ian to blog about my goals for the new year. (You may want to check out my: 2012 goals, 2011 goals, and 2010 goals.) These posts really help me document my aspirations for the new year so I’m able to stay on track and strive for excellence. I try to keep my goals attainable, but still a stretch. Typically, I do not hit all of them (within one year), but I have a great track record of hitting most of them (and a super high percentage of them if you project out more than one year). I feel that if I’m hitting all my goals within the year, I’m not pushing myself hard enough. I hope you enjoy reading this post as a way to spark your own goals. I truly feel that documenting goals on paper (or via blogging) is a critical step in achieving your dreams. Here’s to an amazing 2013!

2013 Goals

  1. Save money and invest wisely.. This was also my number one goal for 2012. While I accomplished this goal in 2012, it’s not the type of goal that is over after one year. Saving money and investing wisely is a lifestyle. It requires many years of persistence to truly get the momentum building in your favor. As such, I’m going to be watching every expense very closely and hunting down passive income vehicles (such as dividend-paying stocks) every single day. Specifically, I’m looking to grow the amount of money I have invested in dividend paying stocks by at least 20%.
  2. Help others and build careers. In 2012, I got promoted to VP. This was one of my longest standing goals. I view my role as the greatest honor and responsibility. At my company and also within the industry, I will strive every single day in 2013 to help others. Whether it’s via this blog, public speaking, 1-on-1s with team members, dinner with partners, or just about any other avenue, I’m going to do everything I can to motivate and empower. In terms of making it specific, I will help at least 5 people every single day, in a big way.
  3. Invent a major new marketing strategy. I love online marketing and the marketing field overall because it’s all about innovation. I enjoy pushing myself to the limits. This year, I want to invent at least one major new marketing strategy (new to me/my company).
  4. Continue to grow my offline marketing expertise. I’m all about pay per click and online marketing. When it comes to online marketing, I have 8+ years of experience. In more recent years, I started getting into offline marketing in a major way. I have built some great expertise across several offline marketing channels and am always learning more. In 2013, I want to deepen my offline marketing expertise and invest at least a few hours each week building my marketing toolkit.
  5. Optimize, optimize, optimize. I just wouldn’t be PPC Ian if I wasn’t thinking about optimization. All day/night, I’m thinking about optimization from a PPC standpoint. However, this goal also ties into my life. I’m looking forward to optimizing my time (get more sleep, and more effective sleep), optimizing my workout schedule (getting out there and working out 4 days/week, one of the goals I did not hit in 2012), organizing our home and making better use of the space (a project Nicole and I are working on right now), optimizing my commute (trying different times to get to/from work as quickly as possible), really finding any and all ways to get even more out of life. I’m a big fan of optimization and 2013 is all about optimizing everything.
  6. Match or potentially exceed our 2012 contribution to charity. Nicole and I donated a record amount of money to charity in 2012. We truly believe in helping others and get a thrill out of giving back. I’m not sure if we will exceed our 2012 contributions this year since we need to balance this goal with the saving/investing goal (which would allow us to donate maximum money long term). That said, we will strive to match our 2012 contribution.
  7. Visit Hawaii. My wife, Nicole, and I love Hawaii. It’s one of our favorite places in the world. We try to go every year. (Here’s a fun post about our 2011 Maui Vacation). In 2012, we took a multitude of smaller trips, but no major vacation to Hawaii. Why? We got super focused on work (which is a good thing since we love our jobs). In 2013, we are already planning a vacation to Hawaii.
  8. Invest in family and friends. It’s all about the big picture. I like to keep this goal on my list each year because it’s easy to get focused on work, blog, business, and investments. However, it truly is all about the people in your life. I’m going to make sure to take time for fun times with family and friends.

I could not be more excited about 2013. What are your goals for the new year!

Image of 2013 © iStockPhoto – A-S-L

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Check Me Out On The Free COO

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Oct. 12

Yesterday, I Was Live On The Free COO, my friend Donald Landwirth’s radio show. The Free COO is an awesome radio show on Spreaker offering business advice for entrepreneurs and small businesses. If you have been reading PPC Ian for a while, you may recall that I was live on The Free COO a few months ago (you can check out that episode here). Things went so well that Don invited me back for the 2nd time. In fact, I’m the first guest to come back to The Free COO for two shows!

On Air

I had so much fun, the show flew by. I couldn’t believe it, the show lasted 1.5 hours, but it honestly felt like just 1/2 hour. We chatted about all kinds of online marketing topics, including:

  • Careers in online marketing. Why the online marketing career path is one of the best careers around.
  • My top 3 tips for advancing your career in the corporate world of online marketing.
  • Trends with search engines in 2012. Focus on Google instant search and ad extensions.
  • Online marketing technologies and SEM platforms (one of my favorite topics of all time).
  • So much more. 1.5 hours of awesome content!

I want to take this opportunity to sincerely thank Don and Spreaker for having me on the show, again. It was a true honor. I’m a huge fan of Spreaker and highly recommend checking it out. It’s super easy to leverage the Spreaker platform to broadcast your own radio show. Or, you can just listen to existing radio channels. They even have an app so you can listen to Spreaker radio shows (and broadcast) on the go! You can listen to The Free COO featuring PPC Ian here. Thanks for listening!

Image of On Air © iStockPhoto – DSGpro

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PPC Ian Presents at Stanford GSB Again

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Jan. 21

Back in May of 2010, I presented a two hour introduction to online marketing at Stanford Graduate School of Business. The presentation went incredibly well and was a true honor and milestone in my career. I graduated Stanford with my BS in Computer Science so it was really exciting to go back and present at Stanford GSB.

PPC Ian at Stanford GSB

PPC Ian at Stanford GSB

Today, I’ve got some really exciting news: I just went back and presented again this Wednesday! That’s right, I got invited back in less than a year so I’m definitely on the right track. I’m very passionate about Stanford, online marketing, and public speaking so I’m truly excited about this accomplishment.

Even better news: I have six HD videos of my new presentation that I’m excited to share with you. The first two videos are featured in this post, and then I will include the final four within the next few days.

While last time I presented an extensive introduction to the various online marketing channels, this time I provided a plethora of quick win tips for entrepreneurs. I highlighted pay per click, SEO, social media, and viral marketing tips that are easy, actionable, and effective in marketing any small business. After my first hour presenting quick win tips, I spent another hour doing a deep dive of some of the students’ sites. I especially enjoyed this part because I got to see some really amazing early stage businesses from the best and brightest minds. (Since the business are early stage with some in stealth mode, I only have video from the first hour.)

I was fortunate yet again to have an amazing audience of around 35 or so genius GSB students from the entrepreneur, high tech, and marketing clubs, students who asked some really great questions! My sincere thank you to everyone from these great clubs and everyone at GSB who attended and hosted me, especially Courtney from Wokai.

Today’s First Online Marketing Video

I have two exciting HD videos to share with you today. The first video covers quick wins on Google AdWords and Facebook. When it comes to Google AdWords, there are few marketers out there who have been directly responsible for as much spend as myself. This is really where it all started for me and how I became a guru in the online marketing industry. I’m newer to Facebook advertising but am quickly learning. I have been promoting my Facebook Fan Page quite a bit lately and discuss some tips for gaining more likes!

My Second Stanford GSB Video

The second video covers more Facebook advertising tips, the Yahoo/Microsoft Search Alliance, keyword generation (via broad match), and blogging. I really hope you enjoy these videos and can’t wait to share the next four. Thanks so much for watching.

PPC Ian and Some of My New Friends From Stanford GSB

Below you can see yours truly with some of the students from Stanford Graduate School of Business. I actually spoke to about 35 or so students. We took this picture after the presentation with some of the students who stayed after to ask questions. I sincerely appreciate the great turn out and all the support from Stanford GSB’s entrepreneur, high tech, and marketing clubs! Also, I want to especially thank Courtney (next to me in picture) for organizing this event!

PPC Ian with Stanford GSB Students

Images of PPC Ian at Stanford GSB © PPCIan.com

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SEM Automation Buyer’s Guide Whitepaper

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Jul. 12

Hey Everyone,
Today is an exciting day! I’m officially launching PPC Ian’s Whitepaper Series. Today, you’ll have the opportunity to download my FREE 12 page whitepaper all about buying SEM automation software. I’m launching my SEM Automation Buyer’s Guide, the culmination of years of very hard work in the SEM technology arena. Want to download my free whitepaper? Read on! Instructions follow at the end of this post, it’s easy…

SEM Automation Software

SEM Automation Buyer's Guide

There’s no doubt about it! I’m the biggest fan of SEM automation software. Over the years, I’ve had the huge pleasure of building several in-house automation tools. I functioned in a product management role to build scalable campaign management technologies. The benefit in all of this: I learned exactly what it takes to succeed in the world of search marketing software!

Later in my career, I quickly noticed that the solutions available on the market evolved tremendously. Today, they’re far more cost effective, practical, and advanced compared to the in-house route. These day’s I’m a big proponent of buying instead of building, and was directly responsible for buying a major SEM platform at one of my recent companies. (You may wish to check out my recent video on the build vs. buy decision). The crazy part of all of this: I’m not the only one who has arrived at this conclusion! This year alone, I’ve coached at least 10 different corporate SEM teams in their SEM software audit. It seems like everyone is in the process of evaluating SEM software right now!

My Whitepaper Will Help You Buy The Right Search Marketing Software

So this all brings me to the topic of my whitepaper. When it comes to SEM software, I’ve really seen it all and done it all! I have added huge value to numerous SEM teams this year, coaching them through their buy decision. However, I’d like to scale even more and help even more search marketing teams. As such, I created an incredibly comprehensive resource for those of you evaluating SEM automation software. In 12 pages, I share my proprietary framework for completing an unbiased audit of the major SEM applications out there, arriving at the perfect decision for you and your company. Regardless of your current situation, I highly encourage you to download and read my FREE whitepaper. It will save hours of work while taking your career to the next level. If you really want to stand out as a leader in your organization and make the right software decision, my whitepaper is definitely worth your time!



PPC Ian Whitepaper Series – Sign Up Now!

The really exciting part of this all? My SEM Automation Buyer’s Guide is the first whitepaper of many. My eBook highlighting my Top 5 SEM Career Tips has been a huge success. It even landed one PPC Ian reader several job offers. As a result, I decided to launch my whitepaper series. Download my first whitepaper and you’ll automatically receive all future whitepapers directly to your email inbox. Moreover, you’ll periodically receive PPC Ian updates. It’s easy! Simply enter your first name and email and you’ll receive my whitepaper in just a few minutes. Already on my email newsletter list? My whitepaper list is actually new so you’ll want to sign up again!

Thanks so much for your support! I can’t wait to hear what you think about my new whitepaper!

Sincerely,
PPC Ian (Ian Lopuch)

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Facebook Ads Do Not Work!

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Jun. 05

Hey Everyone,

I used to think that Facebook Ads do not work, but was wrong (it happens from time to time)! I’ll certainly say from personal experience that Facebook Ads can be quite challenging for certain verticals. However, after reading Jonathan Volk’s Facebook Ads Guide, I’m convinced that there’s serious money to be made in Facebook advertising and am personally empowered with some new ideas that are going to make Facebook advertising work for me. Today, I’m going to review Jonathan Volk’s Facebook Ads Guide and my key takeaways. If you leave with only one message, I sincerely urge you to purchase your copy of Jonathan Volk’s Facebook Ads Guide. It’s only $79 (limited time discount) and you owe it to your career in search engine marketing! If you’re in the corporate world of SEM (like me), you may even be able to expense this charge to your company (every company should own this guide in my opinion)!

Who Is Jonathan Volk and Why Do I Trust This Guy?

I’m going to start out with a brief introduction of my friend Jonathan Volk. Jonathan Volk is another San Francisco Bay Area marketer who has generated $3,693.21 per day for over 10 months in his personal Facebook advertising account! Aside from Facebook, Jonathan runs one of the most successful blogs on the Internet about how to make money online. I was actually honored a while back when Jonathan personally interviewed yours truly on his blog. Put simply, Jonathan is a force to be reckoned with in the world of online marketing and is the go to guy when it comes to Facebook Ads.

I Changed My Mind On Facebook Ads

Facebook Ads Guide

I recently presented online marketing tips to Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. The presentation couldn’t have gone any better! During the presentation, I remember getting questions from GSB students about Facebook Ads. I also remember telling them that Facebook doesn’t work! If there’s only one part of the presentation that I’d like to change, it would be my response on Facebook Ads. At the time, I think it was super advice. Now that Jonathan’s guide exists, I’d like to reframe my answer: "Facebook Ads don’t work… Unless you first read Jonathan Volk’s guide!"

Facebook Ads are challenging because the strategies and tactics are quite different than the tried and true Google AdWords, Yahoo Search Marketing, and Microsoft adCenter ones. In fact, some of the winning strategies directly conflict with what you’d do on the major search engines! Heck, Facebook even had Jonathan Volk stumped for a while. However, he devoted himself to making it work. After investing substantial time and money in testing, Jonathan finally cracked the code.

I’m now convinced that Facebook Ads work and personally walked away from Jonathan’s guide with a wealth of actionable tips. More than anything, I’m excited to know that I can benefit from Jonathan’s investment and not have to invest the same time and money in finding winning Facebook Ads strategies.

My Key Takeaways From Jonathan Volk’s Facebook Ads Guide

Now, I’d like to briefly highlight some of my major takeaways. Of course, I can’t go into too much detail (you’ll want to buy the guide to learn the secrets), but I will definitely give you a flavor of what impacted me the most.

  1. First and foremost, I learned tremendously from Jonathan’s ad copy suggestions and tactics. He breaks down Facebook Ads into two components, image and text, and goes into micro detail on how you can optimize both. I was really enlightened by Jonathan’s tactical tips and walked away with some great strategies. These strategies are definitely out of the box!
  2. Second, I’m a big fan of bidding strategy. There are two major bidding models on Facebook: CPM and CPC. Jonathan goes into the nuts and bolts of both and exposes winning strategies. I was surprised to find that some of his strategies conflict with my own best practices from Google AdWords!
  3. Third, I really benefited from Jonathan’s discussion of Facebook Ads budgets and Upper Hand Techniques. This is where Jonathan really exposes some clever ideas that will take your campaigns to the next level. These are all out of the box strategies that took Jonathan substantial time and money to discover.

As some constructive feedback, I will say that the first part of the guide was a bit too basic for me. The first section discusses the basics of affiliate marketing and how to apply for affiliate networks. I’m a pro when it comes to online marketing so I was able to skip this section. At the same time, I’ll definitely say there was more than enough new stuff in this guide (most of the guide, in fact) to empower my Facebook advertising game! Moreover, I think this first section is great for those that are new to affiliate marketing.

Your SEM Career Will Fall Behind Without This Guide

To close out, I really want to highlight the fact that we’re in a dynamic industry. PPC Ian is all about educating and empowering online marketing professionals. Many of you guys are in the corporate world of SEM. I’m here to say that corporate success is all about keeping your winning edge and bringing that next big idea to your company. In my opinion, Facebook Ads are the next big thing. Facebook hasn’t blown up just yet (in the corporate world), so now’s your chance to stay ahead of the curve. Jonathan’s guide is a small $79 investment (limited time offer) that could fuel substantial gains in your online marketing career. If you’re an affiliate marketer, you’re going to make a ton more money. If you’re in the corporate world, you’re going to bring to the company strategies that will get you promoted! You can buy the Facebook Ads Guide here!

Sincerely,
Ian Lopuch (PPC Ian)

PS – You may be wondering, why would Jonathan give this all away for only $79 (limited time offer)? If he has such great strategies, why wouldn’t he keep them secret? My answer is simple: Jonathan wants to help people (just like my own philosophy)! Moreover, selling eBooks is a great way to diversify. Jonathan originally focused on Facebook to diversify his Google AdWords revenue streams. Now, he’s diversifying even more by selling an eBook. Not a bad strategy in my opinion. It’s a strategy that I respect very much and one that I envision myself taking in the future!

PPS – The guide comes with a bunch of amazing extras as well that will help you set up your Facebook Ads campaigns!

Image In This Post © JonathanVolk.com

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