PPC Ian’s 2012 Goals

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Jan. 02

Happy new year! Yesterday, I wrote a Recap of My 2011 Goals. Excitingly, I was able to achieve 4 out of 5 goals, not bad at all. Today, I’m thrilled to continue my tradition of setting goals at the beginning of the year with PPC Ian’s 2012 Goals. Before I get into the specific sub-goals, I want to lay out my high level framework. Overall, I am working on three major areas this year:

2012 New Years

  1. Getting closer to complete financial freedom (setting myself and my wife up to eventually live off of passive income, mainly financial instruments such as dividend-paying stocks)
  2. Giving back in a major way (large charitable donations and giving back to the online marketing industry)
  3. Having fun (more personal time and more time with my wife)

Following are my sub-goals that roll up into my high level goals…

Goal 1: Save Money and Invest Wisely

Ian and Nicole Holiday Party

Nicole & Ian 2011 Holiday Party

For me, the investing wisely part is quite easy. I’m a pro. The hard part is saving money. I like to go big. I spent a lot of money in 2011. I’m actually happy about the expenses as they were one time charges/investments in happiness.

2012 is going to be all about saving. It’s time for PPC Ian to get frugal and put every dollar to use. Specifically, I will grow the amount of money I have invested in dividend-paying stocks by at least 30%. I already have a solid base (I have been investing since high school) so this is going to be a tough feat. It’s going to come down to funneling money into stocks, both from my job and from my affiliate marketing operations.

On the affiliate marketing side, I’m going to need to deliver another year of solid revenue growth (50% or more) with high margins (70% or higher margins). Instead of investing money in my business, I’m going to overcompensate by investing sweat equity. I’m going to continue to extract serious money from my business and move it into dividend-paying stocks. (I’m a huge champion of Robert Kiyosaki’s “velocity of money” strategy.)

Long term, it’s my opinion that true financial freedom comes from living off of passive income from dividend stocks and passive investments. I’m a long way away from that, but that’s ok. Time and compound interest are on my side. Want to learn more about my passive income strategy? Check out my Money Map.

Goal 2: Grow PPC Ian To 2,500 Visitors/Day

Currently, I’m getting about 1,400 visitors/day here at PPC Ian (based on December, 2011 stats). Thanks so much for reading! This year, I have decided to divert most of my free time towards PPC Ian. I’ll spend about 70% of my free time blogging here about online marketing and the other 30% running IJL Productions. Why the shift? I have found that focus is everything and I’m starting to see some serious traction. My goal of giving back to the industry is largely dependent on my ability to reach lots of people and provide valuable content and perspectives. PPC Ian is my channel for doing so. I plan to give back to our industry in a major way by blogging more frequently and providing amazing PPC and online marketing tips. If there’s anything you’d like to see on PPC Ian, please don’t hesitate to reach out. I’m here to help!

Goal 3: Donate a Record Amount To Charity

I’m pleased to say that Nicole and I donated a record amount of money to charity in 2011. 2012 is going to mark another year of record donations. Specifically, I am pledging to donate a record amount of money to Second Harvest Food Bank. I truly believe that we are all put here for a reason. Currently, I’m in a very fortunate and favorable position. As such, it’s my duty to give back and assist those less fortunate, especially people who live here in the Silicon Valley and are hungry. Put another way, when it’s my time to go, I want to rest assured that I made a major impact here on Planet Earth. I cannot think of too many other accomplishments that will make as large of an impact as donating to charities.

Goal 4: More Hip Hop and Jazz Concerts

Hip hop and jazz have been my passion for as long as I can remember. I’m truly fortunate that Nicole also enjoys the same music. On the hip hop side, we attended De La Soul (Nicole took me for my birthday) and The Pharcyde concerts in 2011. On the jazz side, we also attended a Norman Brown concert. In 2012, I want to attend even more concerts, both hip hop and jazz. What a great way to enjoy San Francisco while getting inspired. Every time I see one of my favorite artists perform, I walk away truly happy and inspired.

Goal 5: Run and Lift Weights 4 Times/Week

It wouldn’t be a PPC Ian goals list if I didn’t include something athletic. I don’t have any huge milestones this year such as the half marathon. However, I want to keep up my health by running twice per week and lifting weights twice per week. Also, I definitely want to run several 5K and 10K races. It’s amazing how much better you feel (and think) when you’re in great shape. This goal ties into my overall happiness and also allows me to spend more time with Nicole.

Goal 6: More Time With Family

It’s all about family. When you’re in the world of online marketing, it’s so easy to get tied up in your career and forget about the big picture. This year, I want to make a conscious effort to spend more time with my amazing family. This last goal will tie directly into my own happiness.

There are many more sub-goals that did not make this particular list. You may remember that one of my big goals is setting myself up for VP of Marketing at a large company. That’s definitely still on the list, I couldn’t be more passionate about the corporate marketing career path. However, it’s just not in the top 6 short list for this year (mainly because that goal is already ingrained in my subconscious). I enjoy referring back to this list each week so I’m able to stay on course, and these are the top 6 goals I wanted to remind myself of each and every week. What are your 2012 goals?

Image of 2012 Fireworks © iStockPhoto – Sunnybeach
Image of Nicole and Ian at Holiday Party © PPCIan.com

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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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My Personal Epik Product Portal Websites

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Dec. 08

Hey Everyone! I really enjoy reading affiliate marketing blogs that discuss first hand tips about making money online. I enjoy those blogs even more that are open about current initiatives the blogger is working on. In that spirit, I’m going to share one of my major affiliate marketing initiatives today and also some of my personal domains that I’ve been developing! Drum roll please… I have been hard at work developing my domain portfolio on the Epik.com platform! Today, I’m going to discuss my personal experience developing 45 domains so far on Epik.

First Things First, What’s Epik?

Epik

Have you heard of Epik? If not, don’t worry. It’s super new. I actually had no idea what the heck Epik was until I went to T.R.A.F.F.I.C. back in January. It’s at this awesome domaining conference that I heard Rob Monster Epik’s CEO speak. In my opinion, Rob delivered one of the most fascinating Internet Marketing presentations I have ever heard. It’s at this time that my interest in Rob’s company, Epik.com, took off.

What is Epik? It’s a revolutionary platform that allows domain owners to develop their domains with more scale, efficiency, and quality than ever before. They offer a variety of platforms to develop different types of domains: product, directory, reference, Q&A, and poll. Epik is probably best known for their product platform that allows anyone with a product-focused domain to quickly build an online store that delivers a substantial user experience.

My Personal Epik Development Plan

After the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. conference, I went home and added Epik to my to do list. However, it totally slipped from my mind and priorities for quite a few months. You know how it is, right? There’s 100 things to do and stuff slips. However, back in August, I got hyped up again. Time was passing fast and my domain portfolio was growing faster than I could keep up. Domains just sitting around don’t make money, after all. They’re liabilities and not assets! Parking doesn’t really work anymore. This all turned into my goal: Develop all (or at least most) of my growing product-focused domain portfolio on the Epik platform.

I Now Own 45 Developed Epik Product Portals

Petite Jacket

So I went for it! I developed 45 Epik product portals! Just a few examples include: Kids Computer Desk, the premier place to buy kids computer desks online, Petite Jacket, a store specializing in fashionable women’s petite jackets, and Narrow Dishwasher, your resource for finding space saving narrow dishwashers for your kitchen. Each of my sites has custom header text on each tab and sports custom articles. For example, check out my articles about Petite Jacket Sizing and Petite Jackets and Coats.

I couldn’t be more proud of these sites. They addsubstantial value to the user, they look great, and they’re making me money already! Better yet, I was able to develop them faster than ever before due to the power of the platform.

How Does Epik Work?

So, how does this all work? It’s quite simple. Each product portal costs $249 and carries with it a 50/50 revenue share arrangement (although the split shifts more in your favor as you hit higher revenue tiers). For $249 (discounts are available if you commit to volume development like myself), you get a custom logo, custom header, and your initial site fully built. Moreover, you get expert support from the amazing Epik team. I have been in very close contact with Rob Monster himself and have gotten a huge amount of help. In my opinion, this price is a steal! You can easily pay $249 for just a custom logo on other sites.

Once your initial product portal is live, it’s time to add articles, custom headers for the different tabs, and custom meta descriptions. Don’t worry! All of this is really easy with Epik’s cutting edge platform. Everything is fully hosted on Epik’s servers so you don’t have to do any work around server configuration or uploading of files. Moreover, this gives Epik the flexibility to make upgrades to your sites such as their current holiday deals. In my particular case, I have been outsourcing all articles and header text so all I have to do is play middleman. Please note that Epik is a total solution. They also offer a variety of packages to help you get content on your site if you’d like the help!

Epik.com Rocks and I Couldn’t Be More Excited

My conclusion: Epik rocks! I plan on developing another 55 sites within the coming year to round out my portfolio at 100 Epik sites. I have been able to get sites live that make money right away, sites that look better than others which took twice as long to build, sites that offer scale I have never before seen.

As the Internet evolves, it’s all about verticalization. As someone who’s worked extensively in the product shopping vertical at shopping giant NexTag, it’s my opinion that Epik is the future of online product shopping. Stay tuned, I’m going to write more posts about Epik.com in the future, including specific guides on how to use their system. I couldn’t be more excited, I already received my first check from Epik and can’t wait to see them increase in size as each month passes! Of course, I do have a lot of hard work ahead in terms of adding content and building quality inbound links.

Screenshot of Epik Website © Epik.com
Screenshot of PetiteJacket.net © PetiteJacket.net

Posted in: Domains, Featured, Web Publishing | Tags: , , | Comments: 27 comments so far, join the discussion!

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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