My Weekend Musings (2nd Edition)

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Jan. 29

I had a lot of fun writing my last weekend musings post so I’m thrilled to write another one today. I actually skipped my weekend musings last weekend since I had a fun post about Google Instant Tricks. I really enjoy weekends because they allow me to take a break, take a step back, and ponder on the past week and future too. Here’s what I’m thinking about right now…

Break

  • I hit the 200 post milestone here on PPC Ian. This post is actually number 202. My post about Epik, The Most Comprehensive Registrar Around was number 200. Now that I’m blogging more frequently than ever, I’m going to hit 300 and then 400 posts before I know it!
  • Lending Club (affiliate link) is awesome. As you may know from my 2012 Goals, this is my year to save money, invest wisely, and also give back to others. Part of my savings and investing strategy involves Lending Club and I can’t wait to write an entire post about my strategy next week. Quick preview: I’m now invested in 140 notes with a net annualized return of 13.08%. Also, this is a great way to help and give back. I’m lending money to people who need it, and I’m offering a much better interest rate than they can get at the bank.
  • VaultPress is a really great WordPress plugin. I was reading about the best WordPress Plugins For 2012 over on my friend Morgan Linton’s blog, and noticed VaultPress on the list. I had been thinking about getting this plugin for a while, and finally went ahead and did it after reading Morgan’s post. My HostGator VPS Hosting already has me covered, they do regular backups of my site. However, I like the extra peace of mind VaultPress offers. For $15/month, it’s great to know that my blog is being backed up continuously.
  • When you think your pay per click accounts are fully optimized, think again! Even the oldest and most refined AdWords and adCenter accounts have more room for optimization. Sometimes I feel like I’ve looked at an account for so long that it’s perfect. However, when I take a step back I always end up finding more opportunity.
  • I got a lot done in the last week. My strategy: Focus on completing one major task each day. I have an overwhelming number of projects on my plate. By staying focused, I’m thankfully making some serious progress on my list.
  • I’m super excited about my Twitter Advertising Challenge. I’m basically challenging myself to take my Twitter account to the next level. I’ve already made great progress and can’t wait to finish this project. So far, I’ve reduced the number of people I’m following by 3,000+ and have been working with my designer on a new background (it looks amazing so far). After my Twitter Challenge, I’m going to do the same thing on Facebook. I already have some really great ideas to take my Facebook Fan Page to the next level.
  • It’s taking a lot of time to update the copyright notices on my 120+ websites to reflect the new year (2012). I haven’t gotten through all of them yet, but have updated my most important sites to include 2012 in the copyright notice.

Image of Break © shirhan

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My Weekend Musings

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Jan. 15

My good friend Morgan Linton has one of the absolute best blogs on the Internet (if not the best one) about domaining. I have been reading Morgan’s blog forever and frequently commentate there. One of my favorite posts he does is his weekend musings (here’s a link to Morgan’s most recent Weekend Musings). Also, my good friend Jason Thompson has an amazing blog about domaining (on a Dot Co domain name) that I read every single day (I can’t get enough of it). Jason also frequently writes about his weekend musings. The week is so hectic that I too like to reflect back on things and think at a higher level during the weekends. Today is my first weekend musings post, inspired by Morgan and Jason, the first of many!

TGIF

  • It’s really hard for me to say “no”. Sometimes I wish I did a better job at this. That said, I’m an ambitious guy and want to do it all. If you’re waiting on my for something, hang tight, I will get through everything. So many amazing things to get through in 2012!
  • I Worked This Weekend again! I didn’t work all day Sunday, but worked all day and night Saturday. It honestly felt like all weekend, however, because I slept half the day today recovering from my big day yesterday. I had an important deadline that I just had to hit (others depended on me). It’s the beginning of a new year and I’m trying to start the year aggressively. I don’t plan on doing this every weekend, but the beginning of the year is a good time to invest the extra hours, in my opinion (since you enjoy the benefits of the work all year and beyond).
  • I really enjoy working on SEO, as much as paid search. The project I worked on all weekend was actually an on-page SEO one which is quite fun. My advice to those in the PPC career path: Explore related fields such as SEO, display, email, and affiliate marketing. You don’t have to spend a ton of time, but even a small amount cross-channel experience will add greatly to your perspective.
  • Posts about commentating get a lot of interest. I decided to write my post about how Blogs With Top Commentators Are Now Rare as a follow-up to my very popular Blog Commentating Strategy. My new post got a lot of comments and interest. This just goes to show that I’m not the only one who’s passionate about commentating.
  • I’m starting to see Six Sitelinks show up on my paid search ads, not only for trademark/brand keywords but for generic keywords too. Make sure you have at least six sitelinks deployed in each of your Google AdWords campaigns.
  • SMX West San Jose is coming up in late February. If you haven’t registered yet, I highly recommend doing so. Here’s my recap of SMX West 2011. I’m particularly excited about joining my friends at Marin Software for a San Jose Sharks game after the conference.
  • Hip hop is the best. I keep discovering great tracks. I’m listening to this Slum Village track right now called “Hold Tight” that features Q-Tip. I really want to see Q-Tip / A Tribe Called Quest in concert one of these days.

Image of TGIF © iStockPhoto – KLH49

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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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Happy 2012 & Recap of My 2011 Goals

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Jan. 01

Happy new year everyone, happy 2012! It’s my favorite time of the year. If you’ve been reading PPC Ian for a while, you know I’m always thrilled to share my goals for the new year around this time. Two years ago, I shared my 2010 goals and last year I shared my 2011 goals. Since I’m so big on goal setting, I want to make the process a bit more formal this year. In today’s post, I’m going to reflect on my progress towards my 2011 goals. In one of my next posts, I’ll share my 2012 goals. You’ll definitely want to stay tuned – my 2012 goals are quite different from my 2011 ones. In 2011, I had 5 main goals…

Goal 1: Continue To Set Myself Up For Vice President of Marketing

PPC Ian Half Marathon

Finishing The Half Marathon

I’ve now been at the Director level for over three years. The last 2 years and 4 months have been at a large, publicly traded company. When I was exploring my current job opportunity, I actually had a VP level offer from a 60 person startup (now larger). This goal is not only about achieving VP (if I wanted to do that, I could have joined that startup 2 years and 4 months ago), it’s about achieving VP at a large company.

Going from Director to Vice President at a large company takes time. It takes persistence. More than anything, it takes the consistent delivery of stellar results. In 2011, I spent a considerable amount of time delivering stellar results while broadening my corporate scope. In my affiliate business, IJL Productions LLC, I have always employed a broad marketing strategy. I regularly leverage all online marketing channels and even a few offline ones. In 2011, I expanded the scope of my corporate focus. In addition to pay per click, I focused on the following channels in a major way: Landing page design, SEO, social media marketing, display, and other marketing channels.

I hit my goal in 2011 of continuing to stay the course, I’m setting myself up for VP at a large company. Moreover, I did a few other things in 2011 that position my career quite well. Just one example: I’m now officially on the Board of Advisors of Epik (scroll to bottom of page to see my bio). I’m a huge fan of Epik and will be blogging more about this amazing opportunity shortly (it’s one of my 2012 goals).

Goal 2: Grow My Affiliate Marketing Revenue By 5x

Check out my Money Map and you’ll quickly understand my financial strategy. Affiliate marketing is absolutely critical to my long term strategy. In a nutshell: I’m building up passive income above and beyond the income from my job. I’m reinvesting that money in other passive instruments (such as Lending Club). Long term, the passive income will balloon out of control and fund my family’s life.

While I did not hit my ambitious goal of growing my revenue by 5x, I did increase revenues by 79%. Moreover, my margins were the highest ever. I expanded them from non-existent (I made a net investment in my business in 2010) to 67%, the benefits of an SEO-focused portfolio of websites. I’m quite happy with my results, but at the same time have much higher goals. Stay tuned for my 2012 goals, I will definitely be discussing this one!

Goal 3: Focus On Fewer Websites

Out of my personal website portfolio 120+ websites, I actively focused on about 5 of them in 2011. I believe that is one of the main reasons I grew my affiliate marketing revenue so dramatically. Looking back, I started seeing even better results in recent months due to a two site focus (PPC Ian and one of my authority websites). The end result: I achieved this goal.

Goal 4: Half Marathon, Here I Come

It all started with the 2010 San Carlos Fun Run. After that race, I was hooked and started running all the time. I quickly set my sights on the half marathon and, as you can see in the picture above, I did it! I completed the half marathon in 2011, a long-time personal goal. I ran a strong race (the “Run With The Jets” race at Coyote Point in San Mateo) and did not walk at all. After the race, I felt quite bad, but that’s because I did not hydrate properly. I learned the hard way that it’s all about hydration when preparing for something like this.

Goal 5: Great Vacations With My Wife

Nicole and I really enjoy Hawaii. We enjoyed the Hawaiian Islands each year for the last three years. In 2011, we had Major Fun Times In Maui. We really went all out and had a super vacation. In addition to Hawaii, we visited Las Vegas. Also, we just got back from a holiday vacation to Carmel. Goal achieved!

So, there you have it. I achieved 4 out of 5 goals, not bad! Stay tuned for my 2012 goals. I have some incredibly exciting things in store for 2012 and can’t wait to write about my plans. Also, my sincere thank you for reading and for your support. I’m wishing you an amazing and prosperous new year!

Image in this post of PPC Ian running © PPC Ian

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Online Marketing Holiday Gifts Rule

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Dec. 24

I’m a huge fan of the corporate online marketing career path. You get to manage huge budgets, face exciting challenges every single day, experience rapid career growth (if you work hard and deliver results), and receive amazing holiday gifts. Each year, search engines, vendors, and partners send truly great gifts. Today, I’m thrilled to share pictures of a few of my online marketing gifts from this holiday season.

QuinStreet Patagonia Jacket

QuinStreet Patagonia Jacket

Before getting into the gifts, however, I wanted to to first say Happy holidays, happy new year, and thank you to all PPC Ian fans. It my readers (you) that truly make my blog. Thank you so much for your emails, comments, support, and friendship in 2011. I couldn’t have done it without you. Lately, I have been blogging more than ever before and I’m going to continue to ramp up PPC Ian in 2012. A bit more on that later (in my 2012 goals post), but stay tuned, it’s going to be awesome.

So, back to the gifts… I’m a huge fan of holiday gifts and cards. I enjoy giving gifts to search engines, partners, and vendors as much as I enjoy receiving them. Gifts and cards are a way to reflect on the past year and let your valued partners know just how important they are to you. Relationships are everything and a simple card and gift can really make all the difference. Take time to give thanks to your valued business partners, it’s the thought that counts.

This year, I received an awesome Patagonia sweater jacket from QuinStreet, a leader in vertical marketing and media. You can see a picture of my new sweater jacket above. I used to work at QuinStreet so I have a ton of QuinStreet apparel. This year’s sweater jacket is my absolute favorite, however, because of its fit, warmth, and overall comfort. It’s the perfect sweater jacket you can wear to work with a long sleeve dress shirt.

Marin Software Chocolate Tower

Marin Software Tower

Also this year I received an amazing tower of chocolates from Marin Software, one of the leading online marketing platforms around. Check out the image of the colorful tower to the right. All of the chocolates and candies are in boxes that get smaller and smaller as you go up the tower. I really like this gift because you never know what’s in each box, you’re always surprised. We had a ton of fun sharing this gift around the office.

The largest gift I received this year came from Five Mill, a great San Francisco SEM agency. Five Mill sent us a massive gift basket. The picture in this post below does not fully do it justice. I honestly had some difficulty picking this gift basket up because it’s so big. Five Mill sent the same gift basket last year and it took some serious time to get through all of the goodies. My absolute favorite in the gift basket are the Godiva chocolates.

I wanted to close out today with my gift from Google. Instead of sending a traditional gift, Google Donated $40 Million To Charity this holiday season. I’m all about receiving cards and gifts, but I’m also a bigger believer in charity. This year, my wife and I donated a record amount to our favorite charities. Next year, we plan to go even bigger (stay tuned for my 2012 goals). I commend Google for giving back all year and especially during the season of giving. It’s up to the business community to help those truly in need.

Five Mill Gift Basket

Five Mill Gift Basket

Last, but not least, I wanted to say thank you to everyone else who sent over gifts, cards, and wishes. I just wanted to highlight a few of my gifts today. If your gift didn’t make the list, that doesn’t mean I don’t love it. I actually enjoy cards as much as gifts, especially those that contain personal messages. I received so many amazing cards this year and spent a solid 8 hours writing/sending out cards as well. Thank you to everyone and happy holidays!

Images In This Post © PPCIan.com

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