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

My Holiday Wish List

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Dec. 19

Hey Everyone,
Today I’m excited to share a guest post that my friends at PPC Associates were kind enough to publish earlier this week. Please head on over to the PPC Associates blog and read my Online Marketing Holiday Wish List. This is my wish list for the holiday season, from a search engine marketing perspective. You’ll find all kinds of fun things on my wish list such as PPC agency help, online marketing platforms, beta test budget, and more. What’s on your holiday wish list this year? Big revenue numbers? Less competition in the AdWords landscape? Whatever your wish may be, I hope you get it! Happy holidays and new year! PPC Associates, thanks so much for the opportunity to guest post.
All the best,
PPC Ian

PPC Associates Guest Blog Post

Image in this post © PPCAssociates.com

Happy Thanksgiving From PPC Ian

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Nov. 22

Can you believe it? It’s already Thanksgiving. This has been such an amazing year and I am truly thankful for so much. Today, I wanted to take a quick moment to say thanks. The list below just covers a few highlights. I am thankful for so much more, so if I missed you on this list please know that I am still truly thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving

  • I am so incredibly thankful for my amazing wife, Nicole! I am truly the luckiest man around. The past 3+ years of marriage have been the best years of my life.
  • I am so thankful for my wonderful parents and family. I cannot imagine being in the fortunate position I am today without the coaching and upbringing from my amazing parents!
  • I’m truly thankful to work at a company that I love. I just hit my 3-year milestone in October and got promoted to VP this year, my lifelong goal. I have the best team ever and it’s an honor to come into work each and every day. I work at a company that is truly making a difference in people’s lives.
  • I’m thankful I got into this industry. I majored in Computer Science and minored in Economics. I had no idea what PPC was when I started. I’m so thankful I randomly found this career path, right when the industry was starting out. What a fun adventure it has been!
  • I’m very thankful for my friends within the online marketing industry. I write a lot here about networking. I view everyone in my network as a personal friend and have learned so much from everyone. I’m especially thankful for my mentors, I’m now doing everything I can to give back and mentor others. Special thanks goes out to The Free COO.
  • I’m thankful for my health and great quality of life. The online marketing industry has allowed my wife and I to accomplish so much, and to enjoy a super quality of life. We are very fortunate.
  • I’m thankful for the opportunity to give back. Whether it’s mentoring others in this industry or donating money to charities, I have made a conscious effort to raise the bar this year. I find that the more I give back, the more I get.
  • I’m thankful for Google, Yahoo!, Bing, and all other search engines. You guys built am amazing industry. There would be no search engine marketing without the search engines. I’m especially thankful for the amazing customer service teams / account reps at the search engines. You guys are the ones making it happen!
  • I’m thankful for my blog, PPC Ian, and for all of my readers (you)! This blog has provided an amazing vehicle for sharpening my skills, sharing my opinions, and enjoying my passion for writing. I get so much out of the blogging process and can’t thank you enough for reading.
  • I’m truly thankful for my sponsors such as AdMedia Online Ad Network and Rocket Clicks SEM Agency. Running PPC Ian costs money. My sponsors help compensate for the bills and are the ones that truly keep the lights on. Thank you to all my amazing sponsors.
  • I’m amazingly thankful for online marketing automation. I’m talking about platforms like Kenshoo. Without automation, our days as pay per click marketers would be filled with an endless amount of manual work.
  • I’m thankful for rap / hip hop music. I’m a true connoisseur of rap music, it keeps me going. I’m also very thankful for jazz music. I’m most thankful for those for the visionaries that combine rap with jazz.
  • I’m thankful for my sources of inspiration. Here’s where I’m Finding My Inspiration Online. Thanks for keeping my going!
  • I’m thankful for investing and the stock market. I have so much fun following the market, analyzing opportunities, and formulating strategy.
  • I’m thankful for the opportunities that have been provided to me. I do not take my responsibilities lightly. It is an honor to live this life and I am always looking for ways to give back!

Thanks so much for reading and I’m wishing you and your family a truly amazing Thanksgiving and holiday season! I hope your weekend is fun and relaxing and that you enjoy tons of time with your friends and family.

Image in this post © iStockPhoto – Moncherie

My Weekend Musings (5th Edition)

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Sep. 23

It’s been a while since my last weekend musings post, the 4th edition was all the way back in April. So, I thought it would be the prefect time for another weekend musings post! Following are some of the big things going on in my world…

Time For Me

  • PPC Ian is now a registered trademark of my company, IJL Productions LLC. I’m thrilled, it’s the first trademark that I own and represents my goal of continuing to go really big with PPC Ian! I truly appreciate each and every person who takes the time to read my blog, thanks so much.
  • Nicole and I had dinner with a great friend tonight who we had not seen for a year! Time passes by so fast, especially in the world of online marketing. Make sure to take time for the important people in your life. It’s all about friends and family.
  • This weekend, I’m working most of the weekend. I have a big presentation on Monday and want to make sure it’s perfect. I worked half of the weekend last weekend too. It’s all about doing your best and going above and beyond in your online marketing career. Next weekend will be my time to take some time off!
  • I own a portfolio of websites and recently did some important housekeeping items that have improved user experience and also organic traffic. A few weeks ago, I spent the entire weekend auditing each site and doing the following…
    1. I removed all non-converting affiliate links. Even though the links were marked as “nofollow”, I saw no reason to keep such links if the were not driving sales.
    2. I made sure all links worked. I corrected or removed broken links. I found lots of them. I also made sure to check the websites I linked to. Some of them were gone and were simply parked pages. I made sure to remove such links, as they are no longer of value to the user.
    3. I updated all copyright notices to say “Copyright XYZ Date – 2012″. Many of them had only been updated through 2011 or in some cases 2010. The combination of these efforts seems to be helping quite a bit. My traffic is steadily increasing and also my AdSense earnings are up about 25% over the last few weeks.
  • It’s important to simplify your life and focus on those things that are truly important. This type of framework can help both at work and at home, it’s a big productivity and peace of mind booster. Recently, I dropped a lot of domains. I’m even dropping domains that have built websites, if they are not earning good money each year. Why keep domains/websites that don’t pay for themselves (and that I have no intent/ability to sell for a profit)? Such domains/websites are liabilities, not assets. This move has helped clear my mindshare while also boosting profits. It’s just like paid search optimization, you need to invest in your winners and cut your losers.
  • PPC tip of the week: Make sure to ask your search engine reps about beta tests. Beta tests are a great way to stay ahead of the curve and embrace new technologies before anyone else. Moreover, betas often offer a discounted (or even free) way to test features that may later cost money.

Image of Time For Me © iStockPhoto – donskarpo

More Money Saving Tips For PPC Professionals

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Sep. 13

I’m really focused on saving money this year, it’s one of my top goals. Just a few posts ago, I highlighted Ways For PPC Professionals To Save Money. Since there are so many great ways to save money, especially through the lens of the PPC professional, I wanted to follow up my prior post with some more money saving tips today!

Tip 1: Let Unnecessary Domain Names Drop

Save Vs. Spend

If you’re a paid search professional, there’s a very high probability you own some domain names. If you don’t, I would at least recommend registering your own name. Even if you are the best domain name investor ever, you will probably have some unnecessary names in your portfolio. Don’t feel bad. Even the most respected domain investors around, such as much friend Morgan Linton, have registered domains that they have later dropped. In fact, Morgan dropped a good percentage of the domains he registered in his first year domaining, realizing that his strategy needed to evolve.

So, how do you choose which domains to drop? While everyone’s model will be different, I’m dropping domains that meet two criteria. Criteria 1: The domain has no intrinsic “equity” resale value. Criteria 2: I have no plans to develop/monetize the domain. Also, on occasion, I will drop a domain I’ve developed that is not monetizing well. Registrars make a ton of money on annual renewal fees. Your domain name is a lifetime stream of recurring income to the registrar. Drop your unneeded domains and save yourself hundreds/thousands over the years! I’ve dropped many domain names this year and am happy to save the money and simplify my portfolio.

Tip 2: Always Leverage GoDaddy Coupon Codes

This tip ties into the last one. If you’re an online marketing professional, you likely own domain names. It’s also quite likely that your domains are registered with GoDaddy, the Internet’s leading registrar. When renewing your domains (or other GoDaddy products), always check your email for coupon codes. I receive coupon codes each week and always make use of them. You can save a substantial amount of money over they years by refusing to pay full price and always utilizing GoDaddy coupon codes.

Bonus tip: GoDaddy experienced some network issues on September 10th. If you have hosting account(s) with GoDaddy, you should get an email regarding a credit. Make sure to follow the instructions in the email to redeem your GoDaddy in-store credit. I just redeemed my credits!

Tip 3: Don’t Forget To File Expense Reports

As a corporate professional, you are likely in incur expenses on your personal credit card related to work. I’m talking about mileage to company events, business usage of your personal cell phone (voice/data plan), team business lunches (where you paid for everyone), lunches with clients/customers, and other similar expenses. Every company has a different policy regarding expense reports. Make sure to understand what is covered and what is not. Then, be very diligent about filing your expense reports, especially if there’s a cut-off date for filing such reports. I have known several search marketers who did not take the time to file expense reports and then lost hundreds (or even thousands) over time.

As a PPC marketer, you’re always looking for ways to save your company money, while growing volume. Make sure to also focus on saving money yourself. And, for more tips, check out my previous post about saving money.

Disclaimer: I’m not a financial advisor and this is not financial/investment advice. Before making any financial decisions, make sure to contact your financial advisor.
Image of Save Vs. Spend © iStockPhoto – iqoncept