Fun Times At The Pharcyde Concert

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Dec. 17

Last night, Nicole and I enjoyed seeing The Pharcyde perform at Yoshi’s San Francisco. The Pharcyde is perhaps my favorite rap group of all time, with their album Bizarre Ride II being perhaps my favorite rap album of all time. Kanye West has also named Bizare Ride II as his favorite. If you’re interested in listening to Pharcyde tracks such as Drop, you’ve just got to check out their YouTube Channel.

DJ Equipment

If you’re been reading PPC Ian for a long time, you may also know that Rap Music Drives My Online Marketing. Pay per click search engine marketing is a lot like computer programming. When you’re managing large campaigns and making money online, you need to get in the zone. How do I get in the zone? I like to put on my headphones and listen to hip hop music. I like hip hop more than any other music genre for a few reasons. First, I can’t get enough of the beats and lyrics. I’m a walking encyclopedia of hip hop lyrics and facts. Second, I grew up listening to this stuff. Third, on a philosophical level I can relate to the relentless pursuit of money that comes across in many tracks.

Nicole took me to Yoshi’s San Francisco for my birthday earlier this year. We saw another one of my favorite rap groups, De La Soul. (Side Note: You’ve got to check out The Bizness Remix on YouTube, a true hidden gem.) Since then, we have kept a close eye on the Yoshi’s calendar for great hip hop and jazz artists (we also enjoy jazz music quite a bit). The food at Yoshi’s San Francisco is always top notch, and I must say The Pharcyde and De La Soul concerts were both amazing! I went away from both thoroughly inspired to see some of my personal heroes perform their best tracks. It’s always a great crowd and great time at Yoshi’s, I highly recommend it.

How do you get in the zone when you’re working on online marketing? Any other fans of rap music out there, especially 90s artists such as The Pharcyde and De La Soul?

Image of DJ Equipment © iStockPhoto – Roob

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My Current Personal & Professional Goals

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May. 02

When I was in college, I had just two goals in my life: Get married to an amazing, beautiful woman and do well financially. I wanted to go after these two goals early in my life. Thankfully, I’m proud to say that I’ve accomplished my two life goals! I have the most amazing wife ever and have made it big in online marketing (which has allowed me to do well financially). Now that these two goals are crossed off the list, I was thinking the other night, what’s next? What are my next few goals? What kind of legacy do I want to leave behind? What’s the bigger picture? Today, I’d like to highlight some personal and professional goals at the top of my list.

Goal 1: Leave Behind a Legacy of Contribution

Las Vegas

It really came to me while running 6 miles the other night: I want to help more people. Now, I’ve helped a lot of people over the years, mainly dozens of employees who have reported to me at my various companies. Many of my old reports are now senior managers and even directors. How cool is that! I consider the fact that many consider me the “best manager ever” as one of my greatest accomplishments and my way of giving back. This is why I get up and love going into work!

That said, let’s think about the big picture here. There are many people right here in the San Francisco Bay Area who can’t put food on their table. There are people who truly need help, immediately. These people are in desperate need of assistance, and I want to help them!

That’s why I started contributing to charity this year in a major way. At this time, I don’t have time to donate but I do have some extra money. Specifically, I have chosen to invest a portion of my Internet marketing money to Second Harvest Food Bank. My pledge to you and goal for myself: I will donate a record amount of money to charity this year and will raise the bar each year in the future. I will make regular contributions every month or so, just like I invest in my 401k. I’m going to make a real impact on people who need help now! At the end of the day, this is what truly matters and this is the legacy I want to leave behind.

Goal 2: Get To The VP Level

I’ve written about this one before in my 2011 goals! I definitely want to get to the VP level or above, it’s one of my personal challenges and milestones, something I must cross off my list. I feel like I’m on the right path: I’ve managed over $100 million dollars of search marketing spend during my 7 years in this career, I’ve managed and mentored dozens of employees who consider me the greatest ever, and I’m a pro at all online marketing channels. More than just a milestone, the VP title will give me more influence. I want to leverage my way of doing things to shape the corporate culture of an entire division. Again, it’s about growing my influence while giving back.

Goal 3: Figure Out Work/Life Balance

I have many goals outside of work, although I’m addicted to work and can’t get enough of corporate online marketing. Right now, it’s a tough balance. And, that’s ok, I’m building my empire. That said, I want to start improving my work/life balance, slowly. In particular, I want to live more of a mobile lifestyle and spend four or more weeks vacationing/working remotely each year (my home base is in the SF Bay Area). My two targets for working remotely: Las Vegas and Hawaii. I love working remotely and my productivity and happiness skyrockets when I’m somewhere exciting. (Side note: Just got back from an awesome trip to Las Vegas and will be writing about that in my next post.) Also, I want to run a half marathon this summer and spend a lot more time running in general. The point of the online marketing game, in my opinion, is achieving optimal work/life balance in the long run.

So, there you have it, some of my current high level personal and professional goals in addition to my 2011 goals. What’s on the top of your list right now?

Image of Las Vegas &copy iStockPhoto – rabbit75_ist

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PPC Ian’s 2011 Goals

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Jan. 02

Happy 2011! It feels like I was writing about my 2010 goals just yesterday. It’s truly amazing how quickly 2010 flew by. Looking back at my 2010 goals, I totally crushed them. Why? Two reasons: First and foremost I worked really hard. Second, I wrote them down. That’s right! I’m a huge proponent of writing your goals down. When you write them down, it’s a lot more likely they will come true. To that end, I have my biggest and most important goals written down on a small piece of paper that I carry around in my wallet everywhere I go. Moreover, I’m excited to write down my shorter term goals for 2011 in today’s blog post. I couldn’t be more excited and I’m wishing you a great and prosperous 2011!

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

Happy 2011

I wouldn’t be PPC Ian if I didn’t place my corporate online marketing career at the top of the list. After all, I’m the biggest advocate of the corporate online marketing career path around! I’m Director of Search Marketing at a large, public company, and I have my sights set even higher. 2010 was all about preparing myself for VP of online marketing. And, I did just that. 2011 marks more of the same, getting even closer to my goal of hitting the VP level. I couldn’t be more excited, the opportunity in the corporate online marketing world is unparalleled.

Goal 2: Grow My Affiliate Marketing Revenue By 5x

2010 was a great foundational year. I had the original goal of launching 6 websites, but I actually ended up launching about 80. It was truly crazy! Moreover, the original sites I launched in 2007 are firing on all cylinders. In short, I had a record year in terms of affiliate revenue. However, I’m setting my goals much higher for 2011 because I’ve figured out a system that works and have the history and foundation in place to make it happen. As such, I’m going for it: I want to 5x my affiliate marketing revenue (on a run-rate basis) by the end of 2011.

Goal 3: Focus On Fewer Websites

Goal 3 really ties into goal 2. 70% of my affiliate marketing revenue comes from my top website. If I want to scale my affiliate marketing revenue by 5x, I truly need to focus on my top websites because they offer leverage. In short, I want to focus on this top performing website and PPC Ian, spending no more than 10-20% of my affiliate marketing time (which is very low) on any other sites.

I’m writing this goal out because it’s going to be very difficult. I’m obsessed with domain names and have many in my portfolio with huge potential that are just waiting to be developed. I love developing new websites. However, this year it’s going to be all about focus in hitting my big goals. Also, I plan to rely on platforms such as Epik and smart outsourcing to continue to develop my other websites with scale and efficiency.

Goal 4: Half Marathon, Here I Come

I really got into fitness and running in 2010. My wife and I consistently met with our personal trainer each and every week. Moreover, we consistently went to the gym and running. I’m in the best shape of my life. I even wrote on PPC Ian about how I ran the 5K San Carlos Fun Run. By the end of 2010, I built up to the 10K and ran two of them. 2011 is my year to run the half marathon and start building up to the full marathon. Running is so much fun: I come up with my best Internet marketing ideas while running.

Goal 5: Great Vacations With My Wife

It’s so easy to get caught up in the online marketing game. Between my amazing job and my affiliate marketing business, it’s easy to forget the big picture. Internet marketing is fun and addictive. In terms of keeping my eye on the big picture, I’m planning to take a multitude of great vacations with my amazing wife this year. The two at the top of our list include Hawaii and Las Vegas. We’ll probably end up going to Las Vegas multiple times. Fun times ahead!

So there you have it: My 2011 goals. I have them written down and now it’s time to start working towards them. What are your 2011 goals?

Image of 2011 Goals © nievesm

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Contest: Your Blog Reviewed For Free

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Jun. 16

PPC Ian has really been taking off thanks to all of you. Because my blog has been ramping so quickly, I wanted to take some time today to share some of my favorite PPC Ian posts from the past while also introducing PPC Ian’s very first contest! If you scroll down a bit and look at my blog’s right sidebar, you can see my favorite posts. I highly recommend checking them all out. You’ll notice that all of these posts have lots of comments. Today, however, I’d like to take a different approach and share my top 10 favorite posts that got 0 comments. These are posts that may have been missed because they’re a bit older, before my blog started getting a lot of traffic. First, however, I’d like to talk about my contest!

PPC Ian’s First Contest

Favorite Online Marketing Posts

I’m a huge fan of blog commenting. As highlighted in my last post about SMX Advanced, I just met up with the Unique Blog Designs team. I’m actually working with these guys right now to make some enhancements to PPC Ian! One of those enhancements is an awesome top commentors section where I link to those of you driving the comments on my blog. I can’t wait! However, we’re just in the planning phase now (there will be a whole bunch of items on the checklist) and this process could take a bit of time. As such, I started brainstorming ideas on how I could drive more comments on PPC Ian now and an idea was born: Run a contest to drive blog comments!

So here’s the deal: Starting right now, this exact moment, I’m going to run a two week contest. This contest will reward the top three commentors over the next two weeks with reviews of their blogs (or websites). The reviews will feature each winner’s site with deep links to the top features on their sites. This is an awesome opportunity to get free press (and links) to your site!

Every comment that you make between now and two weeks from this exact moment will count towards a comment in the contest. I highly encourage commenting on the 10 awesome online marketing posts featured below for the simple fact that they have 0 comments right now. I would love to get your opinion on these posts. These posts are hidden gems on this blog in my opinion. At the same time, please do feel free to comment on any posts you’d like – all comments count. Two weeks from today, I will tally up the comments by commentor. The top three commentors will be featured in a follow-up article. That article will review the blogs (or websites) of the top three commentors and will provide several links to each site! The only restriction: To be eligible for this contest, your blog (or website) must be "family friendly." There you have it! I’m excited about this contest and looking forward to reading everyone’s comments!

10 Awesome Online Marketing Posts With 0 Comments

Following are some of my favorite PPC Ian posts. All of these posts received 0 comments. Even so, I feel like these posts are true hidden gems! I posted them before my site started getting a lot of traffic and I sincerely feel that you’ll learn some great stuff from these posts. I’ve divided them up into four broad themes: Search Marketing Career Tips, SEM People Management, Domaining, and Affiliate Marketing. I’m looking forward to reading your comments!

Image of Favorites Remote © iStockPhoto – Whiteway

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PPC Ian’s New FeedBurner Feed

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May. 23

Hey Everyone,
I’m pleased to announce that PPC Ian is now leveraging FeedBurner to syndicate my full posts! It really hit me when I was reading Make Money Online, John Chow’s new book. John clearly calls out that FeedBurner is important for two reasons.

PPC Ian FeedBurner Feed

  1. First and foremost, it gives all of you the opportunity to receive full PPC Ian posts right to your email inbox! This is a super convenient way to enjoy PPC Ian articles as soon as they are posted. Want to sign up? Simply visit PPC Ian’s Feed and click the option at the top of the page to receive email updates.
  2. Second, FeedBurner offers advanced RSS feed statistics. I’ll get a better picture of how many people are subscribed to my feed, a great way to understand the growth and success of this blog. Curious about my subscriber statistics? I’ll definitely post them on here in the future.

I sincerely thank you for visiting and supporting my blog! I encourage you to subscribe to PPC Ian’s FeedBurner RSS Feed as the best way to get up to the minute PPC Ian posts.

I wish you an awesome week of online marketing!
All the best,
PPC Ian (Ian Lopuch)

PS – Existing RSS subscribers, this should not change anything for you. If you notice any unexpected changes, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Of course, if you’d like to receive updates via email, that new option is now open to you. Simply visit the PPC Ian Feed and select the email option toward the top of the page. Thanks again!

PPS – In addition to my FeedBurner RSS Feed, I highly recommend signing up for PPC Ian’s eBook highlighting my top five secret PPC career strategies. When you sign up for my eBook, you will also receive my PowerPoint presentation from my recent Stanford GSB Presentation in addition to my exclusive newsletter. The newsletter and extras only go out to eBook subscribers!

Image of RSS Feed © iStockPhoto – DSGpro

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