Facebook Ads: Are You Allocating As Much As Google AdWords?

Are you allocating a similar marketing budget on Facebook Ads as Google AdWords? Here’s how I look at it, at a high level… As of today, Alphabet (the parent company behind Google) has a market capitalization is $678.9 billion. Facebook’s market cap is $440.9 billion. $440.9 billion / $678.9 billion implies that Facebook is about 64.5% the size of Alphabet. Given Facebook’s size and scale, it’s perfectly reasonable to allocate 64.5% as much money on Facebook Ads. So, if you’re spending $100,000/month on AdWords, you may want to consider spending $64,500 on Facebook Ads.

This allocation is far from reality for many digital marketers. Why? A lot of the digital marketing leaders (myself included) grew up on Google AdWords. AdWords is ingrained in our minds. We know it, it works really well, and that’s where we have historically prioritized our budgets. And, AdWords is bottom-of-funnel so it’s easier to measure success from an attribution standpoint.

That being said, things have evolved. These days, I’m the greatest fan of Facebook around, and am constantly discovering new ways to drive success on this incredible platform. On the fun side of things, I have over 100,000 fans on my PPC Ian Facebook Fan Page. On the business / professional side of things, I manage dozens of Facebook pages and advertising campaigns for our local stores, delivering hyper-local content on a daily basis. I have learned that top-of-funnel social media marketing (with appropriate tracking) drives impressive results when executed properly. And, it keeps getting better. Instagram, for example, is a complete game-changer for Facebook advertisers.

Today, I’m excited to share an eBook I recently read that provides incredible insights for anyone advertising on Facebook. I’m talking about Acquisio’s Guide to Facebook Advertising Success, a collaboration with Vector Media Group. Following are some of my favorite takeaways, broken down by section. Rather than elaborating upon each specific insight, I’m listing them here so you can quickly look for them once downloading the eBook.

Strategy #1: Talk to Your target Audience

Facebook offers over 970 targeting variables.
Via data partnerships, Facebook offers some truly unique targeting options.
When targeting on Facebook, don’t go too broad. Stay focused. A few hundred people is a great target audience, but don’t go lower.
While nearly impossible manually, scale with personalization is possible with Acquisio Social.

Strategy #2: Craft Creatives That Convert

Literally let users see themselves in your photos.
90% of accounts don’t leverage CTA (call-to-action). Don’t be one of them!
CTR (click-through-rate) is critical for your relevancy score (Facebook’s equivalent to Google’s quality score). Always focus on CTR.

Strategy #3: Test Your Way to Traffic

Get rid of ads that are not working so they don’t drag down your entire account.
Download the free eBook to learn all about view-through vs. click-through conversions, and exactly how much value Acquisio and Vector Media recommend giving view-throughs. (In my opinion, this is one of the single biggest elements in scaling your Facebook budget.)
Learn how Acquisio Social can empower your advertising campaign with multivariate testing.

Strategy #4: Data Driven Decision Making

Learn about Facebook and Google Analytics integration.
Leverage Facebook data to empower your Google AdWords advertising and vice versa. Learn how Facebook can help power Google RSLA (Remarketing Lists for Search Ads). Uncover how Facebook Custom Audiences can scale with help from your Google data (one of my personal favorite Facebook targeting frameworks).

Strategy #5: Bid on What Matters

Learn about the differences between CPC and CPM bidding. Find out which one works better on Facebook. (In my opinion, this is another one of the greatest lessons in this eBook. I have discovered a similar result via years of testing. Pay attention to this section as bidding is super important and different on Facebook.)
Learn about the different placements and which one converts the best.

I really enjoyed this free eBook. One of my favorite quotes: "With the knowledge and techniques shared in this eBook, there is no reason Facebook should be getting less spend than AdWords, Bing or your other channels, unless you have an attribution model to prove it!" I could not agree more. Whether you’re behind on your Facebook Advertising program or are a Facebook pro, I’m sure you’ll learn quite a bit from Acquisio’s eBook.

If you’d like to learn a little bit more about the companies behind this publication, here are some quick insights:

Acquisio is a performance media solution that enables digital marketers to optimize their search campaigns and report on social, mobile and display initiatives. With a focus on cutting-edge machine learning algorithms and also leveling the playing field for all advertisers (small, medium, and large alike), Acquisio is truly a robust platform. More than anything, they are a team of incredible professionals. In fact, their CEO (and personal friend), is quite involved in Charity and Giving, something that resonates with me personally. Way to go, Acquisio and Marc Poirier!
Vector Media Group is an award-winning digital agency located in NYC. Their full-service agency specializes in web development, design & branding, and digital marketing. While I just learned about Vector via this eBook, I’m quite impressed with everything they are doing and the content they are sharing with marketers like you and me. Thanks, Vector!

Image in this post © Acquisio

Angel Investing: My Approach

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment May 3 1

Recently, I made two angel investments in startup technology companies, signifying my first angel investments in five years. As someone who is a true dividend growth investor, I tend to be incredibly picky when it comes to early stage opportunities. Typically, I stick to big name blue chip companies that have:

Dock and Water

Long track records of raising dividends year-after-year
Huge cash on hand, huge cash flow, and very little (or no) debt
Competitive moats (barriers to entry) that are almost impossible to overcome
Compelling prospects for many decades into the future (my horizon is: never sell)

That being said, I am a Silicon Valley business executive who truly gets excited about early stage companies, especially in the high tech arena. From time-to-time, I’m able to find a great pre-IPO angel opportunity and I’ll go for it. Today, I want to share my personal philosophy on how I approach these types of investments.

Invest In People

At the end of the day, I will only invest in angel companies where I personally know the founder. Small companies can be risky. Small companies oftentimes have to pivot their business strategy. My last angel investment from about 5 years ago is a perfect example of this. I invested in a business that has completely transformed over the years. While the original model had to evolve, the team pulled through and built an incredible, thriving business. In fact, what they have built now is even more exciting than what I ever imagined in the beginning.

With small companies, you are investing in people. It is impossible to invest in a person unless you have a friendship with them. While this can greatly limit your opportunities, it can help you make accurate decisions based on character, intelligence, leadership skills, and sweat equity.

I’m able to quickly filter towards people who are "going places". These are the people I invest in, when the opportunity arises. Build your ability to read people and surround yourself with people that are going places.

Be Patient

It’s a pet peeve of mine that people these days list all of their angel investments on their LinkedIn profiles. I understand if you are a venture capitalist or full time angel investor that this may be important because of your profession. In that case, it makes logical sense to me. However, if your career is somewhere other than venture capital or angel investing, I personally suggest keeping things more confidential. Sure, you may want to list one or two investments, especially if you have taken a large-commitment advisory role or board of directors role.

However, I feel sometimes like people are just investing in a lot of companies to make themselves look more "legit" on LinkedIn. I feel like some of these people are rushing into a lot of investments without exercising patience. Also, they may even be spreading their capital (and time) too thin, without really going big on the investments that matter. This isn’t a popularity contest, this is investing capital for your and your family’s future. The greatest investor around, Warren Buffet, has described his investment strategy as lethargic. He has no problem waiting around for years (or even a decade if he has to) for the right opportunity.

I’m really trying to encourage patience here. There is no rush. There is no need to impress anyone online with your investments. Wait for the right pitch, even if it takes five years (as in my case).

Cultivate Relationships

The best angel investment opportunities are not open to just anyone. Those that have a good thing going don’t need just anyone’s money. They can be picky. They can choose investors who can add value to the company (and they absolutely should). If you have a friend who is building a unique business, understand how you may be able to add value. Can you do some part time consulting to help them out? Can you offer some advice? Are you willing to be on their board of advisors? Are you willing to be patient, until they are ready for your investment? The best investments take time to cultivate. Don’t be in a hurry. Keep your eye on the long-term. More than anything, be a friend and do the right thing for your friendship.

Focus on Financial Performance

I only invest in angel opportunities that exhibit the following combination of qualities:

Strong top-line revenue growth (I will not invest in companies pre-revenue).
Reasonably strong earnings (It’s ok for an early stage company to break even or even slightly lose in an effort to reinvest in the business, but it’s not ok to lose a ton of money).
Strong assets (Whether the assets be intellectual property, an amazing platform, or even world-class domain names, I like to invest in companies that have tangible value).
Willing and able to share financial statements: balance sheet, income statement, cash flows, and other financial documents upon request. (Invest in those teams that are willing to offer transparency.)

Be a Lawyer

I’m proud that my roots are in digital marketing because that profession taught me many skills across disciplines. One area where I feel I am quite strong is the review of legal documents and contracts. When investing in early stage companies, make sure to review all of the documents thoroughly. If something does not look right to you, offer to redline the document yourself (or with the help of your counsel, if you prefer). When it comes to these types of investments, it’s often good to have another pair of eyes as well to make sure all the documents look perfect.

And, don’t feel bad if you missed something. In one investment I just entered, we later found a minor typo. I drafted an amendment and we immediately executed the amendment. (Another reason to invest in people you trust and know.)

Know Where You Stand

As companies raise money, it’s important to understand where you stand. Get your hands on the cap table. The cap table, typically an Excel document, will feature the various rounds of funding, who invested, how many shares each person owns, the valuation at each round of funding, and so much more. This is a living document that you should use for your personal records as well. Angel investments can be illiquid. When the liquidity event comes ten or fifteen years from now, it’s always helpful to have the original cap table so you know your exact level of ownership.

Have A Long-Term Approach

Publicly-traded stocks are liquid. You can buy and sell whenever the market is open. Angel investments are not. Your money could be tied up for an incredibly long time. I approach angel investments with no expectation of getting my money back. I’m not saying this in a negative way. I only invest in companies I truly believe will thrive and flourish. Rather, I’m saying this in the most positive way that I’m a long-term partner. I want to leave my money in the investment as long as possible, so it can keep growing. And, that’s what often happens with illiquid investments anyways.

Get Creative

While I’ve successfully completed a handful of angel investments outside of work, most of my private company investments have come via work. In my earlier career, I made a habit of working for pre-IPO companies on the ascendency. Via my hard work and sweat equity, I was rewarded stock options. These stock options allowed me to eventually own shares in three successful early stage companies (one bought out by private equity for $1.2 bln, one went public, and one had a division acquired for $100 mln with shareholders retaining equity in the rest of the business). These days, I’m a Partner at a commercial real estate firm and plan on building up a real estate portfolio, over time, through hard work and sweat equity. If you don’t have a lot of money to be an angel investor and want to be one, go the employment route. Choose your employers wisely.

That being said, don’t rule out publicly-traded companies. Stock options are still valuable at publicly-traded companies as well, and I lived that scenario first hand as well.

Diversify

On a closing note, I want to reiterate that angel investing is very attractive because it’s the "cool thing". I worry that the allure of it draws people in for the wrong reasons and also convinces them to take undue risk (too much money invested in companies that have not been fully researched and proven). I personally like to diversify and keep these types of investments as a smaller part of my portfolio. Even if one of my investments fails, I can sleep at night knowing that I have diversified wisely.

All this being said, I do want to say that there is something special about investing in people, which brings me back to my first point. Angel investing is unique in that you are really helping make dreams come true for people that are important to you. That is amazing and should be celebrated.

Disclaimer: This blog post is for entertainment purposes only. I am not a licensed investment advisor and this is not investment advice. Please consult your licensed investment advisor before making any investment decisions (including angel investments).

The Day of Your Big Presentation: How To Prepare

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Mar 31 0

I just had the honor of presenting a session titled Expert Marketing With A Lean Team at the Self Storage Association Spring conference in New Orleans. Christine Munther from G5 and I co-presented, and I believe we hit the ball out of the park, driving substantial value and motivation for the audience. I could tell based on the huge attendance (packed room with standing room only) and the incredibly engaged audience (wonderful questions). Today, I want to share the tips that I personally leveraged to put myself in a state of peak performance for our presentation. I hope that you can gain value from these warm up strategies so your next large-audience presentation is your personal best.

Tip 1: Focus On Your Mindstate

The Empty SSA Auditorium Before Our Big Presentation

When I woke up the day of my presentation, I was actually quite tired. It had been a long flight the day before and I didn’t get a ton of sleep due to the time change. That being said, I was able to quickly turn my mindstate into peak performance zone by leveraging my Five Minute Journal. (If you have not checked out my Five Minute Journal Review yet, I highly recommend doing so, as this tool is a game-changer.) The interesting part here is I actually forgot to bring my physical journal, but I was able to recreate The Five Minute Journal (minus the motivational quote) on a piece of blank paper.

Importantly, I set forth three goals for the day, only one related to my presentation. The others involved exercising at the gym and successfully completing an investment project I had been working on. I think this point is key: Don’t just focus on your presentation. Focus on you. Make the day exciting beyond your presentation so you don’t get overly focused and anxious about your public speaking. Your best presentations happen when you are relaxed.

Tip 2: Go To The Gym

I’m a big fan of the healthy lifestyle. I try to do something that benefits my health each and every day. I have learned that the mind and body are closely connected. I have also learned the working out can release positive endorphins and put you in a state of peak performance. In the morning, I did some moderate cardio and also some heavy weights (but not for too long). I didn’t want to exhaust myself for my big presentation, but I wanted to do something for me. I wanted to make sure I enjoyed a relaxed state before getting on stage.

Tip 3: Practice Early

Ian Lopuch and Christine Munther Self Storage Association (SSA) Conference

Ian Lopuch & Christine Munther Presenting at SSA

Christine and I met early and practiced our presentation in the same auditorium of our actual event. I think the location element here is key. Get familiar with your auditorium, if you’re able to get access. Get used to the environment.

When we practiced, we purposefully made it more of an informal conversation. We did not go over every single point. We did not use our full voices. It’s important to conserve your energy and leave room for improvisation during the actual event. Save your personal best for the real deal, and go easy and light during the practice run.

As a practical matter, we also answered some important questions during our practice run. Would we stand on stage or roam the floor? Would we use the microphone at the podium or use lav mics? It’s great to develop your personal answers to these questions and more during the practice run.

Tip 4: Leave Time To Think

Before our big event, I took it relatively easy. I enjoyed the expo hall and some friendly conversations. I had a nice lunch and met some new faces. I left time to just sit and think (mostly thinking through speaking points in my mind). You can go about your day at more of a normal pace after the presentation. Before, it’s important to take it a little light and conserve your energy (especially mental energy). Always remember when going to a conference: You came there to get a job done. All focus needs to be placed towards that goal until it’s successfully accomplished.

Tip 5: Conserve Your Voice

This tip is an extension of the last one. I often find at these conferences that I lose my voice from so much networking. It’s loud and we all tend to speak in loud voices and with more frequency than normal. Make sure this doesn’t happen on the day of your big presentation. Conserve your voice. You can always power network right after (which is exactly what I did).

Tip 6: Don’t Worry About Your Slides

Public speaking is all about connecting with the audience. It’s all about improvising and telling a personal story. While slides can be helpful, I personally recommend speaking as if there are no slides at all. The point here: Your slides don’t really matter (as much as you think). By the time you have arrived at your conference, no additional changes to your slides are going to help. You’ve already done all you can do on that front. Now is the time to really get in that zone so you can speak from the heart and connect with the audience. The slides are just there to support you.

Tip 7: Don’t Eat Too Much

This is a funny one, but I have always found that it’s best to go light and very healthy on days of presentations. You don’t want to have a full stomach when you are about to present. I have found that the body is in peak performance for speaking with a moderate/low amount of food. In fact, I approach this in a similar fashion to sports. I don’t eat a ton of food before an 8-mile run. Rather, I eat that big meal right after. Treat your public speaking like a sporting event.

Tip 8: Talk To A Friend Or Two For Motivation

Your inner circle is key. I’m talking about your family and your very close friends. Ask them to wish you good luck. Leverage their words of encouragement to get excited about your event. Be careful here to not involve anyone who could potentially bring any negativity to the matter.

Tip 9: Start Getting Pumped Up

Right before your event is to start (about 15 minutes before), start moving from a state of calm to a state of controlled excitement. Now, the sports event is about to start. You’ll want to have all of your energy. You want to be a dynamic speaker that is happy and excited to be there. Don’t go too crazy, but walk around and maybe even do a few pushups.

Tip 10: Leverage Positive Images

Right before we went on stage (1-2 minutes before), I viewed photos of my amazing family. These photos brought a smile to my face and reminded me that family is more important than anything. These positive photos put my mind at ease and allowed me to transition into one of my personal best presentations.

In Summary

There is so much work that goes into preparing for a great presentation. In order to prepare for our hour-long presentation, we spent countless days building slides and handouts. That work is so important, as it’s the foundation of one’s presentation. At the same time, I believe that the tips mentioned above are the true game-changers. It all comes down to the single moment of one’s presentation and you have to be in the right state. It’s game day and you have to treat it as such.

As a bonus tip, I highly recommend a strategy of gratitude as well. There are many wonderful speakers out there with incredible stories to tell. Securing a large public speaking event is a big deal. Once your presentation is over, make sure to thank the conference organizers – verbally, via email, and also with a small gift. Your honor of presenting is due to some really special people who deserve thanks. And, of course, thank the audience too. Their time is incredibly valuable and you should strive to add lasting value in their lives.

I hope these tips help and wish you all the best in your next public speaking event.

Images in this post © PPCIan.com

Speaking At The Self Storage Association (SSA) Spring, 2017 Conference

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Mar 20 0

Last week, I had the pleasure of presenting at the Self Storage Association (SSA) Spring, 2017 conference in beautiful New Orleans, Louisiana. Christine Munther from G5, my friend and business partner, and I co-presented on the topic of Expert Marketing With A Lean Team: Get Bigger Results With Fewer Resources. Today, I want to share my experience speaking at this conference and some of my big takeaways.

Two Years In Planning

Ian Lopuch & Christine Munther Presenting at SSA

I view life as a series of seasons. During the different seasons, there are different areas of focus. Almost two years ago, I shifted careers from an Internet technology company to a commercial real estate development company. As someone who was previously speaking on a routine basis, I went somewhat silent at my new role. It was not the season for me to speak. It was the season for me to have my head down, learn, innovate, and build something new. Even if you love public speaking, it’s ok to have times in your life where you just focus on the work. In fact, I did this intentionally and used the reward of public speaking as a motivator. I told myself: "Ian, it’s time to focus and build a truly unique and amazing marketing machine. Once that is done, you will have the most wonderful topic for public speaking at SSA." Last week, I had the opportunity to share my story from the last two years. It was time for my season to change and focus outward again.

Submit Your Pitch Early

Ian Lopuch (PPC Ian) Having Fun In New Orleans

When I had this idea to present on marketing with a lean team, I immediately reached out to one of my most strategic business partners, G5. I knew that one plus one would equal three (or more) in this case. After all, G5 is the platform that powers our websites and so much more. Leveraging the G5 Marketing Cloud platform and partnership to achieve great scale, G5 and I shoulder my marketing program as a team.

In order to submit our pitch to SSA, we needed to get a really early start. In fact, we submitted our pitch in October of 2016 (almost six months in advance of the conference). As a reminder to myself and everyone reading: If you have a great idea for a conference, make sure to start planning and submit your plan early!

Marketing Your Presentation

Even before we arrived at the conference, we created a fun trailer for our session on YouTube. We shared this trailer with the Self Storage Association and also on our personal social media profiles. As two marketing professionals speaking about marketing, we just had to market our own presentation, right? We had a lot of fun doing this, and wanted to share the strategy for any of you speaking at a conference in the future. Get out there and help drive even more people to your presentation!

Day of The Event

Ian Lopuch and Christine Munther Public Speaking Self Storage Association

Ian Lopuch and Christine Munther Sharing Knowledge About Digital Marketing at SSA

Christine and I hit the ball out of the park. All of the seats were filled in our auditorium and many folks were standing. Moreover, I did not see anyone leave during our presentation. Those in the audience asked incredible questions and were truly engaged (self storage professionals, you all are the best!).

Christine and I had so much fun because we were speaking about a topic of great personal interest and passion. Having the opportunity to co-present was so much fun. I always enjoy co-presenting vs. solo-presenting because of the teamwork, the conversational style of the presentation, and the fact the audience gets multiple perspectives. At the end of the day, the only purpose of these presentations is driving lasting value to the audience, and that’s exactly what we attempted to achieve.

I really believe that this presentation was one of my personal best, and it all came down to preparation, focus, and "game day" strategy. In fact, on the plane flight home, I wrote a nearly 1,500-word blog post featuring my game day presentation strategy. Stay tuned, it shall be the next blog post here on PPC Ian and features some really neat insights that took me years of speaking to fully master.

First Time To New Orleans

Ian Lopuch (PPC Ian) Enjoying Fun Times in Jackson Square, New Orleans

I love leveraging conferences and speaking opportunities to explore the world. I was so happy that our presentation was accepted for the Fall 2017 Self Storage Conference because this conference was hosted in New Orleans, Louisiana. Having never visited New Orleans before, I was thrilled to learn that this event was right in the center of it all: The New Orleans Marriott just steps from Jackson Square and the French Quarter.

Before our presentation, my complete focus was on getting my job done. I came to this conference to do a great job speaking and add value to the audience. Once I completed my job, I also enjoyed some personal time exploring the city. I have to say that sitting on the park bench at Jackson Square and listening to the beautiful Southern Jazz music was a personal highlight. With temperatures in the high 60s and low 70s, a nice breeze, and the best sights/music ever, I really had a time to remember. And, the incredibly delicious food did not hurt either. Even though I’m truly focused on health these days, I broke my rules to enjoy some authentic New Orleans beignets and they were so delicious.

Ian Lopuch Jeffrey Shouse Colliers International Team

Jeffrey Shouse, Ian Lopuch, and the Colliers International Team at SSA 2017

The Conference

Aside from my personal speaking experience and enjoying New Orleans, I also had the pleasure of attending the SSA conference. Having been to another SSA conference in Las Vegas, I knew what to expect: A world-class experience. Some of my highlights:

Running into familiar faces and power networking. Whether it was celebrating with G5 after our successful presentation, my dinner with Elizabeth from RealtyMogul, spending hours with my good friend Pedro from Self Storage Management Company, fun times with Jeffrey Shouse and the Colliers International Team, or running into a host of other friends, this is a conference where it was all about networking. I packed weeks/months worth of networking value into just a few days.
Running into new faces. It has been said that your network is your net worth, and I really believe in that quote. More than that, I just like people and making new friends. I had the opportunity to meet some true leaders at this conference and went home with a stack of business cards. And, I plan on following up with all of them.
New technologies. With my background in Silicon Valley technology, I always have an eye for bringing the latest and greatest innovations to our company. At this SSA conference, I was more impressed than ever before. With a host of new technologies to try, SSA made my 2017 technology roadmap even more robust.
The right mix. I’ve been to conferences before where it seems like there is either too much or too little. I’m talking about the overall level of content and intensity. I would say that the professionals at SSA got the mix perfectly right: They have this down to a science.
Notes. You probably know by now that I’m really strong at typing. After all, I wouldn’t have all these lengthy articles on PPC Ian without my fast typing skills. Just as you would expect, I left SSA with pages of notes. I was typing down self storage industry insights as quickly as possible

I’m grateful for so much in life, including beautiful music and the inspired musicians who change our world one song at a time.

Gratitude

In the world of public speaking, it is all about the audience. The sole job of the speaker is to empower, motivate, educate, and leave lasting value for the audience. That’s a big responsibility! Of course, public speaking is also advantageous for the presenter because it’s a big deal and an honor. I wanted to share my extreme gratitude with Ginny and the entire Self Storage Association team. You had many pitches to choose from and you trusted Christine and myself. We sincerely hope that we exceeded your expectations and truly thank you for the honor of presenting at this world-class conference. We also look forward to future opportunities as well.

We want to thank each and every person in the audience. We hope we made great use of your hour and left actionable insights for immediate implementation in your marketing programs. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you were at the conference and have any questions for Christine or myself.

More Fun Photos

All images in this post © PPCIan.com

The Five Minute Journal: My Review and Experience

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Feb 27 4

Ian Lopuch The Five Minute Journal The growth I have experienced in the last few years has been tremendous on all fronts. One of the main drivers behind my growth has been a thirst for adopting the latest and greatest practices that fuel winners. I recently signed up for Mentor Box and have experienced outstanding knowledge, motivation, and excitement from their wonderful program. For busy professionals with lofty goals like myself, I view Mentor Box as a game-changer. Today, I’m excited to share with all of you another game-changer: The Five Minute Journal (my affiliate link).

I actually just reached my one year anniversary since I made The Five Minute Journal part of my daily routine. Let’s start with the basics: How did I get started with this journal that I now carry everywhere with me?

My Five Minute Journal Story: How It All Started

Almost two years ago, I made an exciting career jump! I went from the environment of a large publicly traded company to the wild and exciting world of commercial real estate development. This transition marked a big change in my career. Instead of managing some of the largest digital marketing budgets on the Internet with the support of a huge team, I became an entrepreneur. While our company has been around for 40 years, I opened our new Bay Area office and am responsible for the next phase of growth in the greater Northern California area.

I have found that change is good, and change can ignite growth. I have also found that lots of change tends to happen at once. This wasn’t just a time for career change. I wanted to grow faster, learn more, get in better shape, embrace spirituality, increase my happiness, and so much more. (As a side note: There was nothing wrong with my prior career. In fact, I loved it. It was great, and shaped my ability to take on this new role. It’s all about evolution and enjoying change when the time is right.)

During my journey, I started seeking answers from other successful entrepreneurs, those who I view as really mastering life to the fullest. I started watching interviews and absorbing as much knowledge and information as possible. One entrepreneur in particular caught my attention, Alex Ikonn. One day, I was on YouTube and found this entrepreneur who started several successful companies with his wife, Mimi Ikonn. Despite his success, Alex remains humble. This is someone I wanted to follow.

After following Alex’s journey, I found that he had started a company called Intelligent Change. Intelligence Change is the company behind The Five Minute Journal. As I heard Alex speak about the journal he co-founded with his business partner UJ Ramdas, I was immediately intrigued. I instantly knew that this would become part of my routine. So, what exactly is The Five Minute Journal?

Ian Lopuch Writing The Five Minute Journal

What Is The Five Minute Journal?

The Five Minute Journal is a physical journal. (Well, they have an app too, but I highly recommend the physical version.) It’s a journal that you update twice per day, once in the morning when you first wake up and once in the evening right before you go to bed. Some of my favorite features include:

Daily inspirational quotes.
Weekly challenges that keep life interesting.
Focus on gratitude. Gratitude is one of the most productive forces around, and a practice that propelled Alex and Mimi Ikonn to great success in their portfolio of businesses, including Luxy Hair.
Affirmations. Another incredibly powerful force that some of the best entrepreneurs in the world practice, including Alex Ikonn, are daily affirmations. Basically, you’re able to speak of yourself and your personal mission statement, as if you have already achieved your dream. The more you write something and the more you believe something, the faster it will happen. The universe will reward your vision!
Accountability. The journal holds me accountable to specific goals each and every day. It has supercharged my productivity and helped me focus on what matters.
Trend recognition. I’m able to uncover trends in my life, and optimize.
Documentation. The Five Minute Journal becomes a really fun record to reflect back upon.

Overall, The Five Minute Journal has brought more excitement, productivity, and happiness into my life.

The Five Minute Journal

How I Personally Leverage This Amazing Resource

While The Five Minute Journal comes complete with instructions and a great primer on how to get full results, I want to share my personal experience, since I’ve uncovered some strategies that work quite well for me (and hopefully for you too).

Get the physical journal. There is so much power in the written word. We are all too tied to technology. Having a moment to take a break from technology and really reflect is transformative. Bonus tip: Consider going outside or to a favorite location to really meditate and think while filling out your journal. Don’t be tied to your smartphone and computer, as those can stifle idea generation.
Don’t be afraid to mark up the quotes. Each day, I’m greeted with a new inspirational quote. Some really resonate with me. Others don’t hit home as much. I like to circle my favorite quotes and take notes in the margin.
Don’t get discouraged if you miss a day or two. It happens to the best of us. Just get back on the program.
- Bonus tip: It’s ok, also, if you miss half a day. This happens to me often on weekends. I do my morning update Friday morning, but then am so tired and in weekend mode, so I’ll forget Friday night. Not a big deal. I just pick it up when I can.
- Another Bonus Tip: Forget your nighttime update? Complete the nighttime update the next morning, along with your morning update.
Add extra lines where it makes sense. Sometimes I have one of those really amazing days. There aren’t just three great things to record for that day, but five or even more. I’ll add more lines to capture it all.
Don’t get into a rut with your daily gratitude. I like to vary it a bit each day because I’m thankful for so many different things in life. Conversely, it’s ok to be in a rut with your affirmations. In fact, my affirmations are the same every single day (actually, I changed them one time over the last year). I’m completely focused on the vision I have for myself.
It’s not all about business. As you leverage your Five Minute Journal, think about the big picture. What do you really want out of life and out of the specific day at hand? It’s ok if your goals do not relate to work. It’s all about your dreams and aspirations, after all.
Travel with your journal. Sure, it adds some weight to your carry on. Good! That’s how you build muscles. I like to bring my Five Minute Journal everywhere.
Moleskine pens work great. I really like the rectangular-shaped Moleskine pens. They clip so easily onto your journal and are a pleasure to write with. They may not look like they’re worth the money, since they’re just plastic pens, but trust me… These are the best pens ever for journaling.
Buy a few extra journals. Don’t want any downtime when you get to the end of your journal? Buy a stack of them like me.
More than anything, think big (really big) and get inspired. You can achieve anything you want. Allow The Five Minute Journal to help you get there. Keep evolving and dream big!

Team Leaders and Those That Care About Others: It Makes An Amazing Gift

Over the last year, I have become such a fan of The Five Minute Journal that I’ve given away a multitude of free copies to friends, family, and business colleagues. As a business leader, I want those around me to grow. I want them to live their full potential. The Five Minute Journal makes such an incredible gift. I recommend buying a stack of them, like me, so you always have a few ready to give away.

Conclusion

These days at PPC Ian, I really want to help you grow, not just in digital marketing, but in business and life. I want to share the specific strategies and tools that I’m leveraging for success. My last post was all about Mentor Box and this one is all about The Five Minute Journal. And, it won’t end there. I’ve got some other really neat posts planned, more game-changers.

If you like what you’ve read here and decide to move forward, I please ask you to use my Five Minute Journal affiliate link. If you decide to purchase via my affiliate link, your price is the same (however I’ll receive a small commission, 15% to be exact). These affiliate earnings help me pay the bills here at PPC Ian, and help me add continued value to everyone reading. Thanks so much, and dream big!

My New Five Minute Journal Video Review

I’m thrilled to share my brand new video review of The Five Minute Journal. In my video, you’ll view an actual page out of my journal, and see my gratitude, affirmations, goals, and more. Also, I share my personal tips on how I get the most out of this amazing gratitude journal. I hope you enjoy the video!

Images in this post © PPCIan.com

My Mentorbox Review

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Feb 9 27

If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you can probably tell that I’m heavily invested in my career and professional success. This can be a good thing, a great thing. It can also be a risky thing if you forget to invest in yourself. After all, you are your greatest asset and any investment you make in yourself will multiply many times over in your career, life, and overall success. Even during the busiest times at work, make time for yourself.

For me, 2016 was all about getting into great physical shape. Thanks to my amazing wife engineering a complete overhaul of my diet, thanks enjoying a more active lifestyle than ever before, and thanks to a renewed fitness routine, I lost 25 pounds while gaining lean muscle. I’m in the best shape of my life.

Continuing my theme of growth and personal improvement, 2017 is my year of knowledge. Many of you know that I made a career shift from technology into commercial real estate. I’m like a sponge, absorbing everything I can. My knowledge growth is in full effect, and I couldn’t be more excited about my professional growth.

However, I have long been aware that the greatest leaders are not just proficient within their area of focus. Rather, they become experts across a variety of subjects. They bring forth knowledge from different corners of the world to create something completely new. In fact, this is why many believe Bill Gates has his famous book retreats. It’s said that he’ll sit down with a stack of books, all of which are completely different, and read them in parallel. This process challenges the mind and forms new connections.

This all got me thinking: I want to invest more time reading. I want to greatly expand my knowledge. I know that this process will trigger exponential growth in my career, life, and overall success. However, like many of you, I realized that I just don’t have spare time. I’m willing to make some spare time, but cannot read all day.

Then, while on Facebook one day, I noticed that Tai Lopez (avid reader and social media legend) and Alex Mehr Ph.D. (previously co-founder, CEO, and President of Zoosk) launched a new business called Mentorbox. As soon as I learned about this new product, I was immediately intrigued and signed up. Now, three months later, I want to share my experience with all of you.

What Is Mentorbox?

Here are the basics on Mentorbox:

It’s literally a box that you receive in the mail each month, packed with two curated books, helpful materials, and knowledge.
Each month’s Mentorbox includes: two curated books (related to health, wealth, love, and/or happiness), two cheat sheets that summarize the books, two study guides that transform reading into action, two bookmarks with notes specific to each book (a small but very helpful feature), a USB flash drive with helpful videos walking you through the books, and a motivational quote magnet. It’s a lot of value for sure!
Mentorbox costs $89.95 per month.
It appears to be easy to cancel at any time. Before my order goes through each month, I get an email asking me if I want to keep going or cancel. I have no intention of canceling anytime soon, but feel good about the way Mentorbox treats customers.

Why Do I Love Mentorbox?

I truly look forward to receiving my Mentorbox each month. Here’s why:

As a really busy professional, I don’t have a lot of time to curate my own books. I want to read the best books, the ones that will give me the most value. However, I just do not have hours on end to research. It has been said that Tai Lopez has the second largest book club around, second only to Oprah’s. This is the guy who reads a book a day and has leveraged his knowledge to do some pretty amazing stuff. As someone with a digital marketing background, I respect what Tai has accomplished in social media. I find incredible value in the fact that Tai and Alex are personally curating books each month, keeping me focused on the books that will drive the most value for me.
Continuing upon the last theme, the cheat sheets and study guides save me a tremendous amount of time. It can take a lot of time to read a book, especially when one of them is 660 pages (Money: Master The Game By Tony Robbins). Here’s my strategy: I like to start with the cheat sheets. Then, I proceed to go through and start filling in the study guides. Then, I’ll read the book. I will not read every single word. Rather, I will really hone in on the chapters and concepts that appear most interesting to me. As I read through, I like to refer to the reminders on the bookmarks, too. Last, I’ll fill out the study guide if I have additional time. This process not only saves me time, but also increases my comprehension, retention, and action.
Given all of my responsibilities, I feel like two books per month is an aggressive cadence for me, a perfectionist. I’m the kind of person that has to read books cover-to-cover, and therefore I’ve historically been a slower reader. This new Mentorbox paradigm has challenged my process and pushed me out of my comfort zone. Two books per month is currently challenging me (along with all my other responsibilities in life), but I enjoy the challenge.

What Could I Be Doing Better?

As mentioned earlier, Mentorbox comes with a USB drive each month with helpful videos. I have not taken full advantage of these yet. Why? It really comes down to time. I just don’t have much time. I have found that Mentorbox works for me without the videos. Could my experience be enhanced with the videos? Without a doubt.

I just checked out the latest USB drive and it includes so much value, including a proprietary video interview with the author of one of this month’s books, The Obstacle Is The Way by Ryan Holiday. In fact, Ryan worked with the Mentorbox team on the study guide. How amazing is that?

Here’s the critical point, however: You don’t have to take advantage of everything in Mentorbox to get tremendous value. The key point, in my opinion, is to just get started and then grow from there. I’m still evolving my own process.

Is It Worth The Money?

The value created, in my opinion, far surpasses $89.95 per month. Just think: How much do you spend on your cable television each month? What’s more important to you: reading/learning or watching TV? I’m not saying to give up TV. In fact, I do enjoy watching some good shows. That being said, $89.95 seems so reasonable to me. How much of my time would it take to simply curate two books each month? How much faster am I at reading and absorbing the concepts thanks to the cheat sheets and study guides? Can I even put a price on the fact that I truly look forward to Mentorbox each month and it motivates me to stay in my high growth zone?

Conclusion and A Closing Idea

These days, you’re going to see a lot more posts on my blog about business, investing, and growth in general. I’ll continue to include digital marketing-specific posts, from time-to-time. However, my mind is in other places these days. I’m thinking beyond digital marketing, and want to share that journey with all of you. I hope you find this review helpful, and I hope I’m able to impact at least one of you to pick up reading.

As a closing thought, I want to share an idea… Do you manage a team at work? If so, you’re probably looking for ways to add value and keep your team in high growth mode. Why not purchase Mentorbox for your company? This could be an amazing team exercise and team motivator to have this wealth of knowledge coming into the office each month.

Anybody else reading on the Mentorbox program? Please share your experience, would love to learn what you think about Mentorbox.

Support PPC Ian By Signing Up For Mentorbox

If you find this review helpful and are considering signing up for Mentorbox, I encourage you to use My Mentorbox Affiliate Link. I’ll earn a commission which helps me keep the lights on here at PPC Ian. If you sign up via my affiliate link, I’ll be forever grateful. Thank you in advance for supporting my blog.

My Mentorbox Video Reviews: Why I Love Mentor Box

If you found this written review helpful, you may want to watch my video reviews as well. In my first video, I’m thrilled to share the top five reasons why I love Mentorbox.

In my second video, I’m thrilled to unbox my newest Mentorbox right before your eyes. If you’re wondering exactly what you’ll receive in Mentorbox, this video is for you.

In my third video, I share my top five lessons learned from Mentorbox so far. You’ll get to see all of the books and materials I have received, and enjoy insights from my personal journal.

In my fourth video review, I address specific questions from Mentorbox skeptics. If you’re still unsure whether Mentor Box is for you, and you may even have some active concerns running through your mind, this video may be of particular help.

My Mentorbox 15-Day Challenge: How I Like To Experience Self-Education

As a new update, I just completed my first ever 15-Day Mentorbox Challenge. What’s this challenge all about? I pushed myself to complete this month’s Mentor Box program in just 15 days. I actually ended up finishing in 8 days (since 7 of the days were sick days). Read about my experience and check out my extensive Mentorbox diary, highlighting my challenge in its entirety. (Also, my write-up has a really neat video review too.) My conclusion: This experiment worked really well and I will always be experiencing Mentorbox this way going forward!

My Newest Mentorbox Blog Post

Learn even more about Mentorbox in my brand new blog post titled Is Mentorbox Worth It? (Is It Worth The Money?) This blog post highlights (in great detail) my journey to complete Mentorbox in 7 days! And, it goes through the question of whether Mentorbox is worth it. (Hint: It’s totally worth it.) As an added bonus, my new post has a really detailed video review of my latest Mentorbox! I put a ton of effort into this blog post and hope you enjoy it thoroughly.

My Favorite Mentorbox Book (So Far)

Here on PPC Ian, I receive many questions about Mentorbox. One of the very popular questions goes something like this: "Ian, Is Mentorbox primarily focused on sales, marketing, and business books?" While these topics are represented (and I love reading about them), Mentorbox features an amazing mix of books covering a variety of topics (all pertaining to improving one’s life). While the program includes sales, marketing, and business titles, there is also strong representation from other topics such as health/wellness and spirituality. In fact, my absolute favorite book from Mentorbox so far, a game-changer for me, is one all about spirituality. My latest Mentorbox Book Review covers my favorite book in great detail (and also offers a video review too). If you are considering Mentorbox, you will certainly find a great array of books!

Affiliate Disclosure: I am a Mentorbox affiliate. If you find my review helpful and end up purchasing via my affiliate link, I will earn a commission and be grateful for your support.

Free Webinar: Top Digital Marketing Trends In 2017

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Jan 15 1

Digital marketing is moving rapidly and evolving faster than ever. That’s why it’s really important to take a holistic look at your 2017 strategy now, while the year is still young. As a digital marketing and business leader, it’s not enough to follow and adopt the latest strategies. You need to predict the future and invent those strategies that will transform your industry.

I try to brainstorm new business strategies every single week. Sometimes, I brainstorm while running. Other times, I brainstorm while reading. At times, ideas just come to me in my sleep. Frequently, great ideas come to me while collaborating with others. The collective intelligence in our industry is quite high! Today, I’m thrilled to share a collaborative brainstorming opportunity that could take your 2017 business strategy to the next level.

It just so happens that Acquisio is hosting a free webinar on Wednesday, January 18, 2017 at 1PM EDT covering the 2017 Digital Marketing + Local Landscape.

Acquisio is one of my favorite companies in the digital marketing industry, and one of the most impressive performance marketing platforms around. More than anything, their team is impressive. I know that Acquisio’s webinar will be impressive and offer new and exciting perspectives on the future. My advice when attending: Put your own spin on the ideas. Allow the collective intelligence of the webinar to shape new and unique strategies that apply to your business.

In Acquisio’s webinar, you’ll get to hear from their CEO, Marc Poirier, a personal friend of mine and thought leader in our industry.

Also, you’ll get to hear from several esteemed leaders in online marketing including Brad Geddes. Brad is a really impressive marketer, and I had the honor of meeting him a few years back when he moderated my SMX East panel.

Being free and only 45 minutes in length, I highly recommend taking out time from your busy day to enjoy Acquisio’s free webinar. I view this webinar as a high-leverage investment in yourself and your company. And, while we’re on the topic of 2017 predications, please make sure to check out my recent G5 interview to learn my very own 2017 predications. I wish you all the success in the world in 2017 and beyond!

Ian Lopuch Interviewed By G5

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Dec 20 0

If you checked out My Free PPC Webinar Co-Presented With G5, you know that my business partnership with G5 is top notch. As many of you know, I pursued my lifelong dream of being a full time investor about a year and half ago, entering the commercial real estate space. One of my favorite partners is G5, the platform that powers some of the best commercial real estate marketing strategies across self storage, multi-family, and senior living. Today, I have more G5-related news! I had the honor of Being Interviewed By G5.

What will you find in my G5 Interview?

Ian’s passion for digital marketing: How it all started.
PPC: My career started here. What’s my outlook for the future of PPC?
Mobile: How it’s affecting our business and how we’re embracing the change.
The Future: What will happen in digital marketing over the next 5 years.
Our Business: Learn about our company and our website strategy.
Online Self Storage Pricing: It’s all about the back end data layer, and G5’s integration with SiteLink.
Partnership: How I work with G5 every single day.
So much more!

I hope you enjoy the interview, and I want to take this opportunity to sincerely thank G5 for the honor. You guys are the best business partners around, and I am so thankful every single day for the G5 team.

Watch My Free PPC Webinar Co-Presented With G5

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Nov 22 0

My name is PPC Ian because I got started in pay per click search engine marketing back in 2004. If you ask me today, my favorite marketing channel is still paid search. These days, I’m leveraging paid search in the in the commercial real estate industry, at a company that develops and operates self storage and multifamily residential properties. PPC is perfect for my hyper-local marketing strategy within commercial real estate.

One of my absolute favorite partners in the real estate industry, G5, and I just co-presented a webinar offering 5 Steps To Improve Your PPC Campaigns. Those on my PPC Ian mailing list heard all about it in time for the live webinar! If you were not able to make the live webinar, however, you are still in luck. We have a recorded version of the webinar. Simply sign up to enjoy our tips, and you’ll get a handy checklist too. I had the honor of co-presenting with the incomparable PPC expert Danielle Dunham, paid performance manager at G5. You will learn insights from yours truly and Danielle!

PPC is a marketing channel that truly thrives on optimization, and that’s what our webinar is all about. Please sign up and watch our free webinar if you’re interested in learning:

Why PPC is perfect for your business
How PPC differs from other marketing channels
How to get started in PPC
How to allocate budget towards paid search
How to successfully measure your pay per click campaign efforts
How to optimize your new PPC campaigns
How to save time and gain leverage with paid search
So much more!

(Side Note: Offering a robust and impressive suite of solutions, G5 is one of my favorite companies in technology and digital marketing. Powered by the G5 Marketing Cloud, I just launched a brand new website. I’m proud of this site, and it wouldn’t have been possible without G5. I’m honored to call G5 my trusted business partner and friend. Make sure to check out our Joint Press Release commemorating this new website launch.)

I hope you enjoy the webinar, and please let Danielle and I know what you think!

Dreamforce 16: My Big Insights

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Oct 13 1

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending Dreamforce 16 with my amazing wife. This was truly an epic conference, with many takeaways for marketers, salespeople, and businesspeople. Today’s post summarizes my big insights, and I’m hoping these provide actionable fuel for growing your own business. Before jumping into my blog post, I encourage you to watch my Dreamforce 16 video, taken live from the conference. And, when you’re done reading, don’t forget to check out the slides at the end of the post.

Insight One: Let Machine Learning Do Your Data Science

ian-lopuch-welcome-to-dreamforce Dreamforce 16 was very much about the new Salesforce Einstein algorithm. Einstein is machine learning at its finest, an algorithm that learns over time and suggests tips to marketers and salespeople on how they can be more effective at their campaigns and jobs. Think of it this way: Einstein is like having a full time data scientist on your team, always looking for new optimizations and opportunities. Rather than being a real person, Einstein lives within Salesforce. How cool!

I’ve long been a fan of smart automation within digital marketing, and even wrote a whitepaper on the topic. Automation continues to evolve over the years and now spans departments. As you implement automation at your company think about how it can seamlessly tie together sales, marketing, customer care, product management, executive management, and others. Also, consider testing automation that learns over time, taking some of the heavy lifting (data analysis) off your shoulders.

Insight Two: Salesforce Is Now A Big Player In Marketing

ppc-ian-dreamforce-16 Salesforce demonstrated their marketing cloud technology, a highlight of the conference for me. As a marketing executive, I am the biggest fan of marketing platforms around. If your company already leverages Salesforce for CRM/sales, the case for auditioning their marketing cloud is quite compelling, especially if you are a B2B marketing organization. Salesforce is making it easy to leverage a unified technology stack that spans multiple departments.

With so many options to choose from when it comes to marketing and sales technology, where do you even start? A few quick tips:

Audit your existing technology stack, if you have one. How would the new platform(s) fit into your existing mix? Would they replace existing platform(s) or complement?
Understand your primary short-term objective. Do you need a platform that does it all, or do you want to start scrappy and address one opportunity at a time? Think about the long-term so the actions you are taking are scalable as your business grows.
Consider the size of your business. Some platforms are better for different lifecycle stages.
Understand your platform budget. Do you have millions per year to invest in technology or do you have a more limited budget?
Go with the best! There are great platforms to fit all companies and budgets. When evaluating platforms, see how long they have been around and understand their reputation in the marketplace.

Insight Three: Salesforce Announces Intent To Acquire Krux DMP

dreamforce-16-cloud-expo Most marketers and salespeople agree that data is incredibly powerful. Data is the hub of any great business strategy. The challenge is data lives in so many different places. That’s why I suggest bringing a DMP (data management platform) into your company’s technology stack. Think of your DMP as the central repository of all your consumer data anonymized (both prospective and actual). Each of the solutions in your stack (and your CRM too) can tap into this DMP to gain insights and provide a better, more customized user experience.

Practical use case: You sell autos. Someone visited a landing page for your lineup of SUVs. They leave the site. In real time, your DMP creates a record for this new prospect and also adds an attribute (they like SUVs). Next time, when the same consumer comes back to your site (maybe they just type in your homepage URL), the site taps into the DMP to personalize content. Of course, you choose a homepage image of SUVs, tailored to their interests.

This is a very simple example, but you can start seeing the power of a great DMP. Make your DMP the hub of all of your marketing, sales, customer care, and website personalization. DMPs allow marketers and salespeople to connect 1-on-1 with prospective consumers.

Insight Four: Salespeople Spend Two Thirds of Their Time NOT Selling

I really could not believe this statistic! How crazy is that? Salespeople spend the vast majority of their time engaging in activities that are misaligned with their primary role. I imagine this is quite frustrating for salespeople, and that they would rather be selling than working on administrative work. Of course, the charter of Salesforce is improving this situation and empowering salespeople to perform the work they love so much, automating and improving the manual work and administrative tasks that can consume valuable time.

At a meta level, I imagine this statistic is not too far off for other professions. My insight and takeaway here is to always remember my primary goals and focus, focus, focus. There are so many distractions out there. There are so many administrative tasks. How can we all get better at focusing on the activities that produce great value, finding alternate ways to get the manual work done?

Insight Five: Run Your Business From Your Phone

I thought this was really neat: Salesforce allows you to run your business from your phone. With the married marketing and sales clouds, you can do so much on the go. I’m a big fan of the mobile lifestyle, and find so much inspiration when I’m working from all different kinds of places. In fact, I personally get more done when I’m not in the same environment every single day.

My big insight here is that we should all challenge ourselves to be more mobile. What can we do from our phones? How can we all visit different places and get really creative with our work?

Insight Six: Charity Should Be a Primary Objective

When it comes to charity, Salesforce is a company I admire incredibly. They take charity so seriously, and invented the 1-1-1 integrated philanthropy strategy. Under this model, Salesforce (and other companies that choose to participate), donate technology, time, and money to great causes.

At Dreamforce, I had the honor of learning about Musicians On Call, a charity that brings happy moments (via live music) to those sick and stuck in the hospital. I’m a big believer in the power of music, and have been actively looking for charities in the space. We’re already donating to the Fender Music Foundation, a charity that provides musical instruments to schools and students that cannot afford them. Now, we have started giving to Musicians On Call as well.

I recently wrote a blog about focusing on activities that will drive value 50 or even 100 years form now. Charity is one activity that cannot be underscored enough. My big insight here is that we should all find ways to give back. Giving back should not be a secondary objective, it should be a primary objective in our lives and businesses. Let’s all get out there and add value that will live on forever.

Insight Seven: Account-Based Marketing Is Gaining In Popularity

Running concurrently with Dreamforce, we also attended a nearby event called Open Lounge by InsideView. I especially enjoyed watching the EverString presentation. My big takeaway from this event is the growing popularity of Account-Based Marketing. Many marketing teams have focused on "generating leads" from a lowest CPA (cost per acquisition) standpoint. Leads come in and then they go to the salespeople. However, salespeople have historically approached things differently. They look at the universe of potential customers and cherry pick the most important ones. They double down on the accounts that matter the most.

Account-Based Marketing aligns marketing with the sales worldview. It enables 1-to-1 marketing. When an account has been identified, sales and marketing work together to acquire that specific customer. This involves a lot of collaboration and technology, and naturally makes sense to me. In fact, I have been practicing account-based marketing for a number of years, before this new term was coined. The insight: Find ways to collaborate and support your sales team. While inbound leads are great, don’t lose sight of the big picture customers.

So there you have it, a few of my favorite insights from the conference. If you attended Dreamforce, please feel free to share your insights in the comments!