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Free Webinar: Top Digital Marketing Trends In 2017

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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 2017 Webinar

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!

Image of Acquisio webinar © Acquisio

Ian Lopuch Interviewed By G5

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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.

Ian Lopuch G5 Interview

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

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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!

Ian Lopuch G5 Webinar

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:

  1. Why PPC is perfect for your business
  2. How PPC differs from other marketing channels
  3. How to get started in PPC
  4. How to allocate budget towards paid search
  5. How to successfully measure your pay per click campaign efforts
  6. How to optimize your new PPC campaigns
  7. How to save time and gain leverage with paid search
  8. 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

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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-dreamforceDreamforce 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-16Salesforce 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:

  1. 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?
  2. 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.
  3. Consider the size of your business. Some platforms are better for different lifecycle stages.
  4. Understand your platform budget. Do you have millions per year to invest in technology or do you have a more limited budget?
  5. 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-expoMost 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!

Slides From Dreamforce 16

salesforce-einstein-marketing

salesforce-einstein-insights

salesforce-marketing-cloud

salesforce-krux

salespersons-time-dreamforce

run-your-business-from-your-phone-dreamforce

musicians-on-call-dreamforce

everstrings-account-based-marketing-stack

Images of Ian Lopuch – Copyright © PPCIan.com. Images of slides – Copyright © their respective creators.

Go-To-Market Strategy: Driving Incredible Success

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I work in the commercial real estate space, at a swiftly-growing business that regularly launches new physical properties/businesses. As the marketing executive, I’m always thinking about the most effective go-to-market strategy for new stores. Today’s post is meant to offer a checklist for anyone else in the same situation. Have a new store coming opening and figuring out how to launch with the most impactful results possible? Let’s explore the best marketing channels for your go-to-market strategy.

Website, Landing Pages, and Offer Strategy

New TreeBefore we explore the marketing channels, let’s first figure out our foundational strategy. Start building your website, landing pages, and offer strategy well in advance of your new business launch. If you have a store opening, I like to have my website ready a few months early. Even if the store is not open, you can start "pre heating" the market with some pre-opening promotion. Why not gain customers before you store even opens?

Some important considerations:

  • Whether you are building a new website or adding a new section on an existing website, make sure to notify your relevant team members and/or technology partners very early. Get on their calendar immediately.
  • Consider taking photos and videos of your store in progress. Even if your store has not opened, you could share with consumers the future site and construction progress on your website.
  • Consider a very strong offer for early birds.
  • Include a lead form on your website and start collecting names and emails addresses. When your store is getting ready to open, send an email to your list.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC)

Now that your website is ready, I suggest starting with PPC, the best marketing channel for your go-to-market project. Where do consumers go when they are looking for anything? The go to a search engine, such as Google. Where do consumers look on search engines? Do they go to page 2, 3, or 4? No, they look at the first few results on the first page of Google.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can take time. With a new store, you may not rank very well in the organic search results. This is where PPC comes into the picture. Paid search, the paid results on Google and other search engines, allows you to immediately market your store at the top of page 1 of the search results.

Some important considerations:

  • If you’re operating a physical business, make sure to opt into mobile. Mobile is critical for brick and mortar businesses.
  • Take advantage of geo targeting. Only show up in the geo(s) that apply to your new business.
  • Bid high. It’s important to start a new campaign with strength. I typically recommend showing up in the first few positions, especially when a campaign is brand new.
  • Start with exact match to make sure you’re targeting the exact queries you’d like.
  • As part of your paid digital strategy, consider launching paid social media campaigns. Since paid social does not typically convert as well as paid search (higher in the marketing funnel), I typically start with paid search and then work on paid social as time and budget permit.

Programmatic Retargeting

PPC costs money, sometimes a lot. I like to get as much leverage on my media spend as possible. This is where Retargeting enters the picture. Consider adding retargeting pixels to your landing pages and website. Once a consumer has reached your website via PPC, they may choose to leave. Leverage retargeting to share a special offer or coupon with your new prospect. With programmatic CPMs often in the $2 and $3 range, retargeting becomes a low cost way to increase the yield of your PPC campaigns.

Some important considerations:

  • Install Google Analytics on your new website. Set up Retargeting Lists within Google Analytics and link to your Google AdWords account. This is a really easy way to leverage free Google products to easily set up retargeting on your own.
  • Don’t have any time? Consider working with a programmatic retargeting partner or platform. Some of my favorites are both sponsors of this blog: Acquisio and Kenshoo.

Direct Mail

What does this old world marketing channel have to do with your business? A whole lot! Direct mail has come a long way. These days, you can target direct mail just as you would online marketing channels. Want to target specific life events? You can do that. Want to target specific age groups? You can do that too. Want to target consumers in a certain radius of your store? Easy! When launching new stores, direct mail postcards with a special coupon offer can work very well, especially when you take a data-drive approach.

Some important considerations:

  • Don’t know where to start in the world of direct mail? I suggest starting with Bantu Direct, a PPC Ian sponsor.
  • Consider first class mail since second class delivery dates are less predictable. While more expensive, first class mail ensures your mailers reach consumers in advance of your store opening.
  • Consider 6×9 postcards to make a true impact. While 4×6 postcards are more cost effective, 6×9 convert better since they really stand out in the consumer’s physical mailbox.
  • Opt for higher quality cardstock to make the best possible impact.

Radio

While my name may be PPC Ian, my love for non-digital channels has grown exponentially over the years. Why? Offline marketing offers enormous scale and many of the efficiencies and conveniences of digital. Consider some hyper local radio to create awareness for your new store. Radio is super for awareness, direct response, and amplifying everything you are doing with your new store.

Some important considerations:

  • Consider local, terrestrial radio for a locally-targeted campaign.
  • Work with an amazing agency like Oxford Road to get on the local radio stations and shows that your consumers care about. With limited time in launching your new store, work with a partner/agency that can truly help with your creative strategy.
  • Don’t only run ads on local, terrestrial radio. Also consider a "DJ Reads" strategy where local DJs, that your consumers love, actually share your brand with their audience.
  • Make your call to action (CTA) a phone call, if possible. Set up a unique phone number and have someone ready to answer and provide info. Also consider a text message CTA.

PR

Especially with a local, brick and mortar strategy, I love PR. Get to know the local influencers in your market. Build your story. Get in front of the press by offering value. PR offers a great way to launch a new business. There is a reason PR is listed a bit later than the other channels. It won’t drive as much direct response as a channel like PPC, for example, but I do recommend including in your strategy for a few reasons:

  • You can’t really tap into the power of PR any old day. PR revolves around big events. Opening a new store is a huge event. This is one of your best chances to flex the power of the PR channel.
  • PR will drive your long-term SEO efforts. While SEO will not likely help too much for your store launch (more on this later), SEO is one of the most important investments you will ever make. PR is, in my opinion, the best way to build quality citations and links to your brand.

Channels To Postpone

When opening a new store, focus is everything. There are only so many hours in the day, and I recommend doubling down on the channels that will be most effective for your launch. This does not mean that the other marketing channels are not important, it just means they can stand to wait a little longer. Following are the channels I love, but recommend postponing just a bit, especially if your resources and team are lean (like mine):

  • Search Engine Optimization / Content Marketing: This free media channel (other than time and resources invested) is one of my favorites. Great SEO takes time, energy, and thought, not only to complete the work required (generating content) but also enjoying the benefits (Google does not rank new websites/businesses overnight). During your store launch, start generating ideas for content and capture photos and videos. However, you can afford to postpone the bulk of the work until your store is physically open. Delaying your SEO a few months will allow you to focus on the channels that drive immediate impact, without having material impact on the long term of your organic search.
  • Organic Social Media: Before your store launches, make sure to reserve your social media handles. Moreover, make sure to integrate social media into your website. However, the day-to-day management of organic social media can wait. In my experience, organic social media is a bit like SEO. It takes time to scale. When the results start flowing in, they can become exponential in nature.
  • TV: This channel offers true scale and power. At the same time, a great TV strategy takes time and effort. The best TV campaigns rely on a team that already has extensive knowledge of a stable, operating business. Because your store is brand new, I suggest waiting a few weeks (or months) after launch to make sure everything is going smoothly before tapping into the scale of TV.

Image of new tree © PPCIan.com

My Monday Morning Thoughts

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Happy Monday, everyone! With a few exciting updates and items to share, I thought I’d write a post that captures it all. Today’s post is all about my Monday Morning Thoughts.

Ian Lopuch Vine

  1. I’m incredibly excited to announce my new Vine Business Quotes Initiative. Based on the popularity of my marketing, business, and investing quotes in social media, I thought it would be really fun to share my quotes as short video clips on Vine. (I’m also sharing them on My Instagram too.) Please head on over and let me know what you think.
  2. My good friend and industry leader, Marc Poirier, is raising money for Make-A-Wish Quebec. Marc and his team at Acquisio have participated in the 48-Hour Ride for many years and have raised a substantial amount of money and awareness for these children in need. Let’s help Marc make this the biggest and best year ever! I wanted to take this opportunity to highlight a true leader in our industry, someone who has gone above-and-beyond for his community. Please join me in donating and wishing Marc a successful 48-Hour ride. As a digital marketing community, let’s give back by supporting Marc and the Acquisio team!
  3. My PPC Ian Facebook Page recently surpassed 50,000 fans, and I’m now about to surpass 60,000. I wanted to sincerely thank everyone for their support, it means the world to me.
  4. I’m incredibly focused on video marketing these days. My Vine quote initiative (#1 above) is a direct offshoot of my passion and interest in video marketing. I’m also revamping my PPC Ian YouTube Channel. Make sure to check out my new introduction video, and subscribe to see all of the great videos I have forthcoming. Having purchased some cost effective video equipment and learned the basics of iMovie, I look forward to sharing with you my video marketing journey in the coming weeks. Sure, I have executed amazing video marketing at the corporate level, with the support of large teams and large resources. However, it’s completely different when you design, shoot, edit, publish, and market video 100% yourself. As a scrappy marketer, I want to learn everything I can about video, without the support of corporate resources.
  5. Also on the topic of video marketing, my team and I have been breaking boundaries in the commercial real estate industry with some of the first ever drone videos of self storage facilities. I look forward to sharing with you my experience in the coming months via an interview with my very own drone videographer.
  6. At the corporate level, I have been executing upon some amazing hyper local blogging initiatives. With a multitude of blogs to manage, problems of scale quickly arise. As an overall framework, I have been challenging my team to focus on quality over quantity. In fact, I don’t want to publish a single post unless it marks the best work of the writer’s career. A challenge to everyone reading: Do the best work of your career in everything you do. Make a name for yourself.
  7. I’m an investor and marketer. While most of you know me as a marketer, I’m more investor than marketer since the investing framework fuels everything I do in marketing and most other areas of my life. I’m truly thrilled that my friend Jason Fieber launched his new blog, Mr. Free at 33. An incredible blogger, Jason writes about investing, dividends, saving money, and achieving financial freedom. His message is a powerful one, and I encourage you to check out his blog.
  8. Lately, I have been checking stats too frequently. With instant access to so many numbers, I have been checking the numbers an absurd number of times throughout the day. My advice for the week (both for myself and everyone reading): Focus on your work, and refrain from checking your stats too frequently. The act of checking stats can be fun and rewarding (if you catch issues). Most of the time, however, it is a huge distraction from completing actual work.

I wish each and every one of you an incredible week and thanks for reading.

My New YouTube Intro Video – Big Things Are On The Way

A Reality Check For The Digital Marketing Industry

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I’ve been getting really philosophical lately. I want to start this post with two very important questions: Will your current company be here in 50 years? Will the work you are doing right now have lasting impact in 50 years time? If your answer is "no" (or maybe an "I don’t know"), this post is for you.

Ian Lopuch Donated Bench

We Are Here For A Reason

Let’s start with the basics. I have the firm belief that we are all here for a reason. We are here on this planet to be amazing leaders, contributors, mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters. We are here to add incredible, long-term value to humanity.

As I get older, I also simultaneously realize that time is finite. As a younger professional in my 30s, I have a treasure trove of time, right? I sure hope so. That being said, as I get older, the days, weeks, months, and years seem to speed up.

At a recent conference, a wise elder in our industry was called in to speak to the young leaders (I was included in the young leaders segment). His illustration: Life goes at 20 miles per hour in your 20s, life goes at 30 miles per hour in your 30s, life goes at 40 miles per hour in your 40s… By the time you get to your 60s, life is moving at 60 miles per hour. Each day you live, the actual time passes faster.

I find this to be incredibly true in my life. Time has never seemed to move so quickly. I’m young and have a lot of time ahead, but I know it’s important to seize the moment immediately.

I have concluded that I want to make a lasting 50-100+ year impact on each and every major aspect of my life. Over the last few years, I have organized my life around four main categories. Let’s explore each.

Ian’s Four Elements of Life: Family

I don’t write about my personal life frequently on PPC Ian these days, so I’m absolutely thrilled to announce I’m now a Dad. Becoming a father has been the single most important, life-changing event of my entire life. Being the best Dad possible is my greatest and proudest accomplishment. Fatherhood has given me a completely new perspective on life.

Let’s go back to my original question… If you’re a parent right now, the work you are doing as a parent will certainly have huge value 50 or more years from now. Through the lens of my original question, there are few things as important as parenthood, in my opinion.

As a digital marketing leader and people manager, I encourage you to close up shop early on a regular basis and spend time with your family. You are planting and nourishing the foundation of this world’s future via your children. Our children are so much more intelligent than us, let’s invest in the future!

Ian’s Four Elements of Life: Charity

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about my legacy. What type of legacy do I want to leave here on planet Earth? Above and beyond my family, the first thing that comes to mind is a legacy of generosity and contribution. At the beginning of of this post, you see a picture of yours truly on a bench. This is actually the bench that my beautiful wife (Nicole), mother in-law, father in-law, and I donated to our local park. This very bench will be here in 50 years. This very bench is benefitting the local community each and every day.

I am incredibly focused on charity these days because I know the actions I take in charity have longevity and great meaning. I’m approaching charity much like my investing career: Small, incremental investments on a regular basis yield huge returns in the long-run. The returns in this case are not in my personal portfolio, they’re so much more important. (Stay tuned, I’m about to launch a new website where you can follow the donations we’re making on the charity front, both money and time.)

I encourage you to bring charity to the top of your list. In our busy world of digital marketing, it’s so easy to forget about something like charity. We’re just trying to hit deadlines and milestones, after all. Charity cannot wait for your release date or milestone. Your time and money will have great impact, immediately.

Ian’s Four Elements of Life: Spirituality

I really found spirituality over the last few years. My Pastor, a very smart and articulate man, loves to remind us that there is no more important work than the work we do in God’s kingdom. In fact, I would say that his message on this topic has really encouraged my thinking behind today’s entire post, my entire thought architecture on the long-term view.

50 years is a reasonably short period of time, in the scheme of things. Will the company you’re at be here in 1,000 years? Well, God and his incredible kingdom will still be here. Contribute to God’s kingdom and your work has true staying power.

Whether you are Christian or support another religion, I encourage you to embrace your spiritual side. Here in Silicon Valley, many unfortunately subscribe to the religion of money. Many churches are struggling to stay afloat. This is a real issue when it comes to priorities. Don’t focus exclusively on the short-run since there’s a whole spiritual world that will be around forever.

Ian’s Four Elements of Life: Career

Just over a year ago, I made a career jump! I leveraged my long-standing track record in digital marketing to become Partner at a 40+ year-old commercial real estate development and investment company, with responsibilities spanning marketing, technology, and real estate development development. Many people asked me, "Ian, why are you making this move?" My answer: I wanted to pursue my incredible passion for investing.

I’ve always been a long-term investor, one who invests exclusively for dividends and cash flow. My investment horizon is forever since I typically don’t sell. Capital appreciation is nice, but just icing on the cake. My passion for long-term investing lead me to a company that has been growing for over 40 years and will surely be around another 50+ years. I got into position where I can build real estate assets that benefit this world for generations to come!

I encourage you to find a company that you believe will stand the test of time. Or, a company that is providing a good or service that offers true longevity and benefit to society. Why work on something short-lived when you can add value for the long-haul?

If I were writing to doctors, the answer here would be obvious. Everyone in that line of work is performing fundamental important work with long staying power. Same goes for teachers and police officers. Digital marketing is an amazing career (I’m the greatest proponent around), but can sometimes be a little different. How can you make your work in digital marketing even more important to society over the long-term?

Bringing It Home

I want to encourage you to align everything you’re doing, across all four aspects of life, for a 50 year (or longer) horizon.

That said, what if this is not possible? Maybe you’re at a company that pays well, but you have no confidence in future longevity? There are many elements of life, even more than the four outlined here. I suggest doubling down in your categories of strength. Your shortcomings in one category may add even greater strength in another. For example, leverage that incredible salary to give even more to charity.

Or, find unique ways to turn a short-term situation into one with long-term perspective. For example, go all out mentoring others at your company. While your company may or may not have staying power, your mentoring surely will. It doesn’t matter if you have it all figured out, it just matters that you’re thinking on the philosophical level.

What if you’re a CEO or leader at a company? Consider a deep-dive on your long-term plan. How is your company positioned for the next 50 years? How are your philosophical values as a company aligned for society-wide benefit? How is your company supporting your employees across all four pillars of life?

Also, swim lanes don’t have to be exclusive. For example, why not bring charity into your company? Whether you believe your company will be here in 50 years or not, you can certainly pioneer team charity events, making your company a bit more immortal.

As always, thanks everyone for reading. It means the world to me.

Image of Ian Lopuch on Bench ©PPCIan.com

I Pray While Running

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Wood Stairs

I’m truly honored and proud to be a disciple of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Today’s post is about my experience as a Christian Businessman and my experience praying while running. I hope this post encourages you to embrace your own spirituality, as I know this is the key to solving many of our world’s challenges.

I’m a Busy Person: Running Is The Perfect Time To Pray

I’m a busy guy. I love what I do and often take on way too much. It’s all good and I’m blessed to have these opportunities in life.

Many Christians like to start their day with prayer. This is something I may try in the future, but I often find that the mornings are my busy time. I could probably find a few minutes to pray, but it would feel rushed.

If you’ve been reading PPC Ian for a long time, you probably also know that I love running. Since becoming a Christian, I have started getting into really deep thought during my long runs. I have really taken advantage of my time running (typically I go running for 45 minutes to 1 hour at a time), to connect with Jesus via prayer.

If you’re a busy person and feel like prayer is not making it into your routine, I encourage you to give this a try.

Today’s Prayer: I’m Thankful

Wood Stairs 2

So, what did I pray for during today’s run? First and foremost, I started with gratitude for everything I have. Today, I am especially thankful that I was able to run at all, especially for such a long distance (about 7 miles) in such heat (hot summer heat) on such tough terrain (entire run was up a slope, and then down the same slope).

Recently, I stepped on a piece of glass that really caused some damage to my foot. I thank Jesus that my foot has healed and I was able to run. Also recently, I pushed myself too hard running and had to go to the ER due to dehydration. I’m thankful that I’m more conscious of my limits and decided to walk part of the run today. I am smarter and wiser due to these challenges.

Of course, I also took some time to reflect on my incredible family and life. I’m very lucky and grateful.

Today’s Prayer: My Wishes

The great thing about praying while running, especially if you go on long runs like myself, is you have a ton of time to truly pray. With so much going on in our world right now, I had a multitude of prayers:

  • I prayed for the African American community. Black lives truly do matter and I prayed that African Americans enjoy peace and true prosperity. An interesting side note… I grew up listening to rap music. Rap music very much shaped who I am. Rap is my encouragement, my fuel, my hope. Rap music always puts me in a great mood. I’m a fan of jazz too. If it were not for the African American community, I would not be where I am today since this amazing music is so much a part of who I am.
  • I prayed for the amazing police officers out there. Over the last decade, I’ve had the privilege to get to know some local police officers here in the Bay Area. I have so much respect for the men and women who enforce our laws and put their lives on the line for our personal safety. I pray for peace and prosperity for the police force.
  • Just like everybody else out there, I’m often facing a big question or dilemma where I just don’t have the answers. I know that Jesus has a plan and has those answers for me so I prayed today for those answers.
  • I haven’t had the opportunity to support our Church to the extent I would like in recent months. Today, I prayed that I’m able to contribute, especially via my tithe and offering and also by executing upon my finance seminar.
  • Last, I truly have a heart for those in the local community who are facing challenges. I prayed for those in the greater San Mateo County who are in need of help. I prayed for prosperity in our community.

Some Closing Thoughts

I respect all religions that promote peace, respect, and love. Whether your spirituality is Christianity or another religion, I encourage you to really embrace your spiritual side. I truly believe that spirituality is the key to many of the challenges our society faces. We are flawed and we don’t have the answers. A much higher power does, however, as long as we ask for help and are open to feedback.

I also came up with some fun ideas on today’s run. I find that these runs while praying offer me great insight and peace. Two of the fun ideas today were creating my personal bucket list and also sending some gifts to star employees who have gone above and beyond.

In closing, I encourage you to go running and embrace your spirituality.

Image of wood stairs ©PPCIan.com

Why You Need To Try Affiliate Marketing

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I just made Success Entrepreneur’s list of the Top 87 Affiliate Marketing Blogs and Bloggers That Can Make You Rich, and could not be more excited. If you have any interest in digital marketing as a career path, profession, or source of income, you need to try affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing teaches you how to be a truly scrappy digital marketer, a marketing entrepreneur on the highest level.

Top 87 Affiliate Marketing Blogs

No Corporate Safety Net: Affiliate Marketing Will Test You

As a corporate digital marketing executive with 12+ years experience, I have managed some of Silicon Valley’s largest digital marketing budgets, most advanced teams, and most intricate systems. However, large operations can provide the marketer an incredible safety net.

By contrast, most affiliate marketers have very limited budgets (or no budget), very lean teams (just themselves during certain hours of the week and maybe a freelancer or two), and little technology (other than free tools like Google AdWords editor).

Without the corporate safety net, you are forced to become the most scrappy marketer around. You are forced to get really clever, efficient, and effective with the cards you are dealt. In some ways, it’s liberating because you can literally test anything and you’re the boss. In other ways, it’s frightening because you’ll either sink or swim, and will likely pivot your strategy a multitude of times before finding success. If you are in the digital marketing profession, consider ditching the corporate safety net in your spare time and trying your hand at affiliate marketing. It will truly transform your entire outlook on digital marketing.

My Edge: Affiliate Marketing Generates The Best Corporate Ideas

If you work at a larger enterprise, initiatives are planned well in advance. While there is some flexibility to test and get creative, you often don’t have freedom to go completely wild (and for good reason). As an affiliate, you can test anything. It just so happens that the most wacky ideas often become the most successful strategies.

I love affiliate marketing because it has driven my success as a corporate digital marketing leader. Without the multitude of hours invested as an affiliate, I wouldn’t have driven as much success on the corporate level. Affiliate marketing continues to teach me the lessons that propel my career because I bring those lessons to the corporate world. I test on my own time with my own business and only bring the best, winning strategies to corporate. Affiliate marketing is my edge in the corporate world.

Extra Income: Affiliate Marketing Puts Cash In Your Pocket

If you’ve been reading PPC Ian for a while, you probably know that I love saving money and investing for the long run. It also happens that I live in the incredibly expensive San Francisco Bay Area. I personally look at affiliate marketing as an extra source of income, a way of generating savings that can be further invested in my future.

I recently wrote a blog post called Your Margin Is Made on the Margin describing the exponential value of each additional dollar saved and invested. Even if you don’t make a lot of money from affiliate marketing, any marginal income generated will truly impact your life from a long term investing standpoint. And, you can work from the comfort of your own home while building skills that directly propel your career.

If you have not already tried your hand at affiliate marketing, I hope today’s post encourages you. I want to sincerely thank Khalid from Success Entrepreneur for featuring my blog, it means the world to me. Please check out Khalid’s list and the 86 other successful affiliates. Each one has a unique story and lesson to share.

Image in this post © SuccessEntrepreneur.org

Buffer Review: I Love Buffer

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The way I approach social media has truly transformed. I now feel like a social media giant, thanks to an amazing platform called Buffer. Today, I wanted to share my review of how I’m personally leveraging Buffer.

Ian Lopuch Buffer

Before we get started, what is Buffer? Simply put: Buffer is an at-scale social media content publishing platform. Buffer allows you to publish amazing content across many social media accounts, all in one convenient location. Here’s how I personally utilize Buffer…

1. I Leverage Buffer To Manage 25 (and Growing) Profiles In One Place

In my current role, my team is incredibly lean. At the same time, as a local, store-based business, my marketing program involves a ton of social media profiles. As a digital marketer with 12 years experience, I can’t settle for anything but the best. Unfortunately, I ran into a brick wall when attempting to manage 25 social media profiles manually.

Enter Buffer. Buffer allows me to manage my 25 profiles in one place. Whether on my laptop or my iPhone, Buffer is seamless and just plain easy. The platform saves me huge time and makes the impossible finally possible. As my portfolio of social profiles grows, I know I can count on Buffer for scale.

2. I Leverage Buffer To Optimize My Time

As a professional that likes to allocate large chunks of time to projects in a single sitting, social media has always been a challenge. Logging in/out of accounts and spending 15 minutes here and there has never been fun nor efficient.

At the core of Buffer is an amazing machine learning algorithm. I’m now able to sit down for one or two hours at a time, loading Buffer with great content. Then, I let Buffer decide when to post the content. Buffer learns over time, posting at the times that are most likely to drive business results. Further, Buffer monitors my own posting schedule and stretches out posts during times when I’m less active. Buffer has turned my social media content creation sessions into pure productivity.

3. I Leverage Buffer To Collaborate

As my team expands, I want everyone involved in social media. Thankfully, Buffer offers the ability to have multiple users. And, Buffer offers multiple access levels. I’m a manager so my posts go right into the queue. However, some of my team members are contributors so their posts must be approved by me prior go going live.

Moreover, I’m now scheduling brainstorming sessions across the company. Buffer offers an amazing reason to sit down with a colleague and write copy. We can load the copy directly into Buffer while the ideas are fresh and let Buffer decide when it’s best to push our content live. Buffer has increased my ability to collaborate across the entire company.

4. I Leverage Buffer For Amazing Social Media Graphics

Some of the best social media posts include fresh graphics. Unfortunately, such graphics can be time-consuming to create in Photoshop or very expensive when created by a designer. Thankfully, Buffer offers a platform within a platform called Pablo. Pablo makes it simple to create some of the most effective social media graphics ever, on the fly.

5. I Leverage Buffer For Analytics

At the end of the day, all of us digital marketers are responsible for results. We are data-driven marketers and must push the needle forward. We thrive on great results. Thankfully, Buffer offers advanced analytics within the core platform. Now, I can see, in real time, the results of my campaigns. And, Buffer makes it really easy to share those results with my entire company.

Beyond the platform itself, I have had such a positive experience with everyone at the Buffer team. I want to take this opportunity to sincerely thank Buffer for making me feel like a social media giant. I look forward to growing my social media program with Buffer as my partner every step of the way.

Image of PPC Ian © PPCIan.com