Why You Should Keep Your Old Content Updated | Ep. #84

In Episode #18 Eric and Neil talk about how to get people to open up your emails. They’ll teach you how to up your open rates and avoid the spam folder. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:25 – How to get more people to open up your email. 00:50 – Don’t just test the subject line 01:05 – The sender name makes a huge impact 02:10 – Use a person’s name or a company name 02:30 – What are good open rates? 02:40 – Look at unique opens. 03:00 – Don’t let your open rates drop under 20% 03:20 – Remove people who aren’t opening your emails for several months 03:40 – Don’t waste money sending emails to people who aren’t interested 04:00 – Maropost and Infusionsoft 04:15 – An email hack 04:25 – Put emojis in your subject line to get people’s attention 05:00 – Lower-cased, casual subject lines 05:50 – Examples of good subject lines 07:00 – Personalized subject lines, using the first name 07:40 – It makes it more relevant 09:10 – Doing something that makes you stand out 09:25 – Watch out for being marked as spam 10:20 – See you tomorrow at our next episode! 3 Key Points: Don’t let your open rate fall below 20%. Look at your subject line as well as the sender name that you use. Make your subject line unique and personal. Resources Mentioned: Maropost and Infusionsoft – programs to use for sending out emails Leave some feedback: What should we talk about next? Please let us know in the comments below. Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave a short review. Connect with us: NeilPatel.com Quick Sprout Growth Everywhere Single Grain Twitter @neilpatel Twitter @ericosiu Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

18 Aug 201613min

In Episode #17 Eric and Neil explain what a marketing funnel is. Then they’ll walk you through how to create your own marketing funnel, with advice on automated tools to help you get the best results.  Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:23 – What is a marketing funnel? 00:25 – Google a “marketing funnel” and see Neil’s site at the top 01:00 – Funneling down from 100 to one or two people 01:44 – A marketing funnel is a great way to get people to convert 01:55 – The chances of a random person on the street to agree to marry you vs. agree to go on a date with you 02:50 – Getting to know your visitors over time 03:10 – Collect emails and educate people to build trust 03:28 – They will be much more likely to say ‘yes’ a month or so later 02:55 – The top of the funnel 04:12 – The middle of the funnel 04:33 – The bottom of the funnel, closing them on an offer 04:49 – The importance of collecting emails 05:02 – Drip is an easy email automation tool 05:20 – Acquired by Leadpages 05:28 – Infusionsoft has more advanced features 05:40 – An example of how the tool is used 06:20 – Tracking what type of emails people open 06:50 – Getting people involved in a free trial 07:25 – Taking them through multiple funnels 07:55 – Infusionsoft lets you track everything so that you can use multiple funnels 09:00 – You don’t have to start out with an advanced method 09:25 – Simple processes when you’re starting out 10:00 – Use software later on to stay organized 11:20 – Keep it simple and make it more complex as it is successful 10:54 – We’ll see you in the next episode! 3 Key Points: A marketing funnel is a strategy to get people to convert. The funnel is divided into three processes, at the top, middle, and bottom of the funnel. Start out with a simple funnel, and adjust that funnel until you see success. Then you can start to make your marketing funnel more complex. Resources Mentioned: Drip, Leadpages, and Infusionsoft: Automated marketing tools Leave some feedback: What should we talk about next? Please let us know in the comments below. Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave a short review. Connect with us: NeilPatel.com Quick Sprout Growth Everywhere Single Grain Twitter @neilpatel Twitter @ericosiu Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

17 Aug 201614min

In Episode #16 Eric and Neil talk about how to create great links that boost your website’s ranking. Hear about specific strategies that you can implement to create stellar links with high relevancy. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:23 – What goes into a great link? 00:40 – The more people link to you, the better you will rank. 00:55 – Not all links are created equal. 01:20 – Look for domain authority 02:00 – Look at how relevant a link is 02:30 – Linking sites with related topics 02:55 – Do-follow links vs. no-follow links 03:50 – Study by Moz: The effects of links and where you’re linking from 04:30 – How easy is it for someone to build a certain link? 05:05 – Google knows the difference between user-generated content and non-user-generated content 05:30 – Links that can’t be easily manipulated are much more powerful. 06:00 – Don’t make too many links too quickly. 06:38 – Continuing with the same velocity will eventually make your ranking jump 07:00 – Stay consistent with your speed as you build links. 07:30 – Link Blending 07:40 – Mentioning other people in the same category so that Google can recognize the relevancy of your links 08:30 – Getting links from high-ranked sites by using the same keywords 09:40 – A Link Wheel 10:00 – Cross linking and multiple tiers of links 10:20 – All the sites are boosting each other up 10:45 – Apply this tactic in a “white hat” way. 11:30 – Check out tomorrow’s episode!  3 Key Points: Not all links are created equal—look for domain authority and relevancy. Use links that can’t be easily manipulated. Stay consistent with the number of links you are adding throughout the life of your website. Resources Mentioned: Study by Moz: An article that discusses the effects of links from different sources Leave some feedback: What should we talk about next? Please let us know in the comments below. Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave a short review. Connect with us: NeilPatel.com Quick Sprout Growth Everywhere Single Grain Twitter @neilpatel Twitter @ericosiu Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

16 Aug 201615min

In Episode #15 Eric and Neil talk about link building. When you want to up your rating on Google, you need to have strong links to sites with a good standing. Build relationships with sites similar to your industry, and put in the effort to get your links out there. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:25 – What is link building? 00:40 – Google and the value of links 01:05 – You get to the top ranking on Google by having strong content and links 01:30 – Not all links are created equal 01:45 – Google can discern the authority of your links 02:00 – How to build great links 02:10 – Ahrefs.com pulls up links on your competitors’ sites and ranks those links based on domain authority 02:30 – It’s like a richter scale 02:45 – You want a domain authority of 60 or higher 03:00 – Hit up those sites and ask if they would be willing to link to your content 03:35 – Email relevant sites to get them to link to you 04:00 – Tools like Outreach.io and PersistIQ will send emails out for you 04:30 – Don’t automate the process too much 04:45 – Guest posting is another way to get great links 04:55 – Look for sites that are relevant to you 05:20 – Make everything easy for the site you are reaching out to 05:40 – Link building should start with building a relationship 06:15 – Guest post to drive customers and help your brand 06:50 – Using broken links from sites that go down every day 07:20 – Google “broken link checker” 07:30 – Find broken links in your industry 07:40 – Put your URL into Archive.org and make a better version of the original site 08:05 – Email the sites linking to that dead page, and offer your new content 08:25 – 20 to 30% success rate with broken links 09:10 – Roundup building 09:25 – Create a roundup for your niche, and people will reach out to you 09:55 – Subscribe to learn more marketing tactics! 3 Key Points: Link to quality sites that are related to your industry. Make the process easy for the site you are reaching out to. Look at building links as a byproduct of building relationships. Resources Mentioned: Ahrefs.com – Helps you find sites where you can link your content Outreach.io and PersistIQ – Tools to send out automated emails Leave some feedback: What should we talk about next? Please let us know in the comments below. Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave a short review. Connect with us: NeilPatel.com Quick Sprout Growth Everywhere Single Grain Twitter @neilpatel Twitter @ericosiu Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

15 Aug 201613min

In Episode #14 Eric and Neil encourage you to use cu. Learn how to create engaging videos and build up your brand and customer base. Eric and Neil will give you simple, straightforward guidelines to leverage the future of Facebook. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:25 – How to leverage Facebook Live 00:35 – It allows you to broadcast what you’re doing live. 01:00 – It’s a more personal experience with your customers 01:15 – Videos on Facebook will continue to grow 01:30 – The importance of Facebook Live 01:40 – Videos are pushed to the top of a newsfeed 02:00 – You get more comments, views, and shares 2:30 – Competitors, like Snapchat and YouTube 03:00 – This is one way to build a brand 03:15 – An opportunity to stand out and get people to buy from you 03:30 – Neil’s experience with Facebook Live is that the longer you stay on, the more people will view it 04:00 – Likes, shares, and comments will get your video to do better 04:30 – Neil does a Q and A on his live videos to get more comments 04:50 – Waiting rooms before a live video 05:35 – Playing two live videos at once 06:00 – Educational videos can drive business 06:30 – If you want the most engagement, announce your video the day before 06:50 – Timing makes a huge difference. Be consistent with when you do a Facebook Live video. 07:40 – Facebook Insights will let you know when your followers are most active on your page 08:05 – You need a verified account 08:25 – Leonard Kim’s article on how to get a verified page 08:58 – You want to reach an audience beyond your Facebook friends 09:25 – Test what material has most engagement 09:55 – Tweet @NeilPatel and @EricOsiu if you think news would be an interesting topic for live videos 10:35 – Leave a rating and review, and please subscribe! 3 Key Points: Facebook Live will continue to grow and become a prominent platform on Facebook. Use Facebook Live as a marketing tool to develop your brand. Find the most effective way to get people engaged in your videos. Resources Mentioned: Facebook Live – A new and growing tool that will help you build your brand Facebook Insights – How to find out when your follows are most active Leonard Kim’s article – Easy steps to get your page verified on Facebook Leave some feedback: What should we talk about next? Please let us know in the comments below. Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave a short review. Connect with us: NeilPatel.com Quick Sprout Growth Everywhere Single Grain Twitter @neilpatel Twitter @ericosiu Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

14 Aug 201614min

In Episode #13 Eric and Neil provide useful tips to help you stay consistent with your blog content. They’ll talk about the value of consistent posts, and they’ll give you the resources you need to keep producing content and stay organized. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:25 – How to stay consistent with content output 00:55 – Neil’s blog Quick Sprout and what happened when he took a break from blogging 01:15 – Keep on top of your blog 01:40 – Block out time to create your content 02:27 – If you’re not sure what to write on, go to Buzzsumo.com 02:40 – Find a blogger online and clearly label what you need from them. Ask for writing samples and know their rate. 03:20 – Pay should be between $50 to $200 for one blog post 03:40 – Schedule out your content with your writers 03:55 – Publish posts once you have a backlog of posts 04:10 – You will speed up with blog writing as you keep doing it 04:30 – You have to have a content bank 04:50 – Create an editorial calendar 05:20 – See what’s going to be posted in the future, and let people know what’s coming 05:30 – The calendar is a helpful tool for a book launch 06:00 – Editorial calendars will help you with organization 06:15 – The calendar helps you know what you should be writing on 06:35 – It will help you make sure you are targeting the right people 07:30 – Tools for an editorial calendar 07:35 – Coschedule is what Eric and Neil use 08:15 – Editorial Calendar plugin on WordPress 08:30 – Start out your blog at a pace that you can handle 09:10 – You need to have a process for writing 09:35 – A process can be handed off easily to other writers 10:00 – Make sure you don’t make things too complicated 10:45 – Leave a rating and review, and please subscribe! 3 Key Points: Have a backlog of content ready to post to your blog. Create an editorial calendar to help you stay organized and know what you should be writing about. Develop a process that can easily be handed off to other writers. Resources Mentioned: Quick Sprout – Neil’s blog Buzzsumo.com – A tool to help you find new topics to write about CoSchedule and Editorial Calendar plugin – Two tools you can use to create an editorial calendar Leave some feedback: What should we talk about next? Please let us know in the comments below. Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave a short review. Connect with us: NeilPatel.com Quick Sprout Growth Everywhere Single Grain Twitter @neilpatel Twitter @ericosiu Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

13 Aug 201614min

In Episode #11 Eric and Neil discuss premium quality backlinks. They’ll explain what the heck that means, and they’ll give you clear tools to help you create the best backlinks. As you find ways to connect people with your content, using the resources available to you and being proactive will drive up your rankings in no time. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:25 – How can you build premium quality backlinks? 00:45 – Get to the top of Google with backlinks and content 01:00 – Big websites have a high domain authority 01:25 – Backlinks are a vote of confidence 01:40 – You will up your rankings with better backlinks 01:55 – Network with people you know already 02:10 – Give each other value by posting on each other’s blogs 02:30 – Buzzsumo ranks most popular blog posts 2:45 – Take those posts and turn them into infographics 03:00 – Use Dribbble.com and Ahrefs.com to see who has linked to that post, and share your infographics with those readers 03:40 – Infographics can do even better than the original data-driven blog posts 04:30 – Your site will rank higher 04:40 – The Skyscraper Technique (from Brian Dean of Backlinko) 05:00 – Find who is sharing and linking certain content 05:30 – Find a way to expand the most popular content 06:00 – Reach out to people to share your newer, better content 06:25 – Making something that is better than what’s already out there 06:55 – Broken Link Checker and Ahrefs 07:25 – Create a better version of content that is no longer on the internet 08:00 – Reach out to the sites that have the dead links, and offer them your new version of the content 08:25 – Find resource pages and request that they link to your content 09:00 – Find people who are willing to be guest bloggers 09:25 – Get access to publishers and use their links 10:00 – PRServe 10:15 – Revolutionizing the PR industry 10:40 – You pay them only when your content gets in the press. 11:00 – The service drove more customers for Eric and Neil 12:00 – Subscribe to get content daily! 3 Key Points: Premium quality backlinks will boost your rankings. Start with people you already know, and then utilize online tools to create better backlinks. Create the best version of the most popular content on the web. Resources Mentioned: Buzzsumo – A resource to find the most popular content on the internet right now Dribbble.com – A resource to help you design infographics Ahrefs.com – Tracks backlinks and keywords for you and your competitors Backlinko – Brian Dean’s blog with helpful insights to strong web content Broken Link Checker – How to find dead links on the internet PRServe – A PR agency that only requires payment when your blog gets publicity Leave some feedback: What should we talk about next? Please let us know in the comments below. Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave a short review. Connect with us: NeilPatel.com Quick Sprout Growth Everywhere Single Grain Twitter @neilpatel Twitter @ericosiu Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

12 Aug 201615min

In Episode #11 Eric and Neil discuss the value of customer feedback. Reaching out to your audience when you’re starting your business and as your business is developing will help your company to continue to grow and see success. Find ways to consistently get the truth from your customers—take even the negative feedback into consideration. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:25 – Why and how should you collect customer feedback? 00:40 – What is customer feedback? 01:09 – “All that matters is what your customers are telling you.” 01:25 – The value of negative feedback 01:40 – “You can’t live in the black box.” 02:10 – Solve the customer’s problem 02:30 – Eric and Neil’s mistake when they built a blog was to leave out the audience 03:15 – Customers will drive your business in the long run 03:30 – Why people choose certain brands 03:50 – “Delight your customers.” 04:15 – Survey your customers and your competitor’s customers 04:50 – How often do you survey your customers? – Once a month at least. 05:00 – Do something about problems that come up. 05:20 – Buffer and Zapier have outstanding customer support 05:40 – Calling the clients to see how they’re doing 06:00 – Ask them: “If you had a bottomless budget, what would you have us do for you?” 06:45 – Don’t freak out about negative feedback 07:05 – Look at the volume of good vs. bad feedback 07:20 – Don’t bribe people to give you feedback. 07:50 – You want the truth. 08:00 – Requesting a testimonial from a happy customer 08:30 – Intercom helps you interact with customers 09:00 – Managing live chat on your website 09:30 – Leave a rating or review if you enjoyed the show today! 3 Key Points: Don’t ignore negative feedback. A good customer relationship will drive your business. Consistently take time to gather feedback and see what problems are coming up. Resources Mentioned: Buffer and Zapier – Two companies that are renowned for their incredible customer support Intercom – A company that can help you interact and get feedback from your customers Leave some feedback: What should we talk about next? Please let us know in the comments below. Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave a short review. Connect with us: NeilPatel.com Quick Sprout Growth Everywhere Single Grain Twitter @neilpatel Twitter @ericosiu Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

11 Aug 201613min