Fun Times In Las Vegas, Summer 2012 Edition

The weekend before last, Nicole and I visited Las Vegas. We both work extremely hard, basically around the clock. Lately, our careers have been super busy, but in a good way. As such, it was a very well deserved vacation for both of us! The corporate world of marketing is an intense career path and everyone deserves a break, once in a while. Such vacations are the perfect way to recharge and come back more empowered and productive than ever before.

Ian & Nicole at Bellagio Conservatory

After visiting Las Vegas back in 2011 (check out my 2011 Las Vegas Recap), we decided to return to the MGM Signature Towers. It was my third time to The Signature, and Nicole’s second. This time, we stayed four nights: Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We’re certainly happy we extended the weekend as long as possible, and will definitely do this again next time. Instead of going home Sunday night, we enjoyed the extra day and went home (super) early Monday morning.

The Signature offers a variety of benefits. It’s a quiet non-gaming condo hotel, meaning the hotel is clean and smoke/noise free. It’s connected to the MGM Grand so you can easily enjoy all of the benefits of that major gaming hotel. Signature guests have access to pools at The Signature and at MGM Grand. And, the rooms are really nice, complete with whirlpool bathtubs and many with balconies.

This time around, we lucked out and got an Upper Penthouse Suite on the top floor, floor 38. Our suite faced the Las Vegas Strip and you can see a picture of me on the balcony to the right/below. We checked in late Thursday night and then ordered some room service. It was better than we had remembered, a great start to our Las Vegas Vacation!

Signature Towers Upper Penthouse Suite

After waking up the next day, we decided to head over to the Bellagio Cafe for lunch. I’m a huge fan of the Bellagio hotel, and enjoy the cafe quite a bit because of its placement in the conservatory. After lunch, we walked around the Bellagio conservatory and took some great pictures. You can see one of them to the right/above and another at the end of this post. We enjoy the beautiful conservatory each time we visit Las Vegas.

Next, we went around to a few different casinos. I had not yet visited the Cosmopolitan so we went over there and joined the Identity program, the player’s club at the Cosmopolitan. We gambled a bit and then headed around to a few other casinos. You can see a fun picture of Nicole in a shoe at the Cosmopolitan to the right/below! After a long day of gambling, we went shopping at The Miracle Mile shops and ate dinner there too. Day one was quite the fun day of sight seeing, dining, shopping, and gambling.

Nicole At The Cosmopolitan

The next day, we slept in and then headed over to the buffet at MGM Grand. We got buffet passes for free as part of our deal with The Signature. The buffet was really great, with more food than you could imagine. I have been to Las Vegas so many times over the years, more than I can count, but surprisingly enough this was my first time at a Las Vegas buffet! Next, we headed over to the MGM Grand pool. It was busy, but we were lucky enough to get some really great lounge chairs near the pool. We enjoyed some really great frozen drinks and relaxation at the pool. Day two ended with some really fun times at Tournament of Kings, the medieval dinner/show at The Excalibur. The food there was really good, a true feast!

Day two was so much fun that we decided to repeat it on day three. We started out with the MGM Grand Buffet and then went to the MGM Grand pool. It was 105 degrees out, perfect pool weather. After a fun day at the pool, we enjoyed dinner at the Rainforest Cafe, and then did some shopping. Instead of heading home on day three, we stayed an extra night so we could fully enjoy day three, a very smart move. The next morning (Monday morning), we got up really early and took the first flight out of Vegas back to the Bay, just in time to head back to work. Vegas was a ton of fun and we can’t wait to go back soon! Do you like to visit Las Vegas too?

More Pictures From Our Las Vegas Vacation

Vegas Tournament of Kings Show

Vegas Tournament of Kings

Vegas Bellagio Conservatory Garden

All images in this post © PPCIan.com

Business Gifts Go A Long Way

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Jun 23 5

Whether you’re in the corporate world of online marketing, or any other industry for that matter, business gifts go a really long way. Just recently, I received two really amazing gifts. The first was from my great friends at Rocket Clicks SEM Agency. I had recently helped them out and they sent me an amazing gift and also a thank you note. I received it today and was so happy and excited. Thank you, Steve, Nicole, and the entire Rocket Clicks team, you rule! (Side note: If you’re looking for a great SEM agency, I can’t recommend Rocket Clicks enough.)

Business Gift

The second gift I received recently was from one of my good college friends. He now runs an investment fund and spent some time with my wife and I going over investment options. As a thank you for our time and also hospitality when he was in town, he sent us an amazing gift and thank you note in the mail. Again, we were super happy and impressed to receive such a great gift, how awesome!

A while back, I wrote a post about Online Marketing Business Etiquette. Both Rocket Clicks and my friend have so much business class and etiquette. Such etiquette goes a really long way, it sets them apart as people who truly care. They’re true business leaders.

The point of this post: When someone does something to help you out, send them a small gift in the mail. If you cannot afford a gift (or do not have the budget for it at your company), send a nice handwritten card. It’s not the size of the gift that matters. It’s the thought! Some other quick tips:

Send gifts and cards around the holidays. Take the time to write really nice and genuine notes. These days, corporate budgets are lower around the holidays. No problem! It’s the thought that matters.
If you manage a team, consider giving small gifts to those on your team who hit certain milestones. You need to stay within the guidelines of your company (many HR departments will place a limit on such gifts). This is a great way to Celebrate Success.
Always try to give as much as possible. There’s nothing more fun and rewarding than helping others, in life and business.

Image of business gift © Tomwang112

PPC Account Assignments As A Narrative

By Guest Blogger Leave a Comment Jun 19 0

Hey everyone, PPC Ian here. Today, I’m thrilled to share a guest post from my friend Todd Mintz from PPC Associates, Silicon Valley’s SEM Agency. You can read all about Todd in his bio at the end of the post. Todd, thanks for the great post and I hope you all enjoy.

“Buy the ticket, take the ride.” – Hunter S. Thompson

PPC Associates

I’m going to have a new paid search client assigned to me shortly. Each client offers a distinct set of challenges and objectives, but the general framework of every new engagement remains the same.

I will be dropped into the middle of an ongoing narrative, and I’m not only expected to learn the characters and become part of the story but actually take control of the plot and create a positive outcome where temporal happiness and satisfaction is achieved.

A basic narrative structure has three components: Setup, Conflict, and Resolution. Unless the account is brand new, chances are that most of the setup has happened well before the new account manager comes on the scene…and even with a new account, one could say that the setup that led up to the agency engagement occurred when the business was formed.

Now, if the setup was conflict-free and everyone was happy and content, the business wouldn’t need to engage an agency (or a new agency, as the case may be). The conflict facing the business could be any combination of poor PPC results coupled with failed relationships with consultants, less than stellar employee management/oversight, competitor conumdrums, overall lack of knowledge and experience, or a combination of all the above.

Much of the earlier pre-engagement narrative will be anecdotal to the new account manager. He/she must build relationships with each of the stakeholders in the story which will, in effect, be creating minor subplots leading to the creation of a solid structure for the plot to proceed comfortably without costly detours.

The expertise of the new account manager is his/her ability to write a positive outcome to the tale. What makes up account manager expertise? Part of it is his/her technical ability to manage the accounts in a profitable manner that meets the aims of the business. Part of it is to manage the personalities that are part of the process…getting them to contribute to the effort to the best of their ability while making sure they feel valued as people and as teammates. Part of it is to manage the internal stakeholders in the agency…in my case, our wonderful production staff, our design team, and the other office personnel who might interact with the account. Finally, part of it is totally out of the account manager’s control…things such as marketplace events or client circumstances that might impact the paid search efforts but can’t be helped by the consultant.

The skillful account manager can take any plot circumstances and weave an ending that can satisfy all the characters as well as most audiences. Hopefully, the ending will be “totally groovy and far out” for everyone involved, and all can live happily ever after.

Once in a while, the narrative doesn’t end in the manner hoped for…in those cases, everyone can learn from the poor outcome and take those lessons to apply to the next narrative…where I will be dropped into the middle of an ongoing narrative and I’m not only expected to learn the characters and become part of the story but actually take control of the plot and create a positive outcome where a sort of temporal happiness and satisfaction is achieved.

Todd Mintz

– Todd Mintz is a Senior Account Manager at PPC Associates, a digital marketing firm with offices in the Bay Area and downtown Chicago. Todd has over 10 years of experience in search marketing and has used Google AdWords since it began. He also is very visible in the SEM social media space and is a curator/contributor at MarketingLand and one of the founding members of SEMpdx (Portland’s Search Engine Marketing Group).

Images in this post © PPCAssociates.com

Where I’m Finding My Inspiration Online

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment May 7 12

The Internet is an amazing thing. It’s because of the Internet that I’ve experienced rapid career growth. Before the Internet (and search engines), there was no search engine marketing after all. It’s also because of the Internet that I stay inspired. Just like the rest of you, I have super easy days and I also face more challenging ones. Whether its smooth sailing or rough waters, following are some of the online leaders who are inspiring me most these days. Following these leaders continues to shape my own career and life. (Friendly note: I could not possibly cover all of my mentors and sources of inspiration in this single post. If you didn’t make the list, it doesn’t mean you are not inspiring me!)

Diddy

Want to follow the one and only Diddy? Look no further than Twitter. Tweeting under the @iamdiddy handle, Diddy offers pure inspiration. Some of my favorite quotes include:

“Nobody said it would be easy-they just promised it would be worth it!!”
“Dream it Believe it Pursue it… DONT STOP!!!”

If you’ve been reading PPC Ian for a while, you probably know that Rap Music Drives My Online Marketing so I’m a huge fan of following my favorite rappers on Twitter. Diddy inspires me to keep going with the can’t stop, won’t stop mentality!

Rev Run

Historically, I have not been a super religious person. However, as I look for inspiration, I see a consistent theme… It’s coming from religious sources such as Rev Run and Joel Osteen. Rev Run always has a really positive message and I cannot thank him enough for his inspiration. You can follow Rev Run on Twitter at @RevRunWisdom. One of my 2012 Goals is to give back as much as possible. Rev Run has inspired me to do just that.

Morgan Linton

Morgan Linton is a personal friend and business leader. He blogs about Domain Names and, in my opinion, has the best blog on the topic. What amazes me about Morgan is he gets so much done. He’s literally running 100s of websites, buying/selling 1000s of domains, and building businesses such as Appraiso. When I’m looking for motivation to get stuff done, I head on over to Morgan’s blog.

Dividend Mantra

Another one of my huge goals this year is cash flow. I’m doing everything I can to save money and invest wisely in dividend-paying stocks and other instruments such as Lending Club. I found a neat blog called Dividend Mantra that echos a lot of my own beliefs when it comes to finances. While I’m not trying to leave the workforce too young like the author (I love my job in online marketing too much), I totally want to build up portfolio of passive income. Dividend Mantra inspires me to save money and invest wisely.

Mr. Cash At Hand

Do you have haters? I hope you do! It seems like the better you do, the more haters you have. When the haters are hating, I often turn to my friend Mr. Cash At Hand. He offers a positive outlook on life and has one of the best channels on YouTube. Mr. Cash At Hand provides practical advice on having the right perception and getting the most out of life. He fuels success!

The Free COO

My good friend Donald Landwirth, also known as The Free COO, is a career leader and COO. In fact, he was either the founder or first c-level executive in four incredibly successful startups. His achievements in business are too many to count. If you’re looking for inspiration to be an amazing business leader and offer your organization everything you have, look no further than Don and his radio show on Spreaker. A few months ago, I Was Live On The Free COO.

PPC Ian Readers

I continue to receive amazing emails, questions, comments, and praise every single day. There would be no PPC Ian without all of you! All of my readers here at PPC Ian inspire me to be a better blogger and writer, every single day. Thank you!

My Wife

I like to think that I have all the good ideas, but honestly I’m often just in execution mode. My amazing wife, Nicole, is the true brains behind this guy and she inspires me in every way imaginable.

I hope you enjoyed reading about some of my favorite leaders and mentors. They key takeaway from today’s post: Find your own sources of inspiration. Those who excel have mentors. They always aspire to more. They stay inspired by following the right leaders!

Image in this post © iStockPhoto – raywoo

PPC Ian Visits Napa

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Feb 20 4

Ian Nicole Napa The corporate PPC lifestyle is like trading on Wall Street, although the market never closes. I can’t get enough of online marketing and my career has truly been great to me. That said, when you work as hard as my amazing wife, Nicole, and I do, it’s imperative to take time off and travel. We love traveling to Hawaii and also Las Vegas. Due to the long 3-day weekend (President’s Day), we took a trip to Napa this time around. The 3-day weekend offered the perfect opportunity to take a breather from the computer and relax, wine country style.

We decided to stay at the Avia in downtown Napa. We booked a corner suite and were quite pleased with the hotel and the room. As people who like to be in the middle of it all, the Avia provided the perfect location with close proximity to restaurants and shops. The hotel itself was not too big nor too small and was well appointed. The room was quite luxurious with panoramic windows offering views of the city. Next time we go to Napa, we would be delighted to return to this hotel.

PPC Ian Wine Tasting

On day one of our trip, Saturday, we drove from the San Francisco Peninsula where we live to Napa. The drive went by fast, but we were quite tired when we arrived. As such, we grabbed an early dinner at UVA. After dinner, we went back to the hotel and crashed. I think this is the first time I slept 12 hours in a single night in the last year or so. We were truly thankful to get a good night’s sleep.

Day two of our trip was the best. After getting re-energized, we took a short road trip to Robert Mondavi winery. At Robert Mondavi, we took a 90 minute tour and enjoyed wine tasting. The grounds at Robert Mondavi were truly beautiful and we had an amazing time. As someone who’s been on a few wine tours, I would recommend this one the most.

After Robert Mondavi, we drove around the area (Napa, Yountville, Oakwood, and surrounding areas) to take in the scenery. You can see a cool picture at the beginning of this post of Nicole and I in the middle of a vineyard with mustard flowers. This was taken just north of Robert Mondavi winery.

After the long day, we drove back to our hotel and then enjoyed dinner at Ristorante Allegria. I had the filet Mignon, and it was honestly the best I have had in the last year. It’s rare that you have such a delicious meal and I’d highly recommend this restaurant in the heart of downtown Napa.

After another great night of sleep, we enjoyed lunch today in downtown and then drove back to the SF Peninsula. While our vacation went by quickly, we now feel rested. Time to start planning our next vacation, we can’t wait!

Robert Mondavi Napa

All images in this post © PPCIan.com

Don’t Check Email Right Before You Go To Bed

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Jan 18 3

Today, I wanted to share a quick tip that will help you in business and life: Don’t check your email right before you go to bed. If you’re already in bed and have your iPhone right near you on the nightstand, resist the temptation!

Last night, I made the mistake of checking my email right before bed. After a really long day at work and a long weekend (I worked most of last weekend), I was not in the frame of mind to deal with the email. However, I checked my email and found one that worried me. It was not a worked-related email, but rather a personal one. Upon reading this email, my mind went racing and I lost some serious sleep. Moreover, my day today got off to a rocky start. I missed out on sleep and more importantly had not “solved” the dilemma presented via the email.

However, after thinking about the email throughout the day today, the “solution” came to me. I’m really proud of the solution and feel like it’s a great one. At the end of the day, I think the solution would have come to me quicker and I would have gotten much more sleep had I not checked my email right before going to bed.

Going forward, I am going to resist checking my email right before going to bed. I hope to get more sleep this way and also make optimal decisions in life. Of course, this does not mean I will avoid checking my work and personal email at night. It just means I will have a cutoff time when I stop looking (probably around 9:00 pm or 10:00 pm at night). Today was definitely a learning lesson for me and I hope this tip helps you out too!

Image of Email © iStockPhoto – barisonal

Major Fun Times In Maui Hawaii

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Sep 4 18

My beautiful wife and I just returned from our 8 day long vacation to Maui, Hawaii. We had an outstanding time, the perfect combination of exciting activities (such as zip-lining and body boarding) and relaxation (days at the Westin Maui pool and beach). Each year, we try to visit Hawaii as it’s one of our favorite places in the world. Just last year, I blogged about our Maui 2010 vacation. Today, I’m thrilled to share some pictures and experiences from our Maui 2011 vacation.

We Visited Maui Thanks To Online Marketing

Ian and Nicole at the Hard Rock Cafe Lahaina

Before doing so, however, I wanted to make sure to tie this post back to online marketing. It’s really because of online marketing (the corporate route and also my affiliate marketing activities) that make these types of vacations possible. If you’re a smart, hard working individual you can make it big in online marketing. Moreover, online marketing can be your road to a more mobile lifestyle which makes these types of vacations possible. While I didn’t do a ton of work from Maui, I was able to monitor my stats and also publish a blog post about PPC checks (all from my iPad). Now, without further ado, let’s get into the specifics of our vacation!

PPC Ian’s 2011 Maui Vacation Details

Ian, Nicole, and Maui Zipline Team

This year, we really had some major fun times! Following is a day-by-day outline of our trip.

Day 1: We arrive at our hotel, the Westin Maui on beautiful Kaanapali beach. We’re absolutely thrilled with the hotel, and especially our ocean front room. The reason we originally picked this hotel is its proximity to the ocean (the beach is literally steps from the hotel), the amenities (it’s quite the nice place), and also the proximity to shopping (the Westin Maui is right next to Whalers Village, some of the best shopping around). On our first day, we decide to take it easy and eat lunch at Westin poolside. We also enjoy the flamingos at the hotel, it’s really amazing that that they have a lagoon when you walk in filled with tropical birds such as flamingos.

Day 2: After we’re all caught up on sleep, we start day two with a workout at the Westin gym and then the amazing Westin Maui breakfast buffet. This buffet is no joke, we’re talking about waffles, grilled mahi mahi, pancakes, papaya, pineapple, and basically any kind of breakfast food you’d want to enjoy ocean side in Hawaii. In an effort to eat healthy, get up early, and enjoy the hotel, we actually had the breakfast buffet each day of our vacation. Later in the day, we hang out at the Westin pool, work on our tans, and enjoy the water slide at the hotel. For dinner, we head over to the town of Lahaina, enjoy some shopping, and eat dinner at the Lahaina Prime Rib and Fish Company.

Enjoying a Beautiful Maui Sunset

Day 3: After starting out the day with a nice run along the Kaanapali beach, we want to experience some sea life and do just that at the Maui Ocean Center. We really enjoy the fish, sea turtles, octopus, and sharks at this aquarium. Also, their gift shop is simply divine, voted the best in Maui. Later, we head over to Buzz’s Warf for lunch (highly recommended, great fish sandwiches), followed by some amazing shaved ice at a local place. After our big day at the aquarium, we go back to the hotel, enjoy the beach, and then head over to the Hula Grill for dinner.

Day 4: On our fourth day, we want to seek some adventure and did just that with Maui Zipline at the Maui Tropical Plantation. After ziplining, we head over to “Beach Bums” for lunch, a really great Hawaiian BBQ (but can’t find their website). Later, we hike at Iao Valley, go miniature golfing, and end the day with an Italian dinner at Pulehu. This was quite the busy day, but I was also amazed at how much energy Hawaii brought to us. For some reason, we had more energy than ever on this trip. I think it’s the relaxing environment, great weather, unparalleled food, and overall lifestyle. Definitely want to find ways to spend even more time in Hawaii over the coming years!

PPC Ian Body Boarding and Enjoying The Waves

Day 5: Continuing our adventure, we snorkel at black rock after breakfast. The waves at Kannapali start getting a little bigger so I also enjoy some body boarding. Day five ends with an amazing dinner at Sea House restaurant on Napili beach. This is our favorite restaurant in Hawaii, a restaurant we first discovered in our prior trip. The Fisherman’s Stew is incredible if you like seafood. Napili is very quiet and relaxing area, the perfect setting for a Hawaiian dinner.

Day 6: The diverse nature of Maui’s landscape is really evident when you start going to Maui’s upcountry. On Day six, we venture to Alii Kula Lavender Farm for a tour, then to Ulupalakulu Ranch for lunch (the elk burger was among the best I have had), and then onto Maui Winery at Tedeschi Vineyards for wine tasting. The Maui Splash wine was so good that we had some shipped home!

Lunch at Leilanis, Whalers Village

Day 7: We were ready for a bit of relaxation again on day seven so we start the day off with a gym workout, but then take it easy. We do some serious shopping at Whalers Village and purchase a variety of great souvenirs (my favorites being ceramic koi fish, Hawaiian angels, and of course clothes). Later in the day, the waves are picking up so I enjoy a bit more body boarding. We eat lunch at Leilanis, enjoy the Ulalena show in Lahaina, and have a wonderful dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe Maui.

Day 8: Our final day is all about enjoying one last breakfast at the enjoyable Westin breakfast buffet, followed by a little relaxation, and then the plane flight back home. Overall, we couldn’t have asked for a better vacation and have memories that will last a lifetime. Until next time, Hawaii. PPC Ian readers, remember online marketing is lucrative and enjoyable but it’s important to take a break. It’s all about the work hard, play hard way of life!

More Pictures From Our Maui Vacation

Westin Maui, A Great Place To Stay

We Had So Much Fun Ziplining At Maui Zipline

The Breakfast Buffett At The Westin Is Great

The Flamingos At The Westin Are Great

The Maui Lavender Farm, Spectacular Views

Octopus At The Maui Ocean Center

PPC Ian Visits Maui

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Sep 12 10

Pay per click can be a crazy career at times. Why? Just think of it as the NYSE trading floor, only it’s open 24 hours a day, 7 days per week. That’s also part of what makes it so much fun in my opinion! At the same time, it’s imperative to take vacations and recharge. After all, career longevity is the real key to making it big in online marketing. Today, I’d like to talk about my recent trip to the Ritz Carlton, Maui, my first "real" week long vacation of the year!

My First Real Vacation of 2010, It’s About Time!

PPC Ian and Nicole In Maui

2010 Has been a crazy year. I have been making stellar progress against my 2010 goals but have hardly had any time off. In fact, I’ve only taken one official day of PTO (paid time off) all year. That’s a good thing in that I’ve truly accomplished a lot. However, it’s a bad thing in that it’s not super healthy to work that hard with no break. As such, I’m extremely happy that my wife and I spent an amazing week relaxing at the Ritz Carlton, Maui.

The crazy thing about PPC: It’s really addictive and you can get stuck in a mode where you really don’t even want to take time off. It’s this strange state that’s brought about by the instant feedback loop of PPC. I was most definitely in that mode. My advice to you: Force yourself to take a vacation! You are in this for the long term.

My First Vacation With My iPad

I’m PPC Ian so you know I didn’t check out completely! I actually wrote and published two blog posts while on vacation: Inflection.com and Commission Junction. The fun part of it all: I didn’t even bring a laptop to Hawaii. I wrote and published these posts on my new 32 GB iPad with 3G. Moreover, I kept up with important work email and campaign management, all on my iPad! It’s important stuff: When your’re a Director, you can’t just abandon your team while on vacation. It sure was refreshing to have long battery life and less weight in my carry-on.

The only downside: Things took a little longer, especially considering I was having troubles pairing my wireless keyboard even though it worked just fine at home. Oh well, I was on "island time" anyway!

Hawaii Is Ideal For PPC

My wife and I love Hawaii. I also love the pay per click career path. The natural conclusion: Find a way to spend more time in Hawaii (maybe a few weeks each year) while working remotely. This may be even easier to swing if I can split the time up into a few separate blocks. This goal is something that will continue to motivate me well into the future! One thing is for sure: I’m blessed to be a leader in an industry that theoretically has no geographical boundaries!

Pay Per Click Persistence

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Aug 30 5

Over the last few months, my wife and I have been running a lot of great races! The first one was back in May, the 5K San Carlos Fun Run. One week ago, I’m pleased to announce that I ran my first 10K race, the San Mateo Bay Vista Run. You can see some pictures from the race in this post. The 10K is definitely an endurance race, one that requires a lot of persistence both during the race but also in training. My persistence certainly paid off and I finished the race with an excellent time and more excitement for running than ever! In addition to my running career, persistence has been absolutely critical in my pay per click career and today I’ll tell you why!

Persistence, A Requirement For New PPC Campaigns

Right Before Bay Vista Run

Pay per click is very different than it was in 2004 when I started. Back in the day, I could simply launch new campaigns and they would turn to pure gold relatively quickly. Sure, there would be some optimization required, but profitability usually came within a few short days or less.

These days, however, profitability typically takes some time. That time is typically anywhere from one week all the way to a month. Why? Two big reasons: competition and quality score.

The competition side is simple enough. The pay per click marketplace is saturated. The bids are high, the landing pages are outstanding, and most of the keywords have been discovered. Because of all this competition, it takes a lot longer to really figure it out and make your new campaign profitable.

Now, let’s add the concept of quality score on top of that. Not only do you have to optimize around the fierce competition, but you need to establish a strong quality score from day one. I’ll keep it short because I recently posted a video about launching a new AdWords account where I cover this very topic. The takeaway: It’s always smart to go out the gate with strong bids so you establish a great quality score from day one. The downside? This will definitely lower your profitability in the short run (but will dramatically increase it in the long run). When you launch new campaigns, it’s all about persistence. The rewards will come, but it definitely takes time!

Persistence and Career Longevity

Running In Bay Vista Run

I’m a huge fan of the pay per click career path. I’ve made it big in online marketing. How? Hard work and persistence.

There are two main reasons persistence will pay off handsomely in your online marketing career. First and foremost, this is a difficult career path. We’re managing multi-million dollar budgets and have a lot riding on our shoulders. As such, pressure can exist. I actually embrace the pressure (I view it as excitement) and harness its power to my advantage. It’s a rush for me.

However, many people don’t look at it this way. They can’t take it and leave the industry. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve seen leave a great PPC gig because they didn’t have the persistence. What happens when you’re the last one standing? You learn a lot really quickly and have the opportunity to get promoted very fast. Leverage persistence to your advantage, career longevity is your secret weapon.

The second reason persistence pays off in your online marketing career: It’s all about stock options. My stock option batting average has been simply amazing. However, to really cash in on stock options you need to vest as many of them as possible. What does it take to vest a lot of options? Persistence!

PPC Ian Runs The 5K San Carlos Fun Run

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment May 23 5

Hey Everyone,
Hope you’re having a super weekend! I’m always talking about PPC and online marketing around here, a good thing considering the name of my blog is PPC Ian and online marketing is a fascinating topic. However, today I’d like to break things up a bit with a very exciting update from my personal life! Today my wife and I ran the 5K San Carlos Rotary Club Fun Run. We had an amazing time and thoroughly enjoyed the event. I’m looking forward to sharing my experience with you.

PPC Ian’s 2010 Goals

Ian Lopuch San Carlos Fun Run

If you’ve been reading PPC Ian for a while, you probably know that I’m huge on goal setting. I’m really excited because I recently spoke about online marketing at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, one of my big 2010 goals.

In addition to participating in one major public speaking event, I also have the 2010 goal of getting six pack abs. In terms of achieving that goal, my wife and I have been diligently working out with our trainer, attending boot camp, and also working out on our own each and every week for months! I can definitely see results and am thrilled!

Taking the fitness goal to the next level, we decided to participate the in the San Carlos Fun Run. The 5K race sponsored by the Rotary Club spanned the beautiful foothills of San Carlos, a small city close to our home on the San Francisco Peninsula. The race spans all age groups and included several hundred participants. As someone who’s a bit out of practice in the world of competitive running and who has gained a lot of muscle, I went into the race with a goal of breaking 30 minutes. I’m thrilled to report that I came in at 28:19, well ahead of my goal!

We Plan To Participate In More Runs

After the event, my wife and I were thrilled. It brought back the sense of excitement I experienced during my high school varsity cross country and swim team days. In those days, I was able to finish 5K in the low 20s. However, I also had about 30 pounds less muscle to carry around and two hours per day to practice. Nonetheless, I’m looking forward to pushing it and getting down to the 25 minute level by next year’s run! Moreover, we’re looking forward to participating in more 5K or even 10K runs in coming months. Another PPC Ian 2010 goal: Spend a lot of time with my wife. Running and training has been a great way for us to spend quality time together and I highly recommend it to anyone.

Fitness Brings Great Results In Pay Per Click

I wanted to close out with a quick tip: Take time to exercise regularly. PPC and online marketing in general is a crazy career. It’s incredibly rewarding and exciting, but also very time consuming and addictive. I’m often completely glued to the computer. However, it all comes down to productivity and longevity. I’ve personally found fitness to be an incredible driver in my long term happiness and also productivity. After today’s run, I’m definitely pumped up and excited to head into a productive work week tomorrow!

All the best,
PPC Ian (Ian Lopuch)

PS – It’s a crazy small world. I ran into one of the top executives of Inflection (formerly People Search Media) at the run today! As you may know from my about me, I worked at Inflection before my current gig. The moral of the story: Keep your eyes open, it’s a small world and great opportunities to network and run into friends are plentiful!