How to Manage Your Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Ads in 4 STEPS or Less

Don't get discouraged.  It's really all about organizing yourself and remembering that the less key words you pick to work with, the more success and ease you'll have.

1.    Pick Your HIGHLY Targeted Keywords - Only 12-15 (seriously)

2.    Track your CPC (Cost-per-conversion) - Not just your cost-per-click

3.    Bid Seperately for Your Content Network Ads - an area where micro-managment works!

4.    Aaaand REPEAT! (a lot)

Watch the 6 min. Video Tutorial

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Analytics - The Formulas

Here is a list of the top 10 metrics we use to assess if a client's pay-per-click campaign is going to render return on investment or ROI.  In my next posting, I'll share a sample plan using these metrics. 

Cost Per Visitor (C/V)
Revenue Per Visitor (R/V)
Margin Per Visitor (RPV - CPV = MPV)
Advertising-to-Revenue Ratio (CPV/RPV)
Exposures (E)Click-Thrus (CT)
Click-Thru Rate (Clicks/Exposures) x 100
Branding/View-Thru Rate (BVT)
Cost-Per-Click (CPC)
Cost-Per-Conversion (CPC)

3 EZ Steps to Figure Out Your Business's Value

As a Business Broker, I'd hear this question all the time: "How would I know what my business is worth if I wanted to sell it?"  Many times, getting an idea of what this figure is, will help a seller decide if he/she wishes to move forward with exploring the process of selling their business....or not.

We have lots of analytical tools and formulas to get to a sales price before we list a business; but there's a pretty simple formula we do in our head to see if it's a listing we should consider taking in the first place:

1. Figure out what the annual sales are.
2. Figure what the owner(s) take home annually as a paycheck, PLUS an estimate of the personal things they write off.  This gives us a broad idea of that seller's discretionary earnings (SDE).
3. Multiply the SDE by 2.0 to 2.5.

That new number will give you an idea of a price range a potential buyer would be willing to pay for your small business.  Of course it's more involved once we sit down with the financials and decide on a final listing price; but knowing this figure will help you decide if you want to at least move forward with your options.

Effective Pay Per Click Campaigns - A reference list

"Learn from the mistakes of others and hope not to make them yourself," I always say.   Here's a list of excellent resources on pay-per-click campaignage...enjoy.

1.  Paid Search Ad Copy: Five Things Newbies Don't Know shar.es/HzeEl

2.  How to Write PPC Ad Copy: Four Ad Templates that Cause Clicks and Conversions    searchenginepeople.com/blog/how-to-wr…

 

3.  7 Tricks for Creating Powerful Internet Ad-Copy jessicaswanson.com/7-tricks-for-c…

To PPC or not to PPC? It’s not really a question in my opinion.

This week's Internet Marketing MBA course on PPC (pay per click) campaigns had us discussing the 13 myths of the practice based on this article. 

I was having drinks with one of my girlfriends this week and she brought up she was meeting with a local agency trying to sell her organic SEO placement for her brand.  "Perfect timing!" I said, since I was having to discuss it later that week in class.  Nothing like getting your homework done over cocktails ;-)

So here's the thing.  She is super connected in the social media world, gets tons of 3rd party viral traffic from YouTube videos made about her brand and really does not need to spend a lot of extra money on online advertising at this point; however, when she told me she was considering moving out of her PPC campaign to try the organic route I had to weigh in on the pros and cons.  Mostly the cons.

As stated in #9 of this article, I told her not to put all her eggs in one game of roulette basket.  Just because she spends a little on some organic SEO stuff, does not mean she needs to give up her existing (and successful) PPC efforts.   One is not going to replace the other.  In fact the PPC campaign in my opinion, helps her and her investors budget and measure ROI much more accurately in my opinion.

The other question I posed to provoke thought was to ask her just how she was going to go about leveraging her new SEO efforts.  We went right into discussing her site content and metas...which by the way needed to be checked against Google AdWords in my opinion, before vesting ANY money into organic SEO efforts.  This falls in line with the article’s #11 point.  My argument was "if this company wants to charge you to measure the effectiveness of your keyword content and metas, say NOOOO!  I can show you how to do that in about ten minutes...even show you how to check out your competition's rankings and what they're found mostly under."

Finally I came back to point #1 in the article, which was about ego.  If she wanted to be optimized so she could see herself at the top of the list on an organic level, this might just be her ego needing to feel some affirmation coming from her community.   This does not necessarily mean she's going to see any increase in her RPV value.  I suggested she go back to her social networking circles for this kind of affirmation, where she’s already ruling beautifully.  In other words, organic SEO would not give her something she was not already getting (including ROI) from her existing sphere of influencers.

In closing, I agreed that she needed to get some information about SEO, while cautioning her not to dismiss the hard work (and traction) she’s made with her current PPC and social media efforts.  I tend to think both of those efforts are much more of a sure thing than SEO, but that’s just me.

Pay Per Click Analytics - Cheat Sheet

• Cost-Per-Visitor (CPV): Your advertising cost divided by the number of visitors to your site (C/V).
• Revenue-Per-Visitor (RPV): Your revenue divided by the number of visitors to your site (R/V).
• Margin per Visitor (MPV): This is calculated by subtracting CPV from RPV (RPV – CPV = MPV).
• Advertising-to-Revenue Ratio (ROAS): This ratio is calculated by dividing CPV by RPV. 
• Exposures (E): Number of people who see your ad message and brand.
• Click-Thrus (CT): Number of people who click on an ad link and go to the landing page.
• Click-Thru Rate (CTR): The percentage of Exposures that click on an ad link. 
• Branding/View-Thru Rate (BVT): The Percentage of exposures that go directly to a site or search for the site brand without clicking on the ad link. 
• Cost-Per-Click (CPC): Average cost for every paid visitor to site through ad link.
• Cost-Per-Conversion (CPC): Average cost of each conversion (Ad Spend / Coversions)

Courtesy of Full Sail University

The Incredible Mr. Vo

What could be better than an afternoon in the OC with Hollywood's Vanity Girl, Maxine Tatlonghari and the incredible Mr. Kim Vo from Bravo's Sheer Genius?   How about an impromptu interview and an opportunity to grab some footage for our Skwikee Million Dollar Glampreneur dolls?  Of course picking the brain of Vogue's "best blonder in the business" and colorist to the stars was a super treat, not to mention he's a total BravoTV cutie ;-)

Overcoming "Crack Whore Hair"

It's the morning moment you realize you should NEVER have washed your hair the night before a day of big meetings.  Clock is ticking, ten thousands things to do the last 15 minutes before you walk out the door and it's decision time.  Do I spend these last moments in front of the mirror fighting it with the straightening iron, or do I bun it up and make the best of it?  It's what my friend Tara calls "crack whore hair" and there is not a pony tail or cute updo that can hide it.  It basically boils down to a hand full of mousse, some heavy twisting, wrapping and clipping to keep it tame long enough for me to get through my meetings.  In other words, "it's bun time."

Not a fan of the bun, always thought it made me look old and frumpy.  It was the clean up job Cameron Diaz did in the Bad Teacher flick I watched over the weekend that inspired me to reconsider it.  So like Cameron, I slipped on a tidy little black dress, horn rim glasses and up went the bun.  Decided to do some big pearl earrings, a white cardi and black sling backs to finish off the look.  A Chanel basic b&w and OMG! Can we say "Hot Librarian?"

Two business meetings later, three scary investors and a couple hours of grueling LA traffic, I had buttoned up two major deals while still looking chic as ever.  I had beaten crack whore hair for one more day!  Thx Cameron ;-)

How does this Independence Day Reflect YOUR Independence?

The lines at the grocery stores are long, each cart showcasing what that faithful Independence Day maître d feels will best represent the holiday for her friends and family.  I imagine many sit in their offices, hearing the tick tick tick of the clock, waiting to feel the sweet release of a three day weekend.  You gatta love this country.  We work hard and play hard, no exceptions....but what are we so eager to celebrate the independence of? 

Some would argue "it's a holiday celebrating the independence of this country."  While I agree, I can't help but wonder how many Americans are just plain celebrating an opportunity to have some independence from their jobs for a whole three days.  A break from the system if you will. 

A system that perhaps someone else created, that we follow and that we ultimately wish we could break out of one day.  Some think of that day in the context of winning the lottery, others think of it as the day "I can make enough money to be able to finally do what I want."  I applaud all of it, but ask the daunting question: What if that day never comes?

We live in uncertain times, where jobs are kept and lost in the blink of a stock market ticker.  If you had the power to manifest your financial outcome, would you do it; or would you wait for someone to come along and create the rulebook or system for you?  If you answered "yes" to the former, I applaud your willingness to create your own independence day.  I also encourage you to start thinking about what kind of work you would do from that day on.  What are you passionate about?  Once you've answered that question, you can begin your search.  I would start by looking to see what businesses are on the market that match your passion.  There are tons of business listing sites out there and of course I'm going to encourage you to check out our Business-Team listings first ;-).

Before you talk yourself out of it by saying, "I can't afford to buy a business."  Know this: Most small business owners are willing to hold half if not more than half of the total sales price, in the form of a note.  EVERYTHING is possible.  You just need to ask and what's the worst that can happen if you ask?  Happy 4th!