Online Marketing Course Recommendations

This week we enter the mysterious, Byzantine underworld of domain sales, where people make money speculating on the website naming market. A few years ago, the owners of the popular journalism website longform.org blundered into this world when they innocently tried to procure longform.com. In this episode, we find out about their misadventures, and we hear from the Derek Jeter of URL purchases.

We speak to Philip Storey from Enchant Agency who specialise in helping brands to improve their email marketing. Philip walks us through the art of email optimisation, exploring some tried and tested techniques and frameworks that any email marketer will be able to take and apply to their own email activity to drive improved results. We explore the culture needed for optimisation to thrive in an organisation and gain a measure of the change getting that culture for optimisation can bring about. We also explore what can be learned from eye tracking studies and Philip shares with us a fab tool for simulating an eye-tracking study on your own emails and online content using advanced AI modelling. 3 Core Elements of Email Content Want to implement Philip’s 3 Core Elements of Content? To save you all playing that section through to capture what Philip said, here’s what you need to focus on for each content block of your email. 1) A short descriptive headline 2) A descriptive proposition that is either 1-2 lines of content, short and sweet and if relevant maybe 2-3 bullet points. 3) A descriptive call to action If you want to try this format, remember to test this it out against other blocks that don't use the format across a number of different emails to highlight and identify how well it works for your audiences. We were serious when we said you need to just start testing things out, so here is a great starter for ten. Develop your optimisation culture. Useful Links Enchant Agency:  Email:  Twitter: @philipstorey Eyequant - AI-powered eye-tracking study simulator http://www.eyequant.com/

Copywriters walk a fine line between adhering to best practices and thinking outside the box. On the one hand, you don't want to mess with what works. On the other, you need to get adventurous if you're going to stand out from the crowd - nothing kills conversions like lazy copywriting. In this episode of the Call to Action podcast, Copy Hackers co-founder Joanna Wiebe challenges marketers to take chances with their copywriting, and pinpoints three common mistakes that result in lazy copy that just doesn't convert.

Most of you already know I’m all about list building. In fact, one of my favorite mottos is “always be list building.” But not everyone knows that an indispensable element of any successful list-building effort is an effective lead magnet —a freebie— that’ll stand front and center and draw crowds to opt-in. But then the […] The post #214: The Ultimate Guide to Choosing the Right Lead Magnet for Your Audience appeared first on Amy Porterfield | Online Marketing Expert.

This year we’ve gotten one question more than any other from listeners: is Facebook eavesdropping on my conversations and showing me ads based on the things that I say? This week, Alex investigates.Further ReadingOur guide to keep Facebook from following you around the internet can be found at http://replyall.limo/donttrackme .Facebook's official statement that it is not listening to users. Facebook's Rob Goldman (no relation) denying the same thing.

Duct Tape Marketing's core belief is that marketing is not a set of tactics, it's a system. On this episode, John takes a closer look at the seven steps to building a successful marketing system that will generate great results for your business.

In Episode #110 Eric and Neil share their highlights from the past 100 podcast episodes. Apart from sharing what they’ve learned and what they’ve experienced, they’ll also thank all the listeners for being part of this journey with them! Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:26 – Today’s topic: Our biggest lessons from 100 episodes of marketing school 00:46 – #1 When you first launch a podcast, you won’t get too much traction 01:17 – As you do it more and more, people start to listen 01:52 – No huge ‘bang for your buck’ on the first 100 episodes 02:06 – #2 Great feedback but with couple of negative ones 03:11 – #3 People who launch a podcast for the sake of making one doesn’t do so well 03:41 – You have to have an audience to push it through 04:02 – #4 Consistency takes a lot of work 05:15 – #5 Blog audience helps the success of this podcast 06:03 – It’s not easy to get a lot of downloads and listens 06:22 – #6 Podcasting is just like blogging 07:11 – #7 Time buys you listens and traffic 08:24 – Google Tomasz Tunguz or Compounding effects of content marketing 08:58 – Having a picture on your podcast helps 09:27 – That’s it for today’s episode! 3 Key Points: The first 100 episodes didn’t come easy. Podcasting is much like blogging in terms of traffic and views/listens. Have a plan for your podcast, without one, you are doomed to fail. 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

The first episode of a new podcast series about how and why we work, and how to give work more meaning. We'd love your feedback! Email us at hello@buffer.com or Tweet us @buffer!   Transcript: Courtney: Hi, I'm Courtney Seiter. Carolyn: And I'm Carolyn Kopprasch. Courtney: And this is the Buffer CultureLab podcast. Carolyn: Where we're slightly obsessed with creating happier, more human work. Courtney: Today, we're going to attempt to explain why we wanted to start a podcast and why this particular topic of radical workplace culture is one that spoke to us really strongly. Carolyn: I'm super excited to be interviewing you for this one, because I feel like you have so much history here. Courtney:  I'm nervous. Carolyn: [chuckles] You are? Courtney: Yeah! Carolyn:  Well, why don't you tell me why you specifically and why we, Buffer, are doing this and embarking on this? Courtney Sure. So as you know and maybe we can tell our listeners, Buffer is a social media tool that helps you share really efficiently and strategically to a variety of social networks. And a lot people know us for that, which is wonderful. Just as many people I would say, know us for our culture, which is a very specific and deliberate culture that you've had a lot do with creating and maintaining and everyone at Buffer has a big hand in. We have a very specific values that guide us. And working at Buffer was the first time I ever understood the importance that living with values, that working with values, could have in your life. The things that I have tried since starting Buffer are different than anything I've ever done before. Like during my time at Buffer I've started a side business and written things that I would have been so afraid to write and share earlier.  Courtney: Working with values has been sort of a superpower for me, that I feel so, so lucky to have been adopted into. And it feels really important to talk about this and to share it. In the tech startup space that we're in, it feels like a lot of companies are getting excited about the idea of creating a deliberate culture, working with values, and it's an exciting time to be talking about this kind of stuff. So, we wanted to kind of do our part as Buffer and share some of the learnings we're having along the way. Our culture, we say a lot, is not the only culture, it's not the way to live, the way to work. It's the way that works for us. So I think it will really be neat to hear from other people, too. To hear from other company's cultures, people inside and outside of the tech sphere. All the different ways there are to work happier, to work more human, to work smarter. So yeah, that's the impetus for why we wanted to talk about this topic. Why this is an important area for Buffer. And I'm excited to see how it shapes up. Carolyn: Yeah, that was really well said. One thing that I think its super interesting about why this is so important for us is that, our vision is actually just half about the thing that most people know us for, which is the social media side. We have a whole half of our vision devoted specifically to creating this culture that continues to test new things and push boundaries a little bit. And figure out what is the ideal set up for us and how it continues to evolve. Courtney:  Exactly. And it's cool to have a value of transparency that guides us. So we're able to share so openly all the things that we do and try. Whether they succeed or fail, it's great to be able to talk about them. And I don't-- I feel like a podcast like this could be a little bit tricky to do without a culture of transparency. I'm not sure if we would feel comfortable talking about all the things we're going to talk about. If we would know, “Can we say this? Can we not say this? Is this public?” It's really great to have that liberated feeling that comes from transparency to be able to share everything, to be able to get that feedback. To be able to just put it all out there. So I think that is a lot of the impetus for why a podcast felt really good. It's cool to share all the things that we talk about as a team. The conversations that you and I have had, through the segments we've recorded for this podcast so far, are not all that different from the conversations we have on a day-to- day basis, just talking about shaping our culture and evolving our culture. That's how I feel. Would you say that's the case? Carolyn  Yes, totally. I loved your point about the fact that you've written things that previously you never would have dreamed about making public. I’ve had very much that experience On some of the episodes we've recorded up to this point, I don't feel like I have to get permission to tell any story or talk about anything that has gone either well or not so well [chuckles]. Courtney: Yeah, which is a really, really cool feeling and it's exciting to be able to invite people into that. And invite people to share their own stories as well. Carolyn  Yeah. Totally. Courtney, you recently changed roles - I love this story - tell us a little bit more about that process, what you're doing now, what you did in the past, and also, if you are willing, we'd love if you could share a little bit more about your story. I personally am really excited about the things you're doing, both inside and outside of Buffer, so feel free to share a little bit more about that too? Courtney Yeah, thank you. Yeah, they kind of go together, my big side project and what I'm doing at Buffer, which is always very exciting. So, at Buffer I have a new role that is focused on inclusivity. We are growing pretty quickly. I think we're at about 85 or so people at this point. And we -- and I feel so lucky that the whole team is so on board with this, and so supportive of this idea – we really want to be deliberate about how we grow. And how we can create a culture that welcomes people of all types and encourages them to stay and to contribute and to evolve Buffer’s culture and to become leaders in order to make the best products at Buffer, in order to make the best culture at Buffer, and in order to, I hope, be a leader in terms of inclusivity. In terms of how great teams can work together can bring in a variety of cultures and viewpoints and backgrounds and build something really beautiful together. Courtney: We're a global team, we have the opportunity to hire from all over the world and it feels really important to take advantage of that and to grow a team that really represents our customers' experiences, represents our potential customers' experiences, and build the kind of team that can grow great products from a variety of experiences and backgrounds so it's a brand new role for me and I'm really excited about it. And I think the podcast is part of this. So that's the work that I'm excited to be doing right now at Buffer. I’m really guided and inspired by a lot of amazing people doing wonderful work in this area. A lot of the tech companies, in particular, are making this a huge priority because it's a huge challenge. So yeah, that means it's-- it feels really urgent, but it also feels very hopeful at Buffer because our values already shine through so strongly and guide us toward doing the right thing.  And so it's exciting to do that work. Carolyn: That's awesome. Did you say your title? I can't remember. Courtney: I didn't. It's a cool one. It's a very buffery title. Our titles are always a little bit interesting. My role title is Inclusivity Catalyst Carolyn:  Love it. And where are you in the world? Courtney:  Oh, good question! I am in Nashville, TN. Where are you in the world? Carolyn: Fun fact: I am also in Nashville, TN. [laughter]. Courtney: Crazy. Small world-- Carolyn: Which is so unusual for Buffer people to both be in the same city. Courtney: Yes  Carolyn: It's been a fun coincidence. Cool. And what's some of the work that you're doing in Nashville? Courtney Yeah! That is a-- that is a great question. And so you were kind enough to mention some of the work that I'm doing on the side and my main project is called 'Girls to the Moon'. It is a social enterprise business that works with girls age 8-14. We put on events and provide content that is really focused around equipping them with confidence and knowledge and truth in all kinds of areas from science, to engineering, to health, to relationships. And people want to know more, they can go to girlstothemoon dotcom. So just inclusivity all over the place. It's fun times. Carolyn [laughter] It's such a cool organization. I'm going to fangirl a little bit and just say it's just so inspiring to see. So thanks for the work that you're doing. Courtney Thank you. I feel like Buffer had a whole lot to do with it. I never dreamed that I would be a business owner. That I would be able to put Founder on my Twitter bio and stuff like that. That just seemed so for other people, but Buffer has this great way of pushing you outside your comfort zone in a way that feels really wonderful and safe somehow, so I feel like I've been able to push myself so much more as a result of having the support of you and all my teammates. Carolyn: Love that. Courtney:  I would love to hear a little about you. You've got a longer Buffer history. I won't make you say when you came on because that requires math, but it's been a while. Carolyn: Yeah, it's been three and a half-ish years since I came on board. I've been lucky enough to be a part of Buffer since-- for kind of a long time now. You mentioned the titles tend to be Buffery. And I most certainly fall into that category. My title is Chief Happiness Officer. Courtney:  Yes, I love it. Carolyn:  I know, I love it too. It's a great conversation starter, too [laughter]. And I have to say what that means is, I think sometimes people hear happiness and they assume it's an HR-type role, but at Buffer happiness is the customer service team. So the happiness team takes care of our customers through the ways that they contact us, like emails, and tweets, and customer service type platforms. And then creating resources, and understanding what customers are doing with the tool and with the brand to some extent. I'm trying to learn from those things, so I'm going to have to work with the folks on the happiness team, on the community team, and play a little bit of a small role with the product as well. So that's my story. Courtney:  Awesome. I love it. I feel like I've learned a whole lot from you in terms of communicating culture. I think you've always got a really great way of being super thoughtful about language, about the “why” of how we do things and the context behind them. And that's why I wanted to do the podcast with you. I always learn so much from our conversations and the sort of reflections we have together, so I'm really happy that you said yes! Carolyn:  Aw, thanks so much. I am really happy you asked me. I can't take much credit for that. I've learned from the best. I've had the privilege of working a lot with Joel and Leo, our co-founders, and Sunil, the CTO who I also work with closely. And to your point about the language and things like that, I love that  in the beginning we say we're slightly obsessed with culture. It's true. Courtney: True story. Carolyn:  So yeah, it's so true when we write-- when Joel writes something to the whole team, we'll spend 45 minutes talking about this word over that word, what impact this has and what we're really trying to say and things like that. So I've been lucky to really have an opportunity to practice that. And then it's likewise. I've been very inspired by the writing that you've done on behalf of Buffer and sharing on our Open blog, which is where we share a lot about what's going on at Buffer, so. Yeah. Really excited to be diving in to some of these topics I'm looking forward to. It's been so fun, the topics that we've already been able to talk about and just looking at our list of upcoming ones, I'm so excited. Courtney: Yeah, and this is probably a good time to say that this will be like most things we do at Buffer, very much a community effort that we would love for our potential audience to be involved in. So, if you have questions, or thoughts, or things that you would want to hear from us on, or things that you want to say, I would love to hear from lots of different people to make this podcast something that feels like everyone can own a little bit. One of the reasons that I wanted to do a podcast is to sort of hear from people that we don't always hear their stories. Maybe hear from people of color in tech, hear from more women in tech, hear from underrepresented voices. And to hear from anyone who has a unique story. This feels like a good time to say, talk to us. Carolyn: We are on Twitter at @Buffer. That's always a good way to reach out. That's mostly-- it's a customer service channel for us, but it's also very much a community and culture channel for us. We love to hear from folks who have come across us and have questions or are willing to share their experience. It’s a super valuable channel for us to chat through some of those things. Never hesitate to reach out to us there. Carolyn: We also have an email address if that's more your style, hello@buffer.com. Courtney: Yes, we'd love to hear from you!

Have recent changes to Facebook impacted your marketing? Wondering what you should and shouldn’t be doing with your organic Facebook marketing? To explore Facebook organic marketing, I interview Mari Smith, a consultant for Facebook, and the leading expert on Facebook marketing. Show notes: https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/347

We surprised ourselves with this test on how an emoji can affect a Facebook post's performance. Maybe we'll surprise you too!

Earlier this year, Ciaran got to talk with Oli Gardner from Unbounce, a Leading conversion rate optimisation tool. We explored a little of what Unbounce does but mainly focus on an exciting experiment that Oli ran earlier this year on blog content. The aim of Oli's experiment was to see what effect writing a storm of regular content to promote key features their platform offered would have on conversions and the bottom line. The challenge... create content that drives both product awareness and conversion rates through the roof. Being a conversion rate optimisation specialist, Oli was confident he could ace this mission and significantly 'move the needle' of success. However, as you will hear, nothing quite panned out as he expected it to but some fascinating lessons were learned along the way. Join us this week as we explore Oli's story and delve into the key learnings and insights from one man's mission to embark on a veritable marathon of content for conversion. Mr Men landing pages original article Mr Men Landing Pages Podcast Episode Unbounce Dynamic text replacement feature Unbounce Landing page Analyzer Is Content Marketing a Waste of Time and Money? Data and Lessons Learned from 20 posts in 30 days Find out all about Unbounce Follow Oli on Twitter https://twitter.com/oligardner 

What, if anything, should be banned from online media? And who should review violent and explicit content, in order to decide if it’s okay for the public? Thousands of people around the world are working long, difficult hours as content moderators in support of sites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. They are guided by complex and shifting guidelines, and their work can sometimes lead to psychological trauma. But the practice of content moderation also raises questions about censorship and free expression online. In this IRL episode, host Manoush Zomorodi talks with a forensic investigator who compares the work she does solving disturbing crimes with the work done by content moderators. We hear the stories of content moderators working in the Philippines, as told by the directors of a new documentary called The Cleaners. Ellen Silver from Facebook joins us to outline Facebook's content moderation policies. Kalev Leetaru flags the risks that come from relying on artificial intelligence to clean the web. And Kat Lo explains why this work is impossible to get exactly right. Some of the content in this episode is sensitive and may be difficult to hear for some listeners. IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla, maker of Firefox and always fighting for you. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org. Read the New York Times article on Facebook's content moderation policies and also Facebook’s response. Want more? Mozilla has teamed up with 826 Valencia to bring you perspectives written by students on IRL topics this season. Nicole M. from De Marillac Academy wrote this piece on inappropriate content online. And, check out this article from Common Sense Media, on disturbing YouTube videos that are supposed to be for kids. And finally, this IRL episode’s content underscores the importance of supporting companies committed to ethical tech and humane practices. Thank you for supporting Mozilla by choosing Firefox. Leave a rating or review in Apple Podcasts so we know what you think.