Traffic & Conversion 2015 Summit in San Diego was an absolutely amazing event. This is THE MECCA of online marketing. Digital Marketer did a tremendous job with this.
Those who were there & those who caught the live stream online were quickly inundated with LOADS of the latest & greatest marketing tips, tricks & strategies.
But…for your benefit and to make it as easy as possible for you, I’ve gone over pages of notes, thousands of tweets and have gathered my best 45 takeaways from the event.
1) Just Sell, Baby
BUSINESS MYTH: "You have to spend money to make money." No you don't.
You just have to SELL something. #TCS2015
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 20, 2015
Just because you don’t have money to spend on ads or endorsements doesn’t mean you can’t start selling stuff right now. Once you sell stuff, then you’ll have funding to fulfill those orders
2) Top 4 Factors Of A Good Pitch
Top 4 factors in good pitches: 1) Likeable pitcher 2) Product relevance 3) Understanding the pitch 4) Scalability #TCS2015 @TheSharkDaymond
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 19, 2015
Daymond John (FUBU founder & ‘Shark Tank’ panelist) meant this:
1) The person making the pitch has to have great energy & believe in what they’re saying. If they don’t believe themselves, the investors won’t believe them.
2) The product or service being pitched has to be desirable and relevant to your target market.
3) The investors have to understand what the heck is being pitched.
4) The product or service has to have the ability to be scaled to mass proportions.
3) Secrets To A 9-Figure Business
@RyanDeiss' super secret top tip to build your business to $100,000,000 —> SYSTEMIZE EVERYTHING. #TCS2015 #marketing #onlinemarketing
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 19, 2015
Easier said than done, right? But yes, Ryan’s great tip for building a massive business is to systematize as much as you can, so you build a machine.
4) Another Biz Secret From Ryan
3 keys to a successful biz from @RyanDeiss: #Acquisition (More Customers), #Activation (More buys) & #Monetization (More Revenue) #TCS2015
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 19, 2015
These are the fundamentals of any business: Acquire more consumers & customers, get them activated in your sales funnels, and create good profit margins at the end for your monetization.
5) Learning How To Scale Your Business
#Entrepreneurs: 3 Qs to ask when scaling ur biz, from @VinnieFisher & @RolandFrasier…1 of my fave breakouts!#TCS2015 pic.twitter.com/GUB0VZL0Tg
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 19, 2015
6) FOCUS
You can have great ideas, but if they take away from your core business & you can't find someone to do it, it's wasting your time. #TCS2015.
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 19, 2015
Entrepreneurs are known for having a new idea every minute. We’re like newborn babies who fixate on one shiny thing one second, then turn our attention to the other shiny thing in the room. Having all of these new ideas & shiny things is great, but if they’re taking away from your core business and you can’t find people to do it for you, you’re wasting your time and making inefficient efforts
7) Keep Your Workers Happy
#Entrepreneurs one of the main reasons your A players become non-A players is because you're giving them too much B & C stuff to do #TCS2015
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 19, 2015
This is a great lesson that has been reinforced through my MBA curriculum – if you have workers that are great at something, stop overloading them with things that take away from what they’re good at! You’ll quickly drain them, and you’ll find that they will quickly become dissatisfied with their work and with you.
8) Overworked Entrepreneurs
#Entrepreneurs, does your business' org chart look like this?…From @VinnieFisher. Man, this was sad/true 🙂 #TCS2015 pic.twitter.com/f7MM5b9mTH
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 19, 2015
This organization chart needs little explanation…many entrepreneurs & small business owners find themselves in this overworked trap until they learn how to truly scale their business.
9) Learn To NOT Lead
The only escape for the overworked & do-it-all entrepreneur trap is to feel comfortable when you are in a subordinate position. #TCS2015
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 19, 2015
The only way entrepreneurs can escape the overworked trap is to allow others to lead them.
10) Positive & Negative Subject Line Key Words
WOW. Positive & negative email subject line key words & how they affect customer response via @perrybelcher #TCS2015 pic.twitter.com/Pt7nAmxHk9
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 18, 2015
This was one of my favorite sessions of the week. Getting into the mindset of your reader.
11) Shortcut To Writing Great Email Subject Lines
2 steps (kind of) to writing emails with kick-ass subject lines, from @perrybelcher. #emailmarketing #TCS2015 #smm pic.twitter.com/SpEP3EUWBY
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 18, 2015
This is specific to email marketers, but man is it an awesome system.
12) Reminders For Email Marketers
You can write the best marketing email in the world, but if your headline sucks, your email is worthless. #TCS2015 #Emailmarketing
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 18, 2015
@PerryBelcher: The essence of email copywriting is to write emails that move people to take the action you want. #TCS2015 #emailmarketing
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 18, 2015
This one’s a two-fer, but it gets down to the nitty gritty of what email marketers’ goals should be: Get people to open your email, and get people to take the action you want in your email.
13) Again, FOCUS
"The essence of strategy is deciding what NOT to do. Decide what bridges do NOT need to be built Then, focus on your true goals." #TCS2015
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 18, 2015
This one’s a re-enforcer of #6, but still truly vital.
14) Get Your Customer To Believe In You By Believing In Themselves
One of the biggest hurdles marketers face with our customers is overcoming their doubt in themselves. #TCS2015 #marketing
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 18, 2015
15) Think Of The End Of Your Funnel First
@ryandeiss & @perrybelcher on funnels. "When building a funnel, start at the end. Think of your core offer." #TCS2015 pic.twitter.com/jRSkTf0YiZ
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 18, 2015
Many online marketers build a funnel by thinking of the “best lead magnets” or the thing at the front-end of the funnel that will draw the most opt ins. But you should FOCUS on your core offer. Focus on this, then reverse engineer your funnel all the way back down & build from the top down.
16) Your Greatest Expenses
The greatest cost you will have as a business will not be your employees or your operating expenses.
It's customer acquisition. #TCS2015
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 18, 2015
Kind reminders for all business owners…
17) Perspective
Man…@SallyHogshead was straight FIRE. She KILLED it. This was the best insight of the day, IMHO. #TCS2015 pic.twitter.com/MpzP6zr9mt
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 18, 2015
Awesome words from Sally Hogshead.
18) It’s Not About What You Know, It’s Who You Are
Awesome insight from Dan Kennedy (@theofficialgkic) via @SallyHogshead from @HowToFascinate. #TCS2015 pic.twitter.com/0k3eIgr29S
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 18, 2015
Dan Kennedy keeping it real.
19) Fascinating Someone
Learning about what makes me fascinating from @SallyHogshead #TCS2015 #whatmakesyoufascinating pic.twitter.com/JVOOG0Vfcu
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 18, 2015
Sally’s presentation was absolutely incredible. In essence, when you focus in on what makes you fascinating, you are able to play more to that and become even more fascinating. Then, when you become more fascinating & play to your strengths, people become more attracted to you. Genius stuff, really.
20) Be Valuable
When you're communicating with people, you're either adding value, or you're taking up space. – @SallyHogshead #TCS2015
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 18, 2015
Which side do you fall on?
21) Keep Fascinating
Companies that advertise have a choice to be great: You can either have the biggest budget OR you can have be the most fascinating. #TCS2015
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 18, 2015
Again, gold from Sally.
22) Add Image To Your Texts
Cool traffic hack: Add text to your images. Images with text get much higher engagement & interaction. #TCS2015 #onlinemarketing
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 18, 2015
23) Find The Best Keywords
@ShoeMoney > Awesome keyword tracking tool from Jeremy: https://t.co/VvOPrcHnqI
#traffichacks
#TCS2015
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 18, 2015
24) Yes, Pinterest Is A HUGE Player
@Pinterest is (one of) the main social networks people visit when they are in a 'buyer mode.'
The buyers are here…so reach them. #TCS2015
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 18, 2015
When people visit Pinterest, it’s to look up ideas for DIY or how to remodel or how to shop or how to do their hair…either way, they’re in ‘buyer’ mode. Since these people are already in that mindset, it’s easier to get them to buy from you if you can connect with them on this platform.
25) For The Online Marketers Who Don’t Have Enough Time
Cool tip from @JustinBrooke on buying freelance content for purely marketing: http://t.co/gVh5Jeg6qO #TCS2015
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 18, 2015
26) Go Where The Traffic Already Is
"These are the top 4 sites in the world. So, go where the traffic is & grab it." – @justinbrooke #TCS2015 pic.twitter.com/WNfBWN4xeU
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 18, 2015
27) Traffic Hack For Creating Good Key Words
Traffic hack: Enter subject of your content to Google search & remove last letter. Use results as keywords. #TCS2015 pic.twitter.com/yphp7Xbs7Q
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 18, 2015
28) Key Words That Draw The Most Traffic For Online Marketers
Buzzwords that draw traffic in #onlinemarketing:
Blueprints
Templates
Hacks
Tips
Tricks
Shortcuts
Overused, yes. But they work. #TCS2015
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 18, 2015
29) Tips On Going Viral
Use specific keywords in content headlines for max performance & create organic vitality. #TCS2015 #onlinemarketing pic.twitter.com/HXfGssCMLz
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 17, 2015
30) You Don’t Have To Be Original
Lists perform better than any other blog posts – & they're not done with much original content. #TCS2015 pic.twitter.com/aHj0vj34u3
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 17, 2015
The top sites in the world right now are aggregators. Few of the top sites still create original content. They aggregate. #TCS2015
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 17, 2015
31) Examples Of What Type Of Content Goes Viral
4 Types of Viral Content from @RussHenneberry & @DigitalMktr at #TCS2015 pic.twitter.com/DNKP4WPTX2
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 17, 2015
32) Using Pixels To Create An Audience
3 Steps To Selling To An Educated, Qualified & Interested Audience With Pixels & Re-targeting >@DigitalMktr #TCS2015 pic.twitter.com/f3EEmn2VOa
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 17, 2015
When you build a list of pixeled people, you're building OWNED media. This is WAY better than random clicks to a landing page. #TCS2015
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 17, 2015
The days of uploading emails to custom audiences in #Facebookads are over. Retargeting thru pixels is the new way & it’s dynamic. #TCS2015
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 17, 2015
This was an awesome overarching theme for this event: Pixels are an online marketers’ new best friend. Driving people straight to ‘buy’ pages or opt in pages doesn’t work anymore. You have to give them useful content, pixel them, and then give them relevant offers to the content they were pixeled on.
33) What People Share Socially
"How to get people to share your content" > absolutely AWESOME tips from @RolandFrasier #TCS2015 #onlinemarketing pic.twitter.com/KLBj7qVy06
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 17, 2015
34) Give Them A Sip Of The Milk, But Don’t Give The Cow Away
Establish a curiosity gap: Make them interested enough to click, but don’t give them enough so they don’t need to click. #TCS2015
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 17, 2015
35) What Kind Of Stuff Gets Shared The Most
People share: Quizzes, lists, videos, infographics, cute/funny stuff, nostalgia, things they want their friends to think they like. #TCS2015
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 17, 2015
36) Find Out How Much Your Stuff Has Been Shared
Cool #onlinemarketing tool: Go to http://t.co/Sa9COXo61x & enter the URL to find out how much it’s been shared. #TCS2015 via @RolandFrasier
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 17, 2015
37) Being A Gatherer Instead Of An Originator Has Its Perks
AWESOME content strategy tip: “Our curated content consistently beats our created content." @RolandFrasier #TCS2015 pic.twitter.com/DGc1JK4wRd
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 17, 2015
38) A Reminder For All Of The ‘Marketing Pros’ Out There
The best marketers take NO risks. They know EXACTLY who they’re marketing to, how to reach them & what makes them respond. #TCS2015
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 17, 2015
39) Factors That Google Measures For SEO
Things that #Google measures: Click-through rate, scroll rate, time on page, bounce rate, spelling & grammar. – @PerryBelcher #SEO #TCS2015
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 17, 2015
40) Pixeling: Next-Level Online Marketing
Most important metric in the future is not CPC or CPL. It's CPP: Cost Per Pixel. How much are you willing to pay to set a 'pixel.' #TCS2015
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 17, 2015
The next level of #onlinemarketing is not 'who can gather the most emails.' It’s 'who can pixel the most people?' #TCS2015 #remarketing
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 17, 2015
41) SEO Strategy
#SEO tip from @PerryBelcher: Edit meta descriptions of your pages & write sales copy in these areas with @Yoast #Wordpress plugin. #TCS2015
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 17, 2015
42) Being A Good Online Marketer Is Hard
"It has never been more difficult to aggregate online attention than it is now." – @ryandeiss #TCS2015 #onlinemarketing
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 17, 2015
Think about it: How many ads do you see on an hourly basis? How many ads & promotional posts do you see when you open your Facebook app or your Twitter app or you do a Google search? It’s difficult to get noticed now because the market is flooded with online marketers of all skill ranges – there is no barrier to entry.
43) When People Are Buying From You, Give Them An Experience They’ll Never Forget
"Online stores shouldn’t look like traditional stores. They should look & function like a gift shop inside of a theme park." #TCS2015
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 17, 2015
44) This Has NOTHING To Do With Online Marketing…
Definitely one of the coolest things I saw in my sightseeing today around #SanDiego for #TCS2015. #navalbase pic.twitter.com/jlff64W8f1
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 17, 2015
But I still wanted to share since I thought it was awesome :]
45) Let’s Keep It Real
“The days of utilizing an unknown trick or hack to get more traffic & clicks to your pages is coming to an end…" – @ryandeiss #TCS2015
— Juan V Lopez (@JuanVLopez) February 17, 2015
It’s true – most people who are online today are just as savvy as you are. The days of coming up with some little-known guru trick are dunzo. Now, you actually have to be good, methodical, strategic & valuable at what you do. Take note, online marketers.
Were you at the conference? I’d love to hear your thoughts & anything else you learned below! If you weren’t there (I’m sure you’re amazed at the LOADS of content), but I’d still love to hear your opinions on this…